Seattle→Glasgow - My Continuing Adventures! [Updated-Dec 20]

I'll report back the first word I get!

Remember, genius is a series of small steps done well.

12 weeks have gone by (We're in the middle of Week 13 now) and I've heard nothing

So, the wife and I conspired to get ahold of SOMEONE to figure out what's going on

She found a phone number buried in the old website for me to call (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi/visas-and-settlement) (44 300 123 2241)

The lady there asked me which visa I was applying for (settlement) and she told me I need to go to http://ukvi-international.faq-help.com, choose the country I'm applying from, and call the number provided (1-888-6839699 or 44 1243 213 387), which will cost £1.37/min. When called it was permanently busy so I've written it off as not an option. There is however an eMail form (ick) that I decided to use; I got this in return:

Our system shows we received your application on 31/03/2014. Your visa
application have not yet been assessed by an Entry Clearance Officer (ECO).
There can be a delay in the information on our system. Your patience is
appreciated.

We need your written confirmation so that we can escalate your case to the
visa section because your case is beyond the service standard.

Unfortunately, we can not see the physical visa document process and we
also do not know the delaying reason as we are not the visa application
centre.

Unfortunately it's a donotreply eMail address, so I wend back to the eMail form on the website and asked what address I need to send it to and got this back:

Please accept our sincere apologies that we are unable to escalate the case
at the moment as the settlement applications may take up to 24 weeks time.

Your visa application has not been processed. We are waiting for an entry
clearance officer to access your application. Please visit
https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y to see more information on
processing  times. Please note that the actual processing times may vary
for individual applications depending on a range of factors. Please allow
sufficient time for your application process.

Bah! My hopes have been raised and dashed in a matter of moments. I have hopelash.

There's a lot in the news how Passport renewals are backed up so far that those renewing overseas are getting an extra twelve months on their passport, so I wouldn't be too surprised if the visa section has something similar going on.

In other news: I have received proper quotes from companies for shipping my stuff. For 100 square ft $1300-1350 seems to be typical. There's some that quoted me $2700, but that's because they thought I needed a whole van.

So, that's where I'm at. I'll letcha know if I learn anything else.

Bah! My hopes have been raised and dashed in a matter of moments. I have hopelash.

Why have your hopes been dashed? The processing time you are experiencing is perfectly normal at the moment, with non-priority applications taking about 3 months to be processed. Everyone is in the same boat as you right now and no one can do anything about it - you just have to wait.

Once an entry clearance officer looks at your application, they should be able to process the visa within a few hours (unless your application is not straightforward), so pretty much the entire processing time is just your application sitting in a pile waiting to be looked at.

Unfortunately the processing times increased dramatically (from a couple of weeks to 3 months) right around the time that you mailed your application to Sheffield. If you wanted your application processed more quickly, you could have paid $510 for priority processing before mailing the documents which would have got the visa processed in 2-4 weeks rather than 3+ months.

There's a lot in the news how Passport renewals are backed up so far that those renewing overseas are getting an extra twelve months on their passport, so I wouldn't be too surprised if the visa section has something similar going on.

They won't be doing anything similar for visas - the visa will start when it is issued and will be valid for 33 months from that date, regardless of how long it took to process.

The processing standard for settlement visas is usually 12 weeks, but they are very busy at the moment. Same as they were in 2012 and again a couple of years before that.

This is not something new or abnormal, this kind of backlog happens every now and then and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Back in 2012, if you were applying for a spousal visa extension from inside the UK (FLR(M) - which you will have to do when your spousal visa expires), the processing time increased from 4 weeks in January to 10 months from February onwards... some people who applied in early 2012 didn't get their visas until 2013!

I think a few things I said weren't as clear as they were in my own head

Why have your hopes been dashed?

It's just a silly quote from King of the Hill that I like to use whenever I can, don't look too deep into that.

They won't be doing anything similar for visas

I only meant that the visa department will be similarly backed up not that they'll be extended.

This is not something new or abnormal...

Oh I'm well aware of that! I knew it could take that long, but one hopes that it won't! I am packed, ready to go, and I haven't seen my wife for seven and a half months so my reports will be tinted by an extreme need and hope that an answer will come sooner than later.

Yay it's finally happened!

22 weeks and a day after I applied my visa has finally been approved!

My plane has been booked for October 8th woohoo!

I've since talked to my bank (keeping my account open for US purchase options). It turns out that in this day-and-age the best way to transfer money from one account to another is still by wire transfer.

Talked to AT&T; my contract is over in January and the cheapest option is to suspend my account for $10/month until then.

I'm getting the rest of the house packed up (I used this page to determine which appliances I'm taking over, microwave is sadly staying behind).

I decided to go with Allstates Vanlines for shipping my stuff over ($1350 for 100cu/ft door-to-door). I'd link the website but it seems to be down at the moment (when I pointed it out to them I got "We working on it." as a reply). They require a week notice for pickup, so that'll happen next week.

Decided to use Doggone Taxi to ship my two cats over:
•$2,208 for everything TO the UK
•£436 at pickup (£62 if we want them delivered to Glasgow)
•Total of $2,925/£1,777 OR delivered for $3,027/£1,839


So...EXCITED! Thursday's vote could make this move extra interesting.

Aren't you here by now? Good lord man, get a move on....

Seriously, it's been for feckin ever

Yay I made it to the UK!

Yay my cats made it to the UK!
(I HIGHLY suggest using Doggone Taxi. They were professional, friendly, responsive, and my cats were happy upon arrival!)

My stuff...whereabouts currently unknown. I made a large post explaining it

 

I like your sense of humour....but that stuff with the shipping made me break out in a sweat.

Thank you

And yeah, it's not a happy experience. I just hope it serves as good info for someone else down the line so they don't run into the same thing.

Gonna be honest: job hunting has been tough. Not that I didn't expect it to be, but I figured I'd be able to get temp work pretty easily at least.

My shipping debacle is still ongoing as well with no clear end in sight.

Keeping my hopes up for both, though! The day I can look back on this and laugh is going to be a good day indeed.

Opened a new bank account yesterday woo!

I made an appointment with TSB

When I went in they were very friendly The things they asked for were: My visa, a bill with my name on it (brought in my Council Tax bill), and if I was working. I told him I had signed up with Reed.co.uk and being the awesome guy he was he put in the system that I was employed with a temp agency. The reason that's awesome is because I would otherwise be on a "restricted" account until I had some income and it turns out going from a restricted account to a regular one is a nightmare.

Now I can apply for all those jobs that require me to have a bank account in my name.

How's the job search going you ask? Not very fruitful I'm afraid. I've had one phone interview and a handful of rejections, the rest don't even reply.

I talked with another expat and he said it took him forever to get a job but once he got that first one all the rest were easy.

In other news, my shipment fiasco is coming to a close: they arrested the guy who did it! So excited!

Landed my second job woo!

Both were through job agencies, so I recommend trying to get in with those guys. For some reason (probably because there's literally HUNDREDS of people looking for ANY job) they won't take you on directly. I got in because they wanted me for a job they posted.

I used reed.co.uk to apply (as well as a ton of others).

My first job was a phone job (through Reed) whose contract lasted five weeks. This new one is a bank job with a six month contract (through Search this time), though the person interviewing me said everyone there is like that and their contracts are constantly renewed.

Now that I have an income I'll be working towards getting lessons for driving here (just need to find someone in Glasgow who can teach me the differences between US and UK rules/signs/etc and what to expect on the driving tests) and also putting away the money for my visa renewal.

I haven't started the search for a driving instructor for my specific needs, but if you guys know someone feel free to holla!