Settlement Gold Premium Service Appointment

Alright guys, so I need to update you! I have my visa in hand!

The experience leading up to/retrieving it was odd.

The VFS guy did indeed think I was saying that @FLgator86 had his entire visa processed in 24 hours. I clarified this point when he sent me another email this morning and went on to add a brief personal note regarding my son's health concerns. I've not mentioned any of my personal circumstances to them up to this point but figured if there was something weird going on maybe it would be helpful to know I'm just a mom trying to get to my babies.

An hour later I had a voicemail and this email (neither from my previous contact):
 
Ok, wait, what?! How (see my previous post about how they hadn't heard anything yet and it would be another 24 - 48 hours from when they do "weather permitting" lol)?

 So I just headed straight down there, still not knowing my decision. I didn't see any of the same folks from my appointment day and the man who gave me my documents was polite towards me but there was definitely a vibe from the few employees I passed. He, interestingly, didn't introduce himself. I sat down at the desk and he pulls out 2 UPS envelopes with all of my docs (that never left their office) sealed in them. There were no shipping labels on either so it was strange that they were all sealed up that way. He acted as though he didn't know what my decision was when I opened it to make sure my passport was inside. My passport, that was sealed in this envelope, again that never left their office...

My approval letter was inside the passport, folded in half, printed in black and white, nothing remarkable that would indicate whether or not it was sent from UKVI.

My vignette is dated January 25th, yesterday. Also, the day after I emailed my MP a second time and didn't hear back but received my decision email.

My approval letter is dated January 18. That is the day after I initially spoke with my MP's office and they spoke to Sheffield. I'd love to know if it's normal for the letter to be dated a week before the decision email is sent and the vignette begins.

I don't know if I wrote that in a way that really illustrates how WEIRD this has been or if it just makes me seem paranoid but I swear, something hinky went down with my application.

Wow! Congratulations Dani!  Fantastic that you got your visa at last but unbelievable how much the ‘gold service’ completely and utterly sucked!

I really hope this thread comes up when people are searching for info about it and it completely puts them off using it. And everyone at VFS is left scratching their heads as to why the uptake on the new service has been so poor!

FINALLY!!! I'm so pleased to hear you've got it! I'm flying to the UK on Wednesday too! Picking up my BRP on the 1st in the Midlands. Amazing that after all this drama we both attended gold appointments on the same day and are now flying there on the same day!

That’s perfect! You guys must always stay in touch now!  Its meant to be! 

FINALLY!!! I'm so pleased to hear you've got it! I'm flying to the UK on Wednesday too! Picking up my BRP on the 1st in the Midlands. Amazing that after all this drama we both attended gold appointments on the same day and are now flying there on the same day!

That's pretty crazy! Too bad we couldn't have had our decisions the same day (yours of course) haha! I'll be picking up my BRP in Glasgow but I'll probably go home and sleep for a few days first!

It's not just you, everything about VFS and this botched gold process has felt odd. I have a feeling it was printed and ready to go yesterday, the guy you dealt with was just clueless... My letter was dated the 5th (date of my decision email too) and my vignette was valid from the 12th, so I think that gap is intentional. I do wonder why you didn't get your decision email on the same date as your letter.

What a relief it must be that you're on your way 

Thanks for the info. about the dates! I'm relieved it wasn't a mistake costing me more time and one more thing to add to the mystery pile of things that have been off about this whole experience. 

To Wednesday! Hooray!

Congratulations ! I'm so pleased you finally got it .

I can't believe all the hassle and worry they've put you through, though, not to mention all the misinformation  .

I feel like this thread should be pinned and retitled: 'WARNING: Thinking of using the Settlement Gold Premium Service? DON'T!'

Oh Dani!  Finally!

Yes, if the travel date has passed, they usually make the vignette valid for one week from the day the visa was approved.  So that's rather normal.  What's not normal is that you didn't get notified of that for a week!  So much for gold service.

I'm so glad you can put all of this behind you.  I still hope you and FLgator fight for refunds.  Have a great family reunion!

Congratulations ! I'm so pleased you finally got it .

I can't believe all the hassle and worry they've put you through, though, not to mention all the misinformation  .

I feel like this thread should be pinned and retitled: 'WARNING: Thinking of using the Settlement Gold Premium Service? DON'T!'

Thank you!! And I totally agree, or maybe even a new post with just our timelines and info. about what they did/didn't provide (I did go on a bit in here  ).

Oh Dani!  Finally!

Yes, if the travel date has passed, they usually make the vignette valid for one week from the day the visa was approved.  So that's rather normal.  What's not normal is that you didn't get notified of that for a week!  So much for gold service.

I'm so glad you can put all of this behind you.  I still hope you and FLgator fight for refunds.  Have a great family reunion!

Thanks! I can't wait to see my boys!

Ah! Ok, good to know about the vignette start dates. I'm wondering now what other applicants approval letters were dated compared to the day they received decision emails. I'd like to know if the extra week wait is just another gold "perk" 

I want to thank you all again for all of your help both with my application itself, and keeping me sane (relatively) and on the ball during this wait! I really hope that my (and flgator's) experience with this spares others the same trouble.

I'm just glad that you finally heard and that you get to join your family. Congrats!!

I have been watching this thread all along and am just so happy that finally both Flgator and Dani have their Visas!  Congrats to you both - the process sucked, but the result is fantastic.  Enjoy your new adventure

Thanks!! It's definitely wonderful! Flights are booked for Wednesday! A little further out than I'd have liked but I'll take it!

At last!!!! Congratulations!! So happy for you!

Found this post today while searching for more information on the VFS gold settlement application and I'm glad I did. Reading through all the replies it sounds like it isn't worth the premium price tag assigned to it. Not to mention I cant see what this specifically has to do with settlement compared to the others?

Congrats to those that finally got their decisions btw

I do have some questions though if anyone could help, but I probably should give my situation info first

Engaged to an American citizen (I'm a British citizen) and plan on her moving here to the UK and getting married and settling here. We are about to apply for the visa (not that the UKVI have made it simple to see which one we needed) and we want to speed up the visa application so I wanted to use the VFS services but from this thread it seems we should not use the gold settlement one.

My question is, which one should we use? Gold or silver premium?

Gold seems to suggest it's a next day processing and silver is top of the pile? Now are they top of the pile/processing with VFS or UKVI (or both) ?

We just want the service that will give us the quickest visa decision so we can begin our life together.

Thank you in advance for your replies and help.

Welcome to the forum IT-Nerd .

Not to mention I cant see what this specifically has to do with settlement compared to the others?

For US applications, settlement visas are processed in Sheffield, while all other visas are processed in New York City. Regular priority processing for settlement visas is £551, compared with only £184 for all other visas.

So, the other Premium Services (Gold, Silver, Bronze) are ONLY for applications that are processed in New York and NOT for settlement visas... however they've now introduced a Gold service for the settlement visas as well.

Engaged to an American citizen (I'm a British citizen) and plan on her moving here to the UK and getting married and settling here. We are about to apply for the visa (not that the UKVI have made it simple to see which one we needed) and we want to speed up the visa application so I wanted to use the VFS services but from this thread it seems we should not use the gold settlement one.

My question is, which one should we use? Gold or silver premium?

You cannot use Silver Premium because it cannot be purchased for settlement visas.

So, your only option other than Gold Settlement Premium Service is the Settlement Priority Service for £551... you purchase it, print the receipt and include it in your package, writing SETTLEMENT PRIORITY SERVICE in large letters on the outside of the package, and then after you have attended biometrics, you mail it to Sheffield yourself.

See:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/user_pay_services.html#Settlement-priority-visa-service

Gold seems to suggest it's a next day processing and silver is top of the pile? Now are they top of the pile/processing with VFS or UKVI (or both) ?

For settlement visas, the Settlement Priority Service gets your application put to the front of the line (behind other priority applications) when you mail it to Sheffield.

There's no option for Silver Premium or next-day processing for a settlement visa.

I would allow somewhere between 2 weeks and 6 weeks for processing, depending on how busy they are, or 3 months for processing if you don't purchase Settlement Priority Processing.

Recently, applications submitted using Settlement Priority during December have been processed in about 4-6 weeks, while applications submitted in January have been taking about 2 weeks.

So, in summary, for a fiance or spousal visa, your options are:

Settlement Gold Premium Service for $1,600.
You submit in person at a premium centre and can keep your documents and passport
Processing time = about 2 months.

Settlement Priority Processing for $771 (£551)
You mail your passport and documents to Sheffield for processing and they will be put to the front of the line, behind the other priority applications but ahead of non-priority
Processing time = anywhere from 1-2 weeks to about 2 months, depending on time of year and how busy they are (Jan/Feb is usually the quickest time of year for processing)

Non-Priority
You don't purchase any extra service to speed up the processing, and just mail your passport and documents to Sheffield
Processing time = 2-3 months (closer to 3 months at the moment, though last summer a couple of applications took 6 months)

Found this post today while searching for more information on the VFS gold settlement application and I'm glad I did. Reading through all the replies it sounds like it isn't worth the premium price tag assigned to it. Not to mention I cant see what this specifically has to do with settlement compared to the others?

Congrats to those that finally got their decisions btw

I do have some questions though if anyone could help, but I probably should give my situation info first

Engaged to an American citizen (I'm a British citizen) and plan on her moving here to the UK and getting married and settling here. We are about to apply for the visa (not that the UKVI have made it simple to see which one we needed) and we want to speed up the visa application so I wanted to use the VFS services but from this thread it seems we should not use the gold settlement one.

My question is, which one should we use? Gold or silver premium?

Gold seems to suggest it's a next day processing and silver is top of the pile? Now are they top of the pile/processing with VFS or UKVI (or both) ?

We just want the service that will give us the quickest visa decision so we can begin our life together.

Thank you in advance for your replies and help.

In terms of which visa to apply for, it’s far easier, to marry in the US and apply directly for the spouse visa. And yes, definitely don’t use the “gold” service but it’s worth going for regular priority if you can afford it.

Thank you for the very quick and helpful replies

So, in summary, for a fiance or spousal visa, your options are:

Settlement Priority Processing for $771 (£551)
You mail your passport and documents to Sheffield for processing and they will be put to the front of the line, behind the other priority applications but ahead of non-priority
Processing time = anywhere from 1-2 weeks to about 2 months, depending on time of year and how busy they are (Jan/Feb is usually the quickest time of year for processing)

I think this one is going to be the more appropriate one based on the feedback from this thread and the cost is far more attractive and processing time could be comparable and the time of the year hopefully helps us to get this done sooner rather than later.

I didn't even notice they offered other services as they aren't as bold as the other options, I guess they are trying to get the extra $$ from the gold settlement services.

In terms of which visa to apply for, it’s far easier, to marry in the US and apply directly for the spouse visa. And yes, definitely don’t use the “gold” service but it’s worth going for regular priority if you can afford it.

ha-ha we were tempted to marry while over there but fear of US officials telling us off and the wrath of my family over here missing out means we will marry in the UK and everyone can be happy.

Another quick question, am i correct in deciphering the correct visa to apply for on the visa4uk website is

Reason for Visit: Settlement
Visa Type: Settlement
Visa Sub Type: Marriage

As conveniently (not) they don't use the same naming as the .gov visa pages.

Does it make any difference to the application if we do the "apply for someone else" / "applying for myself"? As we are both going to fill it out but wasn't sure if there was a preferred one to choose.

Dani!! I am so happy for you!!! I was offline all weekend and genuinely hoped to come back to this news. Congrats!!


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