This board has been an utter lifesaver. I've not been an active participant (far too stressed) but cannot thank everyone enough for kindly sharing their knowledge.
My husband got his decision made email today
I really really hope everyone waiting hears back soon. If it's any help, I've learned a couple of things that may help speed things along for others? I contacted my MP, the caseworker was reluctant to telephone UKVI, and only passed on an email. The email response standard for MPs is 20 working days, so I asked the caseworker to call as well, which she finally did and a few hours later UKVI asked us for an extra document.
My husband had a non-refundable ticket via Dublin, which I've heard is a total no-go for visas. However, I called the border force at our local airport, they said they were happy to endorse his vignette as long as my husband stayed air-side and contacted a border force employee at the customs desk. I actually called border force twice and spoke to two different people and got the same response, it might be worth checking with your local airport border force if you're stuck with non-refundable tickets. All moot now as his return date was supposed to be ages ago!
Here is our timeline:
Received by Sheffield: July 11th
Processing email (date that service standards start according to UKVI via our MP): August 11th
Telephone call to UKVI by MP: October 19th
Request for an extra document: October 19th
Decision made email and tracking email: October 24th
Working days from processing email to decision made email: 53 days