Email from Sopra Steria today...

This looks promising...

"In response to COVID-19, UK Visas and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) is working closely with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to tackle the significant demand for appointments in order to accelerate the application process.

UKVI is changing the way it processes applications in response to COVID-19 (see here). This new way of working involves reusing biometrics (fingerprints) that have been recorded in a previous application as part of the process to verify your identity.

UKVI have identified you as being eligible for this new approach involving biometric reuse.

Importantly, this new digital approach means you will not have to attend an appointment at a UKVCAS Service Point.

We are also working closely with UKVI to develop a new way for you to submit a facial image. Once this is launched, you will have to submit your facial image as part of the identification verification process so that, if leave is granted, UKVI will be able to produce your new biometric residence permit (BRP).

We will be in touch over the next few weeks with the details of this new approach and to confirm next steps.

What if I need my visa due to compassionate or emergency reasons?
Please contact UKVI for further information here.

Please note, your immigration status will not be affected in the meantime. If you do not have a passport or a travel document, please contact UKVI for further advice."


Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

I'm very happy to see this posted because I received the same email on Friday.  It does seem to be good news and I would be 100% okay with it if it weren't for the document situation.  We had planned to have our documents scanned at the appointment for my biometrics, understanding that for a fee they would provide that service.  Since we aren't having an appointment, what should I do about the documents?  I sent in my application in April, so should I just wait for the information about getting a picture done?

I hope you don't mind my tagging on to this post....  lots of confusion for so many and the last thing anyone wants is to somehow mess up this last, and most important, ILR application!   

I'm very happy to see this posted because I received the same email on Friday.  It does seem to be good news and I would be 100% okay with it if it weren't for the document situation.  We had planned to have our documents scanned at the appointment for my biometrics, understanding that for a fee they would provide that service.  Since we aren't having an appointment, what should I do about the documents?  I sent in my application in April, so should I just wait for the information about getting a picture done?

I hope you don't mind my tagging on to this post....  lots of confusion for so many and the last thing anyone wants is to somehow mess up this last, and most important, ILR application!   

I spent hours scanning and then uploading over the weekend. If you don't have a scanner, there are a lot of "scanning" smartphone apps. It was not a fast process but given no other options, I just got it done and over with! I'm really hoping they will be a bit more lenient in case anything is missed with the inability to use any of their services right now. I double checked everything but still feel rather not confident about it all!


*edit to add - when you sign into your UKVCAS account the option to upload documents is along the top. It doesn't show up until you're signed in.
Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Thanks Margo, you are right that scanning docs ourselves and uploading is the smart thing to do.  We do have a scanner - and I'm pretty good with it really - but it's a pain.  Given all that's going on, it's a very minor pain though.  It's just time after all, and I've got loads of that lately!   

We decided to scan and upload our documents ourselves rather than wait for the appointment. We too received the email about not needing an appointment. We are hoping that everything we scanned is ok but if not hopefully they will ask for it to be sent again. We applied for ILR on May 14th.

This looks promising...

"In response to COVID-19, UK Visas and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) is working closely with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to tackle the significant demand for appointments in order to accelerate the application process.

UKVI is changing the way it processes applications in response to COVID-19 (see here). This new way of working involves reusing biometrics (fingerprints) that have been recorded in a previous application as part of the process to verify your identity.

UKVI have identified you as being eligible for this new approach involving biometric reuse.

Importantly, this new digital approach means you will not have to attend an appointment at a UKVCAS Service Point.

We are also working closely with UKVI to develop a new way for you to submit a facial image. Once this is launched, you will have to submit your facial image as part of the identification verification process so that, if leave is granted, UKVI will be able to produce your new biometric residence permit (BRP).

We will be in touch over the next few weeks with the details of this new approach and to confirm next steps.

What if I need my visa due to compassionate or emergency reasons?
Please contact UKVI for further information here.

Please note, your immigration status will not be affected in the meantime. If you do not have a passport or a travel document, please contact UKVI for further advice."


Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Hi...

May I ask when was your application submitted. I submitted mine on the 30 Jun but not certain that I received any confirmation of submission since then, I am now concerned that I may have missed a step. I was passed over to the document upload section and did that as well but somehow I feel that I should have received a formal email for my application.

Appreciate any information that you can share regarding this. Thanks,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NeishNk

I submitted my application on the 15th of May, and I got an email right after saying that my payment was successful and in the body of the email, it stated that this was my confirmation of payment and that my application was submitted. Did you get this email from UKVI? Check your junk folders if you haven't already done so. Ive attached a screenshot of what the email looked like. Hope this helps!

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Sorry that photo isn't clear...

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Sorry that photo isn't clear...

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Txfotochik

Thank you very much. I did actually receive that email but I guess I was looking for something more sophisticated. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Txfotochik

Thank you very much. I did actually receive that email but I guess I was looking for something more sophisticated. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was all I received too, until the update about not needing to give biometrics. Your application isn't complete until you complete whichever biometrics process they decide you need, so I guess that might be why?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

That was all I received too, until the update about not needing to give biometrics. Your application isn't complete until you complete whichever biometrics process they decide you need, so I guess that might be why?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Thank you for the update Margo. Certainly brought some peace of mind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk