UK visa in 15 days; UAE residents relieved as processing time decreases

DUBAI - The passenger traffic to European countries and especially to the United Kingdom from United Arab Emirates has surged following a reduction in visa processing time for UAE residents.

Last year, the UAE residents faced hiccups and long delays in their pursuit to enter the United Kingdom due to reasons including a passenger cap levied by the London Heathrow airport.

The delay also led to some of the tourists cancelling their plans altogether because it took seven weeks to process the visitor visa, leaving the UAE tourists in despair who intended to visit London during summer break.

This was compounded by the fact that London Heathrow airport put a cap on departing passengers at 100,000 per day; however, VFS Global has now communicated in a statement that the processing time for UK visas has reverted to the 15 working days standard, and the turnaround time for Priority and Super Priority visas has likewise normalised.

The travel to UK has been made easier now because of multiple factors, the most important of which is removal of Covid restrictions as well as enhancement of capacity by airlines, Khaleej Times reported.

In this regard, specifically Emirates and British Airways have increased capacity, consequently slashing the airfares. The slashing of processing time comes months before families plan to visit the United Kingdom for Eid ul Fitr holidays.