Immigration Corner | I want my documents back

Dear Mr Bassie,

I have made an application for a United Kingdom visa and I have sent all required original documentation. Unfortunately, I need to retrieve some of these documents urgently. Is there any possibility that I may be able to retrieve these?

- B.D.

Dear B.D.,

Persons are able to get their personal, original documentation back after making their visa, immigration, or citizenship applications. Persons can ask for their passport and other documents to be returned if they have sent them with their application but need them urgently. How this is done will depend on whether the application was made in the United Kingdom or elsewhere and what type of application was made. Please note that the applicant might have to cancel the application. He/she will be told if this has to be done when they asks for the return of their documents.

If persons have applied from outside of the United Kingdom, they should contact UK Visas and Immigration. Please note that persons will not get a refund of the application fee if the application has been processed.

If the application was made from within the United Kingdom, then applicants should complete the online form to get their documents returned. Persons cannot use the online form if either their application has been refused and they do not have permission to stay ('leave to remain') in the United Kingdom or if they have applied for asylum. Persons will usually get their documents back within 10 working days. However, persons can get their documents back more quickly if they ask for a faster decision on their application. This costs £490 (approximately J$86,000) in addition to the application fee that had already been paid.

If the application has been refused and the applicant does not have leave to remain then he/she should follow the instructions on their refusal notice or contact the Voluntary Returns Service at the email address or phone number below:

Servicevoluntaryreturns@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300-004-0202

Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to

5:30 p.m.

If the application was for asylum, then persons should contact the assigned caseworker to ask for the return of the documents. If persons do not receive their documents after 10 working days, they can report this to the British authorities.

Just for completeness, if persons applied for British citizenship before 1989, their passports would have been sent to their country's embassy or high commission in the United Kingdom.

In addition, persons can cancel their request. In such circumstances, persons should use the cancellation form if they no longer need their documents returned. However, it should be noted that persons cannot cancel their request if it has already been processed.

- John S. Bassie is a arrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com.