Any updates from recent applicants?

I received the following e-mail:

Dear Applicant,

Further to our recent e-mail confirming the receipt of your application, we have been unable to locate your passport.

Could you please send it as soon as possible quoting the above reference no. to:


Yet this was the first e-mail I had received regarding them receiving my application packet.  I know that my passport was delivered to Sheffield and signed for today at the receptionist desk. I do not expect to hear that they received it, but I did send an e-mail regarding it's delivery and a request that they confirm it......but again, I do not expect to hear from them. 

I received the following e-mail:

Dear Applicant,

Further to our recent e-mail confirming the receipt of your application, we have been unable to locate your passport.

Could you please send it as soon as possible quoting the above reference no. to:


Yet this was the first e-mail I had received regarding them receiving my application packet.  I know that my passport was delivered to Sheffield and signed for today at the receptionist desk. I do not expect to hear that they received it, but I did send an e-mail regarding it's delivery and a request that they confirm it......but again, I do not expect to hear from them. 

That email must have been scary as all get out! 

So does this mean you know they have your passport?

Update:

I received an email from Sheffield this morning confirming receipt of my priority application.  I have to laugh at the combination of messages.... note my bolded bits. 

Dear Applicant,

Your UK visa application has arrived safely at UK Visas & Immigration, Sheffield and is currently being processed.

Priority Service:

Your application will be placed in the front of the queue and assessed ahead of other non-priority visa applications.

Please note, as indicated in the terms of service, the amount paid for the priority service, as well as visa fees, is not refundable if the visa application is refused or due to delays in processing times.

You will receive a further e-mail advising you when a decision has been made on your application. This e-mail will also provide you with details of your return package.

We are unable to respond to status enquiries. Further information on UK visa services is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/visas-immigration

This is an automated e-mail. Please do not reply. Your reply will not be received.

Kind Regards,

UK Visa Section, Sheffield

I suppose it's unnecessary to mention the link takes you to a web page so generic as to be completely useless.  Ah well, they are consistent anyway. 

Here is my slightly convoluted updated timeline for my priority spousal visa. No further news, so far. I'm getting a bit anxious but trying to distract myself...

Started online application: June 26
Submitted biometrics: July 8
Sent off application to Sheffield: July 8
Application received in Sheffield: July 11
Email confirmation from Sheffield: July 15 (they also requested Appendix 2 on this date and I submitted the same day)
Sheffield acknowledged receipt of Appendix 2: July 16
Further evidence requested by Sheffield: July 25
Further evidence sent to Sheffield: August 4 (they acknowledged receipt August 6)
Decision email: still waiting
Visa (or rejection) arrived: still waiting

As you've probably guessed, I'm a natural born worrier...
We originally applied, package receieved on June 23. We went priority a month later. We had an email last Monday, the 4th, to say we'd been bumped up.... Am I right in assuming we should hear within days?

We had an email last Monday, the 4th, to say we'd been bumped up.... Am I right in assuming we should hear within days?

No way of knowing, I'm afraid. We don't really have a timeline for how long it takes if you have upgraded to priority after applying.

It could depend on a number of things, like how long you've already been waiting, where your application was in the pile when you upgraded, whether it's been assigned to an ECO yet or not, whether you have all the documents in order, whether you have a complicated application or not etc.

Im feeling very broken over this process.  Its been 11 weeks and we have heard nothing, we bumped to priority a couple of weeks ago and have heard nothing from that either.  I feel as though these people processing these visas have absolutely no respect for the fact that we have lives, jobs, and families.

Last time I posted feeling frustrated I got a couple snarky replies pointing out that the visa people tell you not to book your flights until you know blah blah blah, but the fact is we need to be able to plan your move.  They won't even allow you to apply until 3 months before your determined travel date, meaning that it is presumed that they will have processed your visa in that time.  I understand they are busy and these things take time but I feel as it unreasonable what little correspondence they give considering the amount of money we pay.

I have called and spoken to people paying 3 dollars a minute to speak to get no answers, and paid for priority that also will not guarantee a timescale!!!  I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I have to be able to give my job notice and plan my move; not to mention being apart from my husband is absolutely unbearable at this point.

... : (

Thank you for reading this, I feel better for even saying it..

xoxo good luck all,
Renee

It's for this very reason that UKBA advise that you do not book your flights until after you have received your visa and made sure it is correct... just in case the processing time is delayed (as it can take up to 6 months) or your visa is refused (in which case you can't travel anyway).

If you have already upgraded to priority, then you've done all you can now. All you can do is wait and hope you get your visa sooner rather than later... and be prepared to change your flights if necessary.

Last time I posted feeling frustrated I got a couple snarky replies pointing out that the visa people tell you not to book your flights until you know blah blah blah, but the fact is we need to be able to plan your move.  They won't even allow you to apply until 3 months before your determined travel date, meaning that it is presumed that they will have processed your visa in that time.  I understand they are busy and these things take time but I feel as it unreasonable what little correspondence they give considering the amount of money we pay.

I am sorry for you that this process is taking so very long, I can't believe that it is taking months and months now for applications to be processed when it used to be several weeks to sometimes only several days not so very long ago.
 
Your frustration is very understandable, but to say that ksand24's reply was snarky, well I need to say that it wasn't, she is the least "snarkiest" poster I have ever seen on any forum and I am amazed at the time and effort she puts in to help people here on UK Yankee. 

So here is hoping that you get a reply very soon, along with everyone else who is waiting, waiting and waiting some more to hear good news, or any news at all about their visas. 

We have to remember that  we're not the only applications they're looking at. Who knows how many they deal with on a daily basis.

Got decision email...fingers crossed..so nervous!

Visa type: Spouse (non-priority..then priority)
Online application completed: July 7
Biometrics completed: July 11
Application packet mailed: July 15
Documents delivered by FedEx: July 17
Email confirmation from Sheffield: July 24
Upgraded to priority: Aug 1
Email confirming priority: Aug 4
Decision email received: Aug 11
Visa arrived: Still waiting

Good luck x

Got decision email...fingers crossed..so nervous!

Visa type: Spouse (non-priority..then priority)
Online application completed: July 7
Biometrics completed: July 11
Application packet mailed: July 15
Documents delivered by FedEx: July 17
Email confirmation from Sheffield: July 24
Upgraded to priority: Aug 1
Email confirming priority: Aug 4
Decision email received: Aug 11
Visa arrived: Still waiting

Wow, that's impressively fast! Way quicker than mine (I am still waiting and I applied about 1.5 weeks ahead of you). Fingers crossed everything is speeding up now.

Thanks both!

I know..seems fast so fingers crossed. I just hope for good news  

Anyone knows if I have to be present when fedex delivers? Or can anyone accept it for me? I will be working when fedex arrives.

Any updates from anyone else who applied in mid-July? We sent off my priority application 5 weeks ago and they acknowledged receipt 4 weeks ago. I sent them further evidence they requested 8 days ago. I was really hoping to hear yesterday or today, but nothing so far. We postponed our flights again to as late a date as possible (next week), but it's looking like I might need to postpone again, while my husband goes without me to start his new job in London and I finish up our international moving to-do list alone. I feel very anxious about it; he is disabled (but able to work) and travelling/travel recovery by himself will be extremely challenging for him. In fact he hasn't travelled before without me since he became disabled.

Before you tell me that I shouldn't have booked my flights - we could only afford to do so using frequent flier points (so had to book far in advance), and when we booked back in April it didn't seem like much of a risk when priority applications had been solidly taking only 5 days for quite some time. I know they don't care about travel dates at all, since the itinerary we gave them actually has us leaving in two days.

Should I be worried yet? And does anyone else have tips on how to deal with this sort of anxiety? I'm not sure contacting our ECO about it will do any good at all.

I think the worst part is not knowing if I'll receive a visa or a rejection, when it does finally arrive.

We got the email everything's crosed 

Any updates from anyone else who applied in mid-July? We sent off my priority application 5 weeks ago and they acknowledged receipt 4 weeks ago. I sent them further evidence they requested 8 days ago. I was really hoping to hear yesterday or today, but nothing so far. We postponed our flights again to as late a date as possible (next week), but it's looking like I might need to postpone again, while my husband goes without me to start his new job in London and I finish up our international moving to-do list alone. I feel very anxious about it; he is disabled (but able to work) and travelling/travel recovery by himself will be extremely challenging for him. In fact he hasn't travelled before without me since he became disabled.

Before you tell me that I shouldn't have booked my flights - we could only afford to do so using frequent flier points (so had to book far in advance), and when we booked back in April it didn't seem like much of a risk when priority applications had been solidly taking only 5 days for quite some time. I know they don't care about travel dates at all, since the itinerary we gave them actually has us leaving in two days.

Should I be worried yet? And does anyone else have tips on how to deal with this sort of anxiety? I'm not sure contacting our ECO about it will do any good at all.

I think the worst part is not knowing if I'll receive a visa or a rejection, when it does finally arrive.

I wouldn't be worried.  While it's taken a lot longer than you hoped, Sheffield has been great about contacting you for missing items.  I think that a shows that they WANT to approve visas instead of refusing.

As for anxiety, it's easy for me to say, but just try to keep busy and focus on what you can control versus what you can't.  Would your husbands employer allow him to delay his start date so that he has assistance when he travels?  Bar that, there are services at both ends at the airports that you can pay to assist him with everything.