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Topic: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise  (Read 2095 times)

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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2017, 02:28:45 AM »
I can book my in person appointment for IL next week so created an account to sniff around today.

When did they start charging an extra £75 for Saturday and other desirable times?!?

I can't wait to be done!!

https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-service-centres/book-an-appointment

You're almost done... you can do it!

Apart from Saturday appointments, what else is considered "desirable times"?
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2017, 08:48:20 AM »
You're almost done... you can do it!

Apart from Saturday appointments, what else is considered "desirable times"?

You’ll have to pay an extra £75 fee if you book an appointment time outside normal office hours, for example:

before 9am, Monday to Friday
after 4pm, Monday to Friday
on Saturday


We used to always recommend people get the first appointment of the day at 8am, as it drastically reduced the wait time.  Some people who have had early appointments are done in a couple of hours.

I worry about childcare if we do during the week.  We can drop our daughter off at 8am and then it'll take up to two hours to get to Croydon.  So we could do a 10am or 10:30am appointment.  But I highly doubt we'd be back for a 6pm collection at nursery.  We'll probably just bite the bullet and still do a Saturday.  It's going to be SO FUN having two kids with us.   ;D


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #17 on: August 01, 2017, 09:35:20 AM »
We paid £63 ( or something like that) for an early appointment but it did not seem to help at all! But it is a small amount in the greater scheme of things, what with visa fee, IHS, PSC fees etc. And we stayed in a hotel overnight just to be sure we got there in time. But there were lots of children, KFdancer so it will be like being in a nursery! I know you will be so relieved when it is over! I already worry about ours in less than two years. Time is passing too quickly!
Married 1966, left UK 1969, returned 1998, left again 2000, returned June 2014 (husband on spousal visa) granted FLR(M) November 30th 2016  and ILR on  24th May, 2019. Yeah!


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #18 on: August 01, 2017, 11:42:43 AM »
You’ll have to pay an extra £75 fee if you book an appointment time outside normal office hours, for example:

before 9am, Monday to Friday
after 4pm, Monday to Friday
on Saturday


We used to always recommend people get the first appointment of the day at 8am, as it drastically reduced the wait time.  Some people who have had early appointments are done in a couple of hours.

I worry about childcare if we do during the week.  We can drop our daughter off at 8am and then it'll take up to two hours to get to Croydon.  So we could do a 10am or 10:30am appointment.  But I highly doubt we'd be back for a 6pm collection at nursery.  We'll probably just bite the bullet and still do a Saturday.  It's going to be SO FUN having two kids with us.   ;D

Glitter playdoh and rhymetime!  :P
Met Nov 2015
Married 11 April 17
Online visa app 24 April 2017 (Priority)
Biometrics 5th May 2017
App tracked and received Sheffiled 10th May 2017
Email confirming receipt (of online application) 25th May 2017
Email asking for passport, appendix 2 etc (which has all been sent) 30th May 2017 (Discovered solicitor may have advised to send to wrong processing centre address - letters, and phone calls - still unclear).
Confirmed receipt of docs 17th July
Return label requested and emailed 17th July
Decision email 26th July
Visa 28th July


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #19 on: August 01, 2017, 11:45:10 AM »
Glitter playdoh and rhymetime!  :P

That just reminded me, I once did an impromptu rhymetime on a sardine packed southeast train with quite a lot of overtired toddlers squashed in. It worked!
Met Nov 2015
Married 11 April 17
Online visa app 24 April 2017 (Priority)
Biometrics 5th May 2017
App tracked and received Sheffiled 10th May 2017
Email confirming receipt (of online application) 25th May 2017
Email asking for passport, appendix 2 etc (which has all been sent) 30th May 2017 (Discovered solicitor may have advised to send to wrong processing centre address - letters, and phone calls - still unclear).
Confirmed receipt of docs 17th July
Return label requested and emailed 17th July
Decision email 26th July
Visa 28th July


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #20 on: August 01, 2017, 11:45:37 AM »
Glitter playdoh and rhymetime!  :P

Ha!  True!  We won't be at home so PlayDoh will be allowed.  Ha ha!  Take that UKVI.  Maybe I should just hand her a loose bottle of glitter?  They'll remember us for YEARS!!!


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #21 on: August 01, 2017, 01:04:49 PM »
Ha!  True!  We won't be at home so PlayDoh will be allowed.  Ha ha!  Take that UKVI.  Maybe I should just hand her a loose bottle of glitter?  They'll remember us for YEARS!!!

Lol - yes! And maybe it'll spread around the UKVI internal post and people will be showered in glitter when they open their approvals!
Met Nov 2015
Married 11 April 17
Online visa app 24 April 2017 (Priority)
Biometrics 5th May 2017
App tracked and received Sheffiled 10th May 2017
Email confirming receipt (of online application) 25th May 2017
Email asking for passport, appendix 2 etc (which has all been sent) 30th May 2017 (Discovered solicitor may have advised to send to wrong processing centre address - letters, and phone calls - still unclear).
Confirmed receipt of docs 17th July
Return label requested and emailed 17th July
Decision email 26th July
Visa 28th July


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #22 on: August 01, 2017, 01:35:21 PM »
I love that idea!  Though I pity the poor visa applicant if a glitter-filled package is vigorously opened by an Entry Clearance Officer without a sense of humor....


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #23 on: August 01, 2017, 04:54:16 PM »
The waiting area in Croydon was so dull that a load of glitter will brighten things considerably! 
Met Mr. Beatlemania: 20 Jan 2010
Tier 4 Visa Approved: 17 Sep 2012
Spousal Visa Received:  22 Sep 2014
Ohio to Essex: 26 October 2014
FLR(M): 10 May 2017
ILR: 23 October 2019
Citizenship: 6 September 2022


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #24 on: August 02, 2017, 03:05:23 AM »
The waiting area in Croydon was so dull that a load of glitter will brighten things considerably!
Oh my gosh, the waiting area at Cardiff... my husband and I called it "The Most Depressing Room That Ever Existed".  We couldn't wait to get out of there and have sunlight on our skin and to see vivid colours again.  I shudder recalling it now, four years later.
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #25 on: August 02, 2017, 03:00:37 PM »


We used to always recommend people get the first appointment of the day at 8am, as it drastically reduced the wait time.  Some people who have had early appointments are done in a couple of hours.


I booked an 8:15am appointment for my ILR, but due to an "IT issue", we didn't leave until after 5:30pm.  And that was after us making a bit of fuss to even get seen (we were number 109, the next lowest number was something like 350).  Then they didn't print my BRP for several weeks (again, it took prodding, and several emails on my end to get a response). I nearly missed a work related trip due to their incompetence. We eventually got our priority fee refunded, and admitted to essentially forgetting about our application on the day and ordering the BRP.


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #26 on: August 02, 2017, 03:14:16 PM »
I booked an 8:15am appointment for my ILR, but due to an "IT issue", we didn't leave until after 5:30pm.  And that was after us making a bit of fuss to even get seen (we were number 109, the next lowest number was something like 350).  Then they didn't print my BRP for several weeks (again, it took prodding, and several emails on my end to get a response). I nearly missed a work related trip due to their incompetence. We eventually got our priority fee refunded, and admitted to essentially forgetting about our application on the day and ordering the BRP.

Similar-ish for my last FLR(M).  Technical issues and they didn't know if they were going to be able to process that day.  Four hours later the computers came back up.  Luckily only took 40 minutes after that!

Honestly, I wouldn't do the in person if it was only an 8 week processing time.  But a six month wait would screw up travel plans.  So in person it is! The pain of getting there and back, childcare (or lack of), the long waiting time bored out of your mind, and the cost...  ugh.


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #27 on: August 07, 2017, 08:55:18 AM »
I just spent £2,887!  In person appointment booked.  We did NOT do one of the extra £75 slots.... cuz we are cheap.   :P

Went with 1:30 in the afternoon  (last slot on that day).  Husband can work a half day of work and possibly get away with not using any holiday time (he works enough hours that his boss will tell him not to put it down).  We'll send the 3 year old to nursery and arrange for someone to bring her home and babysit until we are back.  At least that leaves us with just the baby who is basically an animated sack of potatoes.  Waiting will not be as painfully boring for him as it would be for the 3 year old.

I hope the appointment rolls around really quick!  Ready to get this over with!


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #28 on: August 07, 2017, 09:04:53 AM »
I just spent £2,887!  In person appointment booked.  We did NOT do one of the extra £75 slots.... cuz we are cheap.   :P

Went with 1:30 in the afternoon  (last slot on that day).  Husband can work a half day of work and possibly get away with not using any holiday time (he works enough hours that his boss will tell him not to put it down).  We'll send the 3 year old to nursery and arrange for someone to bring her home and babysit until we are back.  At least that leaves us with just the baby who is basically an animated sack of potatoes.  Waiting will not be as painfully boring for him as it would be for the 3 year old.

I hope the appointment rolls around really quick!  Ready to get this over with!

Congratulations! One step closer to the end!  ;D

What date is it? I think you should get one of those ticker things to put as your signature, counting down the days!  :D


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Re: Really UKVI? In person appointment surprise
« Reply #29 on: August 07, 2017, 09:07:17 AM »
At least that leaves us with just the baby who is basically an animated sack of potatoes.

 [smiley=laugh4.gif]

I can see KFdancer at customs:
'Do you have any food items to declare, miss?'
'Just this animated sack of potatoes.'

 ;D
July 2012 - Fiancée Visa | Nov 2012 - Married
Dec 2012 - FLR | Nov 2014 - ILR | Dec 2015 - UK Citizen


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