Non-priority Spousal Visa Timeline

Yes I was at the TLS center in Munich. Yes I have access to the website but, just like veryone else, there's no information besides the red light / green light.

That's more information than US applicants get. They just get an email from Sheffield to say the documents have been received, and then nothing else until the visa is issued.

It says papers were received by UK Immigrations. Is that in Sheffield? I wish someone would have told us about the process.

Your documents were received by UK immigration when you handed them over at your appointment. That was you giving your documents to UKVI.

They will then transmit the documents to Sheffield for you, and then let you know when your passport is ready to pick up.

If they had told me it was 60 BD, I would have expected this. Sorry to vent, it's just if they had told us this, we'd be fine with it.

60 BD is the standard processing time for settlement visas. These are all listed on/through the TLS website, which you can easily check for yourself:

The service standards processing time for settlement visas is 60 working days and is linked to on the TLS website:
https://uk.tlscontact.com/de/muc/page.php?pid=faq#After%20submission,%20how%20long%20does%20it%20take%20to%20have%20a%20decision%20of%20my%20application

Or if you purchased the settlement priority processing service for €655, it estimates 30 working days (though it can take longer):
https://uk.tlscontact.com/de/muc/page.php?pid=added_value_services

Yes I was at the TLS center in Munich. Yes I have access to the website but, just like veryone else, there's no information besides the red light / green light. It says papers were received by UK Immigrations. Is that in Sheffield? I wish someone would have told us about the process. If they had told me it was 60 BD, I would have expected this. Sorry to vent, it's just if they had told us this, we'd be fine with it.

Definitely don’t feel bad that they’re on day 44 for you. As you can tell by my own reaction, I was astonished and my immediate reaction was worry that it was so soon because I expected to be waiting three times as long as I did!

That's more information than US applicants get. They just get an email from Sheffield to say the documents have been received, and then nothing else until the visa is issued.

Some people don’t even get that confirmation email... 

I wonder why it’s so different for US applicants.

Some people don’t even get that confirmation email... 

I wonder why it’s so different for US applicants.

Every country is different.

- Some countries go through VFS Global, some go through TLS Contact
- Some involve submitting your documents in person, some involve mailing them to Sheffield
- Some countries have to submit all the documents together, some countries have the applicant submit their documents in person and then the UK sponsor mails their documents to Sheffield separately
- Some countries send the documents to Sheffield, others send them to other cities in other countries for processing

Sheffield used to only process spousal visa applications from 4 countries (including the US and Canada), then they added many more countries between Jan and March 2017, which meant the processing times got really long and there was a big backlog which has yet to properly clear.

Here on the forum, we went from seeing priority applications processed in 1-2 working days in February, to about 4 weeks in March, to about 2 months from April onwards, right through to about November. Meanwhile, non-priority applications went from about 3-4 weeks in February to about 3-4 months in the summer.

Before 2017, standard processing times in Jan-Mar were about 2-5 working days for priority and 1-3 weeks for non-priority.

However, between Jan-Mar this year, we've seen averages of about 6 weeks for priority and 3 months for non-priority.

Spring 2018 update - (link below to not double post for April 11th). Tangible experiences shed light on some things said on here and puts non-priority at 11 weeks (mid 50BDs for passport in hand).

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=93341.0

Every country is different.

- Some countries go through VFS Global, some go through TLS Contact
- Some involve submitting your documents in person, some involve mailing them to Sheffield
- Some countries have to submit all the documents together, some countries have the applicant submit their documents in person and then the UK sponsor mails their documents to Sheffield separately
- Some countries send the documents to Sheffield, others send them to other cities in other countries for processing

Sheffield used to only process spousal visa applications from 4 countries (including the US and Canada), then they added many more countries between Jan and March 2017, which meant the processing times got really long and there was a big backlog which has yet to properly clear.

Here on the forum, we went from seeing priority applications processed in 1-2 working days in February, to about 4 weeks in March, to about 2 months from April onwards, right through to about November. Meanwhile, non-priority applications went from about 3-4 weeks in February to about 3-4 months in the summer.

Before 2017, standard processing times in Jan-Mar were about 2-5 working days for priority and 1-3 weeks for non-priority.

However, between Jan-Mar this year, we've seen averages of about 6 weeks for priority and 3 months for non-priority.

Thank you very much for this very informative breakdown ksand. It’s good to see the bigger picture 

Yes, thank you so much for all this information. When I try to get any information from either TLS or the UKVI website, with a subcatagory of Settelment Visa, Munich Germany, there is no information as regards to how long processing takes. I've also never received an e-mail from Sheffield.

Biometrics: 7.Feb 2018
Documents received by UKVI: 8.Feb 2018

Today is 45 BD.

Yes, thank you so much for all this information. When I try to get any information from either TLS or the UKVI website, with a subcatagory of Settelment Visa, Munich Germany, there is no information as regards to how long processing takes. I've also never received an e-mail from Sheffield.

Biometrics: 7.Feb 2018
Documents received by UKVI: 8.Feb 2018

Today is 45 BD.

Perhaps you never received the email from Sheffield because you have that red light/green light system, something we do not have when applying from the US.  Hang in there!  There is a certain moment of each day where I have a bit of a freak-out about the whole process (my poor hubs).  No matter how much I try to put it out of my mind, it simply doesn't seem possible.  You are at 45 BDs so you are getting close!!

Yes, hkcarter, I have the freak out moment (or hour or two) every day. I've gone from wondering if they lost my paperwork, to thinking someone is stealing my identity, to being ok again and settling in to wait. I've planned my next week and I'm expecting to go the whole 70 - 85 BD. Are the visa people part of Clarion?

Yes, hkcarter, I have the freak out moment (or hour or two) every day. I've gone from wondering if they lost my paperwork, to thinking someone is stealing my identity, to being ok again and settling in to wait. I've planned my next week and I'm expecting to go the whole 70 - 85 BD. Are the visa people part of Clarion?

I so feel you!  My poor husband is catching the brunt of my craziness right now...poor thing. 

You are applying from Germany?  I wish I knew how it worked better from outside the US but I can barely keep up with how it functions here from the US.  I'm just hopeful we all start to hear something soon- there are four of us with applications all around the same time.  I do think from what everyone is saying, it will be VERY close to the 60 day number.  Seems eternal.

Yes, I applied from Germany. I've been living here for a while. We want to go to the UK to be closer to my husband's elderly parents. So we've moved everything there, the company, ourselves, etc. Yes, my poor husband too. He's having to manage everything over there alone right now.

It’s an approval as you all suggested!

Thank you for calming me

My husband received his passport today. Only issue we have now is the post office that we chose for picking up brp is closed (and was before the application, we just didn’t know that at the time) so now I need to figure out if the new one in town will have it instead.

He should arrive in around 3 weeks time. Our “expected arrival” was 1st May and they started the vignette from 24th April (1 week early as seems usual).

Type of Application: Settlement Spouse Visa (non priority)
Met Husband: January 2014
Got married: 14 November 2017
Online application: 24 February 2018
Biometrics: 27 February 2018
Application mailed: 27 February 2018
Application received in Sheffield: 05 March 2018
Application received email: 06 March 2018
Decision email received: 11 April 2018 (26 business days)
Passport received: 13 April
Decision: APPROVAL.

It’s an approval as you all suggested!

Congratulations! 

My husband received his passport today. Only issue we have now is the post office that we chose for picking up brp is closed (and was before the application, we just didn’t know that at the time) so now I need to figure out if the new one in town will have it instead.

You can report the problem with the Post Office here.   

If you have problems collecting your BRP
Tell the Home Office if you can’t collect your BRP for any reason, for example:

you went to collect it from the Post Office and it wasn’t there
you’ve lost your passport or travel document, or can’t prove your identity
you don’t know which Post Office to go to because you’ve lost your decision letter
The Home Office will email you within 5 working days to tell you what to do next. It’ll take longer if you don’t give an email address.

https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/collect

You can report the problem with the Post Office here.   


https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/collect

Done - thank you! Saves me a search