The UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) has resumed its priority visa processing services for a variety of eligible visa classes. The UKVI has started the services for student visas as well from Aug 12, 2022.

The UKVI had suspended the services since March 2022 and during this time, the processing services were prioritized for Ukrainian applicants. This absence of the option of the priority service has caused a significant stockpile of visa files in the interceding months.

Under the recently restored 'super priority' and 'priority' services, eligible students who wish to apply for a visa from outside of the UK will be asked to pay an additional charge for expedited processing. The priority service can be availed for a surcharge of £500 + the normal application fee and the results of the visa application of the student will be available within 05 working days.

UKVI also suggests that the time period commences from either:

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  The day of the appointment if the identity is proved at a UK Visa and Citizen Application Services appointment centre or

  
  


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  The working day after completing the uploading of the documents, if one opts for the UK Immigration: ID Check app.

  
  

Eligible and interested students who need an even faster inversion on visa applications can opt for the 'super priority' service which costs an additional charge of £800, excluding the base application fee. In this case, the results on the applicant's file can be availed by the end of the next working day.

As per the UKVI reports, the average processing time from Aug 12 for a student visa application has dropped to 03 weeks as compared to the 05-week processing time reported earlier by visa officials.

For additional details, check the UKVI guidance.

Source: icef.com