Unfortunately, the Silver Premium Service does not apply to settlement visa applications, so you are not eligible to use it.
Your only options are:
Settlement Priority Processing for $793:
- it's a receipt you print off and place in your package, then you mail the documents to Sheffield, clearing stating 'Settlement Priority Service' on the outside of the package. When it arrives in Sheffield, it will be placed in the priority queue and should be processed faster than non-priority applications
Processing time = about 2 months
Settlement Premium Prcessing for $1,700:
- same as the priority processing, but you give biometrics and hand over your documents in person at a Premium Centre, and then they transmit your documents to Sheffield electronically and put in the priority queue. You get to keep your passport while it is processing.
Processing time = about 2 months
I would not advise using the premium processing - the people working at the Premium Centres don't seem to know what they are doing, and the service isn't really any faster than regular priority processing... so you're basically paying an extra $900 to hand over your documents in person and to keep your passport. Really not worth it, in my opinion.
We've only seen about 4 or 5 people use this service so far (it was new in Nov 2017) and two of them were very unhappy with it and made formal complaints (one got about half the money refunded, but the other didn't).
