Sponsored Workers Over the Festive Period

As the festive period fast approaches, UK visa applicants should be prepared for slower visa processing times and visa application centre closures.

Between 23 December 2022 to 2 January 2023, visa application centres in the UK and abroad will be closing or operating on limited hours or staffing.

Which visas are affected?

All UK visa applications may be affected by the upcoming application centre closures and processing delays.

Who is affected?

UK employers and foreign nationals applying for UK visas in December 2022 and January 2023.

What will be the impact on visa processing times for Skilled Worker applicants and their family members?

Applicants can expect processing delays from the festive period (beginning mid-December 2023) until early January 2023. Appointment availability is likely to be reduced both for in-country and out-of-country applications.

Availability of overseas priority services, which reduce processing times to approximately five working days for Skilled Worker applicants, are currently limited and not guaranteed. Priority services outside of the UK are still not always available to be purchased online for dependant applicants. Some visa application centres may offer the priority service to those individuals during their visa appointment, but this is not guaranteed.

Standard processing times for in-country Skilled Worker Route extensions, switches, and changes of employment applications have recently increased from eight weeks to nine weeks. In-country Skilled Worker applicants including their family members can benefit from the priority service, or the super priority service if attending an in-person appointment, however these services may also be subject to delays.

Will there be a business impact?

Businesses should anticipate delays of one-two weeks in some instances and a possible visa processing backlog immediately following the holidays.

Why is this happening?

Since Christmas 2022 falls on a Sunday, official UK public holidays will be observed on 26 December and 27 December. Additionally, some visa application centres may be closed or observe half days on 23 and 24 December and operate at reduced capacity during 28 – 30 December. The New Year’s Day public holiday will fall on 2 January 2023 and visa centres will be closed on this date.

We encourage applicants to allow for longer visa processing times, and to factor in potential strike action at UK airports when planning business schedules over the festive period. In addition, those with travel plans to and from the UK in December should check with their airlines for updates.

Need to know more?

For UK visa immigration enquiries, please contact Senior Associate Kiran Dhillon at [email protected] or the Fragomen London team at [email protected].

This blog was published on 14 December 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.