COVID-19 Applying for YMS inside the UK

My partner is a Japanese citizen currently in the UK on a Short-term study visa which expires on 29 May 2020, and since she was selected to apply for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa in the January 2020 ballot, she would like to apply.

Reluctant to travel back to Japan at the end of May (or indeed travel anywhere during the outbreak), we contacted the Coronavirus Immigration Helpline who advised us that we are able to switch from SSV to YMS from inside the UK under the current COVID-19 rules. The question is how? The advisor mentioned the UKVCAS visa processing centres which are in the UK, however the online application, which we had already started and paid for (including IHS), redirects you to the VFS Global website and expects you to book a biometrics appointment in Japan.

However we approach this, we will have to cancel and redo the application in order to change some details, including the documents we will provide as "proof of savings" (since we don't have access to them all from here) and I assume also the "expected date of arrival into the UK". My biggest concern is whether cancelling the application (especially after 30 March or during the 2nd ballot) will put our ballot back in the pool meaning we'd have to be selected again (and we know just how unlikely that is). The original email we got when selected for YMS said the following:

Please note that you must prepare your on-line application and on-line credit card payment no later than 30 March 2020. Failure to submit your payment on-line by this date will automatically remove your name from the list and the allocation will be retracted. After you have paid on-line you have 90 days to submit your paperwork for consideration.

Incidentally, it also said this:

When visiting the VFS visa application centre you will be asked to produce this email with your passport to the security guard. Your name will be checked against the list of successful candidates. Only those applicants on the list will be admitted to submit their application. You cannot apply in the UK.

I'm not sure what the best way forward with this application is, or whether it is even possible as the advisor claimed. If anybody can help to put my thoughts in order and advise on what the current process is in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, I would be most grateful.

- J

juk1239 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:56 pm

I'm not sure what the best way forward with this application is, or whether it is even possible as the advisor claimed.

I think she has been misinformed that she can apply for Tier 5 YMS in the UK.

The current provision to exceptionally apply in the UK appears to be limited to those routes where there is a way to apply in the UK (eg Tier 4, Tier 2), but where the specific applicant would not normally meet it and so normally would need to apply at home. The example given in the guidance is someone on a Tier 4 visa switching to Tier 2, which is a stupid example because such a person can apply in the UK under the normal rules anyway. Better examples would be someone applying for further Tier 4 leave after completing a course below degree level, someone switching from short-term student or PBS dependant to Tier 4, or someone switching from Tier 5 YMS to Tier 2. Even with the latter, the employer would need to clarify with the Home Office exactly how that would work exactly.

See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -residents > If you’re applying to stay in the UK long-term

Your partner can apply for a free extension under the separate provision, but that is currently only until 31 May 2020, which is not really useful to her. If the current pandemic prevents people with the free extension from leaving the UK before 31 May, I expect there will be a further free extension available.

See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -residents > If you’re in the UK and your leave expires between 24 January 2020 and 31 May 2020

I would say she needs to plan on applying for YMS from Japan, but meanwhile she can probably get free extensions until the Home Office decides it's safe to travel.

It looks like this is now a moot point because all in-country applications are now suspended, except the free extension to 31 May:

https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/flash-message- ... sageId=950

Thank you for your response. I guess at this time we will just have to wait. I think you are right in saying that further visa extensions will be handed out as travel restrictions get increasingly strict. Japan's response to the viral outbreak has been slow, and I fully expect a surge in cases and a subsequent travel ban to come from them, preventing my partner from getting home.

I wonder whether YMS applications will be tossed out the window entirely this year, and applicants instructed to try again in 2021 when the world calms down. For Japanese citizens, the applications are handled by VFS Global rather than UKVCAS, but the message is the same.

I will post updates to our situation as they come, for the benefit of anyone coming to this forum.