UK Offers Priority & Super Priority Visas

To manage the significant number of visa applications by Indian students and ensure that Indian students don’t miss their first day on campus, the United Kingdom has started Super Priority and Priority Visa services. The British Ambassador to India, Alex Ellis, took Twitter to announce that the UK government has decided to offer Priority and Super Priority Visas to Indian students.

“If you verify your identity at a visa application center and the service is available in the country you’re applying from, you can choose the ‘priority service.’ There will be an additional cost for this service,” the UK government said.

Talking about the additional cost, apart from the standard fees of £363 for a student visa, applicants will have to pay an additional £500 for a Priority Visa and an additional £800 for a Super Priority Visa.

In an update for Indian students traveling to the UK this fall, Alex Ellis said that Priority and Super Priority Visas are now available for students to meet the high demand for student visas. Once the biometric data is submitted, a student can collect the passport by the end of the next working day, in case of a super priority visa. 

“We are beating our own records for the number of student visas which we have issued globally until June 2022. This coming academic year, we will get even more, and India is the number one source country of students coming to the UK. So, if you are going to study in the UK this year, please apply for your visa now,” Ellis said. He further added, “Make sure you’ve included the right documentation – the offer letter from the university, the CAS, the TB certificates, and your proof of funding. If you want… can apply for the priority visa, which gets you there with a turnaround of about five days, or a super priority visa even quicker. At the moment, we’re dealing with student visas in about 15 days. There is huge demand. So please, Indian students who want to come to the UK. Apply now, get the documentation right.”

As per the latest UK Immigration Statistics data published on August 25, approx 118,000 Indian students received a student visa in the year ending June 2022 – a jump of 89% from the previous year. According to a statement from the UK HC, India has now surpassed China as the nation receiving the most sponsored study visas.