UK Visa Settlement Processing Time

For everyone still waiting:

What business/working day are you on, priority or non-priority, and with which consulate? Just curious.

I'm on day 12, non-priority, with the NY consulate.

We're on business day 52, non-priority (unavailable when we applied), LA consulate.

Hi there everyone,

We had the reasons back for our denial, although a bit silly they are fixable. They were as follows;

Our two bedroom home was not big enough for me, my wife and my two children to live in.

We need to provide proof that m wife is seeking employment in the UK.

I just wanted to say to make sure anyone else doesn't have the same problems. I have a question though, if we can find a new home, which I think we have and we can get emails back from UK based companies she appies for, then can we use those in the appeal, or would it be better to reaply?

bekicos.

For everyone still waiting:

What business/working day are you on, priority or non-priority, and with which consulate? Just curious.

I'm on day 12, non-priority, with the NY consulate.

I'm on Day 16, priority, LA consulate

I'm on Day 16, priority, LA consulate

Day 3, priority, NY, and don't laugh at me. I feel just as anxious as anyone else!!!

Hi there everyone,

We had the reasons back for our denial, although a bit silly they are fixable. They were as follows;

Our two bedroom home was not big enough for me, my wife and my two children to live in.

We need to provide proof that m wife is seeking employment in the UK.

I just wanted to say to make sure anyone else doesn't have the same problems. I have a question though, if we can find a new home, which I think we have and we can get emails back from UK based companies she appies for, then can we use those in the appeal, or would it be better to reaply?

bekicos.

Best thing to do is find suitable accommodation that is not considered overcroweded for your family size and have her start job searching and create her CV and when you do that reapply. There is nothing that an appeal can do but take a year to tell you the same thing an AR (administrative review) only looks to see if the ECO made an error processing your application. In this case, your best bet is to fix the problems and then reapply and make sure that the refusal is declared and that you provide the refusal notice with the new application.

Day 40 LA consulate non priority (also unavailable when we applied which makes me spit bricks!

Quick question....which someone may know the answer to.... IF you get an application denied, do they return your passport with that information in it???Does that then prohibit travel to the UK without further approval??? John is in a bit of a depression at the moment, convinced that he is going to get denied because of the wait and I said, to jolly him along, well you can just come over for a few months while we fix any problems and then go back to the US and reapply and he questioned whether he would be allowed to travel to the uk if he was denied...I;m pretty sure he won;t be denied... - can;t believe the border agency cares that much about a conviction for pot possession in 1978 -but now he has me in overdrive mode!!!

Day 40 LA consulate non priority (also unavailable when we applied which makes me spit bricks!

Quick question....which someone may know the answer to.... IF you get an application denied, do they return your passport with that information in it???Does that then prohibit travel to the UK without further approval??? John is in a bit of a depression at the moment, convinced that he is going to get denied because of the wait and I said, to jolly him along, well you can just come over for a few months while we fix any problems and then go back to the US and reapply and he questioned whether he would be allowed to travel to the uk if he was denied...I;m pretty sure he won;t be denied... - can;t believe the border agency cares that much about a conviction for pot possession in 1978 -but now he has me in overdrive mode!!!

Once a visa has been refused for a conviction that is unspent there may be a travel ban issued, but the visa refusal notice will say if there is. As for travel after that you probably would be refused entry to the UK specifically because the Immigration Officer will see in their systems (and via a stamp in the passport) that you were refused a visa for entry and they could believe that you are trying to settle in the UK without a proper visa.

Rule of thumb is that if you have ever been refused entry or refused a visa you will need the appropriate visa issued before you trave to the UK for all future travel.

So no, he probably won't be able to travel as a normal visitor if the visa is refused.

thanks for the info - well the conviction is well spent! I just think he has too much time on his hands to think right now!!!!

It's a bit rich to say a 2 bed house isn;t big enough, plenty of folk live in a house that size - in fact my cousin, her husband and 3 teenage sons live in a 2 bedder in Dundee...also a bit worried that all we put on john;s application was yes i will be seeking employment...altho did send them and email this week telling them about a job opp and they havent; replied....etc - but I do earn more than enough to keep us both - i am teacher at the top of the pay scale so maybe that will make a difference...

It's called overcrowding and it is specifically in the Visa Guidance and it applies to all settlement visa applicants.

Here's the visa guidance used in Bekicos' case:

MAA14 Overcrowding
Residential housing

The Housing Act 1985 contains statutory definitions of overcrowding in residential housing.  The ECO should bear in mind, as Pakistan 2004 UKAIT 000066 says, that adequacy of accommodation must be assessed on an individual basis. It is not enough to equate adequacy with overcrowding.

A house is considered to be overcrowded if 2 persons aged 10 years or more of opposite sexes, who are not living together as husband and wife, must sleep in the same room. The Act also details the maximum number of people allowed for a given number of rooms or a given room floor area.

Account is taken only of rooms with a floor area larger than 50 square feet and rooms of a type used either as a living room or bedroom.

Rooms such as kitchens or bathrooms are excluded.

Under the Housing Act, the number of people sleeping in accommodation must not exceed the following:

Number of rooms                   Maximum number of people allowed
 
1                                          2
2                                          3
3                                          5
4                                        7.5
5                                         10
Each additional room in excess of 5 - An additional 2 people

For the purpose of the Act:

a child under one does not count as a person.
a child aged 1-10 years counts as only half a person.

Best thing to do is find suitable accommodation that is not considered overcroweded for your family size and have her start job searching and create her CV and when you do that reapply. There is nothing that an appeal can do but take a year to tell you the same thing an AR (administrative review) only looks to see if the ECO made an error processing your application. In this case, your best bet is to fix the problems and then reapply and make sure that the refusal is declared and that you provide the refusal notice with the new application.

Weby, this kind of freaks me out. I plan on finding work but was just going to put my CV into my application. I'm overnighting it next Monday, do you think if I apply for a few in the next few days and print out the return emails that will be sufficient?

Also, my husband's house in Scotland is 2 bedrooms, and it would be just him and I living there. However, on the weekends, his 2 kids (1 girl age 7 and 1 boy age 4) stay in the spare room. Do you think this will complicate things?

Weby, this kind of freaks me out. I plan on finding work but was just going to put my CV into my application. I'm overnighting it next Monday, do you think if I apply for a few in the next few days and print out the return emails that will be sufficient?

Also, my husband's house in Scotland is 2 bedrooms, and it would be just him and I living there. However, on the weekends, his 2 kids (1 girl age 7 and 1 boy age 4) stay in the spare room. Do you think this will complicate things?

Don't apply what happened to another person to your situation. It seems that Bekicos' situation may be a bit complex due to benefits & disabilites existing in the household and the ECO wants to see that his wife will be able to live in the UK without needing public funds. If your other half is employed and you otherwise meet the Maintenance requriements there is no need to worry about this.

As far as accommodation if it's just you and your husband then you're fine. His children are under age 10 and only count as .5 of a person so it shouldn't be an issue. But remember that rooms (like living rooms & reception rooms) that are larger than 50 sq ft count as rooms that can be used to meet the accommodation requirements. So if you're at all concerned then you can have a survey done of the house that includes room measurements to show that any additional rooms that are not bedrooms meet the space requirement for Accommodation.

This is worrying me a bit now as well; I did not bother including a CV, as my CV isn't the strongest-looking.  Aside from mentioning my University degree, however, I did mention everywhere I was working from Nov2006 - Present... and supplied reference letters from all employers.  I mentioned in my cover letter as well that if granted settlement, i will begin looking for administrative jobs in and around my local area, and that I had already set up a website and had business cards made to help promote myself to play local weddings, cocktail parties, and other engagements.  I was told that a CV is a weak form of evidence... but I guess sometimes that is better than nothing? 

Don't apply what happened to another person to your situation. It seems that Bekicos' situation may be a bit complex due to benefits & disabilites existing in the household and the ECO wants to see that his wife will be able to live in the UK without needing public funds. If your other half is employed and you otherwise meet the Maintenance requriements there is no need to worry about this.

As far as accommodation if it's just you and your husband then you're fine. His children are under age 10 and only count as .5 of a person so it shouldn't be an issue. But remember that rooms (like living rooms & reception rooms) that are larger than 50 sq ft count as rooms that can be used to meet the accommodation requirements. So if you're at all concerned then you can have a survey done of the house that includes room measurements to show that any additional rooms that are not bedrooms meet the space requirement for Accommodation.

I am really confused now because my children are both under the age of 10. So why that an issue?? I really don't know how to get my family together. They just seem to make it up as they go 

I am really confused now because my children are both under the age of 10. So why that an issue?? I really don't know how to get my family together. They just seem to make it up as they go 

oh bekicos, i'm so sorry, how awful hopefully you'll be able to get this straightened out and get your family back together again.

I am really confused now because my children are both under the age of 10. So why that an issue?? I really don't know how to get my family together. They just seem to make it up as they go  

They don't make it up as they go along, and they're not trying to ruin your family. The visa rules are what they are and there are times that they can allow for flexibility in judgement in an application and there are times that they can't. Allowing yourself to go down that road will only make you feel worse, they're not out to get you so please just focus on what you can do to correct the situation. It isn't the end of the world because this can be fixed, it will just take a bit of time.

That being said, at this point you might want to contact a professional immigration adviser or an immigration solicitor who can answer your specific questions on how to present your situation in the best light. They can also contact the Consulate for clarification regarding the refusal reasons so you'd have a better idea of what you're looking at.

Barring that you could look for other suitable accommodation. Or another option: do you have any other rooms in your home (living room or reception rooms) that could be used as a bedroom...anything that is a minimum of 50 sq ft? If so hire someone to come in and do a survey of your home (measuring the rooms) and write a letter detailing the dimensions of each room of the home. This may meet the requirement since any room 50 sq ft or larger can be used as a room for Accommodation purposes.