**** COVID19 Biometrics appointments and UKVCAS ***** (Discuss here ONLY)

[negmas]

Hi all,

so I logged back in UKVCAS to upload documents and book an appointment for naturalization application today (last time I used for indefinite leave to remain). But I couldnt get any appointments even up to 27th Sep but do I need to wait for UKVCAS to send an email for IDV or letting me know I can book an appointment? I honestly lost and it seems like people who applied end of Aug, they would have to wait by 14th Sep, am I correct?

if someone could help me with this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

[londonent]

Hi all,

so I logged back in UKVCAS to upload documents and book an appointment for naturalization application today (last time I used for indefinite leave to remain). But I couldnt get any appointments even up to 27th Sep but do I need to wait for UKVCAS to send an email for IDV or letting me know I can book an appointment? I honestly lost and it seems like people who applied end of Aug, they would have to wait by 14th Sep, am I correct?

if someone could help me with this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

There are people from April who have not had an appointment yet! So if you get yours on the 14th of September consider yourself lucky.

[Carrington1234]

Something is not right and very annoying.. applied June 11th and still have no invitation.. why?!!! Why?!!!

april 1 applicant here.. but ILR route.
still waiting for the IDV invite. i escalated this to the "home office coronavirus immigration team" but they sent me a generic email about corona virus causing this delay and the commercial partners will contact me to arrange appointment.

Hello @Carrington1234
I see that you haven't received an invite yet. I was also expecting an invite since last 2 days as invites have reached end of July and my application date is 10/07. I would like to share an error that I noticed in the email that was sent by caseworker which I suspect could be linked to me not receiving the invite yet. The caseworker email has my Tier 2 general extension UAN number from Jan 2019 in the subject line!!! Yes, UAN number from 2019 as subject of my ILR application from July 2020. So, Home office seems to have mixed up my old (approved) application and the fresh ILR application. Not sure if that is the case with you. If you received case worker email, could you please check if the UAN number in the subject of case worker email matches your ILR UAN (which you should find in your application form)? If you haven't received case worker email, could you tell me if you recently (last 2 years) applied for another type of visa? I strongly sense a goof up made by Home Office here which has 'buried' the application invite somehow. Could you please also tell me how did you escalate your case to Home Office? Was it the 0300... number found on gov.uk? or some email address?
Thanks

hello there, i have changed my employer early this year before applying for ILR, so it means that I have a new tier 2 visa. fortunately the UAN in the subject matches my ilr uan..
escalated this by calling 0800 678 1767 and another one 0300 123 2241.

any advice for me if I still unable to receive idv invite after sept 7?

[ALPHA78]

Hi All

I did apply for naturalisation on 31st May 2020 with my other 3 family members on the same application. I did receive the email for the reuse of biometrics. But until now have not received any email for the usage of the UKVCA IDV Application to send the photos . Is any one there have the same situation .

Regards

[iamawonder]

Something is not right and very annoying.. applied June 11th and still have no invitation.. why?!!! Why?!!!

april 1 applicant here.. but ILR route.
still waiting for the IDV invite. i escalated this to the "home office coronavirus immigration team" but they sent me a generic email about corona virus causing this delay and the commercial partners will contact me to arrange appointment.

Hello @Carrington1234
I see that you haven't received an invite yet. I was also expecting an invite since last 2 days as invites have reached end of July and my application date is 10/07. I would like to share an error that I noticed in the email that was sent by caseworker which I suspect could be linked to me not receiving the invite yet. The caseworker email has my Tier 2 general extension UAN number from Jan 2019 in the subject line!!! Yes, UAN number from 2019 as subject of my ILR application from July 2020. So, Home office seems to have mixed up my old (approved) application and the fresh ILR application. Not sure if that is the case with you. If you received case worker email, could you please check if the UAN number in the subject of case worker email matches your ILR UAN (which you should find in your application form)? If you haven't received case worker email, could you tell me if you recently (last 2 years) applied for another type of visa? I strongly sense a goof up made by Home Office here which has 'buried' the application invite somehow. Could you please also tell me how did you escalate your case to Home Office? Was it the 0300... number found on gov.uk? or some email address?
Thanks

hello there, i have changed my employer early this year before applying for ILR, so it means that I have a new tier 2 visa. fortunately the UAN in the subject matches my ilr uan..
escalated this by calling 0800 678 1767 and another one 0300 123 2241.

any advice for me if I still unable to receive idv invite after sept 7?

i am myself looking for some advice. One thing is sure that UKVCAS do not have an accurate system. I see a significant number of applicants still waiting between April and July even though the invites have been sent to end of July applicants. Not sure who can explain the missed invites? I hope they are aware of the people they have missed sending invites to and hopefully they rectify it before 7 September. I am not 100% confident though that UKVCAS even knows about the magnitude of the problem here. Even their helpline is of no use and is unable to give any personalized advice as per applicant's route, date of application etc. Not sure which door to knock!

[alterhase58]

april 1 applicant here.. but ILR route.
still waiting for the IDV invite. i escalated this to the "home office coronavirus immigration team" but they sent me a generic email about corona virus causing this delay and the commercial partners will contact me to arrange appointment.

Hello @Carrington1234
I see that you haven't received an invite yet. I was also expecting an invite since last 2 days as invites have reached end of July and my application date is 10/07. I would like to share an error that I noticed in the email that was sent by caseworker which I suspect could be linked to me not receiving the invite yet. The caseworker email has my Tier 2 general extension UAN number from Jan 2019 in the subject line!!! Yes, UAN number from 2019 as subject of my ILR application from July 2020. So, Home office seems to have mixed up my old (approved) application and the fresh ILR application. Not sure if that is the case with you. If you received case worker email, could you please check if the UAN number in the subject of case worker email matches your ILR UAN (which you should find in your application form)? If you haven't received case worker email, could you tell me if you recently (last 2 years) applied for another type of visa? I strongly sense a goof up made by Home Office here which has 'buried' the application invite somehow. Could you please also tell me how did you escalate your case to Home Office? Was it the 0300... number found on gov.uk? or some email address?
Thanks

hello there, i have changed my employer early this year before applying for ILR, so it means that I have a new tier 2 visa. fortunately the UAN in the subject matches my ilr uan..
escalated this by calling 0800 678 1767 and another one 0300 123 2241.

any advice for me if I still unable to receive idv invite after sept 7?

i am myself looking for some advice. One thing is sure that UKVCAS do not have an accurate system. I see a significant number of applicants still waiting between April and July even though the invites have been sent to end of July applicants. Not sure who can explain the missed invites? I hope they are aware of the people they have missed sending invites to and hopefully they rectify it before 7 September. I am not 100% confident though that UKVCAS even knows about the magnitude of the problem here. Even their helpline is of no use and is unable to give any personalized advice as per applicant's route, date of application etc. Not sure which door to knock!

Not clear from your post but are you applying for ILR or Naturalisation?
You will know that UKVCAS are a contractor for UKVI receiving applications and biometrics. They don't provide specific application advice - that's UKVI's role. Appreciate it's a tough job getting hold of a caseworker, apart from the helpline.

[iamawonder]

Hello @Carrington1234
I see that you haven't received an invite yet. I was also expecting an invite since last 2 days as invites have reached end of July and my application date is 10/07. I would like to share an error that I noticed in the email that was sent by caseworker which I suspect could be linked to me not receiving the invite yet. The caseworker email has my Tier 2 general extension UAN number from Jan 2019 in the subject line!!! Yes, UAN number from 2019 as subject of my ILR application from July 2020. So, Home office seems to have mixed up my old (approved) application and the fresh ILR application. Not sure if that is the case with you. If you received case worker email, could you please check if the UAN number in the subject of case worker email matches your ILR UAN (which you should find in your application form)? If you haven't received case worker email, could you tell me if you recently (last 2 years) applied for another type of visa? I strongly sense a goof up made by Home Office here which has 'buried' the application invite somehow. Could you please also tell me how did you escalate your case to Home Office? Was it the 0300... number found on gov.uk? or some email address?
Thanks

hello there, i have changed my employer early this year before applying for ILR, so it means that I have a new tier 2 visa. fortunately the UAN in the subject matches my ilr uan..
escalated this by calling 0800 678 1767 and another one 0300 123 2241.

any advice for me if I still unable to receive idv invite after sept 7?

i am myself looking for some advice. One thing is sure that UKVCAS do not have an accurate system. I see a significant number of applicants still waiting between April and July even though the invites have been sent to end of July applicants. Not sure who can explain the missed invites? I hope they are aware of the people they have missed sending invites to and hopefully they rectify it before 7 September. I am not 100% confident though that UKVCAS even knows about the magnitude of the problem here. Even their helpline is of no use and is unable to give any personalized advice as per applicant's route, date of application etc. Not sure which door to knock!

Not clear from your post but are you applying for ILR or Naturalisation?
You will know that UKVCAS are a contractor for UKVI receiving applications and biometrics. They don't provide specific application advice - that's UKVI's role. Appreciate it's a tough job getting hold of a caseworker, apart from the helpline.

Are you suggesting that it is a caseworker's role to invite for the IDV? I don't believe so. Caseworker's role is only to decide the application outcome as far as I know.
Invites were to be sent in date order as per UKVCAS's announcement published on their website but that hasn't happened and UKVCAS has not made it clear why on earth there are several applicants from April to July who haven't been invited yet! So, that's the real issue. ILR or Naturalization is not the issue here. Both have been affected. People have been calling UKVCAS as well as UKVI but have only got standard responses.

[negmas]

Hi all,

so I logged back in UKVCAS to upload documents and book an appointment for naturalization application today (last time I used for indefinite leave to remain). But I couldnt get any appointments even up to 27th Sep but do I need to wait for UKVCAS to send an email for IDV or letting me know I can book an appointment? I honestly lost and it seems like people who applied end of Aug, they would have to wait by 14th Sep, am I correct?

if someone could help me with this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

There are people from April who have not had an appointment yet! So if you get yours on the 14th of September consider yourself lucky.

Ok thanks for your msg, Im just bit confused as other than getting an email confirming payment I haven't got any other emails from UKVCAS nor HO. So not sure if I should go ahead and submit all supporting documents or wait to receive an email whether I can use IDV app or not.
anyone got any ideas whats best to do?

[onyx_ng]

Hi all,

so I logged back in UKVCAS to upload documents and book an appointment for naturalization application today (last time I used for indefinite leave to remain). But I couldnt get any appointments even up to 27th Sep but do I need to wait for UKVCAS to send an email for IDV or letting me know I can book an appointment? I honestly lost and it seems like people who applied end of Aug, they would have to wait by 14th Sep, am I correct?

if someone could help me with this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

There are people from April who have not had an appointment yet! So if you get yours on the 14th of September consider yourself lucky.

Ok thanks for your msg, Im just bit confused as other than getting an email confirming payment I haven't got any other emails from UKVCAS nor HO. So not sure if I should go ahead and submit all supporting documents or wait to receive an email whether I can use IDV app or not.
anyone got any ideas whats best to do?

Go ahead and submit all your supporting documents. Once you receive the IDV app invitation, you'll find your documents uploaded in the app.

[Browneyedgirl]

Just had my Biometrics appointment at Croydon. Took a total of 20 mins. Very well organised. The only document they asked from me was my (Indian)passport. I had uploaded a scan of my passport and additional documents beforehand.

The gentleman just scanned all pages from the passport and returned it. I asked if he needed my BRP, to which he replied he just needed the mandatory document (passport). Then took my picture and biometrics. At the end of it, he did confirm that he has a scan of my BRP which is uploaded.

He asked if I was happy to submit all documents, I said yes - although I could not see his screen, I trust he knew what he was doing and had everything he needed (which I felt was opposite to most comments I’ve read and made me feel a little relaxed.)

He did not give me any indication of by when I’ll hear about a decision and I did not ask.

Overall I was happy how it went and how quick it was. Hopefully, the decision doesn’t take too long.

[justdopposite]

I applied for naturalisation on 28 July, and I received the invitation to to use the IDV app on 30 August. I completed the verification, uploaded my documents and submitted them via the app today (31 August).

Likewise. Took me 2 min to take some selfies and submit, which otherwise would've taken me a long drive and £££

[Cocobana]

Finally received my approval today @1200, just to encourage all to be patient we will all get a decision.

[rozearo]

Finally received my approval today @1200, just to encourage all to be patient we will all get a decision.

Do you mean email approval?
I believe you still waiting to receive your invitation as you applied in July.

[Cocobana]

Yes email approval, the invitation letter from post on here is a long wait. So the wait is not in the least over yet

[skasyap]

Yes email approval, the invitation letter from post on here is a long wait. So the wait is not in the least over yet

Congratulations and just to get an idea:
A)What is your application date ?
B) Did you use IDV or Biometric

[Sez30]

Yes email approval, the invitation letter from post on here is a long wait. So the wait is not in the least over yet

When did you apply? And was it IDV App or biometrics?

[CULLINAN]

User Cocobana applied on 8th july and

Opted out on the 7th August got to book an appointment for the 20th at Maidstone this evening.
Paid £69

[Cocobana]

all correct. thanks@CULLINAN.
my application experience can be seen in the naturalisation timeline.

[it-consultant]

Thanks to all members for posting insightful information and giving the feeling that we are all in this together without required information from UKVI and UKVCAS

• Submitted naturalization app on 14th May

• Received IDC eligibility email on 1st Aug

• Been waiting like others for the actual app use email - guess 1 more week max

• Added the UKVCAS and UKVI email IDs to "safe senders" so dont have to keep checking spam

• Downloaded the v1.1 of the app - of course prompts me "This account has no cases enabled for Mobile Access. I do keep compulsively checking it a few times a day as the email notification might be delayed after they enable it for me

To @cullinan : I did not upload any documents for weeks, only passport uploaded in the last week. This might be a parameter for why applicants from May like myself haven't received the invite yet.

Also weird thing I noticed - upon repeated logins to the app - it sends me a 6 digit activation code on my meail which cant really be used (tried in the password field to no avail). Has happened only a couple time in 5 days I have been trying to log in so wouldn't read to much into it - most likely their password reset code gone awry.

[CULLINAN]

To @cullinan : I did not upload any documents for weeks, only passport uploaded in the last week. This might be a parameter for why applicants from May like myself haven't received the invite yet.

I personally think this is not the reason. The actual reason is still unknown. I hope all those waiting for IDV invites are sent before 7th Sep!

[iamawonder]

To @cullinan : I did not upload any documents for weeks, only passport uploaded in the last week. This might be a parameter for why applicants from May like myself haven't received the invite yet.

I personally think this is not the reason. The actual reason is still unknown. I hope all those waiting for IDV invites are sent before 7th Sep!

Agree with @Cullinan and I can vouch for it that document submission has nothing to do with IDV invite as I have submitted every possible document but still no invite. No one knows the reason for sure. I suppose it is just a typical early phase of any new software launch. It is bound to have problems. They must be aware about the issue with app invites not going in order and must be working on resolving the problem. Hope we all get invites soon. Only thing which could have helped is just an update about the current situation even if it was a 1 line update saying that "we are working on sending invites to applicants between March and July who haven't received an invite yet". But I guess customer satisfaction and reassurance is not their top priority..

[krishnakumarg]

To @cullinan : I did not upload any documents for weeks, only passport uploaded in the last week. This might be a parameter for why applicants from May like myself haven't received the invite yet.

I personally think this is not the reason. The actual reason is still unknown. I hope all those waiting for IDV invites are sent before 7th Sep!

They must be aware about the issue with app invites not going in order and must be working on resolving the problem.

I think they don't quite know. I had other technical issues for my application. This is how it was handled.

1. Home office/UKVI generic call centre phone call.
2. Home office/UKVI CIH enquiries phone call
3. Home Office/UKVI CIH helpline email
4. Home Office/UKVI online application support
5. UKVCAS call centre (the £0.04/min one)
6. UKVCAS contact enquiry form online
7. Home office non-tier email service at Sheffield
8. UKVI complaints form online

For each of these 8 contact modes, I had to do at least 2x repetitions.

I used to get robotic/standardized template answers that usually had no bearing to my technical query.

And you know what, after 1.5 months of regular back-and-forth emailing, I just solved the problem myself. It was down to UKVCAS' compulsory use of browser cookies (which my secure browser refused to accept). UKVCAS "tech people" had no clue despite sending them screenshots of the errors etc.

So yeah, they don't know that "Applicant X has not been invited yet".


Also, if you look at my earlier post, IDV app is not anything special. The selfie I uploaded through IDV app just appears as yet another supporting doc among the 5 supporting documents when I went for the in-person appointment a day after the IDV app submission.

[therock]

Just uploaded my docs to IDV.
Any approved applications here for anyone who completed their IDV upload yet?

[skasyap]

Hi All,

Just a bit of information if that helps anyone.

I have spoken to my case worker really nice and very helpful. It looks like there is a separate team who is currently checking information submitted via IDV app and until they confirm all good to case worker he/she can’t do much but wait.

It might take some time but they are working hard to get this over for all of us as quick as possible.

[iamawonder]

Hi All,

Just a bit of information if that helps anyone.

I have spoken to my case worker really nice and very helpful. It looks like there is a separate team who is currently checking information submitted via IDV app and until they confirm all good to case worker he/she can’t do much but wait.

It might take some time but they are working hard to get this over for all of us as quick as possible.

Defeats the purpose of the app to be honest. If there is a manual intervention involved, it isn't much different than uploading a scanned picture and passport.