Feeling very anxious and frustrated - reassurance needed!

Hello everyone,

First off, let me say how grateful I am that this forum exists - it's an unbelievable source of information, and everyone is so nice!

So, our situation/timeline is as follows:

Visa type: Spouse settlement (priority)
Biometrics: 21st November 2017
Docs confirmed rec'd in Sheffield: 23rd November 2017
Email received: "not straight forward application" 2nd January 2018
Decision received: not yet!!!!

So my wife is a US citizen and so is her 6 year old daughter (I am not the biological father). I easily meet the financial criteria. The only things I can think of that make this non-straightforward is the sole responsibility proof and the fact my wife has some very old (2008/9) misdemeanors.

In terms of sole responsibility, there is no father named on the birth certificate and there has never been any contact or support asked for or given from birth. I believe we submitted a letter from the school and from the childminder supporting my wife as sole care giver and from reading the criteria of proof I think we're ok - the only thing we don't have is a letter from the bio father giving permission...although it seems this isn't required as the birth cert doesn't name him?

Anyway, we're both very anxious about the length of time taken to date (over 35 BDs) and the fact that the auto generated not straight forward email seems to buy unlimited extra time and we're both allowing feelings of paranoia to creep in about the application being refused....which would be devastating.

Is there any advice or reassurance anyone can offer about the likelihood of a refusal and also the probable timeline (it's 16 BDs since the email now...). The very worst thing about all this is spending every minute of every day waiting/praying for the decision email to come through....we're both in bits.

Any words of wisdom would be very gratefully received, thanks in advance.
Alex

Hi Alex, I feel your pain, trust me.
Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do but wait and see.
I’m not sure of the rules on sole responsibility but hopefully you have provided everything that is required. If not, hopefully they will contact you to provide further information.

35 days is not long though, try to hangin there. 

Alex I feel your pain. Our applications were received on 3rd of January and we just received the not straight forward email today. Their email isn't straight forward! I'm also trying to join my husband with my son, I have full parental responsibility as well, sent in all the paperwork that reflected that and the parenting plan which notes the move.
It's incredibly fraustrating that they aren't more clear. But sadly we are at their mercy. Please keep us posted when you get a decision email. Good luck to you guys!

Thanks so much for the words of support, it's reassuring knowing other people are going through the same thing.

We wrote to our MP yesterday:  apparently there was a supreme court ruling in February last year regarding children and families and our MP believes that some visa applications are caught up in this.

I don't what to do, it feels like we will never be together .

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Thanks so much for the words of support, it's reassuring knowing other people are going through the same thing.

We wrote to our MP yesterday:  apparently there was a supreme court ruling in February last year regarding children and families and our MP believes that some visa applications are caught up in this.

I don't what to do, it feels like we will never be together .

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Yeah, there were 5000 applications put on hold for several months last year while awaiting the outcome of the ruling. They started processing them again around August time last year. Not sure whether or not they are still causing any delays though.

Yeah, there were 5000 applications put on hold for several months last year while awaiting the outcome of the ruling. They started processing them again around August time last year. Not sure whether or not they are still causing any delays though.

That was the feedback we got back from the MPs assistant. I'm just reading about the ruling and it was around whether the minimum income requirement was lawful when it keeps families apart, and how/when exceptions should be granted....I can't see how this applies to our case as the MIR is simply not an issue, so it might be a red herring.

Back to waiting/hoping/praying I guess...

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That was the feedback we got back from the MPs assistant. I'm just reading about the ruling and it was around whether the minimum income requirement was lawful when it keeps families apart, and how/when exceptions should be granted....I can't see how this applies to our case as the MIR is simply not an issue, so it might be a red herring.

Back to waiting/hoping/praying I guess...

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I don't think he means it applies to your case, I think he means that when those 5000 applications started being processed again, it caused delays in the processing time of all the other visas, and that yours may simply be caught up in the backlog.

The new ruling would only apply to you in the case that:
- you cannot meet the financial requirement
AND
- the applicant has a UK citizen child living in the UK whose life will be severely negatively impacted if they are forced to leave the UK or if their family is split up
AND
- there would be 'unjustifiably harsh consequences' to refusing the visa (i.e. the applicant lives in a war-torn or poverty-stricken country, and the UK is the only country in the world where they can live with their spouse (i.e. the spouse cannot physically live anywhere else)... which means their life will be in danger if the visa is not granted).

I don't think he means it applies to your case, I think he means that when those 5000 applications started being processed again, it caused delays in the processing time of all the other visas, and that yours may simply be caught up in the backlog.

The new ruling would only apply to you in the case that:
- you cannot meet the financial requirement
AND
- the applicant has a UK citizen child living in the UK whose life will be severely negatively impacted if they are forced to leave the UK or if their family is split up
AND
- there would be 'unjustifiably harsh consequences' to refusing the visa (i.e. the applicant lives in a war-torn or poverty-stricken country, and the UK is the only country in the world where they can live with their spouse (i.e. the spouse cannot physically live anywhere else)... which means their life will be in danger if the visa is not granted).

Ah, that makes sense....it's quite random though as I see that a lot of other people are getting decisions quickly.

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Ah, that makes sense....it's quite random though as I see that a lot of other people are getting decisions quickly.

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It’s all pretty random and depends on several factors, like how many applications arrived around the same time as yours, how many people are working in Sheffield, how fast the ECOs process the applications, whether or not more documents are requested, whether there have been previous refused visas or entries to the UK etc.

Some people who applied in early January already got their visas whereas  people who applied in Nov/Dec are still waiting... sometimes there’s just no rhyme or reason to it.


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Is there an upper limit for how long it will take? We submitted a priority application and have been waiting about 2 months now - I'm sure I read somewhere they don't take longer than 3 months.

I'm just trying to work out at least a vague timeline, is it another month? 3 months?? The not knowing when is killing us and we need something to hang on to!

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Is there an upper limit for how long it will take? We submitted a priority application and have been waiting about 2 months now - I'm sure I read somewhere they don't take longer than 3 months.

I'm just trying to work out at least a vague timeline, is it another month? 3 months?? The not knowing when is killing us and we need something to hang on to!

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The processing standards time is 95% of settlement visa applications processed within 12 weeks (3 months) and 100% within 24 weeks (6 months).

There is no upper limit for priority visas... you are only paying for your application to be put at the front of the line behind other priority apps. After that, all bets are off and it takes as long as it takes.

Having said that, most priority apps have been processed in about 2 months or so lately, but it could take longer.


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Yeah, there were 5000 applications put on hold for several months last year while awaiting the outcome of the ruling. They started processing them again around August time last year. Not sure whether or not they are still causing any delays though.

Those types of threads on other forums, don't appear now. I assume that means that these held in that backlog have all had their decisions? The person on here who was held in that queue, had their refusal months ago. I've been wondering how he got on as he met the financial requirement at the end of last month.

Hey ks24... I have a question. When they send the not Straight forward email does that mean they continue to actively work on the applications or that the applications just sit there until they get around to them again? Any thoughts on this?  Thanks!

Hey ks24... I have a question. When they send the not Straight forward email does that mean they continue to actively work on the applications or that the applications just sit there until they get around to them again? Any thoughts on this?  Thanks!

I don’t know exactly how it works but I bet your applications are still just sitting in the line and no one has even looked at them yet.

It may even just be a computer-generated thing, like, when the system says an application has reached X working days without being processed, an automatic ‘non-straightforward email is triggered... without anyone even touching your application.

Once it is picked up to be processed, it only takes 1-2 hours to make a decision unless more information is requested or  they need to look into previous refusals or convictions.


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Thank you!!!!!