Home Office reintroduce Priority Service for Family Visa applications
The priority service for family visa applications was reinstated on the 20th February 2023. It was withdrawn almost a year ago to enable the Home Office to prioritise applications made by Ukrainian nationals and the service standard for family settlement visa applications also increased from 12 weeks to 24 weeks. Whilst the service standard for non-priority applications is still 24 weeks at the moment, for an additional fee of £573 it is now possible to obtain priority treatment when making a new family visa application.
Using the service should mean that your visa application is decided within 6 weeks of the visa application centre appointment (or use of the ID Check App) although this is not guaranteed if your application is deemed to be complex. This is great news for partners and other family members of British citizens or those settled in the UK.