Any updates from recent applicants?

There's a reason everyone takes a summer holiday outside the UK.   

Exactly .

I've taken my summer holiday to the US (the South) where it's usually 90-100 degrees, sunny and extremely humid every day. Unfortunately, it's been raining for the last 5 days straight and I've only seen the sun for about 3 hours all week! At least it's relatively warm though - temps in the mid-high 70's/low 80s.



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Applying for spouse visa from US to Uk
Paid for priority
Submitted online July 10
Biometrics July 13
UPS delivered to Sheffield 15 July
26 working days from receipt at Sheffield, still waiting on a confirmation email it's being processed.  Escalated case via email and told it's yet to be assessed!  I've read on here and other sites people who applied after me and have had decision made email already.  Don't know what to think anymore, getting stressed and feeling low.  Our lives are so messed up right now, cancelled flights and appointments.  I'm suppose to be in Germany mid September for an important work conference, now I can't travel without my passport. 

Applying for spouse visa from US to Uk
Paid for priority
Submitted online July 10
Biometrics July 13
UPS delivered to Sheffield 15 July
26 working days from receipt at Sheffield, still waiting on a confirmation email it's being processed.  Escalated case via email and told it's yet to be assessed!  I've read on here and other sites people who applied after me and have had decision made email already.  Don't know what to think anymore, getting stressed and feeling low.  Our lives are so messed up right now, cancelled flights and appointments.  I'm suppose to be in Germany mid September for an important work conference, now I can't travel without my passport.

The waiting time is awful, I agree but UKVI does advise not to book flights until you have your visa in hand.
It's still a few weeks until mid September, so there is a good chance you'll have your passport back by then.    The applications are not processed in exact order but from your timeline, it looks like you'll be getting a result soon.

Hang in there.

Thanks Larrabee, we booked flights thinking the process would be 3 weeks approximately.  Have a $300 change fee X 2 now.

I just don't understand how some get their applications sorted before others.  Mine is straight forward I believe, if they aren't straight forward I would expect them to let you know why.

Hoping everyone receives good news sooner rather than later. 

Ps, I need my passport to travel elsewhere, it's like being a prisoner to them.

They advise not to book any travel until you have received the visa and have checked it for errors - so that you aren't in a position to pay to change or cancel flights.

Even with priority, it can take 1-2 months at this time of year. It hasn't been as fast as 3 weeks since probably May or June.

I don't think that escalating it by email actually has any effect because the only way to get it processed faster is to pay for priority, which you have already done.

Some applications are processed faster than others because it depends on the ECO processing your application, how fast each one works and how many other applications they have to process in front of yours. Also if they need to contact you to request extra documents, that can add time onto the processing as well.


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I just don't understand how some get their applications sorted before others.  Mine is straight forward I believe, if they aren't straight forward I would expect them to let you know why.

Well, they don't have to notify the applicant.  If you have not proved that you meet the  requirements, the application can just be refused but they seem to have been really good at asking for additional information lately and we haven't seen a refusal here in some time because of that.

We don't know for sure why some take longer than others, everything else being equal but it's probable that yours is still waiting to be looked at. Once they have started working on a straight forward application, the actual process doesn't take long at all.

Good luck!

What I dont understand though is, applications that were received after mine by a week or more have been approved or at least worked on.  So, why has mine not been opened?  Surely the eco's go through some sort of training and have processing times.  You can't have one sitting there with a backdated pile of applications and another right up to date processing later applications.  That's not a fair system.

Also, when it's priority, does this mean it goes to the front of queue of applicants received that day, meaning if a crate load of non priority were received the day before, mine is behind those?

Sorry for all the questions.

Also, when it's priority, does this mean it goes to the front of queue of applicants received that day, meaning if a crate load of non priority were received the day before, mine is behind those?

Sorry for all the questions.

That is exactly what happens. All priority applications go to the front if the queue on the day they arrive.

What I dont understand though is, applications that were received after mine by a week or more have been approved or at least worked on.  So, why has mine not been opened?  Surely the eco's go through some sort of training and have processing times.  You can't have one sitting there with a backdated pile of applications and another right up to date processing later applications.  That's not a fair system.

Also, when it's priority, does this mean it goes to the front of queue of applicants received that day, meaning if a crate load of non priority were received the day before, mine is behind those?

Sorry for all the questions.

Sadly, nothing about the immigration system seems particularly fair while you are going through it.

When we applied it was January which is a quiet time so applications were being approved really quickly. We used priority and it took 3 weeks for us. But while we were waiting,  someone else here applied after we did and got their result in less than a week, literally like 4 days!

I still don't know why that was, I'll never know but in my experience, once you have your visa in hand, that doesn't really matter any more. 

Did you mark the outside of your package with Settlement Priority Service in bold on both sides?

So it goes to the bottom of pile of whatever priority ones are sitting there and that pile is sorted before non priority. 

This waiting is a killer.  If we'd know this rptime of year was so busy we'd have waited in the uk for a few months and applied in October.  My husband has to leave the US by the beginning of October, so hopefully we get it before then.

He has an hospital operation due in the Uk too which he is going to cancel. 

Yea we wrote priority in bold black marker and enclosed receipt

So it goes to the bottom of pile of whatever priority ones are sitting there and that pile is sorted before non priority. 

This is what the VFS Global site says. 

This service allows settlement visa applicants to pay to have their visa application placed at the front of the queue once received by the UK Visas and Immigration Decision Making Centre (DMC) in Sheffield, to commence processing ahead of other visa applications.

This waiting is a killer.  If we'd know this rptime of year was so busy we'd have waited in the uk for a few months and applied in October.  My husband has to leave the US by the beginning of October, so hopefully we get it before then.

He has an hospital operation due in the Uk too which he is going to cancel. 

Yes, summer is always a busy time but we're coming to the end of it now so the applications will probably start to get caught up soon. Obviously if he was not going to be back in time for his surgery he would have to cancel it but when is it scheduled for? Maybe he can still make it?

Yea we wrote priority in bold black marker and enclosed receipt

Good! 

Why does he need to cancel his hospital operation? There's no need for him to stay in the US until you have your visa - he can fly home at any time, as long as you don't enter the UK before he does. If he needs to fly home for any reason, then he can fly home.

People who applied with priority at the beginning of July got their visas 1-2 weeks ago, so going by their timelines, I would imagine you'll get yours in the next couple of weeks.

Also, at least one of those people did not get an acknowledgement email from UKVI, so just because you haven't received one, it doesn't mean your application hasn't been opened yet. It may just be that your email got missed but that it is moving through the line along with all the others.


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He does not want to go back without me, we want to be together.  His op is end of this month for kidney stone removal, he jokes on saying the stress of this visa is far worse than kidney stones.  He is getting by with pain meds for now.

I do hope they catch up and decisions come quickly.

He does not want to go back without me, we want to be together.  His op is end of this month for kidney stone removal, he jokes on saying the stress of this visa is far worse than kidney stones.  He is getting by with pain meds for now.

I do hope they catch up and decisions come quickly.

I do hope so too!