How to make a visa application PRIORITY???

Hi! I know you can make a visa application priority by paying the priority fee (I think it was $150) and writing priority on the envelope when you submit the documents so it gets processed ahead of the line. I need to do this but I'm not sure the necessary steps to take! My biometrics appt is next Monday and I need it to be processed ASAP after that because I'll be leaving for London a month from then. Could someone tell me how to do this please??

I already submitted my visa and paid online for that just now. (141 USD)

thanks

Hi,

This gives an overview of how to use priority (as well as advising against if you've already submitted the application) http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/usa/worldbridge-services/?langname=null

And here are the details of how to pay: https://www.visainfoservices.com/pages/Content.aspx?Tag=Services_PAGE

After you have had your biometrics appointment, on the day that you mail your visa application and documents to the consulate in NYC, you go to the Worldbridge website (second link in Steve_G's reply) and purchase the priority service for $150.

You will need to print the priority receipt and place it inside your package, and also write 'Priority Service' on the outside of the package so it can be seen easily.

Then you mail the documents to the consulate - they must arrive within 14 calendar days of the biometrics appointment, and then it should be 48 hours for processing once it has been opened.

thanks so much, I plan to do this. Do you know how I can track my application so to speak after that? How will I know when it has been processed? Do they email me? Call?

You can only track the delivery to the consulate - we usually advise using a courier like UPS or FedEx so you can track it and make sure it's been delivered.

Once it has arrived at the consulate, you can't track it yourself, but you may get an email to say they have opened it and/or are processing it. Then you may get another email saying it has been issued/processed.

Not everyone gets these emails though, so the visa may just turn up on your doorstep unexpectedly. They should only communicate by email though, not by phone.

As long as you know it has reached the consulate, it will be processed, so you just have to wait to hear from them after that.

Thank you. I just have one last question: how do I know which address they're sending it to? I provided my apartment address but also my home address (where my parents live)and I want them to send it to the latter as it is safer to mail it there, as well as easier. Do they just send it to the return address provided on the envelope that I ship the documents in?

sorry, *this* will actually be my last question!

Is it a good idea to enclose a cover letter with my documents, explaining my situation/why I want the prospective student visa and detailing which documents I've enclosed to support this?

Let me know if this sounds like a good plan thanks