UK visa leave Kiwis in limbo

Young Kiwis planning to travel to UK have cancelled flights and lost money on booked travel plans because of “significant” delays processing working holiday visas.
A Kiwi submitted her application for a Tier 5 general migrant visa, paying an extra £120 (NZ$213) for “priority service”.
Six and a half weeks later, She still has no idea when she can expect a decision on her application.
UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) says it aims to process applications within 15 working days. Those who have paid for the priority service would be fast-tracked.
“I’ve spent about £150 (NZ$266) on calls trying to get to the bottom of why it has taken so long and there’s no end in sight,” She said.
She received an email from the UK visa contact centre in Sheffield last night apologising for the delay. The email said her application “has been escalated to a manager for consideration” and a decision would be made “as soon as it could”.
The delay forced her to forgo her flight. She also gave up her job in NZ, thinking she’d be in London already.
She received an email from UKVI which said her application wasn’t “straightforward” — a message she has since discovered was sent to many New Zealand applicants.
“They had changed their process, but instead of saying that, they make it sound like there’s something wrong with your application. The main issue is that there’s been no clear communication. Our passports could be anywhere in the world.”
Multiple New Zealanders have posted on the social media sites of Kiwis in London (KIL), an organisation which connects Kiwis on their travel to the UK capital, to express their frustration.
One woman, who preferred not to be named, said she was afraid she would be thousands of dollars out of pocket if she didn’t receive her visa soon.
The woman applied for a Tier 5 youth mobility visa and has paid to email the UKVI contact centre four times.
After her second email, she was told her case would be “escalated” but her last two emails have gone unanswered.
“All I want to know is where my passport and visa application are and whether I’m going to miss out on my travel plans, which I don’t believe will be covered by travel insurance,” she said
A spokesperson for the UK Home Office confirmed the processing centre for New Zeland visa applications was recently moved from Manila to Sheffield “in line with our global on-shoring plans”.
“UKVI continually reviews its global visa operation to improve performance and ensure it continues to deliver fast and fair decisions to customers.”
The centre could not provide status updates on applications until 15 working days after submission, the spokesperson said, at which time applicants should contact the customer enquiry service.
A COSTLY AFFAIR
However, many Kiwis have found the service unhelpful and unacceptably costly.
Another traveller, who wanted to remain anonymous, said emails saying applications were not straightforward were “a bit of a cop out”.
“They’re keeping priority fees for everyone, and as far as I’m aware they haven’t hit the promised target for anyone,” she said.
“Priority and non-priority are basically the same thing now, but they’re charging a non-refundable $300 for a service they’re not providing.”
She said it had become harder — and more expensive — to contact the centre since it outsourced its customer service team to a private firm.
“Now you have to pay £5 to even send an email and £20 to make a call (plus minute fees). I emailed them about three days before they outsourced and they’re supposed to have a one-day turnaround and they just ignored it. I didn’t want to pay fees to be given generic answers.”
The UK Home Office announced in May it had contracted out its customer enquiries service to Sitel UK, which charges £5.48 per email sent.
Not all New Zealanders who have applied for UK visas have experienced delays, however. Some KIL members who said they applied for theirs two to three weeks ago have received them already.

