ILR wait with Tier 2 work visa route

For whatever reason, it seems like people applying from a Tier 2 visa can sometimes be approved faster than those coming from other routes,  is this right? This is what my husband has, and we apply next month for ILR.  I need to decide whether to pay an extra £2000 for our family to get priority processed.  Reason being, I would really like for our daughter to have ILR when she applies for universities in January.  I know it isn't absolutely essential, as long as she has ILR by the time any offers are made/accepted, and student finance applied for.  But it just seems easier, knowing she will be put in the proper category from the start.  Mid-August to mid-January is 5 months, how likely is it we would have ILR before that?

And does the 6 month wait start from the time the application is submitted or from the time biometrics are submitted? On another message board, someone said she couldn't get a biometrics appointment until a month after she submitted her application online.

I’m not sure how long ILR is taking at the moment but the processing standards time is 6 months, so I would allow the full 6 months for it to be processed.

For ILR based on a work visa there are 2 priority options:
- Super Priority processing for £800 per application, which gets the visa processed within 24 hours of biometrics
- Priority processing for £500 per application, which gets the visa processed within 5 days of biometrics

See: https://www.gov.uk/faster-decision-visa-settlement

However, the priority options are currently only being offered to a limited number of applicants due to Covid restrictions... so they may or may not be available as an option for you when you apply.

They are available for your application, they will will be offered as an option at the end of the online application when you pay for the visa.

If you are unable or don’t want to wait a full 6 months, I would recommend purchasing one of the priority options if they are offered to you.


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Thank you.  Yes, despite wishing there was another way, we are leaning strongly toward paying for priority.