Ordinarily, 92% of visitor visa applications, 94% of work visa applications and 97% of student visa applications are processed within 25 days.  These are indicative timeframes only and should not be taken to mean that we guarantee your application will be processed within these timeframes. 

Applicants should continue to allow at least four weeks for the processing of visa applications.  Some applications may take longer to process than others and we will not necessarily know how long we will take to process your application until it is assessed.

Applications may take longer than four weeks to process if :

• we require further information;
• if documents require verification;
• if there are any issues noted on your Medical or X-ray Certificate that need to be followed up; or
• if we need to refer your application to an onshore branch for processing.

Note: This list is not an exhaustive list of reasons why your application may not be processed within four weeks.

While the London Branch may be the receiving office for your application please note that some applications submitted to the London Branch must be transferred to New Zealand for processing.  This is likely to mean that the processing time is  longer than if the application could be processed in London.  We will contact you should this apply to your application.

It remains important that you provide us with as much time to process your application as possible and we stress that you should not make irreversible travel plans before having your visa issued.  Any bookings made are made at the risk of the applicant.

Don’t forget to check out our tips for lodging a temporary entry application.