General Updates
Estonia
Effective 18 August 2022, Estonia will reject Schengen visa applications from Russian citizens. Moreover, Russian citizens already holding a Schengen visa issued by Estonia are not permitted to enter Estonia.
Similarly, Finland has reduced the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens by 90%, and the Latvian government has proposed to suspend the issuance of residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens until 30 June 2023.
United Kingdom
Effective 12 August 2022, UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) has reintroduced priority services for applicants for sponsored work and student visas from abroad.
Where available (check here), new customers applying in these eligible routes will now have the option to select Priority Visa (PV) and Super Priority Visa (SPV) appointments. There is no reduction in the volume of PV and SPV appointments available but please note that PV and SPV services must be purchased online during the appointment booking process and cannot be purchased in the Visa Application Centre or retrospectively.
Visit Visas
The volume of Priority Visa appointments available for new visit visa applications continues to be reduced to enable UKVI to process more standard applications and gradually reduce the overall processing time for all customers. Appointment availability for Super Priority services (SPV) for new visit applications will not be reduced, where this service is available.
Family Applications
Priority and super priority services for new family applications continue to be suspended. UKVI continue to monitor this, and updates will be provided once these services are ready to be resumed.
