Immigration Corner | Getting documents returned after visa application

Dear Mr Bassie,

When I apply for a UK visa, is it possible for me to have my original documents returned to me before a decision is made? Please let me know.

PD

Dear PD,

Persons might be able to get their passport, visa, immigration or citizenship documents returned if they have sent them with their application but need them urgently.

How they do this depends on whether they applied in the UK or not, and what type of application they have made. However, those persons might have to cancel their application – they will be told if they have to do this when they ask for their documents to be returned.

IF PERSONS APPLIED OUTSIDE THE UK

Those persons should contact UK Visas and Immigration. They will not get a refund if their application has been processed.

They will have three months to collect their passports or travel documents once they have been told that it is ready for collection. If they do not collect their passport or travel document within three months, it will be returned to the authority that had issued it.

IF PERSONS APPLIED IN THE UK

Persons might be able to use the online ‘return of documents’ form. The form explains who can use it and how to get back their documents.

Persons cannot use the online form if:

• They no longer have permission to stay in the UK (their ‘valid leave to enter or remain’ has expired);

• They want to cancel their application to extend their stay in the UK because they now plan to leave;

• Their application to stay in the UK (‘leave to remain’) has been refused or rejected;

• They have applied for asylum.

If persons are eligible, they will usually get back their documents within 10 working days.

IF AN APPLICATION HAS BEEN REFUSED AND PERMISSION TO STAY HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN

If persons do not have permission to stay in the UK and want to leave voluntarily or cannot use the online form, they should contact the Voluntary Returns Service. They will get back their documents at the airport.

Voluntary Returns Service

Telephone: 0300 004 0202

Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Find out about call charges

Persons may be removed from the UK if they do not have permission to stay in the country and do not leave voluntarily. Persons who have applied for asylum should contact their caseworker or the Voluntary Returns Service to ask for their documents to be returned to them.

IF PERSONS DO NOT RECEIVE THEIR DOCUMENTS

Persons can report that they have not received their documents if they have not been returned after 10 working days. Please note that if an application for British citizenship had been made before 1989, their passport would have been sent to their country’s embassy or high commission in the UK.

Please be aware that persons can cancel their request. They should use the cancellation form if they no longer need their documents returned. However, persons cannot cancel the request if it has already been processed.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/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, deputy global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com