The U.K. government announced updates on the change of commercial partner for visa application centers, specifically where and when the new supplier will commence operations.

Key Points:

  • Visa application centers are operated by commercial partners (suppliers) on behalf of U.K. Visas and Immigration.
  • As BAL reported, the commercial partner will change from TLScontact to VFS Global in some locations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia (with other regions unaffected).
  • The government has now provided an updated list of locations where the commercial partner has changed from TLScontact to VFS Global and specifically the date VFS Global started or will start operating visa application centers.
  • Applicants can check an up-to-date list here for locations that have already changed commercial partners.

Additional Information: Applicants should receive email updates from TLScontact and VFS Global if their application is impacted. However, officials stated these changes will not affect application decisions or how long it takes to get a decision. More locations are expected to be added in the future, and applicants can sign up for email updates here to be notified when more locations are added.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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