Immigration Update: Change to the Premium Booking Appointment Process

Change to the Premium Booking Appointment Process

From 18 August, those booking a premium appointment at a Public Enquiry Office (PEO) will now be asked to pay their whole fee upfront at the same time as booking an appointment online. This includes the premium fee of £375 and appointment fee of £100.

This replaces the current arrangement whereby representatives with pre-allocated Representative slots for their clients may book appointments directly with the PEO and only the £100 appointment fee is paid in advance at the time of this booking. The balance is paid when attending the appointment. There will be a transitional period until 2 September to allow a phased switch to the new process and therefore it will be possible to book appointments using the current method up to and including Friday 30 August.

Appointments can be managed in the normal way through an online account. If applicants fail to attend their appointment, or cancel it with 5 or less working days’ notice, the £100 appointment fee will not be refunded. 

For those Sponsors who currently use a Representative service to accompany applicants at the PEO, the Home Office has confirmed that they will continue to accept representative cases at all of the PEOs and they are merely changing the booking process.

Further details on the new process can be found here on the Home Office website.

Priority Visa Service Delays in Manila

The Home Office announced on 20 August that due to the current tropical storm in Manila, The Philippines, there will be delays in processing priority visa service applications. All priority visa service applications will be processed as soon as the situation is back to normal.