Appointment delays
You will notice that all EU embassies in London are struggling at the moment and have long delays for appointments.
Please note that the Embassy does not work with external agencies and that appointments are free of charge.
When making an appointment, the online TLS system will show a calendar of available appointments relating to your visa category in real time.
Our booking calendar shows 4 weeks of appointments. New appointments are released into the booking system each day for J+7. They get booked up very quickly, that is why you are advised to arrange an appointment several weeks before your travel.
Unfortunately, we are unable to help you find an earlier slot.
Emergencies:
A very limited number of expedited appointments can be offered on a discretionary basis in exceptional, urgent and unforeseen circumstances (such as medical emergencies), based on the supporting documents provided by email.
Tourist trips or last minute school or university trips will not be considered as genuine emergencies.
Gambian Nationals
To reflect the progress made by The Gambia in the execution of return flights and operations, the visa application fee of 120€ has been rolled back.
There is still a waiting period of 45 days before the applications are processed.
All types of passports and categories of Gambian applicants are covered, except:
- children under 12 (art.16(2)bis Visa Code);
- Gambian family members of an EU national to whom Directive 2004/38 applies and family members of a third-country national who enjoys a right of free movement under an agreement between the EU and one third country;
- without prejudice to cases in which the MS is linked to an international obligation (primarily when an international intergovernmental organization (NATO / EU for BE) has a headquarters agreement in the MS or when the MS hosts an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations);
- without prejudice to Article 16(6) of the Visa Code (< as a reminder: individual cases in which visa fees may be reduced or not collected to promote cultural, sporting, foreign policy, development, other areas of essential general interest, humanitarian considerations)
Ethiopian Nationals
On April 29th 2024, the European Council decided to temporarily suspend certain elements of the EU law that regulates the issuing of visas to Ethiopian nationals. In particular, it will no longer be possible for member states:
- to waive requirements with regard to the evidence to be submitted by Ethiopian visa applicants
- to issue multiple entry visas
- to waive the visa fee for holders of diplomatic and service passports
There is also a waiting period of 45 days before the applications are processed.
This decision follows an assessment by the Commission, which concludes that cooperation by Ethiopia in the field of readmission of its nationals illegally staying in the EU is insufficient. There is a lack of response from the Ethiopian authorities with regard to readmission requests and difficulties persist with the issuance of emergency travel documents and with the organisation of both voluntary and non-voluntary return operations.
The suspension decision is temporary but does not come with a specific end date. The Commission will continue to assess any progress made on readmission cooperation.
Quality of applications
We notice a significant decline in the quality of the submitted visa applications in the UK. The list of required supporting documents is available to the public HERE. It can then be considered that the presentation of an incomplete file means that the applicant either does not take his/her application seriously or is unable to present the requested documents and the consulate will take the decision on the basis of the application file, as presented, whether complete or not.
It should be clear that the Embassy will decide on your visa-application based on the supporting documents in your original file. For missing or non-conforming documents it is settled case-law that it is up to the claimant who wishes to convey information pursuant to a claim that may have an influence on the assessment of his administrative situation, to fully inform the administration which, for its part, cannot be required to carry out numerous inquiries, on pain of making it impossible to respond within a reasonable timeframe to the numerous requests it receives.