Can we get temporary travel documents while our passports are stuck at the UK consulate?
Does the British High Commission provide any emergency travel document, a letter, or even temporary return of our passports with which non-Indian Visa Applicants could travel back to their home country?
I, along with my kids, have applied through VFS and have been stuck in Delhi for the past 10 days. I am starting to get worried, not for the outcome of the visa application, but for the mid-term exams of my kids, which start in a couple of days, and for me running out of my office leave.
We are Afghan nationals. Our passports are with the BHC as we await visa decisions. Would there be a way to retrieve our passports so we can return home, and then send in the passports (through courier or in person) when a decision is reached?
I was asking whether the BHC would provide a letter, saying that the passports are with it, and whether such a letter could be used for immigration purposes until the passports are returned. I was told by someone that he received such a letter sometime back (or maybe I misunderstood).
Best Answer
Does the British High Commission provide any emergency travel document,
No, British consulates would only issue travel documents to British citizens or British subjects. Some exceptions could also be made for refugees who received permission to relocate to the UK. None of those apply to your situation.
I see the following solutions to your conundrum:
- Ask the British consulate to return your passports prematurely without a visa, forfeiting your application.
- Ask the Afghan consulate in India to issue you an emergency travel document and use it to travel back to Afghanistan
- Wait for the visa to be issued and sort out the exams issue later on, perhaps using your passport stamps and the UK visa to prove you couldn't return prematurely
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