Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives has revealed the UK Temporary Visa Application Centre has closed after providing its services for 3-days. Due to increased demand, the services provided by the centre were extended until August 9. The visa centre took the biometric enrolments and documents from all applicants who have made prior appointments.
The UK government established the Visa Application Centre in the Maldives on the request of the Maldivian government to ease the process for those applying for UK visas, especially for students travelling to UK for higher studies.
The Maldives Government said it saw it as an important step in strengthening the services provided to Maldivians as part of the foreign policy of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
This year, UKVI arranged more streamlined visa process that required Maldivian students to submit a fewer number of documents with Tier 4 visa application. This is an optional service and those in Maldives are free to travel to the nearest visa application centres in Sri Lanka or India.
Maldives was added by UKVI to a list of countries known as Appendix H. This means Maldivians, along with other applicants from Appendix H countries, who are applying for Tier 4 visas will not be required to provide evidence of finances, qualifications or evidence of English language ability with the application, although applicants must still meet these requirements with UKVI reserving the right to request the documents in certain cases.
The UK welcomes students from Maldives, and recognises the contribution made to the UK, both intellectually and culturally. The streamlined visa processes hopes to provide greater access to Maldivian students as they access the UK's internationally recognised higher education system.