HELP! I *think* I have been approved!

Hi there...

I think I have been approved.

The email was worded oddly (came from the chicago office)

It said...

Your visa will be printed on Tuesday for Delivery on Wednesday

I have been told that if you get an e-mail you are approved....and I can't imagine why they would "print" anything if I wasn't.

I hope it is approved because I have already done the dance of joy!

I know the wording is different for different offices so please only respond if you feel sure of your answer. I don't want to get freaked out over nothing. I've done enough of that lately. 

I am sure it is approved =) they wouldn't need to print anything if it wasn't =)

The Visa is this sticker thingie with your picture on it and the date you are allowed to enter the UK and how long it's good for and some other bits... and affixed to a stamp page in the back of your passport...

I don't know why they worded it that way, mine was differently worded but it was from the LA office.

Congratulations =)

I was using the same logic as you, Calamity Jane.

The English teacher in me says that they would not use the possessive word "your" if I am not, in fact, in possession of a visa.

Perhaps my response was a follow up to an acceptance e-mail I never received? On Thursday when I was feeling very dire about having mixed up the "courier" that my new school asked me to get...I decided to throw a "hail mary" and fax the consulate and tell them that I would be much in their forever-karma-debt if they could in any way update me or expedite my application.

It was also odd as the e-mail came at what would have been like 5:45 in the evening Chicago time. It also did not list a tracking number but I have seen many people mention they never got a tracking number.

I was going to call my new boss over the weekend so she can arrange airfare for early next week but I didn't want to do it only to say "oops!" later.

Anyone (mod?) know for sure if this a confirmation that it has been approved?

I would assume you are approved, but an e-mail is worth the paper it is written on.  It might make you sleep well, but I would be cautious until you have the document in hand.  It would be fair to say "it appears you are approved" and "printing of a visa" would be the normal way they refer to it.  When I appeared in person about 2 years ago, the ECO said to me "here, take this (a sheet of paper) and make your payment at the next window and you can pick your passport up after 2pm"...  I looked dumbstruck because he didn't say if I had been approved or not...  I actually had to ask "does this mean I am approved?" and he said "Yes, of course" like I was being a bit daft.  These people work inside of a process day in and day out and they tend to say things that makes sense to them and maybe not to an outsider.

E-Mail's are inconsistant, which Chicago being the most frequent and most friendly, but they all lack form and consistancy.  LA is so so and New York is well, New York.  I don't know when they are going to more formalise the e-mail system and responses and maybe invest in something more formal then it boiling down to a few people in an office deciding whether to send it or not.  While they are entirely formal with their written communication, the e-mail stuff is a bit silly.

I was going to call my new boss over the weekend so she can arrange airfare for early next week but I didn't want to do it only to say "oops!" later.

This is just me, but I would hold off on getting the transportation arranged until you have the physical passport (with visa) in hand. I say this because although I'm sure it's fine, you do want to make sure the dates are valid for the time you are wanting to travel. I think someone had posted on here before that she made the travel arrangements, but then when she looked at the visa, the date it was valid for would not coincide with the date she was travelling.

Up to you of course...but just a thought.

When they send passports back anyway, they overnight them via USPS. You may be able to contact the post office with your address and see if there is a parcel on its way to you. (Not sure if it would work, but they would have your details if it had been sent already.)

Where will you be teaching, anyway?

I agree....I know they want me ASAP but I don't think it will be better if I have them book a flight and then they have to pay to change it.

I will be teaching in Braintree (Essex) at Alec Hunter Humanities College teaching English and Drama, but my BF (who is English) and I will be living in Colchester because Braintree is a bit too sleepy for us and Colchester is beautiful.

I wish they had been slightly more clear in their e-mail, but I think it is a bit as someone said before - THEY understand what they are saying....and therefore I must too! LOL

Luckily I am not terribly worried about a tracking number as it will be going to a PO box through UPS so there will be someone there to receive it safely. But it is a great suggestion to call USPS to confirm that something is being delivered.

Thanks all for the votes of confidence. I can't for the life of me see what they would mean by that e-mail if I were not approved.

 

I for some reason recall seeing that either the Consulate, or UPS as the delivery service they use, don't deliver to POBs.  I was going to list mine as my mailing address because I don't always trust people around my physical address but went with it anyway, so thinking there must have been something like that.  And the package has to be signed for upon delivery too.  I'm sure you looked into everything related to that already Jayen, but just mentioning the possibility in case!

Oh!  And I didn't book a flight till I had visa in hand as well.  As previously mentioned, you need to make sure all the details on it are accurate; errors will of course entail sending back to the Consulate which could push you past your travel date.

My POB is a physical address - to the UPS store. I honestly have no idea how they would even know it was a POB. (It doesn't contain a box number)

One of the reasons that places don't usually deliver to PO boxes is that there is no one to sign or accept it. This is not true with the kind that I have.

Anyhow, they have my physical address as well if they would rather choose to send it there.

I feel *fairly* confident that if sent, I will get it.

Now I'm just a lil worried that they will choose to send it to my house since no one will be there to accept it!

How common is it to get visas with mistakes on them??

I will scour mine....last thing I need is one digit out of place causing me trouble later. 

I was just thinking (okay....obsessing  ) Perhaps I may get a tracking number still.

The e-mail was clearly speaking in the future tense, and I assume they can't have a tracking number until a package is put together to be sent (well they technically could, but I wouldn't see why they would bother). So I might get lucky enough to get a tracking number e-mailed on Tuesday after they have printed off the visa and put the return package together.

Still perplexed by the odd wording of the e-mail tho. Maybe someone nice at the consulate who was taking pity on those whose apps were approved by didn't get sent out the same day? Would seem awfully considerate to not want people to wait through the long weekend.


Here is the actual e-mail for anyone interested:

Work permit Visa Application
            
   Inbox      X   
            

CHICAVisaInfo@fco.gov.uk
 to me
   
show details Oct 10 (1 day ago)
   
   
Reply
   
   
   from   CHICAVisaInfo@fco.gov.uk
to   XXXXXXXXX@gmail.com
date   Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 6:34 PM
subject   Work permit Visa Application
   
   

Your visa will be printed on Tuesday for Delivery on Wednesday

This is an automated message - do not respond to this email address as incoming mail is not answered.

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I am wondering if I can use the Jedi mind trick to bring my visa to my hand before Wednesday....

I know exactly how you're feeling. Interesting that they sent you an email saying that they'd be issuing it on Tuesday.

I found out by phone call that mine had been approved and then an email about 4 hours later. The tracking number was emailed to me the next evening, and the visa was in my hand the following day at 1pm. I remember because I was heading out for a 'girls day out' with my cousins and my mom at a casino and was in the process of telling my dad not to go anywhere because it was going to have to be signed for. Just as I was getting in the car the UPS truck pulled in the driveway!

I know it's hard, but do try to relax. It's not good for the blood pressure to be anxious! Deep breath...in....out---repeat until you feel lightheaded...

I didn't get my e-mail of "approval" until Monday, 21 July...however, when I look at the slip on the outside of my UPS bubblepak envelope...it says it was printed on the 18th and that the request was placed on the 18th as well for the return of my documents. So it just made me wonder if they had approved it the same day as the confirmation e-mail that they received my documents, but just didn't get around to sending me my approval e-mail until Monday, which was the scheduled day for overnight delivery of my documents.

Seems to me that if you are ONLY going to get an e-mail (unlike the LA office which also calls) that the e-mail isn't usually sent until the day they send out the documents. This would be the most logical.

I think the reason I got this e-mail might be because I sent them a fax letting them know about my travel date issues and they were being polite and letting me know that it was approved before the "normal" e-mail went out the day the docs were sent.

What do you all think?

This seems the most logical given the timelines everyone seems to be stating....

I feel pretty certain this e-mail is intended to let me know it is approved though. I mean....why bother "printing" a visa if I am denied? Right?