Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether those who have paid for her Department's Priority Service and not received a response within the 60 days' time standard will (a) be reimbursed the fee and (b) have their case processed within a revised time standard; and if she will make a statement.

UKVI’s published timescale for processing standard visa applications is 12 weeks (60 working days) for settlement applications, and three weeks (15 working days) for non-settlement applications. Applications made under the priority visa service will be placed to the front of the processing queue and expedited, however timescales for decision are not guaranteed. If there is a problem with an application or it is complex and expected to take longer than the standard processing timescale, UKVI will write to the customer within the standard processing time and explain what will happen next.

Both UKVI and its commercial partners make clear in communications to customers that the priority visa service fee will not be refunded if processing takes longer than the publicised times or the visa is refused, other than in exceptional circumstances. UKVI will consider refunds in any exceptional cases. These requests should be made via the usual enquiry helpline: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure#how-to-complain