I had a phone call and an email exchange with them, plus an email confirmation of what the procedure would be. It's not like I was trying to bypass anything or deceive anybody; I just expected this to be a standard procedure: early checking by the NCS and my application sent off on the right date. Argh, this is really frustrating. It was the NCS itself that proposed the early appointment with the possibility to forward my application, saying that they had the ability to do so provided it was within a few weeks. It later turned out that I didn't need to travel on that day after all; but I went ahead with the original appointment they offered. I've emailed them to check again what is going on, and I guess I'll have to wait till Tuesday to see what's up
I'm particularly unhappy about this because the emergency travel I thought I had to do (which would have precluded my making the application on a more suitable date) did not materialise. If I had been more paranoid/vigilant, I would have tried to rebook with the NCS just to avoid this eventuality. *SIGH*. The worst is not losing the fee (which will sting massively on its own), but having to endure another huge delay in this process… (admin is really stressful for me, managing all the requirements; I was really hoping to finally have the relief of getting this all sorted once and for all)
