Settlement Gold Premium Service Appointment

Are there actually any documents for Sheffield to send back to them?

I thought they scanned in all your documents and gave them back to you, then sent the scans to Sheffield electronically?


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Yeah it's weird, he's saying they'll be notified when Sheffield sends docs, so they haven't yet? My email arrived at 7:54 am GMT. Then 24 - 48 hours from then?

Again, I may be wrong about this but I got the decision on Friday, emailed them on Saturday and heard back on Monday. They told me to send them my passport ASAP so they could insert the vignette and send me back my passport and original documents (which arrived in a hot mess btw). They turned it around on the same day according to UPS tracking, so Sheffield was evediently not involved at that point. The only way this timeline works is if the embassy in DC was involved or, far more likely that everything was fully electronic. Total BS IMHO.

The Embassy in DC has nothing to do with visa applications... so they wouldn't have been involved.

It should just be an electronic process... that's how it now works in many other countries. You can pay a bit extra for the scanning service, where instead of mailing your documents to Sheffield, they scan them in and send them electronically.

I've sent another email, and CC'd the office rather than just this contact, asking what they need physically from UKVI. The only thing he can possibly say is they mail the vignette + approval letter or the refusal letter. There was no physical documentation sent for me, it was all scanned.

Me:

Hello, can you please clarify what exactly UKVI has to send to you physically? I was under the impression as all of my documents remained in Seattle and vignettes are applied in-house, I wouldn’t need to wait for shipment of anything?

VFS:

That is correct, we have retained your documents and they are here in Seattle. However your application approval/denial/additional consideration, and the paperwork that is included with it, is sent from the DMC in NYC to us here. Once it arrives we process the information and then apply the decision to your passport while confirming to the DMC that we have done so.

I don't know what the DMC is. He always does that.

I've sent another email, and CC'd the office rather than just this contact, asking what they need physically from UKVI. The only thing he can possibly say is they mail the vignette + approval letter or the refusal letter. There was no physical documentation sent for me, it was all scanned.

Funny - all our correspondence with them was only through their generic DC PAC email address. They were always careful about never disclosing their names, so apart from differing levels of English proficiency, we could never tell who was actually responding. To top it off, they also refused to ever provide a phone number of any kind so we were never able to speak to anyone.

Good luck getting a straight answer out of them, Dani! I swear it's like pulling teeth.

Me:

VFS:
I don't know what the DMC is. He always does that.

That was quick. Interesting - I looked it up... It's the Decision Making Centre in NYC. I thought they had nothing to do with settlement applications, but maybe they still issue the vignettes?

Me:

VFS:
I don't know what the DMC is. He always does that.

DMC= Decision Making Center

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That was quick. Interesting - I looked it up... It's the Decision Making Centre in NYC. I thought they had nothing to do with settlement applications, but maybe they still issue the vignettes?

No, that was the Embassy in DC that has nothing to do with it, not NYC.

There are two consulates that process UK visa applications lodged in the US:

- Sheffield DMC processes all settlement visa applications (fiancé/spousal visas)

- New York DMC processes all other visa applications (visitor visas, work visas, student visas, EEA applications, replacement vignettes etc.)

Settlement visas used to be processed in New York as well but they moved them to Sheffield in 2013.

It sounds like even this latest email may have incorrect information as well, since the visa wasn’t processed at the New York DMC.


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No, that was the Embassy in DC that has nothing to do with it, not NYC.

There are two consulates that process UK visa applications lodged in the US:

- Sheffield processes all settlement visa applications (fiancé/spousal visas)

- New York processes all other visa applications (visitor visas, work visas, student visas, EEA applications, replacement vignettes etc.)

Settlement visas used to be processed in New York as well but they moved them to Sheffield in 2013.


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So still, NYC shouldn't have anything to do with it? It really doesn't make sense unless the decision was made by NYC (which it wasn't) right?

So still, NYC shouldn't have anything to do with it? It really doesn't make sense unless the decision was made by NYC (which it wasn't) right?

I think they have no idea and are making things up.

I think they have no idea and are making things up.

Or they are used to dealing with the other Gold/Silver/Bronze Premium Services that ARE processed in New York and are just rehashing that information without realising this is a SETTLEMENT Gold application.

The Settlement Gold Service is the only one NOT processed in NYC, and it’s so new and probably not used much, so they don’t really know much about it.

You may even be the only person who has used it at the Seattle Premium Centre.

 


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OK so asking again, for further clarification, seriously considering just surprise CC'ing my MP office in these. Bad idea? 

OK so asking again, for further clarification, seriously considering just surprise CC'ing my MP office in these. Bad idea? 

Unless VFS reply-all in their response, the MP will only see your message to VFS.  Of course, if you include the previous email history back and forth, then the MP's office will see all of that, and maybe realize there is something to look into here.

Either way, I'd probably do it.  What have you got to lose?

VFS response:

Not a problem, it’s a complicated process with many steps involved. You are correct. Your application is not processed by the DMC in NYC, but they receive the documentation from Sheffield and forward it out via the distribution center located there. Physical mail is always very slow internationally and it can take several days for it to reach its intended destination.
 
In regards to the Gold Settlement application that came back in one day, I would really like to know who you got services through. It would be a great way for us to increase our turn around speeds. Please let me know if at all possible.

So why the hell would Sheffield send stuff to NYC and not just straight to Seattle? If indeed Sheffield sends anything at all? I think this is another case of them not wanting to say they're wrong/dunno.

This guy is always after my sources! Haha! I just mentioned another gold applicant I know, who didn't have to wait, had their vignette applied and mailed back same day. I think he's confused about what I meant.