VFS Global Priority Service Advice please!

Hello All,

I'm American and applying for a spousal settlement visa to move to Bristol (my husband is British citizen). The hope is to be able to get this visa and move by the end of this year. I'm guessing that means I'll have to use this VFS Global priority service. Has anybody used this? There are so many packages to choose from and none of them seems to really explain itself well enough (or maybe I just have reading comprehension problem which would not shock me).

I live in LA so it's available to me but I truly cannot figure out which one I need. Obviously I'd rather not pay almost $2K extra for the Settlement Premium Package because I'm not Bill Gates. Can I get away with one of the cheaper ones? If I don't use any of these packages, I imagine it will take about 3-6 months to hear anything or am I just a crazy pessimist?

I knew this wasn't going to be easy but good Lord am I having trouble figuring out this entire process. I thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

On a sidenote: Any of you kids live in Bristol and could use a 47-year-old friend? I know it's not the easiest making close friends at this age, much less in England. I like wine, TV, movies and more wine.

Hello All,

I'm American and applying for a spousal settlement visa to move to Bristol (my husband is British citizen). The hope is to be able to get this visa and move by the end of this year. I'm guessing that means I'll have to use this VFS Global priority service. Has anybody used this? There are so many packages to choose from and none of them seems to really explain itself well enough (or maybe I just have reading comprehension problem which would not shock me).

I live in LA so it's available to me but I truly cannot figure out which one I need. Obviously I'd rather not pay almost $2K extra for the Settlement Premium Package because I'm not Bill Gates. Can I get away with one of the cheaper ones? If I don't use any of these packages, I imagine it will take about 3-6 months to hear anything or am I just a crazy pessimist?

I knew this wasn't going to be easy but good Lord am I having trouble figuring out this entire process. I thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

On a sidenote: Any of you kids live in Bristol and could use a 47-year-old friend? I know it's not the easiest making close friends at this age, much less in England. I like wine, TV, movies and more wine.

Hi okkuriwin, welcome! 

The vfs website has recently been re-vamped and is now frankly hideous!
For most people, the Settlement Priority Service at $793 (currently) is the best option. The only advantage to the settlement premium package ($1,900) is that you get to keep your passport but as you can't travel to the UK while an application is in process, and as processing times are not going to be any quicker (and could end up taking longer), we advise against using it.

Are you confident with the other aspects of your application? Feel free to post a list of everything you intend to submit and we can let you know if anything is missing. 

Oh wow, thank you so much for making me feel like it's not just me. I think they're trying to trick us into giving them our entire life's savings. 

So ultimately do you agree that it would be best for me to use the premium service (not the firstborn child one but the slightly less expensive one)? I know you can't make this decision for me, I'm just trying to get advice from people who perhaps have used it before or work in that business or are just much, much smarter than I am.

I will get it together and post a list. I don't feel confident about anything at this point. My husband fits the financial requirement but was also in overdraft recently so I'm incredibly concerned that will affect this visa. I almost don't want to apply until we can get bank statements that get rid of that but I'd really like to get over there and get my life started.

Aah, isn't this fun?

Thank you for your help!

Oh wow, thank you so much for making me feel like it's not just me. I think they're trying to trick us into giving them our entire life's savings. 

So ultimately do you agree that it would be best for me to use the premium service (not the firstborn child one but the slightly less expensive one)? I know you can't make this decision for me, I'm just trying to get advice from people who perhaps have used it before or work in that business or are just much, much smarter than I am.

I will get it together and post a list. I don't feel confident about anything at this point. My husband fits the financial requirement but was also in overdraft recently so I'm incredibly concerned that will affect this visa. I almost don't want to apply until we can get bank statements that get rid of that but I'd really like to get over there and get my life started.

Aah, isn't this fun?

Thank you for your help!

The overdraft does not matter. They only look at income, not expenditure. but the document requirements are very specific so you do have to make sure that you provide everything that you need to.

The majority of people do use regular priority ($793) and are glad that they did. Those who choose not to, more often than not, tell us that they wish that they had.
We used priority and were glad that we did. The wait is pretty stressful so you are going to want to feel like you have done all you can to keep it as short as possible!

Welcome to the forum .

I’m in the middle of a night shift at the moment, so will leave the longer answers to larrabee, but just wanted to say hi and that I’m not American, but I’m from Bristol originally .


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Thank you! I feel much more relieved.

Well if you're ever in Bristol visiting, there's (hopefully) going to be an American there in need of a friend!

Hello All,

I'm American and applying for a spousal settlement visa to move to Bristol (my husband is British citizen). The hope is to be able to get this visa and move by the end of this year. I'm guessing that means I'll have to use this VFS Global priority service. Has anybody used this? There are so many packages to choose from and none of them seems to really explain itself well enough (or maybe I just have reading comprehension problem which would not shock me).

I live in LA so it's available to me but I truly cannot figure out which one I need. Obviously I'd rather not pay almost $2K extra for the Settlement Premium Package because I'm not Bill Gates. Can I get away with one of the cheaper ones? If I don't use any of these packages, I imagine it will take about 3-6 months to hear anything or am I just a crazy pessimist?

I knew this wasn't going to be easy but good Lord am I having trouble figuring out this entire process. I thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

On a sidenote: Any of you kids live in Bristol and could use a 47-year-old friend? I know it's not the easiest making close friends at this age, much less in England. I like wine, TV, movies and more wine.

Congratulations!! I just got my visa in August and arrived in the UK on 4  Sept. I paid priority, and Once I gathered my documents/mailed off my physical application, it took 2 days for me to receive an email from the home office saying my "application was being looked at" and exactly 36 Business days (a little over 2 months) for me to hear anything else. Once I got the second email saying it was dispatched, it arrived within 4 days (it's usually 2, but mine passed over the weekend) and my visa was approved. My entire timeline is in my signature below, just to give you an idea. While there are some  instances in which priority takes longer due to mishaps, non-straightforward emails, etc. most of the time it takes about that time. That being said, I applied in June and the waiting times are usually higher in the summer months, as the home office gets "back logged" if you apply in the Spring as it sounds like you might, you will possibly wait even shorter than I did. You said you're in LA. Does that mean Los Angeles, or Louisiana? I'm from Louisiana, so I often say, "LA!"

Also, I''m 27, but I enjoy wine too!!!

Best of luck to you!

Hi, welcome to UKY!

I'm in London now, but used to live in the Somerset area several years ago (and DH worked in Bristol).  If it weren't for my job being in London, DH and I would probably move back.  It's lovely out there, and we miss it.  (I'm a bit jealous of you!  )

Best of luck applying for your visa; please feel free to ask any questions during the process.       

Well sadly I'm trying to get there by the end of the year which may not happen (can't let go of my apartment until I know the visa is coming through) but knowing that paying all that money actually helps makes me feel better about shelling it out.

I did mean Los Angeles. Hahaha, how annoying is it that I just assume LA is Los Angeles to everybody else in the world?! Sheesh. I'm originally from Fargo, ND though so not a snooty Angeleno, I swear!

Well thank you everybody. I do have more questions, I'm just trying to get them all together so I can just put them in one post and not do it all piecemeal.

You guys rock!

Well sadly I'm trying to get there by the end of the year which may not happen (can't let go of my apartment until I know the visa is coming through) but knowing that paying all that money actually helps makes me feel better about shelling it out.

I did mean Los Angeles. Hahaha, how annoying is it that I just assume LA is Los Angeles to everybody else in the world?! Sheesh. I'm originally from Fargo, ND though so not a snooty Angeleno, I swear!

Well thank you everybody. I do have more questions, I'm just trying to get them all together so I can just put them in one post and not do it all piecemeal.

You guys rock!

HI, welcome ...
I have very high hopes of going home to England by the end of the year too, but in reality, will probably be more like the middle of Jan....
My fiance is coming back over from England Oct 23 and we get married the 28th so, my timeline will be a bit later than your's... We too are going to apply priority and I feel your pain at the confusion. I need pictures...    and lots of them 
Best of luck to you.. I am older than you but know I will be looking for American friends too but I will be up in Lancashire .. but if y'all come visit the area next spring or summer give a shout   

First question for you kids - on the application, when I went to submit it I saw that it had a category that said Visa Confirmation Questions and under that it says No visa confirmation questions. Is that correct or was there a question I didn't answer at one point? I also didn't write anything in Additional Information because I read that could actually harm more than help. Do you agree?

I also didn't write anything in Additional Information because I read that could actually harm more than help. Do you agree?

From my understanding, there is no need to write anything in the additional info section unless you ran out of space in another section and needed to continue. Also, if there is something on your application that is not obvious to understand and needs further explanation that would be the space to do it. Otherwise, leave it blank.

From my understanding, there is no need to write anything in the additional info section unless you ran out of space in another section and needed to continue. Also, if there is something on your application that is not obvious to understand and needs further explanation that would be the space to do it. Otherwise, leave it blank.

I just finished my online application and I filled this out.  Should I delete what I wrote.  Basically I wrote what I would have written on my cover letter.

Should I leave this blank?

Also, it only ask for the passports I’ve held in the last 10 years.  So I listed all of them. 

I did have one as a minor before I became an American citizen.   It’s a Philippine passport but this has been lost.  I don’t know any information about it.

I just finished my online application and I filled this out.  Should I delete what I wrote.  Basically I wrote what I would have written on my cover letter.

Should I leave this blank?

Also, it only ask for the passports I’ve held in the last 10 years.  So I listed all of them. 

I did have one as a minor before I became an American citizen.   It’s a Philippine passport but this has been lost.  I don’t know any information about it.

I think your cover letter should be just that. A separate cover letter. I'd leave the additional info blank as to not cause any confusion. I believe it is there mainly to expand upon the information you are already providing on the application if it is necessary to do so. But maybe wait until one of the experts here confirms that.

As far as the passports go, I believe you must send all previous passports. I sent in all of mine and I got my very first one more than ten years ago (1996). I have one that is missing/presumed lost and I just filled in as much info as I knew about it and marked it as "lost" in that section. And then I explained in my cover letter how I believe it was lost.