Not straightforward

Hello all

I am a new member seeking advice. Can I just start by saying how useful I have found this forum to be as my partner and I went through the painful process of applying for a fiancée visa.

Anyway, we submitted the application and after a delay caused by the processing issues at Sheffield have finally received a notification that the application is ‘not straightforward’ and inviting us to consider withdrawing it to reapply for an ILR instead. We declined, since we are pretty sure the 6 month fiancée application Is correct (my partner is in the USA, and we have not lived together. I expect to apply for an ILR once she is here and we are married).

I wondered if there is any indication of how long it takes to process ‘not straightforward’ applications? Her hoped for travel date is approaching fast....


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Which visa did you apply for? Not straight forward emails often go out when they hit 60 days whether the case is actually not straightforward or not to buy them more time because after that's sent they no longer have to meet their service standards.

ILR is applied for after you've been residing in the UK for 5 years on specific settlement visas. (If I remember correctly the fiancée visa doesn't count towards that 5 years)

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Welcome!

Yes, please give us a few more details about your situation.

What date did you receive the "your application has been received" email?

Hi - thanks for coming back so quickly. I got an email on 22 July acknowledging receipt of the application and saying they wouldn’t meet their 15 day target but would answer within 10 working days. Then on  3 Aug I got the email saying the application was not straightforward because I had applied under the visitor visa route when it appeared I meant to settle permanently.


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Hi - thanks for coming back so quickly. I got an email on 22 July acknowledging receipt of the application and saying they wouldn’t meet their 15 day target but would answer within 10 working days. Then on  3 Aug I got the email saying the application was not straightforward because I had applied under the visitor visa route when it appeared I meant to settle permanently.


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Ah, I see.  So you submitted your application to NYC.

If you want to marry in the UK and then change to the spousal route, you want to apply for a fiance visa.  You cannot switch from a visitor visa to any other type of visa while within the UK.  You would have to return to the USA and apply for a spouse visa through Sheffield.

Did you apply for a visitor visa or a marriage visitor visa?  Regardless, to qualify you have to prove you do NOT intend to settle in the UK after marriage and that you have a life to return to in the USA.  If you have said you do not want to switch the visa type, I fear you may have a refusal coming your way.  :/

To qualify for the visitor visa you would need:
proof of a job to return to in the USA
proof of a home you'll be maintaining in the USA while in the UK
bank statements to prove you can support yourself on the visit without working

I applied to Sheffield for a fiancée visa, using form VAF4A, which I think is used for all settlement visas. Our intention is to marry when I am in the UK, then apply for a further visa. It’s the reply from Sheffield that mentioned the visitor route.

Sorry this is all a bit confusing. I have cut and pasted their email below.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <VISAINFO.SHEFO@fco.gov.uk>
Date: Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 3:24 AM
Subject: Your Contact Centre enquiry: GWF048880114
To:


Dear Ms

Regarding Visa Application: GWF048880114         

Thank you for submitting your application (ref: GWF048880114) to visit the UK.  From you application form it would appear that you intend to settle in the UK as the civil partner of a British national. Unfortunately you have applied under the visit visa category which is inappropriate for your requirements as it a route for temporary visitors for periods of up to 6 months. 
In light of this, you may wish to withdraw your application and re-apply under the settlement route (see link below).  If you decide to do this, please let us know in writing at the following email address quoting the above reference number.

SheffieldDocsRequested.RestofWorld@fco.gsi.gov.uk

For more information on settlement route applications please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-settle-in-the-uk-form-setm
If you have any further enquiries, please visit our website at www.GOV.UK

If we have not heard from you by 10 August 2018, we will proceed with processing your application as it stands.

Kind Regards

UKVI Contact Centre Service - UK Decision Making Centre
www.GOV.uk



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Okay, so according to this you applied for a civil partner visa.

That means you are a same sex couple already in a civil partnership (legal ceremony considered equal to marriage).

If you are an opposite sex couple, you want to apply for a "marriage" visa.  So in the VAF4A, you would select, settlement, settlement, marriage.

If you are a same sex couple, you want to apply for "settlement, settlement, proposed civil partnership".

What did you select?

How much did you pay for your visa?

If you applied for a fiance visa, it would have cost you £1,523

If you applied for a marriage visitor visa, it would cost you £93

Also, as KFDancer said, what visa type did you select on the online form? For a fiance visa, it should have been Settlement -> Settlement -> Marriage. If you selected anything that said Visitor (even Marriage Visitor), you did not apply for a fiance visa.

I haven’t paid anything yet but am expecting it to be £1523. And yes, we are applying for a same sex partnership visa for 6 months, which I was told was called a fiancée visa. It sounds like I have chosen the wrong option and should cancel and reapply- hopefully it is not too late to change my mind.


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Sorry, just to add we are not yet in a civil partnership, which is why the link in the email from Sheffield confused me. Hence applying for six months. I am hoping they can attach all the supporting documents already submitted to the new application, assuming I’m in time to cancel the first one, but if not I’ll start all over again.


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Are you applying from the USA?  You shouldn’t have been able to submit ANYTHNG without paying in advance....

I haven’t paid anything yet but am expecting it to be £1523. And yes, we are applying for a same sex partnership visa for 6 months, which I was told was called a fiancée visa. It sounds like I have chosen the wrong option and should cancel and reapply- hopefully it is not too late to change my mind.


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Okay, now I'm extremely confused. How did you manage to apply for a visa without paying for it? It's not physically possible to do that.

If you are in the US, the order of applying is:

- Research the visa
- Gather the documents
- Complete the online application (Settlement -> Settlement -> Marriage)
- Print and fill out VAF4a Appendix 2 (the second half of the application form)
- Submit the online application, pay £1,523 for the visa, book biometrics appointment online
- Attend biometrics appointment in the US, where they will stamp your biometrics appointment confirmation sheet
- Mail your passport, stamped sheet, online application, Appendix 2 and all your documents to Sheffield for processing
- Wait for your visa to be processed and mailed back to you

Sorry, just to add we are not yet in a civil partnership, which is why the link in the email from Sheffield confused me. Hence applying for six months. I am hoping they can attach all the supporting documents already submitted to the new application, assuming I’m in time to cancel the first one, but if not I’ll start all over again.

You would therefore have needed to apply for a Proposed Civil Partnership visa, under the Settlement section.

As I said above though, I'm confused... if you haven't paid for the visa yet, it sounds like you haven't actually applied for anything at all. Because you can't apply for a visa without paying first, or without attending your biometrics (which you can't do until you've paid).

Did you actually submit the online application? Did you attend your biometrics appointment in the US before mailing everything to Sheffield?

Okay, checked with my partner, and we HAVE paid the £1,523. We have done the biometrics appt and submitted all the documents to Sheffield. It seems we chose a wrong option on the VAF4 form. I’ve asked them to cancel the application and will reapply, but I don’t know yet if I need to resubmit all the docs. And thanks again for replying - this is very stressful.


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I’m still confused how, if you paid £1,523, they can think you applied for a visitor visa? I think maybe they are the ones who have made a mistake here... especially since they told you to apply for ILR which you cannot apply for until you have lived in the U.K. for 5 years.

If you cancel the application now, you will lose ALL of the £1,523 you have paid so far and will have to pay for the visa twice... in which case it would be better to confirm that you applied for a settlement visa, and not a visitor visa, and that you would like them to continue to process it.

Exactly what visa type did you select on the online form? Did you have to pay an IHS surcharge of £600 for the application, on top of the £1,523?

If so, that means you applied for a civil partner visa instead of a fiancé/propose civil partner visa... so you will need to ask them to process it as a proposed civil partner visa instead and ask for a refund of the IHS surcharge (since that should not be paid for a fiancé/PCP visa).


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