Changes to the UK visa application service in Papua New Guinea
UK visa customers in Papua New Guinea will be required to pay a fee to use the visa application service from 24 March 2014.
From 24 March 2014, UK visa customers in Papua New Guinea will be required to pay a fee to use the visa application service and access to the service will be on a limited number of days per year.
Most Papua New Guineans taking a short trip to the UK as a tourist or business visitor won’t be affected by these changes as they do not require a visa.
Under the new arrangements, the visa application service will be run by UK Visas and Immigration’s commercial partner, VFS Global, who already successfully operate UK visa application centres in most countries across Asia Pacific. The new visa service will be located at the British High Commission premises in Port Moresby and will be open 17 days per year by appointment only. The opening dates for the Visa Application Centre will be published in the coming weeks.
The move follows a global review and restructure of UK Visas and Immigration services to increase the number of visa application points and improve services globally, through commercial partner contracts.
The user pays fee enables customers in Papua New Guinea to continue to have access to a local service which would otherwise not be affordable. This is in line with our new global model of charging in low volume locations around the world to ensure customers have the option of a convenient service.
The fee to use the service will be £59 ($US100). This will be in addition to the visa fee and will be charged at the point of booking the appointment and will cover the cost of providing the application submission facilities in Papua New Guinea. Appointments at this Visa Application Centre will not be honoured if this fee is not paid.
We will work closely with VFS Global to ensure continuity of service during the transition period. There will be no other significant changes to the UK visa application process for customers in Papua New Guinea and visa applications will continue to be sent to our visa hub in Manila for assessment by UK Visas and Immigration staff. There will also be no change to processing times.
Further information
Further information on changes to our global visa service is on the UK Visas and Immigration website.