Apply for a UK visa in St Helena
Updated 25 August 2022
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In line with official guidance in response to coronavirus (COVID-19), a number of UK visa application centres in St Helena are closed until further notice. For the latest information and to find out if your visa processing centre is affected, contact the Governor鈥檚 office.
To apply for a UK visa in St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha you need to:
- pay your visa fee
- visit the Governor鈥檚 office to provide your biometrics, documents and passport
Important steps to follow when applying online
You must follow the following steps carefully to apply online for a UK visa in St Helena:
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Return to the 鈥楽elect a country to provide your biometrics鈥� page on your visa application form and enter 鈥楽outh Africa鈥� as the country in which you are making your application and wish to provide your biometrics. This is for processing purposes only; you will not need to travel to South Africa.
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On the next page, 鈥楥heck available biometric enrolment locations鈥�, confirm that you have checked available biometric enrolment locations and can travel to a location in the 鈥楳y selected country鈥� field. This is for processing purposes only; you will not need to travel to South Africa.
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Continue with your application as normal.
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Do not follow the guidance on the 鈥楧ocuments鈥� page about providing your documents with our commercial partner. You must instead follow the steps in the 鈥楶rovide documents and biometric information鈥� section below to provide your documents to the Governor鈥檚 Office in Jamestown.
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On the 鈥楥hoose a service鈥� page, select 鈥楽tandard service鈥� (you must not select any other service option). Other service options will not be available to you and will cause a significant delay to your application.
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Check your answers, and then pay for your application if it is correct. You will not be able to change any of your answers after you have paid.
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Do not continue to our commercial partner鈥檚 website to provide your documents and biometrics when you land on the 鈥楩urther actions you must complete鈥� page. This will cause a significant delay to your application. You must instead follow the 鈥楶rovide documents and biometric information鈥� section below to provide your documents and biometrics. You can still download your supporting documents checklist, download your application form and cancel your application and get a refund.
Pay your fee
You must pay for your visa online to complete your application.
If you are applying for a long-term visa (more than 6 months) you will need to to pay the immigration health surcharge (IHS) fee when you are applying and will be given a reference number for the payment.
Your application will not be complete if you have not paid your visa application fee.
Provide documents and biometric information
You can complete and pay your visa fee. After you have completed your online application, you must phone the Governor鈥檚 Office, St Helena to arrange an appointment to provide your documents and biometrics (fingerprints and facial photograph) at the address below.
The Castle
Jamestown
STHL 1ZZ
St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Telephone: +290 22555 or +290 22308
On the day of your appointment, you will be required to provide your biometric data.
You will also need to:
- print out and bring the front page of your application form which is the declaration page that has your barcode on it
- bring your documents checklist
- bring a valid passport and your supporting documents
You can provide photocopies of your supporting documents, but you must bring your passport to your appointment.
Collecting your passport and other documents
After you have provided your biometrics and documents at the Governor鈥檚 office, you will be responsible for sending your documents and passport to the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) office in South Africa, where a decision will be made on your application. The Governor鈥檚 Office will advise how you can do this.
Your passport will not be available to you, during the visa application process.
Contact us
For any enquiry you can contact our international contact service.
Make a complaint
Letters or emails about decisions to refuse a UK visa will not be treated as complaints. If you do not agree with the decision on your visa application, please use the existing appeals channels.
If you have a complaint about how your visa application has been handled, or the conduct of UK Visas and Immigration staff you should follow the complaints procedure.