The Home Office guidance published on 24 March 2020 confirmed that if you are currently in the UK and unable to return home due to the COVID-19 crisis and your current visa expires between 24 January 2020 – 31 May 2020, then your leave will be extended until 31 May 2020.
However, this is not an automatic extension, and you must now notify the Home Office by submitting a COVID-19 UK Visa & Immigration form at https://gov.smartwebportal.co.uk/homeoffice/public/webform.asp?id=199&id2=5C97E7
You will be required to provide the following details:
- your full name (include any middle names)
- date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy)
- nationality
- your previous visa reference number
- why you can’t go back to your home country (for example if the border has closed)
We strongly recommend taking a screenshot of the completed form for your own records both before submission and after submission. After submitting the form you will receive an email asking you to confirm your email address within 48 hours. The Home Office will then respond to you within five working days.
Gherson has extensive experience of all aspects of UK immigration law and is actively assisting our clients with their applications and immigration status during the current period. Should you require any assistance or advice, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please note that the information in this blog is current at the date and time of posting. The situation regarding policy and guidance based on the COVID-19 pandemic is subject to change at short notice. We shall be monitoring all aspects of UK immigration which may be impacted by the coronavirus closely, so please do keep updated with further blogs and articles which we will be posting on this site.
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
©Gherson 2020