30 August 2014
There has been a change of location in the processing of UK settlement fiancee, partner and marriage visa applications from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries. All applications submitted on or after 2 September 2014 will be processed at the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) office in Sheffield. The applications were previously processed in Kingston, Jamaica and although passports will still remain in the care of the British High Commission in Kingston, all other supporting documentation will need to be sent to the UKVI office in Sheffield.
The UK Visa Application Centre in Kingston is no longer involved in forwarding complete applications to the UKVI. Applicants must make their own arrangements to courier the documents to the UKVI processing centre in Sheffield. If the application is successful, the UKVI team in Sheffield will send an approval notice to the British High Commission in Kingston, which will then print the visa label and return the passport to the applicant.
Despite the new application procedure for those applying for a UK partner or marriage visa in Jamaica and other Caribbean locations, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is confident that the previous timescale of 15 working days for non-settlement applications, and 60 working days for settlement applications will continue to be met. These timescales are within the UKVI customer service standards. The current Priority Application Service is to be continued, with all documentation being dealt with in Kingston at the Visa Application Centre and all eligible applicants will still be able to obtain their visas within the previous 3 – 5 (10 – 15 for settlement applications) working day window.
