The UKVI (United Kingdom Visas and Immigration) along with VFS Global, its visa service partner, has instigated flexibility in visa rules with health precautions.

As per the data released by United Kingdom Visas and Immigration, around fifty thousand student visas had been granted to Indian students by the end of March 2020 making it a 136 percent rise as compared to the end of March 2019. This has also been recorded as the highest number of grants to Indian nationals since September 2011.

At the world level, around 03 lakh visas, including dependents, were granted by the end of March 2020 making it a 23 percent rise as compared to the end of March 2019.

Since July 06, 2020, the UK Visa Application Centres has been reopened in 11 Indian cities in a gradual manner to receive Tier IV applications. These cities are: Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Kochi, Jalandhar, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and New Delhi.

The uniform protective measures have also been established by the VFS Global to be followed across all visa application centres. Some of these mandatory measures are the online appointment system, maintaining physical distance, body temp. screening, disinfecting and using sanitizers etc.

Keeping in mind the travel restrictions, UKVI has also allowed the incoming international students to apply for Tier IV i.e. Study visa when they are ready to travel instead of at the start of their program.

The Graduate Immigration Route has also been modified which allowed students who have completed their UG/ PG and wish to stay and work, to gain experience and to look for work in the UK until two years and three years for Ph.D students. The modified version allow students to apply for Graduate Immigration Route if they have completed their final semester in the UK and are residing in the UK before April 06, 2021.

There is also an option to access the On-Demand Mobile Visa Service which is a contactless and safe way to apply for and submit their visa application.