Any updates from recent applicants?

May is the start of the summer delay I've noticed. It's when everyone without kids start to take their 'summer' holidays. Many people try and take them around bank holidays (extra days off without losing their holiday alotment) and when the kids aren't off yet to save money and have fewer kids around (if that's not their thing).
I'm sure you will hear soon though!

There's this nifty doodad I hadn't seen til recently. It shows that they have the settlement time frames available for those done in June!

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/ [nofollow]

Yeah I saw that when I applied. Since then it's gone from February to April to June. Either way, they've got to give me my passport back eventually lol. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but we shall see. At this point, I just want it to be approved whenever it does show up.

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Just gonna add my times on here. I'm just anxiously waiting now and it helps to read everyone else's experiences and to know I'm not alone in waiting lol.

Docs were received in Sheffield on July 21. I had paid for priority service , and got an email July 26 saying that my application is "being prepared for consideration ".
Not sure entirely what that means but it's progress!

I didn't realize how busy the summer would be for their processing center .... I was hoping to arrive in September and a lot of things are on hold until we get a decision. .... Like booking the pet transportation and my husband is going to sell his flat and we are trying to get a house or at least a bigger rental for now.

Good luck to everyone !

Docs were received in Sheffield on July 21. I had paid for priority service , and got an email July 26 saying that my application is "being prepared for consideration ".
Not sure entirely what that means but it's progress!

That means they have logged your application into the system and it is now waiting in line to be picked up by an Entry Clearance Officer so it can be processed. Once the ECO gets to your application, if it's straightforward, it should only take an hour or two for them to make a decision... so the majority of your processing time will be your application just sitting in a pile waiting to be looked at.

I didn't realize how busy the summer would be for their processing center .... I was hoping to arrive in September and a lot of things are on hold until we get a decision. .... Like booking the pet transportation and my husband is going to sell his flat and we are trying to get a house or at least a bigger rental for now.

I think you'll be fine for September if you paid for priority. It seems to be taking about 4 weeks for priority applications at the moment.

People whose priority applications arrived in Sheffield between July 1st and July 4th have been getting their visas approved this week...  so yours should hopefully be issued by around mid-late August .

Docs were received in Sheffield on July 21. I had paid for priority service , and got an email July 26 saying that my application is "being prepared for consideration ".
Not sure entirely what that means but it's progress!

I have the same timeline- paid for priority, UPS said docs signed for on the 21st and the same email on the 26th

I have the same timeline- paid for priority, UPS said docs signed for on the 21st and the same email on the 26th

Oh nice ! Well do keep me posted if you hear something. The suspense is KILLING ME.  I will let you (and the whole world) know the moment I get some news.

Whereabouts you planning to move to and when ? I'm so full of questions.

I also have the same timeline. I paid for priority, they received my documents on July 20. They sent the same email on July 26th.

I also have the same timeline. I paid for priority, they received my documents on July 21st. They sent the same email on July 26th.

Wow. Fingers crossed for us all.

Wings, eyes, & toes crossed for luck for those still waiting.

My priority application was mailed 29 July & signed for 1 July.  Received no Sheffield emails whatsoever**.  I haunted the UPS tracking site.  21 July there was movement.  Package arrived 25 July.  Plane touched down in UK 30 July.  I am HOME!

When you all get your approvals there will be a letter from Sheffield stating this.  Give the immigration officer this letter along with your passport which will have a "sticker" in it.  They will ask if your partner is already in the UK or travelling with you.  They will ask if your partner is a British citizen.  They will stamp your sticker & give you everything back.

Keep passport & letter together as you'll need both when you go to post office for your card.

**update--Received Sheffield email AFTER package was already winging its way back to me.  lol 

Wings, eyes, & toes crossed for luck for those still waiting.

My priority application was mailed 29 July & signed for 1 July.  Received no Sheffield emails whatsoever**.  I haunted the UPS tracking site.  21 July there was movement.  Package arrived 25 July.  Plane touched down in UK 30 July.  I am HOME!

When you all get your approvals there will be a letter from Sheffield stating this.  Give the immigration officer this letter along with your passport which will have a "sticker" in it.  They will ask if your partner is already in the UK or travelling with you.  They will ask if your partner is a British citizen.  They will stamp your sticker & give you everything back.

Keep passport & letter together as you'll need both when you go to post office for your card.

**update--Received Sheffield email AFTER package was already winging its way back to me.  lol

Congrats to you!

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Wings, eyes, & toes crossed for luck for those still waiting.

My priority application was mailed 29 July & signed for 1 July.  Received no Sheffield emails whatsoever**.  I haunted the UPS tracking site.  21 July there was movement.  Package arrived 25 July.  Plane touched down in UK 30 July.  I am HOME!

When you all get your approvals there will be a letter from Sheffield stating this.  Give the immigration officer this letter along with your passport which will have a "sticker" in it.  They will ask if your partner is already in the UK or travelling with you.  They will ask if your partner is a British citizen.  They will stamp your sticker & give you everything back.

Keep passport & letter together as you'll need both when you go to post office for your card.

**update--Received Sheffield email AFTER package was already winging its way back to me.  lol

Ahhhh!!!! Congrats, that's fantastic !!!!!!

Thanks for the advice.

This website gets me all emotional and gives me such hope. Before I found it , I felt overwhelmed and doubtful that I would be given a visa. But seeing all the success stories is so inspiring !!!

Here's a random question -

My husband is gonna fly here to Florida and travel into the uk with me (since I'm also being 3 animals , I need moral support!).


Do we have to go through separate lines with our passports ? He gets the British citizen line and I get the non-eu person line ? Or can we go together because we're married ? He thinks we can go together but I'm not sure.

Do we have to go through separate lines with our passports ? He gets the British citizen line and I get the non-eu person line ? Or can we go together because we're married ? He thinks we can go together but I'm not sure.

You should go through the same line together, because you are a family, and are travelling together.

However, I would check with the immigration officers when you get there to see which line they want you to go through. You may be fine to go through the UK/EU citizen line, but I would ask before you join it, just in case they want you to go through the other line together.

If you were travelling to the UK alone, you would need to go through the non-EU line as normal.

My application was received in Sheffield June 20th. Non priority - no word yet from them. I'm not expecting anything until late August then hopefully visa by mid September.

Wings, eyes, & toes crossed for luck for those still waiting.

My priority application was mailed 29 July & signed for 1 July.  Received no Sheffield emails whatsoever**.  I haunted the UPS tracking site.  21 July there was movement.  Package arrived 25 July.  Plane touched down in UK 30 July.  I am HOME!

When you all get your approvals there will be a letter from Sheffield stating this.  Give the immigration officer this letter along with your passport which will have a "sticker" in it.  They will ask if your partner is already in the UK or travelling with you.  They will ask if your partner is a British citizen.  They will stamp your sticker & give you everything back.

Keep passport & letter together as you'll need both when you go to post office for your card.

**update--Received Sheffield email AFTER package was already winging its way back to me.  lol

I just received my marriage settlement visa today (priority, biometrics on June 22), but aside from the passport with the sticker and all my supporting documents, there was no letter from Sheffield. Should I be worried there was no letter/will it cause problems at customs? The sticker in my passport says it's valid until 28/01/2017, so do I still need to figure out which post office to go to get a card, or is that a different type of visa?

Thanks!

If it's a fiancé visa then you should not have a letter with it and there's no need to go to a post office because there's nothing to pick up.

The letter and the post office only applies to visas valid longer than 6 months, As your visa is only valid for 6 months, it's just a sticker in your passport.

To note, the above comment is the first time I've heard of someone needing to show the letter to immigration - usually it's only the passport that is needed, as far as I'm aware, unless they are doing things a bit differently now.

So:

Fiancé visa:
- 6-month visa sticker
- no letter
- no BRP
- no need to go to a post office

Spousal visa:
- visa sticker valid 30 days
- BRP ID card valid 33 months
- letter arrives with the visa
- you have 10 days from entering he UK to pick up your BRP card at a local post office, which you arranged when you applied online.


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