UK Visa Settlement Processing Time

Thanks everyone for your replies.
My parents wrote a signed letter advising that they would allow us to stay in their property until we found our own accommodation. I mean these days you gotta be careful what documents you send especially when they're not yours.

This is what was noted on the front page of my list of documents

Evidence of Accommodation (Documents are photocopies from originals & account numbers have been protected as requested by owners. If required, the original documents can be submitted by request.

I stated this as the property is not mine but if requested I would be able to submit them. what do you guys think?

Thanks

My visa timeline has finally come to an end.

July 1: Email that my documents were received and entered assessment process (LA non-priority)

Sept 2: Email that my application has been approved and the visa has been issued.

After nine weeks, or 44 working days, all I could hear was Etta James singing "At Last" in my head when I read that email. Still waiting for it in the mail, should be delivered tomorrow.

My heart goes out to all of you who are waiting. I feel for you and hope the wait comes to an end soon.

Congrats Peggles!!

Just getting our new application ready...

Enjoy the UK!

My visa timeline has finally come to an end.

Congratulations Peggles!

Congratulations Peggles

Congrats! Have a stress free day!

Is there an email address that I can email the Chicago consulate to see if they actually have the application? Starting to get worried now, as it's been nearly a week since it's been sent and still heard nothing! Just want to know that they at least have the bloody thing

Is there an email address that I can email the Chicago consulate to see if they actually have the application? Starting to get worried now, as it's been nearly a week since it's been sent and still heard nothing! Just want to know that they at least have the bloody thing

No. There isn't.
Because of the mail service you used it probably wasn't delivered until mid-late week and it takes a couple of days to get an email so it will be next week before you hear.

Try not to stress...I'm sure it'll be ok.

Congrats Peggles!!!

Congrats on the visa - however,makes me feel sick to my stomach that we will have about another 5 weeks to wait - I had to come back after a year out there as an exchange teacher for school to begin, lots of reasons why the visa application didn't get in before it did...however, sick of waiting, i spoke to my very politically alert brother who was appalled at the lack of transparency in the process...he says government processes, of which this is one should be transparent and there is no excuse for them not having a way to track ones application...my MP is now aware of this too...now....feel better for just having done something towards it...I'm not good at waiting for others to do things for me...I don;t want him to move my app along, i want the process to be less stressful for everyone...

Gilean - I completely agree! I am so frustrated!

My mother in law is battling chronic cancer & her health is deteriorating as the days go by. I won't go into the details, but it's not good! Obviously due to our circumstances, we would have gone the priority route... had we known about it!

Once I found out about the priority service, I immediately emailed WorldBridge and their response was just mass confusion. Eventually, I did email a complaint to the Consulate. Their response was to forward priority inquiries to WorldBridge. Not only did this make no sense, but it also made me feel like they didn't even bother to read my entire email where I clearly explained we did not have the priority option. I've mentioned my mother in law's condition in each email. Weeks keep going by so I sent another yesterday. Their response: You applied for a settlement visa. According to our published processing time, it can take up to 12 weeks.

That was it. No comment on what to do concerning our medical crisis. I'm baffled. I would never respond in such a way to someone. I thought there was supposed to be an element of customer service to all of this?? I was actually wondering if my mother in law should contact her MP today... maybe that really is something we should consider? I don't want to put her through that if it's pointless though...

Thank you! Got the passport this morning!

GCJ, I really hope it works out this time. Good luck.

Gilean, I completely understand and agree with you 100%.

EmmJayye, I'm so sorry. That's a really difficult situation and I don't know what I would do in your position. I think that cut-and-paste response is incredibly insensitive. Any way you can send them proof (again, because I know you said it's included in your application already)? Like a note from her doctor?

I also wanted to say thanks to Duke and WebyJ for taking the time to respond to my earlier question. But it still just doesn't make sense to me. It would make sense if they were seriously understaffed. I understand they have a lot of visas, but you'd think with all that money coming in they'd be able to hire enough people to deal with the visas in a reasonable time. No one I've talked to thinks that 9-10 weeks is a reasonable time.
 
I also understand that summer is the worst with all the student visas, but I didn't think, before applying, that it would affect my settlement visa. It happens every year, and you'd think they could be prepared to handle it, perhaps with a separate department. I don't know much about the student visas, but I'm guessing they also pay an exorbitant fee. When I went to the UK to study, all I needed was my letter of acceptance at the border and they stamped my passport with a four year student visa. I guess the red tape just keeps getting stickier.
 
WebyJ, I completely agree about priority, it seems to be the ONLY way to go. However, for many of us it wasn't even a decision to make because we didn't know about it (and I'm not the only one). It's not even mentioned on the UKBA website and there is no warning about it before you pay. It would be nice if they gave you an idea of the timeline (15 days vs. 50 days) BEFORE you pay rather than in an email once they've received it and it's too late to change. The only thing you have to go on are the statistics guide which are misleading because they don't tell you how many people have used priority. I assumed (very naively apparently) that most were "regular" non expedited applications. I think that any system that relies on extra fees, like this priority fee, in order to deliver reasonable results is ridiculous.
 
I found that everything I read on UKBA and Worldbridge ranged from confusing to downright deceitful. This is the only place where I've found useful and honest information about the visa process, so thanks again to everyone. I just wish I had found it before I'd applied.

I too wish I had found this site before I applied! There is a lot of info on here that you just can't get anywhere else....It has become my favorite website and cheap therapist! My sanity is definitely being kept in check through all of you and the info I find here! Thanks!

Congrats peggles!  And remember to inspect your visa for any errors. 

Best of luck to all those still waiting!

I also completely agree with the last comments posted above!! My boyfriend and I ran ourselves ragged trying to decipher what exactly the UKBA meant concerning our settlement visa. The website said one thing and then when I rang through to talk to a representative they would say something entirely contradictory! soo frustrating to not have the information we really needed clearly outlined.. As I said before the only reason we knew to send it priority was because a struck of luck led me to this forum before I sent off the application.

 I will now spread the word so that others like me are able to have a resource like this forum to have their questions answered directly rather than being left in the dark regarding the visa process.. I swear sometimes it seems like these immigration officers make the rules up as they go along!! sorry for my ranting! as you can probably tell I'm still waiting to receive an approval!! lol

Melissa