Residence permit production experiencing technical difficulties, minor delays

IMPACT – LOW

What is the change? The production of biometric residence permits (BRPs) is experiencing technical issues affecting approximately 600 permits.

What does the change mean? Some permits will be delayed because of a date transmission problem between the Home Office and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency. The permits are expected to be delivered to postal offices and available by early to mid-next week.

• Implementation time frame: Immediate and ongoing.
• Visas/permits affected: Biometric residence permits.
• Who is affected: Foreign nationals applying for BRPs.
• Impact on processing times: Some permits have been delayed, but they are expected to be produced and available at postal offices by next week.
• Business impact: Employees with pending BRPs may experience delays.
• Next steps: Affected employees whose permits are not delivered by Monday are asked to return on Wednesday or contact the Home Office. BAL can assist in the process

Background: The Post Office announced April 11 that some BRPs have been delayed due to technical issues. The Home Office confirmed that there have been delays in transmission of data through secure links between the Home Office and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency. Some of the requests automatically timed out after remaining in queue and had to be resubmitted. The Home Office confirmed that 600 permits (not 6,000 cited by the Post Office) were affected, but the permits are expected to be printed and distributed by next week. The underlying data transmission problem is still being investigated.

BAL Analysis: Employees with pending BRP applications should expect minor delays and plan business schedules accordingly.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.

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