Advice and guidance about your UK Biometrics appointment, including how to book one and what to do if you miss your appointment or forget to upload your supporting documents.
Biometrics is a term given to unique physiological characteristics that aid automatic recognition, any part of you that can provide a DNA sample would be considered a Biometric. They are required for any UK visa application for a visa for longer than 6 months. So, if you are applying for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa or UK Ancestry then attending an appointment will form part of your application.
You will need to make an appointment as part of your visa application. Once you have submitted your application and paid the various fees you will then be able to click the option to book your appointment. See images further down this page. It is a green button that says "Provide Documents and Biometrics"
Unfortunately, and frustratingly(!) you can't! You cannot view the booking calendar until you get to that stage in the process. It is incredibly annoying I know. You may get an answer if you go on some of the forums out there, i.e. asking people how long they had to wait. But to the best of my knowledge you cannot view the appointment booking schedule until you have paid and submitted your visa.
You currently have 240 days to book your appointment. Just be mindful of the visa start date you put down though, you cannot change it!
Also, research though I have, I cannot find any page on the UKVIwebsite about this. Only on VFS. I actually have it written on a Government paper stating it as 45 days. But like so much else there is probably a concession due to COVID. So just bear this in mind.
Perhaps work on the 45 day rule and you'll be okay!
Sometimes the system is a bit glitchy, so check back at another time. Sometimes they get very busy and there are simply no appointments available, cue a panic! But cancellation appointments do come up so just log in regularly to nab yourself one.
You may also be outside of the calendar window - see next point below.
From my experience they generally run on a 4 to 8 week view. So if you want an appointment further than 8 weeks away you might just need to wait it out a few weeks.
At your appointment you will have a digital scan of your face taken and also a scan of your fingerprints. You will also need to handover your passport (unless you have paid to keep your passport during the application process), along with a print out of your Document Checklist which you can download from your UKVI dashboard (image further down this page). Depending on where you are applying from you will either hand everything over or be given instructions to post everything off after the appointment.
Without biometrics information, your visa will not be processed. They are a mandatory part of your UK Visa application. Even after you have completed and submitted your application and paid the fees. nothing will happen until you attend your Biometric appointment.
Your visa application will not be processed. Once it has sat on the system for 240 days then it will be cancelled. I say 240 as that is how long you currently have to book an appointment. See screenshot further up this page.
Once you have completed your online visa you will be shown a green box (see image below) that will then take you to the nominated partner for the UKVI, who will be either VFS or TLS. You are usually logged in to their system directly from the UKVI application dashboard and here you can select an appointment. Depending on the time of year you might be able to get one the same week or you might have to wait a few weeks.
The link to book your biometrics is shown in the screen below.
How To Book Your Biometric Appointment For Your Uk Visa
You will usually only be give options for visa application centres within your country of application. In Australia for example you can choose between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth. but some countries only have one VAC location.
If your question is whether you can apply for a visa in a different country / location to where you live then you should get in touch with us as there are a lot of determining factors here. But at the moment ( as I write this in January 2022) you can apply from a country outside your own.
You need to take along your passport(s), a copy of your Document Checklist, proof of your booked appointment. This is assuming that you have already uploaded copies of your supporting documents directly to the VFS or TLS system. Every visa category requires different support documents so you need to make sure you have uploaded the correct ones before your appointment.
How to download your document checklist
You must take a long a copy of your Document Checklist
The following addresses were correct at the time of writing - 19/09/19
Australia
Canada
Toronto: VF Service (Canada) Inc. 208 Bloor Street West, Suite 601, Toronto Ontario, M5S 3B4
Vancouver: VF Service (Canada) Inc.580 Hornby Street, Suite 440, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2E7 Canada
Edmonton: VF Services (Canada) Inc. Suite 531, Scotia Place-Tower-2 , 10060 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB, T5J 3R8 Canada
Ottawa: VF Services (Canada) Inc.2211 Riverside Drive, Unit 403, Ottawa Ontario, K1H 7X5 (address correct as ofJanuary 2022)
Halifax: VF Services (Canada) Inc.Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites by Hilton, 1960 Brunswick St, Halifax, NS, B3J2G7 Canada
St Johns: VF Services (Canada) Inc. Smallwood Centre, Room UC-4000, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1 Arctic Avenue, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7
Where are the Visa Application Centres in New Zealand?
If you have not yet been to your appointment and it is more than 72 hours away (you can probably change it in 48 and perhaps 24 but I'm not 100% on this so rather not risk it).
You can reschedule online by logging back into your visa account and clicking the green box on the main dashboard (see image below) that says "Provide Documents and Biometrics".
Once in the VFS or TLS system if you cannot see the option to reschedule then look for an 'add-on' service called "Walk in Appointment", if this is not available then head along to your local centre. You will have to pay a fee for a new appointment and be warned it will be a lot more than your original biometrics fee (if you paid one) but the option to do this will be available.
How To Book Your Biometric Appointment For Your Uk Visa
If the system is not letting you then our advice is to head along to your local testing centre during their advertised ‘Walk in’ Appointments.
Ideally yes, as then it is done and you won't forget to do it! But you can upload them later but just be aware that there is no access to this section after you have attended your Biometrics appointment. So to be safe I would say do not leave it more than 48 hours before your appointment.
If there is no option to upload it probably means you are too close to your Biometrics appointment and that function has been disabled.
You may be able to add on document scanning in the additional services offered by VFS or TLS - see image below. If this is not showing either then just take your documents with you to your appointment. Do not worry as both these companies love to upsell you additional services, most of which you do not need so rest assured you will have the option!
