If you have been waiting for over four months to receive your passport after making a UK visa application, then you are probably a victim of a latest scam targeted at UK Visa applicants.
Completing the UK visa application form and the entire visa application process, is one of the simplest when it comes to visa applications in exception of frequent travelers who may have tough time recording all their past travels.
Nonetheless, some visa applicants still seek for the services of visa contractors, also known as connection men when making a UK visa application. While many have jeopardized their travel opportunities and lost huge sums of monies, the latest scam even prevents applicants from receiving their passports.
The visa contractors use their personal email addresses and phone numbers for the visa application. UK Home Office sends emails to applicants once a decision is made on their application and an additional email from their commercial partner follows up to inform applicants to pick up their passports. Usually when the visa is denied, the Home Office will include the Notice for Refusal (Refusal letter) in the email. In order not to let the applicant know that the visa has been denied, visa contractors keep the emails to themselves while the applicant keeps waiting forever to hear from the embassy.
I have received several of such complaints and after I advised the applicants to go to the visa application center for their passports, they got them. The applicants would have waited for ages thinking that their visa applications are still under consideration.
People who are very gullible are likely to consider the passport missing and apply for new one.
Are you still waiting for your passport?
According to information available on the Gov.uk website, 97% of General Visit (6 months or less) visas take 15 days to process. The remaining 3% takes up to 120 days. So if you have waited for over 4 months, you are likely a victim of this scam if you didn’t do the application yourself.
You are still waiting because your email address wasn’t used and as such you have no knowledge of the status of your application. Just go to the visa application center and I bet that your passport is there waiting for you.
How to avoid this
The best way to avoid this is to complete the visa application form yourself. While you are encouraged to seek professional advice where necessary, completion of the application form must be done by yourself as you are responsible for any information provided as part of your application.
If you cannot read and write, engage the services of a trusted agency and make sure you have access to the email address used (lol … but you read this).
I know upon all these, people who are very capable of completing the forms themselves would still want someone to fill for them. Just make sure you have verified every single information entered and that the email address used belong to you.
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