UK Visa Settlement Processing Time

I'll be sending positive thoughts your way!

We're getting married on 8/27 and I'm hoping that DF will be able to sweet talk the people in the Jersey City courthouse so that they will let us drop off our marriage certifcate and just do what they need to do on 8/29.  If not I won't be able to apply until the following week.  I will use priority though and we don't have anything to complicate it. 

I'll be sending positive thoughts your way!

We're getting married on 8/27 and I'm hoping that DF will be able to sweet talk the people in the Jersey City courthouse so that they will let us drop off our marriage certifcate and just do what they need to do on 8/29.  If not I won't be able to apply until the following week.  I will use priority though and we don't have anything to complicate it. 

What do they need to do, out of interest?

Sending good thoughts out there to everyone who is waiting , I know the feeling about living with visa's for four months seems to have been that long for me and we haven't even applied yet lol.

MAC any news yet love rooting for you xxx

Sscarllet, won't you get the marriage certificate right away? We got married in New York and got the original and certified copies on the same day. Hope you'll get it quickly. We'll be applying in early Sept as well.

Sscarllet, won't you get the marriage certificate right away? We got married in New York and got the original and certified copies on the same day. Hope you'll get it quickly. We'll be applying in early Sept as well.

It depends on where you get married - some states/counties give you the original marriage certificate right away (such as in NY), but others give you just a copy on the day (which isn't sufficient for the visa) and then you have to wait a few days to receive the official one.

Thank you for your good wishes for the verdict. I shall do the same for y'all that you all get the positive news you long for.

I'm so nervous! I won't know anything until the Chronopost courier arrives tomorrow with the envelope containing all my original documents and my passport which, I hope, contains the visa that will allow me to go home.

I've been living in Belgium the past 7 months but my life has been in the UK for the past 4 years and I am so hoping I get to go home rather than back to the US.

The wait time here in the EU has been much longer than I thought and there was no option to speed things up. When I first applied for a visa in the US in 2007, I got it expedited and had it in 48 hours. Wow!

I can't think about it any more tonight or I'll go crazy. Let us hope I don't end up asking y'all what to do if it is rejected.

Good night!
MCA

Hi guys.  I just wanted to offer my recent experience getting my spousal visa.  
I can't believe how quick it was, considering we didn't use priority service.  

I sent the package via certified USPS priority on Wednesday July 27th (evening).
It actually was delivered Monday August 1st.  They opened the package August 5th, and sent me an email. I figured it would be a while but then to our surprise we received our approval on August 12th (notified via email) and now today I have my passport back with a nice big stamp in it.

After all of the stories I have read, I just wanted to offer a positive review.  Reading the forums helped so much, WebyJ and ksand24 were fantastic at giving us advice in what was needed.  After a year and a half apart, and giving up on getting my hub to the US, we can finally live together in real life (no more skype, no more visits with a baby in my lap).

Thank you uk-yankee and good luck everyone.  Sending positive vibes for all who are apart - it can happen just don't give up!
 

congratulations Holz

Congratulations Holz enjoy your new family life in the UK I feel for you with the baby as well,  Just hope my Daughter in Law gets her visa so she can come over with my grand daughter love pads x

Well I'm one step slightly closer - my parcel of documents has arrived with my DH! Now he just has to add his stuff, have his biometrics appointment and send it all off

For Pads -
Sent : Friday
Arrived (in WA) : Tuesday
Spent : £61 (!!!)
Via : Parcel Force

Verdict : Expensive, took longer than I was led to believe, and their tracking on the website is USELESS. Does NOT keep you updated. This is what it looks like :

16-08-2011  11:00  Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA Delivery attempted
14-08-2011  18:26  Delivery Agent - NEW YORK -PTT Received in destination country
13-08-2011  03:32  International Hub Forwarded for export
13-08-2011  00:29  International Hub Received and processed
12-08-2011  21:16  International Hub Received and processed
12-08-2011  18:46  Rotherham East Depot Tracked out of Local Hub
12-08-2011  11:44  [Home Town] Collected from Post Office
12-08-2011  11:14  Rotherham East Depot Collected from customer
12-08-2011  10:13  WDM Online

Except I know that it's arrived because DH told me so. That's not obvious from the info online!!

YAY! It has been approved, so I will be leaving for home tomorrow afternoon.

My timeline is a little different since I am currently living in Belgium and had to apply to the Paris Worldbridge Office.

4 July: On-line application and payment
11 July: Biometrics and documents submission in Paris
16 August: Decision made
17 August: Visa arrived
1 Sept: Registry Office notification
24 Sept: Wedding...wahoo!

NB: We did not submit bank statements because my fiancee is a bit pedantic and insisted that it was not required. However, she owns her house outright and we submitted 6 months of her pay receipts, original work contract and were approved but not without a bit of nail-biting on my part.

Many thanks for all the support and advice and best wishes to all.
MCA

MAC that's great news love what an awfully long wait you had so glad it all worked out in the end.

Charlie thanks for letting me know love, I agree was expensive for the time it took, where is WA as a matter of interest what state is that Washington?  I think we will be using DHL if I can keep the weight down.

Good luck to everyone still waiting can't wait until I can put something here x

Yes, sorry, WA is Washington State (not Washington DC) it's way over the other side of the USA. Two states up from California, but with British weather! Or...it's where the vampires live lol

Via : Parcel Force

Verdict : Expensive, took longer than I was led to believe, and their tracking on the website is USELESS. Does NOT keep you updated.

Note for anyone who may be following this thread:

We do not recommend anyone use Parcel Force, Royal Mail, etc to ship any documents relating to a visa for these reasons.  I recall a user a while ago who almost missed the deadline to get her documents to the Consulate because her sponsor shipped them via Parcel Force and they were extremely slow to arrive.

FedEx, DHL, etc are much more reliable.  You get actual tracking and they get delivered fast!

Glad they got through alright in the end CharliEmAIO!

Maybe I should have searched on here before I went Parcel Force! I was pretty taken in by their website, promising tracking and next day delivery to the USA etc, for only £30. Well they didn't mention at what weight that would DOUBLE, and I got stuck with the "2 working days to any other destination" one. I went with them for the sheer convenience of being able to go to my Post Office and have it out of my hands, plus I started work late to be there at all! Ah well, you live and learn, and hopefully my experience can help someone else