Non-priority Spousal Visa Timeline

Hi all,

I'm back to bother everyone again - I managed to stay away for a little while but now we're on 51 business days and I'm starting to panic.

Although the recent approvals on this forum are comforting they are all for priority visas (why why why didn't we do priority!?) I'm sceptical we're going to hear back in the 60 BD time frame. The pressure for us, is we have a wedding celebration on October 20th in Spain which everyone has booked flights for and my wife 'may not' have a passport to fly to it. Which is quite terrifying... We're looking at getting her a second US passport but that's not a simple or clear process either. 

Questions for the experts though;
When we reach 60 days, what are our options?
Is escalating worth it?
Can my MP do anything to help?
Can I drive to Sheffield and camp out in the lobby and find out what the hell is happening?

Would be great to hear something positive back but I'm not holding out much hope based on previous comments I've seen.

Thanks!

Sam

Well I’m on priority and today is 81 BD. So, I’m not sure anything helps. I have literally done everything with the exception of camping out in Sheffield. Total of 116 days I’ve been away from my wife and kids because of this silly process.


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Well I’m on priority and today is 81 BD. So, I’m not sure anything helps. I have literally done everything with the exception of camping out in Sheffield. Total of 116 days I’ve been away from my wife and kids because of this silly process.


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I've been following your situation and It's really awful. I don't think anyone is enjoying this process and it puts such a strain on the relationship. I'm closer than I've ever been to having my beautiful wife with me but it feels like we've never been further apart.

Hi all,

I'm back to bother everyone again - I managed to stay away for a little while but now we're on 51 business days and I'm starting to panic.

Although the recent approvals on this forum are comforting they are all for priority visas (why why why didn't we do priority!?) I'm sceptical we're going to hear back in the 60 BD time frame. The pressure for us, is we have a wedding celebration on October 20th in Spain which everyone has booked flights for and my wife 'may not' have a passport to fly to it. Which is quite terrifying... We're looking at getting her a second US passport but that's not a simple or clear process either. 

Questions for the experts though;
When we reach 60 days, what are our options?
Is escalating worth it?
Can my MP do anything to help?
Can I drive to Sheffield and camp out in the lobby and find out what the hell is happening?

Would be great to hear something positive back but I'm not holding out much hope based on previous comments I've seen.

Thanks!

Sam

Hi Sam!

I'm no expert. However, we are in the same boat we are currently at 98 BD. I can personally say from experience after 60 BD there is nothing you can do. You can send an email inquiring about the status of the application. My husband and I did that.They can tell you if it's still being processed or not. We escalated our application. Which also doesn't do much. Some people on here have had their application escalated several times and are still waiting.

I also read on a separate thread that MP's no longer have direct lines to Sheffield and they often know about as much we do about the application. However, anything at this point is worth a try!  Maybe we should all have our partners camp out at Sheffield....

I'm sorry, I know that's not comforting. There just really isn't much to do but wait.

Hi all,

I'm back to bother everyone again - I managed to stay away for a little while but now we're on 51 business days and I'm starting to panic.

Although the recent approvals on this forum are comforting they are all for priority visas (why why why didn't we do priority!?) I'm sceptical we're going to hear back in the 60 BD time frame. The pressure for us, is we have a wedding celebration on October 20th in Spain which everyone has booked flights for and my wife 'may not' have a passport to fly to it. Which is quite terrifying... We're looking at getting her a second US passport but that's not a simple or clear process either. 

Questions for the experts though;
When we reach 60 days, what are our options?
Is escalating worth it?
Can my MP do anything to help?
Can I drive to Sheffield and camp out in the lobby and find out what the hell is happening?

Would be great to hear something positive back but I'm not holding out much hope based on previous comments I've seen.

Thanks!

Sam

Unfortunately 60 business days isn't a magic number.  It's a target. 

Escalations aren't real, so nothing to be done there.  All you can do is wait.

But you CAN definitely get your wife a second passport so that the Spain wedding can still go ahead.  No worries there.  It may be that you need to show proof of travel and pending visa to acquire the second passport but should be quite straight forward.  I would get that ball rolling now, so you have the comfort of knowing that you are good for that milestone.

Fingers crossed you hear back soon.  It does seem that nearly everyone has opted for priority this year, so not too much info on the non-priority.  Priority seems to be speeding up though, which should mean non-priority will soon follow.

But you CAN definitely get your wife a second passport so that the Spain wedding can still go ahead.  No worries there.  It may be that you need to show proof of travel and pending visa to acquire the second passport but should be quite straight forward.  I would get that ball rolling now, so you have the comfort of knowing that you are good for that milestone.

Thanks! I know there's not a lot we can do apart from hope. It is comforting to know everyone here is going or has gone through similar experiences to us.

About the second passport. Do you have any idea how we obtain it? I've read that it's the DS82 form, but to use this form you need to have your original passport for the application which seems to defeat the whole point in our circumstance. We're trying to figure it out at the moment but my wife is getting conflicting information from the US passport office phone line. (Same story as the UK immigration phone line)

On a side note, what would actually happen if I went to the processing office in Sheffield in person and tried to tug their heart strings? Guessing I'd be escorted from the building...

On a side note, what would actually happen if I went to the processing office in Sheffield in person and tried to tug their heart strings? Guessing I'd be escorted from the building...

I'll dig out what you need.

There's no where for you to go.  There is the premium application service, where you will not be allowed in without an appointment (and they can't help you anyways).  Have a look on Google Maps.  You'll see it's a few massive blocks of buildings. 

I'll dig out what you need.

Thanks!

Okay then... What about if I approach some of the staff on LinkedIn (I've found a few already)?

Thanks!

Okay then... What about if I approach some of the staff on LinkedIn (I've found a few already)?

Lol!  You are making me laugh.  I do hope you are joking.

You can try your MP.  They *may* be able to get information.  But you don't have "compassionate grounds" for an expedited application (literally life or death situations count). 

Options are:
1.  Contact MP, sit tight and wait
2.  Just sit tight and wait

Lol!  You are making me laugh.  I do hope you are joking.

I work in sales... More than happy to slide into their DMs if it'll help

Okay... So I better send my MP a nice email and butter him up, we've fallen out a few times in the past, specifically over Brexit.

I work in sales... More than happy to slide into their DMs if it'll help

Okay... So I better send my MP a nice email and butter him up, we've fallen out a few times in the past, specifically over Brexit.

Nope, this is not a letter/email type thing.  They will stick you in a pile and ignore you for a few weeks.

If you want a response, squeeky wheel.  Set up an appointment to meet in person.

Oh good! I can do that and he won't see my email address and ignore me. 

Hi SamT. We Emailed UKVI yesterday on day 55 and they said a decision had been made and Sheffield will be in touch shortly regarding delivery of the passport. Not sure how reliable that is but  Seen a few others in similar situations on FB in past week and within a few days their tracker has gone off for return of their passport. So will wait and see. We are non priority too. I’ll let you know if/when ours kicks in and that way you can have some optimism!

Hi SamT. We Emailed UKVI yesterday on day 55 and they said a decision had been made and Sheffield will be in touch shortly regarding delivery of the passport. Not sure how reliable that is but  Seen a few others in similar situations on FB in past week and within a few days their tracker has gone off for return of their passport. So will wait and see. We are non priority too. I’ll let you know if/when ours kicks in and that way you can have some optimism!

Oh wow! That is encouraging indeed. How did you contact the UKVI out of interest? Through their expensive email (daylight robbery) or over the phone?

Thanks and hope to hear positive news for you!

Yes through the daylight robbery Email. Although 5.48 is but a drop in the ocean compared to all the other expenses paid! I have seen some other Non-Priority coming through but pretty much always around the 60 day mark. As I saw someone mention, it seems most American applicants are going Priority so I think the standard is literally being 'crowded-out' by these. But there does seem to be something that triggers them around that 60 day mark so there is evidence of some system at work here!