UK student visa -- New York wait time

FCarey and others: if the first person at the uni says no, you can't come late, shop around, especially if you get the negative from a front desk person. In particular, look up the international student office who is likely to be more familiar with and sympathetic to visa troubles. You might also try contact the relevant dean or department head directly.

retrobolted.

READ THIS IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT WITHDRAWING YOUR APPLICATION and want to resubmit via an expedited service. 

Like many of you I'm hoping to get my student visa on time.  I have a plane ticket for the 9/18, and my program starts on the 9/22. 

They received my app on 8/29.  When I talked to WorldBridge, they told me that I would get an e-mail when they received it and once more when they approved it. A week passed by and no e-mail.  Sent the UK Consulate an e-mail.  Generic reply that we can't give you status updates.

Finally, yesterday (9/9). I got an e-mail saying that the processing has started and the estimate is 10 business days + mail time. Obviously, not quick enough.

Called WorldBridge.  I asked if it could be less than 10 days.  They said it could be less or it could be more....  Asked if they take into consideration the travel date on the application.  She said possibly, but no guarantees.

So I went to the British Consulate on Third Ave this morning (9/10) to see if I could talk to someone and see what options I have.  They have a separate lobby desk. They don't take visitors regarding visa inquiries so I ended up talking to the lobby desk person who knew about the cancellation procedure. You need to fill out a cancellation form and they will have it ready for pick up (or courier service) in 24 hours.

But this is the catch!!  If you withdraw your application, it's not like you can take your stack of papers to an expedited service and resubmit.  It means you cancel the whole thing.  That means you have to fill out the online application all over again.  GET YOUR BIOMETRICS DONE ALL OVER AGAIN.  Pay another application fee.  And then the expedited fee.

I don't mind filling out new forms and paying additional fees, but it's the biometrics appointment that I'm not sure about, which could be 3 days to 3 weeks from today.  And of course, there is no way of knowing when the next availability is for biometrics unless you fill out the application, and, I believe, pay the visa fee.   

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Update 9/11/08

I wanted to inform you that I got an e-mail saying that my visa has been issued and mailed. 

While the first e-mail said that it would take approximately 10 business days, it seems like it really only took them a day or two.  Now, I'm really glad I didn't withdraw my application and resubmit.

I hope it wasn't just luck on my part, and that everything works out for you guys. 

Phew . . . that is good to know wkim. Thanks!

This is not knocking anybody really just a general question about this entire thread...  I understand that some of you could not apply sooner due to reasons that you could not control... However... when everything was completed and together and ready to file why o' why did you guys not use a courier to begin with??   

I paid and use and used a courier and I knew I was not traveling for two full months after I applied.

Like I said I'm not knocking anybody I'm just amazed with the amount of threads that I am reading about Visas being applied for a week or two weeks before the people must be in the UK or have flights already purchased. 

I wasn't around on this forum a lot this time last year so maybe this is a normal thing this time of year (when school is starting back)...   

This is not knocking anybody really just a general question about this entire thread...  I understand that some of you could not apply sooner due to reasons that you could not control... However... when everything was completed and together and ready to file why o' why did you guys not use a courier to begin with??  

I paid and use and used a courier and I knew I was not traveling for two full months after I applied.

Like I said I'm not knocking anybody I'm just amazed with the amount of threads that I am reading about Visas being applied for a week or two weeks before the people must be in the UK or have flights already purchased. 

I wasn't around on this forum a lot this time last year so maybe this is a normal thing this time of year (when school is starting back)...  

I think because up until about a month ago, visas from the US routinely only took 5-10 business days once the consulate had the supporting docs and it was rare to have to wait longer than that.  Two years ago, I sent in my supporting documents for my student visa 4 weeks before I moved to the UK and had the visa within a week (and I had already purchased a flight!)  I waited that late because I didn't get my student loan approval until early August- had I been applying this summer, I would have been totally screwed without a courier (and honestly, I would have struggled to afford to pay a courier!).  But most of the info on the internet still points to UK visas being issued from the US in 5 business days, and it's difficult to know exactly how bad the slowdown is without frequenting sites like this, so I can see how someone would send in their application thinking it would only take a week or two as it has in the past.

BTW- Visa waiting times do usually go up a bit this time of year, but this year's slowdown is the worst I've seen since I started following visa stuff three years ago. 

BTW- Visa waiting times do usually go up a bit this time of year, but this year's slowdown is the worst I've seen since I started following visa stuff three years ago. 

Ditto.  My student visa in 2006 took about a week and doing an in-person application would've never crossed my mind.  Also, generally students are already taking quite a financial hit by moving to the UK, so affording a courier is sometimes out of the question (though, yes in retrospect, it would've been cheaper than re-booking a plane ticket!).  There was little to no warning for the vast majority of applicants of the MAJOR slowdown experienced this year - from my years of observation on the boards, this year was far worse than normal.

I applied at peak processing times in 2006 and got mine well within the quoted time.  This year seems to be either a new trend (biometrics) or an exception to the general processing time estimates.  Also, with the end of in-person applications, people may wrongly assume that postal applications have been streamlined to balance this.

All I can say is at least y'all are getting your visas back faster than those of us in the UK .

Thanks to everyone for their help! I got an email on Friday (9/12) saying that they had received my application (submitted (9/5)). Then today (9/16) I got another email saying that my visa had been issued. So it looks like student visas aren't taking as long as people are saying.

I hope everyone else is having similar luck!

Felicia

Glad to see everyone else getting their visas as well. I too got an e-mail today saying my visa is in the mail to me. As a rehash -- they received my application Sept 5, got an e-mail saying they'd opened it Sept 12 and was told it was in the mail to me Sept 16. So for those of you still waiting, good luck!

Well I submitted my application for my student visa on the 25th of Augs and it's now the 22nd of Sept it's been 19 business days since I submitted my application to the NY office and I'm at my wits end, I received the e-mail from the British Consulate stating it would be 10 working days, I even went to the NY office last week. (It did no good, the security guard stated it would be 15 to 20 working day before I would hear from them) my classes start on the 29 of Sept and International Studen Orientation started last week.  I wonder if I should fax them (they only way to contact the NY office) and ask them to expedite my application.   

A friend of my submitted her application to the LA office 3 days before me and she had her visa within a week.

Is this common with the NY office???

They really need to change their process.