Booking an appointment for our premium service

This page explains how you can book an appointment to use our 'premium service' (same-day service) at a public enquiry office in the UK. You can book online, or (in exceptional circumstances) by phone.

Before you book, you should:

• note that you will need to pay a higher application fee for the premium service - see the How much does it cost? page; and
• read all the information on this website about your type of immigration application, and the relevant guidance notes; and
• check whether you can use the premium service for your type of application - see the Types of application page.

You should book only 1 appointment, for the date and time that you need. If you cannot attend the appointment that you have booked, you must cancel or reschedule it.

An appointment must be booked in the name of the person who will attend it. Nobody else can attend the appointment in that person's place. If you book an appointment on another person's behalf, you must give their name and they must attend the appointment. A booked appointment cannot be transferred to a different person.

Do not book speculative appointments. You should not book an appointment until you know that you, or the person who you represent, can and will attend the appointment.

If we find that a person or organisation has offered a booked appointment for sale, we will immediately prevent them from using the service, and they could face action if any wrongdoing is involved.

Do not book a family appointment for a group of unrelated people. Family appointments are only for people who are applying as a family unit under 1 application. Groups of students or employees making separate applications must not book a family appointment, even if they are living at the same address. They must book separate individual appointments. If a group of unrelated people book and attend a family appointment, they will be told to re-book their appointments separately.

What date should you choose for your appointment?

Payments in advance

If you submit your application online under Tier 2 or Tier 5, or using interactive forms SET(O), SET(M), FLR(O), FLR(M) or NTL, you will also pay for your application online. Your appointment at the public enquiry office must be at least 48 hours after you make your online payment, and you must bring your unique payment reference number to your appointment.

If you pay for your application by post before your appointment at the Cardiff or Glasgow public enquiry office, you must send your payment at least 6 working days before the date of your appointment. When you attend your appointment, you must bring your acknowledgement letter containing your unique payment reference number. For information about postal payments, see the How much does it cost? page.

Life in the UK test

If you want to apply for settlement at a public enquiry office, your appointment must be at least 2 working days after you have passed the 'Life in the UK' test. This will allow time for the test result to be sent to us electronically. If the test result is not on our system when you attend your appointment, we will not be able to decide your application on the same day.

If your current permission to stay expires less than 2 working days after you take the test, do not use the premium service. Instead, you should post your application form to the address given on the form.

Online booking

Our online booking service is fast, simple and convenient. It can be used by individuals and by family groups of up to 11 people who are applying together. You can securely:

• search for an appointment by date, time, location and application type;
• request and confirm an appointment slot;
• receive a request confirmation;
• view and print your appointment booking after it has been confirmed; and
• reschedule or cancel your appointment.

You can find a link to the online booking service on the right side of this page.

Before you can book an appointment, you must register to use the service by creating a customer account. You will need a valid email address to create an account. You will then be sent a password, which will allow you to access your account and book your appointment.

You must provide a valid phone number and email address in case we need to contact you.

The date of your appointment must be before your current visa or permission to remain expires.

Booking by phone

If you need to book an appointment for a large family group of 12 people or more who are applying together, please phone 0870 606 7766.

If we publish a news story on this website saying that the online booking system is unavailable for a long time, we will publish a phone number which you can use to book an appointment. This phone booking service will be withdrawn when the online booking system becomes available again.