The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union confirmed on 12 July that its members in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will strike for four full days—16, 22, 29 and 30 July—and stage shorter stoppages between. The dispute centres on compulsory redundancies linked to a restructuring of consular operations.
![Foreign Office staff plan July walkouts, risking delays to passport and visa services]()
Amid the looming stoppages, VisaHQ stands ready to assist organisations and travellers by fast-tracking apostille requests, emergency travel documents and complex visa applications through its London platform, bypassing some of the bottlenecks expected at the FCDO. Visit to see how their specialists can keep mobility plans on schedule when government services slow down.
Although the FCDO no longer issues UK passports, it provides vital behind-the-scenes support for overseas applications, lost-passport emergency documents and the apostilling of corporate paperwork—all essential for global mobility teams. PCS says management has refused to guarantee no forced job losses and has not supplied sufficient equality-impact assessments. The timing is awkward. July and August are traditionally the busiest months for emergency travel documents, and the strikes could prolong turnaround times from the current average of 48 hours to up to five days. Businesses sending staff to ‘difficult’ jurisdictions such as Angola or Iran—which require locally issued FCDO letters of introduction—may face last-minute itinerary changes. The FCDO insists it has robust contingency plans, including redeploying diplomatic staff from lower-priority functions and extending overtime, but advises applicants to submit requests as early as possible. Mobility managers should flag the potential disruption to overseas employees, double-check passport validity and consider courier-plus-notary services as a stop-gap if apostille processing stalls.
Amid the looming stoppages, VisaHQ stands ready to assist organisations and travellers by fast-tracking apostille requests, emergency travel documents and complex visa applications through its London platform, bypassing some of the bottlenecks expected at the FCDO. Visit to see how their specialists can keep mobility plans on schedule when government services slow down.
Although the FCDO no longer issues UK passports, it provides vital behind-the-scenes support for overseas applications, lost-passport emergency documents and the apostilling of corporate paperwork—all essential for global mobility teams. PCS says management has refused to guarantee no forced job losses and has not supplied sufficient equality-impact assessments. The timing is awkward. July and August are traditionally the busiest months for emergency travel documents, and the strikes could prolong turnaround times from the current average of 48 hours to up to five days. Businesses sending staff to ‘difficult’ jurisdictions such as Angola or Iran—which require locally issued FCDO letters of introduction—may face last-minute itinerary changes. The FCDO insists it has robust contingency plans, including redeploying diplomatic staff from lower-priority functions and extending overtime, but advises applicants to submit requests as early as possible. Mobility managers should flag the potential disruption to overseas employees, double-check passport validity and consider courier-plus-notary services as a stop-gap if apostille processing stalls.
