Any updates from recent applicants?

Congratulations to you, Claudia, and all the recent applicants receiving visas! I've been reading this thread a bit over the last few days and know you've been very anxious. I've got my sympathetic fingers crossed for the people still in limbo - especially you, Pandapops. Of course we don't know each other but omg do I get "the struggle"...I hope your landlord holds out for a few more days. Certainly they understand your predicament? Hang in there. I'm sending good vibes.

It's amazing to at least have a forum like this to share excitement and worry and nerves and anticipation with those who actually get it.

My wife and I decided that we're definitely using priority service. Interestingly, when i passed this info along to our solicitor in Guildford she said that we should know that they no longer guarantee priority processing within 15 days. I never knew there was such a guarantee. We're still going to use it because something in the realm of 15 business days is still WAY better than the amount some people have been waiting. Not that it eases anticipation, but perhaps those who have upgraded to priority and still haven't heard know that they can try not to freak out until 15 additional days have passed? Trying to calm down isn't easy. I know..

I just want to congratulate those who have received their long awaited news and can now get on with things.... like making plans.  I also want to send heartfelt empathy to those who are still waiting for visa applications to be done.  It is absolutely one of the most aggravating things I've ever gone through (almost exactly a year ago for my fiance visa!), and the inability to make plans, know where things stand (no way to track the progress of your own application - arg!), and having my far too creative mind come up with every possible disaster that could befall my visa application was enough to make me feel like I was losing my grip on reality.  In retrospect it wasn't all that long, but it was a few days longer than several others here, which made that aforementioned creative mind of mine really kick into high gear with the dreaded "what if?" scenarios.  No one around me really understood, except people here which helped immensely.  Sadly I was simply too wrapped up in nervous limbo, so that I couldn't do what I really wanted which was to enjoy the time I had left with my friends and family.

Thank you. You completely understand. I also forget how lucky I am that we are  together. We did the far apart waiting and the long distance thing from 1999-2002 and he came here on a fiancé visa. Now he ( mostly) tolerates my anxiety. Haha
Claudia congrats!! I know you've had so much worrying and I'm glad it's over for you!



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Congratulations to you, Claudia, and all the recent applicants receiving visas! I've been reading this thread a bit over the last few days and know you've been very anxious. I've got my sympathetic fingers crossed for the people still in limbo - especially you, Pandapops. Of course we don't know each other but omg do I get "the struggle"...I hope your landlord holds out for a few more days. Certainly they understand your predicament? Hang in there. I'm sending good vibes.

Haha thank you, we don't have to "know" each other to sympathize
I haven't told our landlord for the store, so he has no idea. Our lease was actually up in February and he didn't get around to asking us to renew until mid June.  We let it go because we had this in the works and figured if he asked we would say we wanted to do a 6 month extension. We would like to be able to just tell him we are going when we get word that it is approved and then tell him we will be out Sept 1.  He's currently putting pressure on us to sign a 2 year lease, some of that is because he is trying to sell  the building and tenants and leases are a selling point in our area since there's a lot of vacant property and the area is a bit depressed.  My leaky air conditioner may have helped distract him, luckily, he has to avoid us to avoid fixing it.
I just don't want to be kicked out of the store's  space because I can't sign a lease. I know if we tell him that we will leave sept 1st he won't care or push us out, but he wants an answer by the end of this month. And of course if worst case scenario the visa is denied, I will just tell him I am only willing to sign 6 months at a time, we will keep the store going until we get approved.
Sorry for the novel. It's entertaining, I hope! 


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Hello everyone

Just wondering if there are any recent updates on wait times from people who put their applications in under priority processing right from the start, rather than upgrading?

Our application for a settlement visa should arrive in Sheffield on Monday. Already anxious about how long we will have to wait and whether I have made any mistakes that will result in a refusal.

Ah, what fun eh?

Haha thank you, we don't have to "know" each other to sympathize
I haven't told our landlord for the store, so he has no idea. Our lease was actually up in February and he didn't get around to asking us to renew until mid June.  We let it go because we had this in the works and figured if he asked we would say we wanted to do a 6 month extension. We would like to be able to just tell him we are going when we get word that it is approved and then tell him we will be out Sept 1.  He's currently putting pressure on us to sign a 2 year lease, some of that is because he is trying to sell  the building and tenants and leases are a selling point in our area since there's a lot of vacant property and the area is a bit depressed.  My leaky air conditioner may have helped distract him, luckily, he has to avoid us to avoid fixing it.
I just don't want to be kicked out of the store's  space because I can't sign a lease. I know if we tell him that we will leave sept 1st he won't care or push us out, but he wants an answer by the end of this month. And of course if worst case scenario the visa is denied, I will just tell him I am only willing to sign 6 months at a time, we will keep the store going until we get approved.
Sorry for the novel. It's entertaining, I hope!

No worries about novel length replies. I write novels every time I post, it seems. Not to mention the fact that all of us have complications and lots of special circumstances to deal with - I think anyone going through this process could write a novel about it when they are through.

I seriously wish you luck with the landlord - hopefully that end of the month thing will actually be the case, which isn't til Friday....AND, most importantly, you'll have your answer from Sheffield by then!

Well, I emailed on Friday to ask about if mine had in fact been upgraded and received an email back this morning that said that they found my application and a decision had been made on 17-7-2015 and it takes some time for the return of my documents and administrative processing. So looks like it's just waiting to be mailed back, this wasn't the decision has been made email but I feel better that I at least can't panic they've lost it, it's been processed for a week already, they just haven't told me.


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Interestingly, when i passed this info along to our solicitor in Guildford she said that we should know that they no longer guarantee priority processing within 15 days. I never knew there was such a guarantee.

When it was introduced in 2010, the Settlement Priority Service was a guaranteed 15-working-day service for straightforward applications (no refused visas/entries and no convictions) and the Priority Service for all other visas was 48-hours - so you were paying for your settlement visa application to be processed within 15 working days. However, so many people started using the service that they could no longer process them all within the 15 days, so they took out that 15-day 'guarantee' a year or two ago.

Well, I emailed on Friday to ask about if mine had in fact been upgraded and received an email back this morning that said that they found my application and a decision had been made on 17-7-2015 and it takes some time for the return of my documents and administrative processing. So looks like it's just waiting to be mailed back, this wasn't the decision has been made email but I feel better that I at least can't panic they've lost it, it's been processed for a week already, they just haven't told me.


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Ugh, does that mean you paid for the upgrade after the decision had already been made?

Ugh, does that mean you paid for the upgrade after the decision had already been made?

I don't think so, I paid for it on Wednesday, 12:30 EST and emailed that day, decision made by Friday would be in line with others priority timing, it just hasn't made it to an email decision and ship out pile yet,  I guess.   If my additional payment didn't matter, I'm going to pretend it did to justify it ;)

Hello everyone

Just wondering if there are any recent updates on wait times from people who put their applications in under priority processing right from the start, rather than upgrading?

Our application for a settlement visa should arrive in Sheffield on Monday. Already anxious about how long we will have to wait and whether I have made any mistakes that will result in a refusal.

Ah, what fun eh?

Matilda76 ( I believe) recently applied priority and it was very quick!
Fingers crossed it's fast!

I don't think so, I paid for it on Wednesday, 12:30 EST and emailed that day, decision made by Friday would be in line with others priority timing, it just hasn't made it to an email decision and ship out pile yet,  I guess.   If my additional payment didn't matter, I'm going to pretend it did to justify it

Whew!  Still, very naughty that they haven't prioritized shipping it back!

Matilda76 ( I believe) recently applied priority and it was very quick!
Fingers crossed it's fast!

Thanks Pandapops!

I hope it's fast too. This whole process has been awful and the wait sucks too, as we all know.

I'm guessing our wait might be a little longer because we had a visitor visa refused 6 months ago (why that makes it complex I don't know - it should actually strengthen the settlement application but whatever!) and we supplied some extra stuff so the Officer will have a lot to sift through. Just desperate not to get a refusal!

Good luck to everyone else that's waiting too.

I'm guessing our wait might be a little longer because we had a visitor visa refused 6 months ago (why that makes it complex I don't know - it should actually strengthen the settlement application but whatever!) and we supplied some extra stuff so the Officer will have a lot to sift through. Just desperate not to get a refusal!

Any visa refusal automatically makes an application complex because they have to take extra time to go through the documents and look into the reasons for refusal.

It also means that you won't be able to apply for any future visas in person because they are unlikely to be able to decide the application on the day (due to having to look into the refusal), and the whole point of paying the extra for an in-person application is that you get a same-day decision.

Typically, applying with a previous refusal or a refused entry used to add about 2 weeks onto the processing time because they would have to request paperwork from other sections of UKVI by snail mail... and in the case of a refused entry, that would have to be mailed from the UK to the consulate in either NYC, LA or Chicago (all 3 used to process all visa types and you would mail the application to the designated one for your state), which would take at least a week to arrive anyway...  but I'm not sure what the timings are like now.

An extra two frigging weeks?! Guess it could be a little faster now if they use electronic systems rather than snail mail.

Knowing our luck it will take ages anyway even tho the reasons for the Visitor Visa refusal were really simple.

Sigh. My wife is not well and with nobody to take care of her in the US I need to get her here asap 

Whew!  Still, very naughty that they haven't prioritized shipping it back!

The self employment part of things probably complicated that as well. We had to provide statements for a year from 3 different accounts. The stack was massive. We had to use a book box vs an envelope and it barely fit. Because of that we didn't provide copies of the account statements,  but left a note that they could keep all of the originals lol . My guess is they have no box for it.