When the UN climate talks come to Glasgow this November, we need nothing short of urgent climate action based on justice across the world. Those on the frontlines of the climate crisis will be key to this, and must be front and centre at the negotiations. One huge obstacle in getting to Glasgow will be navigating the UK Home Office’s unjust immigration system to obtain a visit visa. Because of this, the COP26 Coalition has established a Visa Support Service in order to assist people from predominantly Global South countries who are applying for visas for COP26.
Both your visa application and your supporting documents be reviewed by a specialist immigration solicitor. You will also be given a personalised and detailed cover letter to provide to the Home Office. This will set out how you meet each of their Immigration Rules, and thus why you should be granted a visa. While using this service does not guarantee an acceptance of your visa application by the Home Office, we stand in solidarity with you and will do as much as we can to ensure your application’s success. It is our hope that service will reduce the chance of you being refused because of any errors in your documentation and will place you in the best position for Home Office acceptance.
Timeline
We are processing submissions of interest for this service from the 1st August – 17th September. After the 17th September, we will no longer be able to take on new cases because there will not be sufficient time for you to both use our service and submit your application to the Home Office.
Once the service has begun (1st August), we will respond to your request within 1 week of submission in order to tell you whether we have the capacity to support your visa application. If we are able to assist your case, it will take 2-7 days (from when we have received your documents) to review them and write you a personalized cover letter. Depending on how complicated your case is, it might be necessary to meet with you over Zoom and/or review your documents multiple times. This is why it can take up to7 days for your case to move through our service. Below is a timeline of our service combined with the time it will take for your visa application to be processed by the Home Office.
Timeline of Combined Application Processes
| Stage of Application | Straightforward Case | Complicated Case |
|---|---|---|
| Use of the Visa Support Service (after your documents have been uploaded) | 48 hours | 7 days |
| Booking an appointment with a local visa application centre | 1-2 weeks (depending on Covid-19 lockdowns) | 1-2 weeks (depending on Covid-19 lockdowns) |
| Recieving a decision from the UK Home Office | 2-3 Weeks | 3-5 Weeks |
Our Visa Support Service is funded by our crowdfunder – the more we raise, the more people we can assist. Please share across your networks: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/support-global-south-activists-get-to-cop26