June - non-priority Spouse Visa

Smerc, my timelines a very similar to yours.  Sheffield received 10 June.  ECO email was 4 August too. Today is 70 working days for me (from Sheffield receipt date) and I'm about to head into Week 15.

KFDancer, really hope that you're right and that we'll start to see some movement from next week.  Just incidentally, and not that I want to scare people, but in your experience with timelines in this forum, have you ever seen a case where a decision has dragged out to the full 6 months?

I just noticed that August processing times haven't been posted yet on UKBA.  They're slightly behind in posting this month when compared to July's (as I made a note as to when July's times went up). That may be an indication in itself as to the amount of backlog to clear.  Who knows.  The whole process is so inconsistent and illogical to me!

New to the site but recognise some names from another!
So here is our time line:
Spouse settlement Visa from USA
Online Application: 10 June
Biometrics: 13 June - 68 working days
Delivered and signed for in Sheffield: 16 June - 65 working days
E-mail stating "Being prepared for ECO": 10 August
This is the last and ONLY official e-mail we have received.
Chasers to the UKVI call centre (either e-mail or phone calls) have proved frustrating in their contradictory replies.
Keep the faith.

Thanks for the reassurance KFdancer, I hope you're right! I even looked into getting duplicate passport just so I could go see my husband, but for that you have to have the first passport in hand plus proof that you really NEED to travel (like for work). Oh well.

Smerc, I did the same thing as you trying to get a concurrent passport but met the same obstacles. Worth a try though.  I never thought I'd ever miss my passport this much.  What I would do for a second passport right now.

New to the site but recognise some names from another!
So here is our time line:
Spouse settlement Visa from USA
Online Application: 10 June
Biometrics: 13 June - 68 working days
Delivered and signed for in Sheffield: 16 June - 65 working days
E-mail stating "Being prepared for ECO": 10 August
This is the last and ONLY official e-mail we have received.
Chasers to the UKVI call centre (either e-mail or phone calls) have proved frustrating in their contradictory replies.
Keep the faith.

Tgun, welcome! Agree - UKVI absolutely useless.  I don't know whey they even bother advertising the service.  It's a waste of everyone's time and money.

Still a couple of hours left in the UK day before the weekend.  Maybe one of us gets lucky today.  Here's hoping!

There have been a few extended processing times while I've been a member of the forum.

One was last year a person caught in the summer crunch but everyone else has heard back.  They did get a refusal in the end but have subsequently reapplied and have the visa.  (Do not take this as a reason to worry as you are all on the same time frame as each other and nothing out of the ordinary).

Another person sent their application to New York instead of Sheffield and it took over a month for NY to send it back.  Then they got caught in long processing times in Sheffield.  After a couple of months they upgraded to priority (this is the first summer that is no longer an option).

And I have seen a single application 'go missing'.  Even that one was found and they got their visa (about a month later than those who applied at the same time.  They successfully received a refund of the priority processing as a result).

As this is the first summer without the option to upgrade to priority after the fact, it's a slightly new ballgame.  In past summers, nearly everyone gave up and upgraded after the fact.

There have been a few extended processing times while I've been a member of the forum.

One was last year a person caught in the summer crunch but everyone else has heard back.  They did get a refusal in the end but have subsequently reapplied and have the visa.  (Do not take this as a reason to worry as you are all on the same time frame as each other and nothing out of the ordinary).

Another person sent their application to New York instead of Sheffield and it took over a month for NY to send it back.  Then they got caught in long processing times in Sheffield.  After a couple of months they upgraded to priority (this is the first summer that is no longer an option).

And I have seen a single application 'go missing'.  Even that one was found and they got their visa (about a month later than those who applied at the same time.  They successfully received a refund of the priority processing as a result).

As this is the first summer without the option to upgrade to priority after the fact, it's a slightly new ballgame.  In past summers, nearly everyone gave up and upgraded after the fact.

Thanks KFdancer, it puts my mind at ease to know that we are all on the same timeline/relatively normal in this stressful process!

What about having no confirmation email? that doesn't mean a refusal or anything does it? I miss my passport too I'm so worried

What about having no confirmation email? that doesn't mean a refusal or anything does it? I miss my passport too I'm so worried

Mev, I genuinely think your email was sent to your attorney.  That's the standard practice when applying with an attorney - they communicate through them.

If that's not the case, you are just 'unlucky' and didn't get the received email (there have been a few occurrences this summer alone, let alone MANY over the years).  It definitely does NOT mean a refusal.

There have been a few extended processing times while I've been a member of the forum.

One was last year a person caught in the summer crunch but everyone else has heard back.  They did get a refusal in the end but have subsequently reapplied and have the visa.  (Do not take this as a reason to worry as you are all on the same time frame as each other and nothing out of the ordinary).

Another person sent their application to New York instead of Sheffield and it took over a month for NY to send it back.  Then they got caught in long processing times in Sheffield.  After a couple of months they upgraded to priority (this is the first summer that is no longer an option).

And I have seen a single application 'go missing'.  Even that one was found and they got their visa (about a month later than those who applied at the same time.  They successfully received a refund of the priority processing as a result).

As this is the first summer without the option to upgrade to priority after the fact, it's a slightly new ballgame.  In past summers, nearly everyone gave up and upgraded after the fact.

As always, thanks very much for the feedback and insight KFDancer.  If we have to go through this process a second time, we are going Priority!!!

It's a shame that they got rid of priority after submission this year. When I was using their help-line before realizing it was useless, UKVI told me that it was possible to pay for priority after already submitting our application and directed me to the VFS Global website.  However, when I looked-up the VFS Q&A site, it clearly states that it is not possible to pay priority after already sending your application.  So frustrating to have incorrect advice given to you. 

Hindsight, what a great thing if only you could turn it into foresight. It'll be extremely unfortunate to get a refusal caught up in all this backlog. 

Yesterday I emailed UKVI about my wife's settlement application (June, non-priority) saying it'd been 65 days since they got her documents. Got a pretty generic response, so I emailed them again this morning to reiterate and to remind them that they said they would explain if it takes longer than 12 weeks to process (we're on week 13) so hopefully we'll get something! We'll see.

Just a note that if you are calling or emailing the enquiry service listed on the UKVI website, they aren't actually in Sheffield - they are a call centre somewhere else, and so don't have physical access to your application.

I believe all they can do is look up your application on their computer system and see what it says. In the past they have said they will try to 'escalate' the application, but I'm not sure how effective that is, in terms of what they can actually do.

They also are known for not really knowing what they are talking about and therefore often give inaccurate or incorrect information, like telling someone their application had been processed when actually no one in Sheffield had even looked at it yet.

So yesterday my husband emailed his MP, and got this awful email this morning:

"Dear Mr S-,
 
Thank you for your email.  I can quite understand your anxiety.  I have spoken to the Home Office and I am told that that the 12 week processing time runs from 5 August (ie when the application was received in Sheffield) and not 13 June (ie when your wife provided her biometrics).  I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  Please contact us again in the future if need be.
 
Regards
 
John
 
John Hallmark
Caseworker to Jane Ellison MP
Battersea, Balham and Wandsworth"

HOW. How is that possible. My husband keeps telling me that they've just said this to get us off their backs, that clearly the MP contacting UKVI would do nothing, that UKVI has told me that I'm at the front of the queue so it's ok, that this John guy doesn't know what he's talking about because Sheffield did not "receive" my application on August 5, that clearly it's BS because numerous people in this forum never even received a confirmation email...but I am just so angry and frustrated.

Well, the processing time definitely doesn't start from biometrics, so they got that part right.

We have had some debate over the last couple of days as to whether the processing time starts on the date your application was received or the date you got the email. The email date would make sense as it's when they log it into the system so they can start the count on their end, but since the emails have been taking so long, we've been assuming it's from the date the package arrived.

However, this response from the MP may have just confirmed our fears that the 12 weeks does in fact start from the date the email was received.

Normally, when it's not busy, the email will be sent almost immediately, or maybe within a couple days... So in that case, it's not as relevant which date the processing starts from, as they are only a couple of days apart.


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Right, it kind of makes sense when they are on top of sending the confirmation emails soon after they receive the applications, but it also doesn't because this summer there have been people like mev who never received an email, as well as people who never received any emails but still eventually got their visas approved. I think the caseworker didn't call anybody, you know? We didn't ask him to call the Home Office, we asked him to call Sheffield and find out where my application is, but I bet he just looked at my timeline and was like "eh this reply seems reasonable."   

Right, it kind of makes sense when they are on top of sending the confirmation emails soon after they receive the applications, but it also doesn't because this summer there have been people like mev who never received an email, as well as people who never received any emails but still eventually got their visas approved. I think the caseworker didn't call anybody, you know? We didn't ask him to call the Home Office, we asked him to call Sheffield and find out where my application is, but I bet he just looked at my timeline and was like "eh this reply seems reasonable."   

Mev finally got her email!  But it was definitely "out of order" from other applicants around her time who received theirs a couple of weeks before her.

I applied for a new BRP card after a name change from inside the UK (I was already living in the UK when I met my now-husband).  At the time, a simple name change was taking 8-10 months!  I contacted my MP and he genuinely did call UKVI (well, an assistant did) and I had my BRP in 2 days.  So a good MP will complete due dilligence.  They have a special phone number specifically for MP's.

I think the caseworker didn't call anybody, you know? We didn't ask him to call the Home Office, we asked him to call Sheffield and find out where my application is, but I bet he just looked at my timeline and was like "eh this reply seems reasonable."   

UKVI is a division of the Home Office, the two terms are often used interchangeably. I am sure he would have called if he told you he did.