UK visa processing time from India: standard and priority

When the three-week clock starts

GOV.UK’s usual decision time runs from the point you have done three things: applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents. In India, proving your identity means the biometrics appointment at a VFS Global visa application centre, so count from that appointment, not from the day you paid online.

“Usually” is the operative word. Some files take longer, for example when an officer decides to check where the money in an account came from, which the caseworker guidance allows. Treat three weeks as a planning figure with a margin, not as a promise.

The earliest date, and the sensible one

“The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.” Within that window, apply as early as your documents allow. Your statements and letters have to be recent in any case, so applying near the three-month mark costs nothing and buys time if the decision is slow.

If your travel date is fixed by a convocation, a wedding or a business meeting, work backwards: three weeks for the decision, the time it takes to get a biometrics slot at the centre you want, and a margin on top.

Priority and super priority

Both are paid add-ons to the visa fee, listed in the Home Office fee table in force from 8 October 2026.

Check availability before you plan around it

Two GOV.UK lines matter more than the fees: “You will be told when you apply if a priority service is available,” and “Check if your visa application centre offers a priority or super priority service for the visa you’re applying for.” Availability depends on the centre and the visa type.

We could not confirm whether either service is open to visit visa applicants at Indian centres in October 2026, and secondary sources disagree. Check at the booking step before you build a trip on a five-day decision.

A faster decision is not a different decision. Priority applications are judged under the same Appendix V test, so a file with gaps is refused just as firmly in five days as in three weeks.

Visa centres in India, standard and premium

Biometrics are taken at VFS Global’s UK visa application centres. The New Delhi centre moved to VFS Global House, 27 KG Marg, Connaught Place, on 12 January 2026. Other centres reported by VFS include Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Pune and Kochi; check the current list before booking.

VFS also announced optional paid premium application centres in smaller cities, among them Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Calicut, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore and Lucknow. A premium centre changes where you give biometrics, not who decides your application.

The Home Office fee table also lists a “User Pays Visa Application service” at £76.50. Centre charges are separate from the visa fee, so check what your centre adds before you book.

Long-term visas follow the same timetable

Long-term visit visas cost £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 and £1,128 for 10, and go through the same process. They allow repeated visits “of up to 6 months at a time”, which suits parents who visit children every year. The officer can issue a shorter visa than the one you asked for, with no refund of the difference, so apply for the length your travel record supports.

Travel dates and the decision

GOV.UK’s supporting documents guide warns that presenting documents does not mean a visa will follow, and asks applicants to keep that in mind when making any bookings.

With priority, the gap between decision and departure can be short. With a standard application, the usual three weeks can stretch when an officer needs to check something, so any travel date that cannot move needs a margin after the expected decision.

You do not need a reservation for the UK application. If the same journey also needs a Schengen visa, that application does ask for a flight reservation; order it for the Schengen submission day and keep the dates identical in both files.

Questions people ask