Scott's visas

Mongolia has temporarily suspended its next day visa service, in response to the coronavirus situation. This applies to applications for all visa types, and means all applications will now take one week to process. In addition, all applicants must now include an itinerary confirming that they are not travelling to the country from China.

Due to the coronavirus situation, all visa applicants to Japan must now complete an extra questionnaire. This requires information on whether the applicant has travelled, or is going to travel, to Hubei or Zhejiang Provinces in China in the 14 days before arriving in Japan.

On the 2 February the fee for all Schengen short stay visas will increase from €60 to €80, while the reduced rate for certain nationalities and minors will be raised by €5 to €40. Applications will also be accepted up to 6 months in advance, as opposed to the current 3 month limit. These changes are to ensure stronger security screening, as well as helping to ease the difficulties of Schengen visa applications.

The Tanzanian High Commission in London has now completely stopped processing all visa applications. However, the good news is that online eVisas have been launched instead, and are available for the full range of travel purposes. Priced at between $50 and $100 USD for most purposes, they are processed in 2 weeks for most nationalities, although can occasionally take up to 2 months.

The increasingly popular Vfs Visa Application Centre in London's EC2 area  are now handling applications for Ireland as well. There have been no major changes to the application requirements, although many details have changed, but an extra service fee of £30 inc VAT is now charged. The Vfs Visa Application Centre at 66 Wilson St, London EC2A 2BT already manages applications for many other European countries.

The Embassy of Ukraine has appointed Vfs Global to process visa applications on their behalf. As a result all applications will now incur an extra service fee of £14.62 + VAT, and will be processed in the Visa Application Centre at 66 Wilson Street, EC2A 2BT.

Russia has set all consular visa fees for USA nationals to a flat £125, irrespective of the type of visa or the number of entries. There is also now no express service for USA citizens, and all visas process in 15 calendar days. These changes apply to all visa types, including for family members of a Russian citizen.

Uzbekistan have stopped processing visas in the UK, leaving tourist e-Visas as currently the only simple and fast method of obtaining a visa to the country. Other visas are still available, for business in particular, but the application process must now be undertaken in Uzbekistan by an inviting company or individual. Once approval has been granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the visa will issued on arrival in Tashkent International Airport.

Russia have simplified and, in some cases, slightly reduced their visa fees. As of the 4 February most fees in fact reduced by a small amount, although fees for EU citizens were unchanged. Fees charged to Japanese citizens in particular dropped, but increased for nationals of Bangladesh, Turkey, Syria and Pakistan, and work and student visas are now charged at the same rate as all other types.

Uzbekistan, an increasingly popular destination after the ITV series Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure, is extending visa free travel to 45 more countries including the UK. On 1 February EU nationals, as well as Canadians, Australians, Brazilians, Argentinians and nationals of a handful of other countries will join the 8 nationalities already able to travel there without a visa. Visits of up to 30 days, for any purpose, are allowed without a visa under the scheme.