Email from home office. Is it a scam?

I applied for FLR(m) the end of March, so have not been able to attend a biometrics appointment therefore I have not been able to upload my documents as I was going to pay to have them checked and scanned in. I received this email from FLRdocuments@homeoffice.gov.uk today and I’m worried that it’s a scam. I also wonder if they are going to base their decision solely on these few things and not give me the chance to send off my cover letter and other supporting documents:

“ We have received an application for further leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

 

Regrettably, the application is not yet valid due to the temporary closure of Sopra Steria sites across the UK.  Because of this, we are aware that you have been unable to book an appointment with Sopra Steria to enrol your biometric data.

 

As biometric data is not yet available to us, we are unable to gain access to the documentation that you provided in support of your application. Because of this, we are actively trying to speed up the assessment of the applications we have received.

 

We are now in the process of assessing your application.  Our interim assessment of your application has indicated that we now require you to scan or clearly photograph and email the below documentation to our email address FLRMDocuments@homeoffice.gov.uk  –

 

Marriage certificate
Documentary evidence to show that you have resided at the same address as your sponsor for the last 2 years for example utility bills, council tax, tenancy agreement if applicable or recent bank statements Evidence of employment -A letter from the employer confirming your name, start dates, job title, salary and etc, payslips and bank statements for last 12 months
 

 

 

Please note that we are not requesting any further information to the documentation you have already provided, we are only asking that you scan and email the same documentation directly to us. Please also note that we can only accept the documentation digitally and not hard copy.

 

Please note that large quantities of scanned documents may exceed our mailbox capacity.  Please be mindful of this and split larger amounts of documents over two or more emails where necessary.  Please remember that we only require specific documents that we have requested in this message.

 

The mailbox FLRMDocuments@homeoffice.gov.uk is for receipt of documentation only.  Other queries in relation to your application should not be sent to this mailbox.  Therefore a response to such queries will not be possible.

 

Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to any queries in relation to Sopra Steria and biometric enrolment appointments.  Please refer to the Sopra Steria website at www.soprasteria.co.uk

Best Regards

 

FLRM Case Preparation Team

Visas and Citizenship, UK Visas and Immigration

 

**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are private and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please return it to the address
it came from telling them it is not for you and then delete it from your system.
This email message has been swept for computer viruses.
**********************************************************************

What’s the email address it came from?

There isn't anything up on the coronavirus website about them asking you to email documents. I would contact their hotline tomorrow.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents#if-youre-applying-to-enter-the-uk-or-remain-on-the-basis-of-family-or-private-life

I applied in May and haven't received that yet.

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I've received email communication from the home office before. I applied for expedited flr(m) and on the same day they emailed and asked for me to scan one of the declarations they said was missing. It was from a homeoffice.gov.uk address from the case handler.

The email was from FLRdocuments@homeoffice.gov.uk

I don't think it's a scam. I think it's potentially their way of working through the applications without sopra.

We applied for the FLR extension in April and have been unable to make a biometrics apptmt yet. However we did receive a short email from a homeoffice.gov.uk address letting us know that the processing of our application was taking longer than the standard 8 weeks.  They did not ask us to upload documents yet so I guess we are further back in the queue (especially since we are in Scotland and coming out of lockdown slower than England).   

There should be an option in your UKVCAS account on the Sopra Steria website where you can upload your documents now, even though you can't book an appointment yet.

Others who have applied recently have said they've been able to upload their documents to the website, so maybe you could do that while you're waiting for the centres to open up again.

There should be an option in your UKVCAS account on the Sopra Steria website where you can upload your documents now, even though you can't book an appointment yet.

Others who have applied recently have said they've been able to upload their documents to the website, so maybe you could do that while you're waiting for the centres to open up again.

I'm wondering if it's worth uploading the scans if we are going to have to send them separately. Once you register on UKVCAS it does have the spot for you to upload your docs. It sounds like UKVI are trying to work through the backlog and have an "approval pending biometrics completion" or similar. I can only imagine how far behind they are after 2.5 months of no service!

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I'm wondering if it's worth uploading the scans if we are going to have to send them separately. Once you register on UKVCAS it does have the spot for you to upload your docs. It sounds like UKVI are trying to work through the backlog and have an "approval pending biometrics completion" or similar. I can only imagine how far behind they are after 2.5 months of no service!

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Ah, I was figuring that if you uploaded them now, they wouldn't have to request the documents from you later, but I just re-read the email and see that it says they can't access the documents via Sopra Steria, so yeah, that's a good point.

I just posted this on another thread but it seems relevant here so I will post it as here as well.

I submitted online on April 15 and on May 27 I received one (slightly strange) email saying that my online application had been received. The email subject line is "Spouse of a Settled Person" and it reads as follows:

Thank you for your Spouse of a Settled Person application.
Due to operational constraints relating to COVID-19 we have been unable to process the application within service standard. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will aim to process your client's application as soon as possible.
 Kind regards,
 M**** A****
 AO Caseworker¿ FLR(M)
Marriage & Family Casework
Visas & Citizenship, UK Visas & Immigration

Has anyone else who submitted post-lockdown received such a email? In this post, I have blocked out the full sender's name, as I'm not sure it's considered appropriate to post people's actual names on this site. This email reads a little awkwardly and I even wondered briefly about its authenticity as the email 'sender' was not UKVI but simply was the person's name. The address was their name@homeoffice.gov.uk
Note that it refer to 'your client's application' when in fact it is my own application.
I did manage to upload all my documents a little while after I submitted. I have not received any correspondence about my documents.

Here’s my tupence.

Yes. I reckon both those emails are genuine and this is why: the Civil Service isn’t that used to emailing ‘the public’. They aren’t allowed templates (what the actual??? But yes, it’s true) when an email isn’t auto-generated.

These are strange times and this is not the usual way of doing business. But ukvi are having to adapt because their work can’t be paused forever.

They will have a lot of caseworkers emailing who have not previously been emailing out to the public. And more caseworkers doing unfamiliar work will mean it sometimes lacks finesse. And that makes legit requests feel scammy even when they aren’t.

To see if they are genuine, you might ask them for part of your application reference number, or the date you applied. If they respond with the right answer, they’re genuine.


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To see if they are genuine, you might ask them for part of your application reference number, or the date you applied. If they respond with the right answer, they’re genuine.

That's a very good idea!

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So we just received a similar  email asking us to upload supporting documents to a home office email.  I am not comfortable sending sensitive information such as passports and bank statements via standard email.  it is not a secure method.  I am wondering whether the original poster has an update that they can share.  Does it seem a little crazy that the home office can't access documents that are uploaded onto the  Sopra Steria website if you have not been able to book a biometrics apptmt?  I don't even understand why they need a biometrics apptmt when they have all that info on file from our original application.


   

Sopra is a different company entirely. The home office doesn't get the documents until they hit send at biometrics. This is how they're working through the back log unfortunately. And it's going to last a long time. I've heard through the grapevine that they won't be back in physical offices until the new year.

In regards to sending sensitive info over email, I agree with you.  Ultimately, it's up to you if you send the info or not. The only thing that will happen if you don't is that a decision will take longer.