Fiancee > Marriage visa - FLR(M) questions

Hello again:

We are on the home stretch and are making an appointment at a Premium service centre online through gov.uk. The website, unfortunately, is incredibly glitchy and nearly impossible to use. We are open to either Croydon or Sheffield (Croydon is our preference) but each, when clicked, switch on and off between having absolutely no appointments available within the next 45 days and having almost all 45 days available for booking. When they show available bookings, the links are unclickable or simply not listed. Has anyone found an effective way of dealing with this? I know the service centres are reluctant to accept phone calls.

I booked one fairly recently and didn't have any trouble except I found that 45 bd was not happening. The easiest available was actually 42 calendar days.

Keep trying. 

I booked one fairly recently and didn't have any trouble except I found that 45 bd was not happening. The easiest available was actually 42 calendar days.

Keep trying. 

Thanks larrabee.

We've been trying all evening and are receiving the same message regardless of which Premium Service Centre we choose:

'We do not have any appointments in the next 45 business days at your selected location.'

Does this sound like a glitch?  We find it hard to believe that none of the centres in the UK have any availability for the next 45 business days!?

Thanks again for your help

Thanks larrabee.

We've been trying all evening and are receiving the same message regardless of which Premium Service Centre we choose:

'We do not have any appointments in the next 45 business days at your selected location.'

Does this sound like a glitch?  We find it hard to believe that none of the centres in the UK have any availability for the next 45 business days!?

Thanks again for your help

Are you checking specific dates or is that just a blanket message that comes up before you get to picking dates?

Despite it saying 45 business days, it's actually 42 calendar days - which is what it has been for years. It's also contradictory because in one place it just says 45 days (7.5 weeks) and another it says 45 'business days' (10 weeks). I guess it's supposed to be changed from 42 to 45 days at some point, but it hasn't yet.

So if you're looking for an appointment that is more than 42 calendar days ahead (which will be April 3rd), there won't be any appointments available anyway.

@JimmynD hi there! Congrats on getting your fiancé there and your upcoming wedding! How long did you wait for the visa to come? My fiancé is a British citizen and I’m a US Citizen. We’re about to hit 30 BD this Friday since Sheffield has received our application on Priority. It’s just my patience and nerves getting to me..

Hi!

Thanks so much.  Congrats to you on the engagement!

We waited about a month (20 or so BD) for our decision made email from the Home Office.  We used priority service too.

All the best with everything, I'm sure you will hear soon.

If you haven't already, this thread was really helpful for us: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=92042.msg1208781#msg1208781

Thanks larrabee.

We've been trying all evening and are receiving the same message regardless of which Premium Service Centre we choose:

'We do not have any appointments in the next 45 business days at your selected location.'

Does this sound like a glitch?  We find it hard to believe that none of the centres in the UK have any availability for the next 45 business days!?

Thanks again for your help

Yup, it sounds like a glitch to me.

I'd give it a break for now. Try again after midnight or tomorrow morning.

Good luck!

Are you checking specific dates or is that just a blanket message that comes up before you get to picking dates?

Despite it saying 45 business days, it's actually 42 calendar days - which is what it has been for years. It's also contradictory because in one place it just says 45 days (7.5 weeks) and another it says 45 'business days' (10 weeks). I guess it's supposed to be changed from 42 to 45 days at some point, but it hasn't yet.

So if you're looking for an appointment that is more than 42 calendar days ahead (which will be April 3rd), there won't be any appointments available anyway.

Earlier when my fiancee was using the site she was able to click through on either Croydon or Sheffield as preferred locations. However, she then was shown the screen below, but unable to click any of the options:

https://ibb.co/c86N5x

Now however, regardless of which centre we choose we end up seeing this:

https://ibb.co/g9b0sc

So yes, hopefully it's just a glitch.  This is so frustrating!

Earlier when my fiancee was using the site she was able to click through on either Croydon or Sheffield as preferred locations. However, she then was shown the screen below, but unable to click any of the options:

https://ibb.co/c86N5x

Now however, regardless of which centre we choose we end up seeing this:

https://ibb.co/g9b0sc

So yes, hopefully it's just a glitch.  This is so frustrating!

Yeah, seems like a glitch. Usually there are plenty of appointments available.

I am due to book my appointment at the end of next month for early May, and I registered late last week to get a feel for the site and be prepared when my within-42-days time arrives.  I've only seen actual appointment dates/times twice since I registered.  And I might see a time, then when I change centres, nothing's available again.  It's been like this pretty much constantly since I registered.  I'm really getting worried.

I am due to book my appointment at the end of next month for early May, and I registered late last week to get a feel for the site and be prepared when my within-42-days time arrives.  I've only seen actual appointment dates/times twice since I registered.  And I might see a time, then when I change centres, nothing's available again.  It's been like this pretty much constantly since I registered.  I'm really getting worried.

I wonder if things have busied up because of how close we are now to the anticipated fee hike? I think availability is likely to open up a lot once that has passed.

I wonder if things have busied up because of how close we are now to the anticipated fee hike? I think availability is likely to open up a lot once that has passed.

That's actually bad news for me.  My first date of eligibility would have me booking on March 27th for May 8th.  And my whole aim is to book before the fee hike.

That's actually bad news for me.  My first date of eligibility would have me booking on March 27th for May 8th.  And my whole aim is to book before the fee hike.

Have you tried right after midnight? That's when I think the new days availability happens.

I wish I could see myself but now we have the appointment booked, that's all I can access without looking at changing it which I'm not about to do!

I've tried right before and right after midnight, at 4am, at 9am, at noon, at 5pm... I have seen two appointments across all of the centres in the past week.  But mostly it looks like JimmynD's second image.

Have you tried right after midnight? That's when I think the new days availability happens.

That used to be the only way to get an appointment - you had to book at exactly midnight, exactly 42 days before the date you wanted, otherwise all the appointments would be gone within minutes... literally, the only appointments available were the new ones for day 42 - every other day was either booked solidly or not available yet.

But that was back when third parties were block-booking all the appointments and then charging extra high fees for people to book through them instead. UKVI put a stop to it a few years ago and suddenly all the appointments were available again and you didn’t have to time it exactly anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for your input everyone.  Feeling your pain jfkimberly!  Our ceremony is on 9 March and we wanted to go to the priority meeting asap after that.

This is ridiculous.. It seems unbelievable that all the appointments are unavailable at all of the centres. @larrabee - if you don't mind us asking, which centre did you book?  And were there plenty of slots available when you did it?

Just to double check, if we were to apply not using the priority service, we could pay the current IHS fee (i.e. without the hike) the day after our wedding (or earlier?) and get the application turned around in approx 6-8 weeks?

Just to double check, if we were to apply not using the priority service, we could pay the current IHS fee (i.e. without the hike) the day after our wedding (or earlier?) and get the application turned around in approx 6-8 weeks?

That seems to be the current processing time, yes, and it has been pretty steady for the last year.

In fact, I think someone just got theirs in 5 weeks .