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Important notice for UK visa applicants

If you are worried about your application being processed on time please consider paying for our Priority Visa service.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

May and August are traditionally the busiest time of the year for the UK visa operation in South Africa. Our overall performance on processing of applications is still well within our published customer service standard of 15 working days for visit applications. However, average processing times vary according to demand and customers may experience slightly longer waiting times than normal at this time of the year.

If you are worried about your application being processed on time please consider paying for our Priority Visa service. For an additional fee, your application gets put to the front of the queue. We cannot guarantee a turnaround time but most Priority applications are processed in 3-5 days.

Although the UK visa website provides our customers with average processing times for the location where they submitted their application, this only shows how long it might take to process your application – it does not guarantee the processing time for your particular visa. Each application is assessed individually and processing times may vary.

See more detailed information or call visa helpline: 0861 837221

Published 23 May 2013