What happens after a 'Decision has been made"

Hello, I applied for a UK settlement visa (spouse), from the USA.

I was asked a few weeks ago to provide additional information ... this was a tenancy agreement from the Sheffield office, and to have it into them by such and such date. I sent the docs to Sheffield direct, as requested.

Well, I shot them an email, because I never got confirmation, and wanted to make sure they did in fact receive the "extra" docs.

I got this response:
"We have received your documents and a decision has been made on your application. We will return your documents to you as soon as we can."

It has been 7 working days, and I have not received anything. As you can imagine, I am cracking emotionally.

Any thoughts ... how long should I wait .. now?

Hi lostintheshuffle,

I'm not sure the answer to your question (sorry I can't help but I'm pretty new to all of this too!), but I was wondering what your timeline is like. I also applied through the US and found out today I waited 2 weeks just for the NYC UKBA to post my application to the UK. Wow, I never thought it would take that long just to send it! How long has your wait been? My timeline is below....

Best of luck. I know how emotionally draining this all can be. It takes a huge toll on us all. Fingers crossed for you.

It has been 7 working days, and I have not received anything. As you can imagine, I am cracking emotionally.

Any thoughts ... how long should I wait .. now?

You wait as long as you have to. Sorry to be such a downer, but that's how things are. Also you are probably lucky that they asked you for the additional documents instead of denying you for not having them.

Here's the link to the current processing times from the US.

95 per cent of settlement applications within 12 weeks of the application date and 100 per cent within 24 weeks of the application date.

Settlement Visas

2 days 1%

3 days  5%

5 days  21%

10 days  45%

15 days  61%

40 days  85%

60 days  100%

My husband and I are in a similar situation.
We were not asked to provide additional evidence but an email arrived this morning informing that a decision has been made and his application and passport are being returned.
I have seen many posts referring to emails where the visa has been issued and a few in which the email states that the application has been unsuccessful but I really don't know in which category we will fall.
Has anyone else received such an email and what was the actual outcome?
 

I'm not sure what the email means, but keep in mind that the family visas are now processed through Sheffield rather than NY, so they might be sending slightly different emails than before (they changed in December 2012).

I'm not sure what the email means, but keep in mind that the family visas are now processed through Sheffield rather than NY, so they might be sending slightly different emails than before (they changed in December 2012).

That's just what I was going to say.

You guys are the first people here at UK-Y to have your visas processed by the UKBA office in Sheffield instead of the staff at the consulate in NYC... therefore, there aren't going to be many people yet who have gone through the same thing - you are the 'guinea pigs' in this scenario, so to speak.

For example, the email mentioned in the OP stating 'a decision being made' is the first I've seen here on the forum, because when the visas were being processed in NYC, they didn't send any emails worded 'a decision has been made'.

Instead they sent emails stating 'your visa has been issued' or 'your visa has been refused'... and then you would receive your passport and documents back via next-day courier.

I think you're just going to have to wait and see what happens, and then as more and more people get their visas processed by Sheffield, we can start to build up a picture of how the new process is working.

Thank you. I was really hoping that it was something to do with the visas being processed at the Sheffield office now. All those posts that I did come across except for the OP here were processed through NYC.
So, back to the waiting game!

Thank you. I was really hoping that it was something to do with the visas being processed at the Sheffield office now. All those posts that I did come across except for the OP here were processed through NYC.
So, back to the waiting game!

Apart from you guys here on this thread, I think I've only seen one other person get their visa through the Sheffield office so far.

They sent their application to NYC on Jan 21st (I think), got the 'received in Sheffield' email on Jan 25th and then their visa arrived in the mail on Feb 7th.

See:
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=78496.msg1062940#msg1062940
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=78658.0

I'm one of the applicants (Fiance Visa) whose documents were sent to Sheffield. Adding my info which I hope will be helpful....

January 28th: Submitted Online Application
January 31st: Biometrics:
January 31st: Shipped Documents to NYC (Priority Processing)
February 5th: Email from Sheffield saying they received my documents
February 25th: Email from Sheffield saying my visa has been granted!

(email says "Next Day via UPS" for shipment (USA applicants), and gives a tracking number. Tracking number not bringing up any info yet, just says the label has been printed)

In a bit of shock at the moment. I was all hunkered down for at least a 2-month wait!

 I am pretty much devastated to hear that someone got an acceptance email from Sheffield. That just seems so selfish of me but I am sure that you will understand. Many congratulations, of course, kateds!
The only thing that got me through the weekend was the idea that all the emails being sent were of that generic nature.
The final straw that I am clutching at now is that in this case it was for a fiancee visa and ours was for a spouse visa.
Also, the tracking number is coming up as not a valid number. I had thought perhaps because it had not yet shipped on Friday but today, Monday, still the same.
Do you think that we have any hope left?

larrabee, don't give up hope!! It could very well be the fact that mine is a fiance visa. And as we are all painfully aware, this system is flawed and unpredictable (and tormenting). But don't give up hope.

Over 2 weeks now, and still nothing for me. I don't think one "successful" settlement application has come out of Sheffield since the 1st of Feb for USA, non priority Canadian, or Nigeria applicants. Every settlement application is stalled, except for  (unfortunately) refused/denied apps. Anyone see something different?

To clarify, the visa type makes absolutely no difference, so it has nothing to do with being a fiance or a spousal visa, or a civil partnership visa, or a child dependent visa. They are all settlement visas, and so are all treated the same when it comes to processing.

The only things that will affect the timing are:
- paying for priority processing
- how the applications are organised when given to the ECO
- how quickly the ECO works through the applications
- the personal circumstances of the applicant and sponsor

larrabee - not exactly sure what you are devastated about... at this point, you don't even know if your email is good or bad news. Seems a bit premature to be devastated just yet (and even if the visa has been refused, you can always re-apply). It's also only been 1 working day so far, so I wouldn't get worried about it not being shipped yet. If it hasn't arrived in a couple of weeks, then you can get worried.

kateds - what was actual the wording on your email? Did it actually say that your visa has atually been approved, or just that a decision has been made? It's been my understanding, seeing the other cases, that they are not sending specific approved/refused emails from Sheffield right now, just 'a decision has been made'... and in some cases, no email at all, just the visa showing up on the applicant's doorstep.

Every settlement application is stalled, except for  (unfortunately) refused/denied apps. Anyone see something different?

We just had another visa approval yesterday, with the visa approved on Feb 21st:
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=78898.0

I haven't seen any refused applications in the last few weeks, at least not here on UK-Y... where have you seen the other ones?

So far, all I've seen is two visa approvals and a few emails saying 'a decision has been made'.

ksand24, when we first got the email "a decision has been made", I assumed that this was the new way of notifying of a non successful application and my spirits sank. Then when I found that there was another such email and no emails (at the time) mentioning the actual result, I felt that we were still in with a chance, that they were no longer informing of the result by email but rather one had to wait for the passport to be returned. My feelings of devastation came about when I heard, not of the successful result, of course, but rather that the news of this result had come by way of an email worded in a quite different way than to the one that we received, thus, I felt again that we must have failed in our application.
I didn't mean to appear overly dramatic, sorry.

Question for those who are/were in the same boat regarding settlement visas being sent to Sheffield last month.

My timeline is similar. Applied for a fiance visa and it's pretty simple, straight-forward. We don't have any refusals, children, complicated financials or anything that would make the application complicated and we meet all the requirements. I paid for priority but haven't heard anything since the receipt email from Sheffield on the 5th of February. Seems some here came in after and have already/just heard, so hoping to hear this week. 

Given the US/UK time difference, what time of day did email come? I'm on Central Time in US, so 6 hours behind Sheffield. Curious when people have received these emails. I've been assuming that after 11 am Central Time (5 pm Sheffield) that's it for that day as far as hearing anything.

Thanks!