Priority Spouse Visa FALL Timeline (Oct-Dec)

It's immensely testing not to feel sour or infuriated by seeing those apply later and receive an answer sooner than those of us who continue to wait.

Nevertheless, congratulations mw90. At the moment I can, and do, only dream of the relief and elation you must be feeling.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you to this forum for all the help during our application process. I didn't post much but reading this forum helped my husband and I a ton! We recently got approved so I'll post my timeline below. Thanks again!!!

Biometrics: Jan.16th
Application sent (priority): Jan.16th
Application received e-mail: Jan.18th
Decision e-mail: Jan. 30th
Documents returned: Feb.1st with an approval!

Congratulations! 🇬🇧🙌🏼🎉

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you to this forum for all the help during our application process. I didn't post much but reading this forum helped my husband and I a ton! We recently got approved so I'll post my timeline below. Thanks again!!!

Biometrics: Jan.16th
Application sent (priority): Jan.16th
Application received e-mail: Jan.18th
Decision e-mail: Jan. 30th
Documents returned: Feb.1st with an approval!

Congratulations!! It’s good to see someone getting forward traction


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Just checked the visa processing times and looks like they finally updated for January! Not 100% sure I understand how the table works though.

At any rate, looks like 74% were completed within 30 days. Here’s to hoping we are in the 74%!!!

Just checked the visa processing times and looks like they finally updated for January! Not 100% sure I understand how the table works though.

At any rate, looks like 74% were completed within 30 days. Here’s to hoping we are in the 74%!!!

Could you provide the link you found this information?

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y/united-states/settlement-visas/settlement

Here you go! Be warned that it's not a very helpful website...

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y/united-states/settlement-visas/settlement

Here you go! Be warned that it's not a very helpful website...

ah it's the bit at the bottom that they update with the month, that's interesting. Didn't realise they kept that updated. Thanks! and fingers crossed (again and again and again and again)!

ah it's the bit at the bottom that they update with the month, that's interesting. Didn't realise they kept that updated. Thanks! and fingers crossed (again and again and again and again)!

Well, last year they only updated it about 4 times in the whole year... and it’s only for decisions made in that month so by the time they are published they can be several months out of date (I.e. those that took 60+ days in the January times were submitted back in Sept/Oct).


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The numbers on there cannot be even close to accurate. By those numbers, it would mean almost 80% of applications are priority? And if that is not true and you have people who paid for priority waiting the same amount of time for those who didn't, why pay the money? I am happy to see applications go through but it is a little frustrating when ones are going through faster will later start dates.

Sorry rant over

The numbers on there cannot be even close to accurate. By those numbers, it would mean almost 80% of applications are priority? And if that is not true and you have people who paid for priority waiting the same amount of time for those who didn't, why pay the money? I am happy to see applications go through but it is a little frustrating when ones are going through faster will later start dates.

Sorry rant over

Not necessarily - many priority applications decided in January on the forum were processed in 5-15 working days.... so they would come under the 45% in 15 days. The ones processed in 30 working days could have been decided at the beginning of January and were therefore submitted in November or December.

Or alternatively, they don’t say how many applications were actually decided... so it could be that most of them were priority but that there were only a small number of decisions made in January.


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Well, last year they only updated it about 4 times in the whole year... and it’s only for decisions made in that month so by the time they are published they can be several months out of date (I.e. those that took 60+ days in the January times were submitted back in Sept/Oct).


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Ha, i see. Knew it'd be too helpful a piece of information to be applicable.

The numbers on there cannot be even close to accurate. By those numbers, it would mean almost 80% of applications are priority? And if that is not true and you have people who paid for priority waiting the same amount of time for those who didn't, why pay the money? I am happy to see applications go through but it is a little frustrating when ones are going through faster will later start dates.

Sorry rant over

I'm not quite sure how you got those figures.  Priority only puts you in front of those who are non-priority. So I believe calculating different processing times between the two are more or less impossible because it all depends on how many applications they have at any one time.

I've heard before about 70% of USA applicants pay for priority.

BD 29 and BD 14 since the ‘not straightforward email’. I have spoken with my HR dept and they have had no approach from UKVI to confirm or question anything. I am the sponsor and serving military so they are responsible for confirming my financial and accommodation details are correct. As I say they have had no approach. My wife has checked with the county court where her custody order was  issued because we thought maybe they would want to check that out. They too have had no approach from UKVI! I’m left wondering still what the hell is ‘not straightforward’ and why there is no movement!!!

BD 29 and BD 14 since the ‘not straightforward email’. I have spoken with my HR dept and they have had no approach from UKVI to confirm or question anything. I am the sponsor and serving military so they are responsible for confirming my financial and accommodation details are correct. As I say they have had no approach. My wife has checked with the county court where her custody order was  issued because we thought maybe they would want to check that out. They too have had no approach from UKVI! I’m left wondering still what the hell is ‘not straightforward’ and why there is no movement!!!

Chances are there is nothing non-straightforward about it. It’s most likely just been sent to buy some extra time.

They are extremely unlikely to contact your HR department or anyone else at all - the only person they would normally contact for more information is your wife. It’s almost unheard of for them to contact anyone else.

As I said the other day, please try to stop worrying about it. The application will be processed eventually... you just need to be patient.

It may just be that they are short-staffed and/or have a lot of applications to process, and it’s just causing everything to take longer.


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Hi all!

So we received an email to let us know that for some reason, my husbands Priority was not used. The email was short, told us that we are entitled to a refund and to click on a link to get the refund and when i did that it took me round in circles and i couldn't work out how to get the £500 refund. They did not say they would make him a priority.

I'm pregnant, waiting with my husband in Costa Rica and am 33 weeks along and can no longer fly back home, and I be damned if my government were going to split me and my husband up so that he could not see his baby for the first couple of months. Which is why I decided to wait with him here. This process has been the most stressful thing I have ever done. We have decided to stay in Costa Rica and have our baby here as I am a Costa Rican citizen and can use their health care for free.

I'm really saddened by this process and when I emailed back we heard nothing.

We applied with priority at the beginning of December. Received the notice that they had all our paperwork on the 8th December. Have heard nothing since.

As we have decided to stay here, and have our baby, I'm at the point now where I dont really care about the visa and wish we had not bothered. I cant let it stress me out anymore. My lawyer does nothing to help either and told me not to complain until after we had an answer and doesnt seem to want to do much more. All in all, i am over the UK and decided I dont even want to live in a country like that anyway. Luckily I work online as a Travel Consultant and can work from here or the UK so we have not been split up due to my work commitments.

I've really appreciated this community of people going through the process like we have been.

Any advice on trying to get a refund for our priority which was never used, please let me know.

Also, we thought about cancelling the process, but my lawyer said that that could cause my hubby problems in the future entering the UK on a tourist visa.

Thanks
Emilie