The U.K. visa application centres across south India will be closed for up to six days from March-end to enable an IT system upgrade for all British High Commissions and Embassies, the UK Border Agency announced on Friday.
The Hyderabad, Cochin and Bangalore centres will be closed from March 31 to April 5. The last date on which the Visa Facilitation Services. (VFS) will accept new applications at these centres is March 30.
In Chennai, the last date for applications is March 31. The Chennai application centre will be closed from April 1 to 5.
During the closure, those who have already submitted their applications will still be able to collect their passports at the visa centres, but only between 9 and 10 a.m.
All visa application centres will reopen on April 6.
The U.K. Border Agency has advised all those intending to travel to the U.K. in April to submit their visa applications as soon as possible. The Agency office in Chennai and the customer enquiry email address will remain closed from April 2 to 6, after which the aim is to resume the normal visa service as quickly as possible.
Further updates
Further updates will be placed on >http://www.vfs-uk-in.com and >http://ukinindia.fco.gov.uk . The VFS Global helpline — (080) 40084008 — is open from 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday for general enquiries.