Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons visa applicants are unable to access a local rate 0330 number to contact UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services until they have succeeded in making such an application; what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have had to use the premium rate telephone number; and how much revenue was received in revenue from that premium rate number in the last 12 months.

The Home Office holds limited information relating to the number of customers who have used the premium line number to contact the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services. In total, 13937 calls have been made to 0900 premium line number from the start of the UKVCAS contract in November 2018. This represents 5% of UKVCAS customers who made an application during this time period. The Home Office does not hold details of the revenue generated through calls made to the premium rate number.

The premium line referenced is an optional added value service, which offers general support to customers, before, during and after their appointment and assists them in finding information and choosing which Service Point to attend. The service utilises a premium rate (09) telephone number, registered with Ofcom and offers full cost transparency. Customers who do not wish to avail themselves of this chargeable service, may also contact SSL via their website, where they can choose from two options “make an enquiry” or “make a complaint”. Once an appointment has been booked a ‘0330’ number is provided to customers to support with appointment-related queries. The ‘0330’ number is not for general queries relating to the service.