Do you think someone on the forum can enlighten me as to why it can take so long to hear about a decision, or maybe what they actualy look into when making a decision? In our case, we are saying it is a complicated case because my husband had one refusal, then they have a couple of divorces to look in to. I think i should put it down to a lot of red tape.
It can depend on a number of different things, for example:
- how busy the consulate is... if they are very busy, sometimes an application can just sit in a pile for weeks before someone gets around to actually processing it. Remember that you applied just before the rule changes and fee increases came into effect on April 6th, so the consulate may currently be dealing with a last-minute rush of applications.
- Also, if you didn't pay for priority processing, then the applications that did pay for it will be put ahead of yours in the line, so you might have to wait longer for them to start processing your application.
- If you have a refused entry or visa, then they have to request the paperwork from it and then look into the reason for the refusal and determine whether it will affect this application... this can potentially add up to 2-3 weeks onto the processing time - especially if it was a refused visa or entry in the UK (you mention in your signature that he mistakenly applied for a visa while in the UK) because the paperwork is sent from the UK to the US by snail mail and can take a week or two to arrive, then they have to look into it after that.
