Visa lodging procedure |

When making your travel arrangements with our reservations team they will advise you whether a visa is required for your destination.
If it is necessary to obtain a visa before you travel, you will need to check which documents are to be submitted with the visa application. You can view visa requirements by country by clicking here. Please remember that we will require the passport as part of the application.
The visa information is based on UK passport holders unless the country is a European Union member, where the standard procedure shown is for Non-UK passport holders.
It is not always possible for Non-UK passport holders to apply for visas at embassies in the UK. If it doesn’t specify on the embassy information page, please check with us before submitting your application.
Photos should be passport sized, have a plain background and be on photographic paper.
All applications that are sent to us need to include a Key Travel visa booking form. This is used to notify us of a number of important details regarding the application.
All applications should be send to:

Visa Department
Key Travel
28-32 Britannia Street
London
WC1X 9JF
Please note our office hours are 8:45 - 17:30.
We strongly advise that the application be sent by a post or courier service that can be tracked. Please note that if using Royal Mail their “recorded delivery” can only be tracked once it has been delivered, so it would be best to use their “special delivery” service.

Collecting passports that have already been lodged at an embassy

If you have already lodged your visa application at the embassy we can collect this on your behalf. A processing fee will apply. You will also need to check with the embassy to make sure that they will release the passport to us and provide us with any receipts and a signed letter from the passport holder authorising us to collect the passport.

Keeping you up to date

We will notify you once we have received your application. We do this by email so please advise us of the email address that you would like us to send updates to on “Key Travel Booking Form.” We will also notify you once we have been given a collection date by the embassy and once collected, we will confirm that the passport is being sent back.

How much will it cost?

Key Travel applies a competitive standard charge of £45* per visa application for non account holding clients. Account holding clients are able to benefit from a lower negotiated fee. Please note, this fee is inclusive of Special Delivery.

In addition to the Key Travel handling fee, Consular fees, as mentioned on the Embassy information pages, also apply. Please note we cannot guarantee the price until the visa has been issued, as embassies can put prices up without prior warning.

For visas processed via an outside supplier or in another country, the outside supplier fee is included in the consular fee on the embassy information page. For visas processed via Brussels there is a courier charge of £80 if the application is sent to the London office first - this is indicated on the relevant embassy pages.

Cancelled/rejected applications

If you cancel your application before we send the documents to the embassy we will charge £15 plus VAT.

If your application is rejected by the embassy for reasons beyond our control, the handling and consular charges will still apply/will not be refunded.

How long will it take?

Details of the approximate processing times are specified on each of the embassy pages. The processing times are based on the time it takes once the embassy have received the application; so for example if it states 3 working days, an application lodged on Monday will be released on Thursday. For applications that are processed in other countries or with an outside supplier, we have added extra time to the embassy processing time to allow for this.

Please also bear in mind that applications will be lodged at the embassy the day after they are received in our office. Although, if applications arrive at our office before 9am it may be possible to lodge them with the embassy on the same day. Please check with us first to confirm whether this will be possible.

Collection Service

If you are based in London we will be happy to arrange for a bike courier to come and collect the application. Please email visa@keytravel.co.uk if you require this service and we will be able to advise you on the price.

Passport requirements

Most embassies require that the passport should be valid for 6 months beyond the end of the trip. If this is not the case please contact us as it may be necessary to obtain a new passport

If you have less than 3 blank concurrent pages in your passport please check with us as you may need to get a new passport before applying for a visa. Please note the observation page can not be used for visa purposes. If there are any blemishes or ink stains on the passport pages the Embassy may refuse to count them as blank pages.

Embassies will also reject applications if the passport is damaged, particularly if the damage is to the passport information page.

Returning the passport

Special Delivery:

This service is available at no extra charge. We recommend that this service is used only if there are more than 3 full working days before you travel. This is because it can take up to 72 hours to obtain proof of delivery from the Royal Mail.

DHL:

This is a next day service and is recommended when there are less than 3 working days before you travel. They have a range of delivery times and prices as follows:

Before 17:00pm £16.00

Before 12:00pm £21.50

Before 10:00am £35.70
Before 9:00am £49.50

For deliveries to the Highlands, Northern Ireland and any off shore islands please check with us for prices and services available.

Bike courier:

We can also arrange bike couriers. If you would like a quote on this service please contact us.

Collection:

It is possible to collect the passport from our office. Our office hours are 8:45-17:30.

Please note that consequential losses are not covered if the passport is delayed in transit. For particularly important applications where there is likely to be a significant financial loss if the passport does not arrive on time, we recommend a bike courier or collecting from our office as the most reliable options.