Opt Out of IDV App for Scanning Service

Howdy,

I've received the email stating I am eligible to [EDIT] reuse my biometrics, however I want to use the scanning service. I presume that means I need to opt out of the IDV app and wait to be contacted to arrange an in person appointment. Can this be confirmed?

Thank you!

Howdy,

I've received the email stating I am eligible to refuse my biometrics, however I want to use the scanning service. I presume that means I need to opt out of the IDV app and wait to be contacted to arrange an in person appointment. Can this be confirmed?

Thank you!

That is how it reads on the email. We are going to wait for the app as we have already scanned and uploaded our docs but the email says:-

Here are the steps to follow:

Send UKVCAS an email from your UKVCAS registered email address to admin.ukvas@soprasteria.com by Friday 7 August.

Include the words ‘OPT OUT’ and your 16-digit Unique Application Number(UAN) as the subject line.

In the email, state your name (and the names of other applicants in your group if applicable) and that you want to opt out of the IDV app.
If you opt out on or up to 7 August 2020, UKVCAS will send you an email during week commencing 10 August 2020 inviting you to book an appointment at a UKVCAS service point.

That is how it reads on the email. We are going to wait for the app as we have already scanned and uploaded our docs but the email says:-

Here are the steps to follow:

Send UKVCAS an email from your UKVCAS registered email address to admin.ukvas@soprasteria.com by Friday 7 August.

Include the words ‘OPT OUT’ and your 16-digit Unique Application Number(UAN) as the subject line.

In the email, state your name (and the names of other applicants in your group if applicable) and that you want to opt out of the IDV app.
If you opt out on or up to 7 August 2020, UKVCAS will send you an email during week commencing 10 August 2020 inviting you to book an appointment at a UKVCAS service point.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks for confirming it was your understanding as well!

Correct, we also opted out in favour of appointment, scanning and biometrics


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Today I received my email inviting me to book an appointment.

I could've shown when I submitted my application I was told my evidence needs to be submitted by Aug 27th, however and the centres are booked til Sept. I assumed this was okay, but thought I would check.

I also wanted to ask about the pricing. I thought the cost of biometrics was about £20 And the cost of scanning was £40, but the appointments all start at £110. What is that charge for?

I could've shown when I submitted my application I was told my evidence needs to be submitted by Aug 27th, however and the centres are booked til Sept. I assumed this was okay, but thought I would check.

You can only attend an appointment when there is one available. If they aren't available until September, there's nothing you can do about that. You book one when you can and attend it.

I also wanted to ask about the pricing. I thought the cost of biometrics was about £20 And the cost of scanning was £40, but the appointments all start at £110. What is that charge for?

The biometrics itself costs £19.20, which is separate to any booking fees on the UKVCAS website. You will have already paid the £19.20 as part of your visa fee (which for FLR(M) should have been £1053.20... £1033 visa fee plus £19.20 biometrics).

However, the biometrics appointments themselves may also cost extra on top of the £19.20, and then you may have to pay extra on top of the appointment fee for services like document scanning (depending on appointment type selected).

The various biometrics appointment options are:

Basic Appointments

£0 = free appointment where they only take your biometrics.... usually several weeks wait for these, but looks like they are not currently available at a lot of locations. Only available at Core Service Points (I believe)

£110 = same-day, next-day or out of hours appointment where they only take your biometrics.... with Covid though, looks like earliest appointments are in September. Available at Core and Enhanced Service Points

Additional services you can add to £0 or £110 appointments:
£50 = document scanning
£45 = document checking

Other appointment types

£69.99 (approx.) = enhanced appointment, which includes document checking and scanning. Only available at Enhanced Service Points

£210-270 (approx.) = premium appointment, which includes scanning and you get tea, wifi, and magazines and stuff. Only available in London, Birmingham and Manchester

£75 = express appointment, in and out in 30 minutes, and they can only scan a maximum of 50 pages. Only available at certain locations

No price listed as you have to enquire = VIP Service where they come to your home to take biometrics (probably extremely expensive)

Hi All,

Quick update from our end.

Submitted online application for FLR M June 12th, received emails about opt in for the IDV app first week of August, we decided to opt out and go down the appointment route.

Attended biometrics appointment (with scanning service for documents) today September 5th in London, in and out in about half an hour or so.

Note: there are NO free appointments on the system, so those of you who are opting out and wishing to go down the biometrics appointment route please note that free appointments will be about a 2-3 months wait. We paid an extra £110 for an appointment (which are normally same day or next day appointment, but even then ours was for September, which was a few weeks out from when we received the acknowledgment email inviting us to book the appointment!)

The additional document scanning service was £49.99. (Following on from the scanning service, you will be able to verify this by logging back into the Sopra Steria site and it will show that documents have been uploaded)

The one thing I did notice is when my wife attended the biometrics appointment today in London, she was out in about 30 mins however for some reason the advisor at the centre did not take a copy of MY passport (immigration status of the sponsor, british citizen) I told my wife to go back inside and Explain that the applicant sponsor Passport is a mandatory document and therefore he should take a copy of it. Advisor explained it was not required but he scanned a copy of my passport anyway....

Other than that it was a straightforward process.

TIP: Advisors at sopra steria centres really do appreciate documents being in order if you require the scanning service, it makes their job so much easier and quicker so please try not to go in there with messy docs!


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Could I please ask what the benefit is of opting out of the IDV?  I'm trying to avoid paying for an appointment so would be happy if they will reuse our last biometrics, but I can see that people still want to book appointments.  Just trying to understand the different benefits of each option.

Could I please ask what the benefit is of opting out of the IDV?  I'm trying to avoid paying for an appointment so would be happy if they will reuse our last biometrics, but I can see that people still want to book appointments.  Just trying to understand the different benefits of each option.

For me as someone who works in tech, I was just not comfortable in using an app that was developed relatively quickly and in all honesty it was also more for the scanning service.


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Fair call.  Thanks for the response.  There seem to be too many options and none of them seem optimal!

Could I please ask what the benefit is of opting out of the IDV?  I'm trying to avoid paying for an appointment so would be happy if they will reuse our last biometrics, but I can see that people still want to book appointments.  Just trying to understand the different benefits of each option.

Earlier in the summer, the people invited to biometrics because theirs couldn't be reused were getting their approvals quickly. However, now that the app has been released and more biometrics centres have reopened it doesn't still seem to be the case. It will be very interesting to see when j2j receives their BRP vs the first app users. I fully anticipate there will be teething issues with the app, but I had already uploaded my documents in June so I didn't need that service. I think right now everyone just has to continue being patient and do what is best for their individual circumstances, I am somewhat high risk for Covid so less travelling and contact with people is better!

Howdy there,

Just for completeness I wanted to post:

June 25th - I submitted my online FLR(M) application
August 4th - I opted for an in person appointment cause I wanted the scanning service
August 13th - I was invited to book my in person appointment.
September 2nd - Attended my appointment
September 11th - Received an email stating my visa has been approved!

I would like to note I opted for the £135.00 appointed as it includes scanning, so ends up being cheaper than a standard appointment with scanning service added on (it was also closer to me).

When I originally submitted my application I was told my evidence needed to be submitted by August 27th, that ended up not being possible and was not a problem.

I had everything very organised for scanning and the staff noted several times how helpful it is for everything to be in order. I was organised to make it easier for me to check myself, but it's nice to know it helps everyone.

My appointment was about an hour, the scanning took AGES and I had to prompt the staff to scan my spouses passport along with my old passport and my BRP card... So be diligent and make sure it all gets scanned.

BRP card arrived in the post today!

Congratulations! 

BRP card arrived in the post today!

Whoohoo!!!!
Congratulations Mitch!
GO CELEBRATE!


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