I'm (23M) from Australia and have just finished my application for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa and received my biometrics appointment. The application was fairly straightforward on the UKVI site, but based on the posts I've seen here on the subreddit I was dreading the VFS Global portion.

Wow, you guys weren't joking. This is probably the worst coded website I've ever seen. I would often encounter a scenario where the page just kept loading forever, with no clue of whether something was happening in the background (spoiler - it wasn't). I just stopped it loading and refreshed the page and usually it would work.

My biggest hurdle and stress came in the Document upload portion. I put my documents in the required slots (although they show ALL the document upload slots regardless of what visa you're applying for) and pressed upload. The page disappeared and something started loading - I could see in the corner of my browser a percentage as the documents were being uploaded. When the upload seemed to be finished - nothing happened! I refreshed the page and the portal just refused to connect.

I refreshed the page and couldn't access my application any more. I could log into my account but since I didn't save my GWF number when it first came up on the screen, I couldn't input it to access my application and there's no way to find it within your account (which is garbage). I was panicking because I had no idea how to get back to my application without knowing the GWF number.

For anybody in this situation - the way I eventually got back to my application was through the UKVI website, pressing the button to go to VFS like I did originally. My GWF pre-filled and I was able to copy it and log back in.

So - word of advice to those applying and uploading stuff through VFS. When you get ANY application number, receipt number etc ESPECIALLY your GWF, save it!! You will likely need it later when the VFS portal inevitably breaks on you.

Going through VFS is hard but not impossible. But if you're a UK citizen, maybe somebody bringing your partner over, contact your MP and make it clear that this company is making a shocking mess of the visa process.

Will keep you guys posted on my application timeline as it happens!