That's how the caseworker described it. Personally, I think 'organized' may have been optimistic.
I went for my SET(M) appointment this morning (spoilers: I got it!!!). Basic story: arrived at 830, did the security stuff, brought to 'waiting area 5' (chairs along the wall across from 'waiting area 4') around 840. Other people gradually trickled in. Some guy had a hissyfit because he was told to move from one 'waiting area' to the other. The whole area filled up so quickly than really it didn't seem to make much difference.
The biometric stuff is all done in a separate room - what used to be the first two windows, where you'd go for your initial discussion - which has a frosted glass door WITH A HUGE FINGERPRINT ON IT. I have no idea what it looks like inside, sorry. The main room also had a glassed-off reception window for the biometric applicants, and there were several screens showing what numbers are currently waiting to be called, but those didn't seem to be working very well, given the number of people waiting and the lack of numbers on the screen. Oh, and there were also LCD signs with crawling information ('Estimated time for PEO-Caseworker is 0 minutes').
My 900 appointment started at 915, about a minute after someone who worked there went up to one of the caseworker windows and mentioned that there was a 'non-bio' applicant waiting (great, I am washing powder).
I left all the documents with him, and was called back 20 minutes later to be told I had the visa!!!1!11 He advised me to 'have a wee seat' and we'd be called by the cashier, which happened about three seconds after I arrived at the 'wee seat', so I went back to the windows to pay, and on the way back to the waiting area I was flagged down by a different caseworker - the first one had already passed on my application to him, and he told me all the basic information (I can go on the dole, I can leave the country for up to two years, my letter will have the number you can phone about citizenship [which it didn't]).
Meanwhile, the biometric applicants were still patiently waiting, and the Big Boss came out to tell the people who were working there that things needed to move more quickly, and something about my number not having come up on the screen; I wasn't really paying attention because she was down at the other end of the room. But by the time I left at 1030, I think they had processed maybe 4 bio appointments, and at least two of the people who'd arrived around the time I did were still sitting patiently.
Oh, and while I was waiting for the visa issuance, someone came out from the bio reception window to ask whether the volume on the screens was loud enough. I'd hardly heard it, given the rarity of the announcements, but I thought it could be a bit louder, so she came back with a remote control and increased the volume. I don't know why that amused me.
These people seemed, shall we say, underutilized, so whatever the hold-up was, it was probably in the glassed-off room.
At least three employees apologized and explained that this was the first day they were doing the bio appointments. Which I knew from a) this forum and b) the fact that they'd sent me the FLR text.
Anyway, my application was 100% smooth sailing, but I wonder if those poor bio people are STILL waiting next to the door with the GIANT FINGERPRINT.
