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FireballXL5 wrote:Hi all
I'm a long term browser, first time poster and I've found this thread very helpful so far. I'm a bit concerned that this thread has died recently but I'll post our story so far here anyway.
I suppose on the positive side the lack of recent posts here could be because UK V&I have improved suddenly, although I rather expect that's not the case!
Anyway, we went to the Croydon PEO around a week ago for the 'one day service' for my wife's ILR SET (M) and got the dreaded 'further enquiries' letter. The case worker told us that there was 'nothing to worry about' and that we had submitted lots more documents than she needed and that there were no problems with our documents but that she still couldn't give us ILR there and then. She said something about some of our documents being 'somewhere else' whatever that means (maybe she meant the embassy where we made her original spouse visa application?). This (and her somewhat reassuring tone) suggested to me that she may think it's just a minor technicality, but then again she might say this to everyone.
We came home feeling pretty rubbish at having effectively wasted £400 for Premium Service but reading some of the horror stories on here it looks like we will be (best case scenario) waiting 1-3 months, or if we're unlucky the best part of a year! We've booked to go abroad to see family in August so I really hope we'll be done by then. I don't know whether my nerves (or those of my wife) will take months of waiting with no information so I'm really hoping that we won't have to go through too much.
I can understand them not being able to process all applications made at PEOs in a day. What I don't understand is the murkiness and total lack of accountability. If they can't process in a day, then the least I expect for my money is to be processed significantly faster than the postal people and also be given some indication of what the 'complication' is, especially when they say all our documents are in order.
Anyway, thought I'd post here and would be very happy to hear from others currently going through this purgatory (which we are apparently only just starting).
It's sad to pay such money and no quality service. My friend application Set M was also deferred for further checks and letter was given to her on the appointment day, nearly two months still waiting for decision. PEO now waste of money if you can't get same day decision. Please update when you get feedback. Many thanks.FireballXL5 wrote:Hi all
I'm a long term browser, first time poster and I've found this thread very helpful so far. I'm a bit concerned that this thread has died recently but I'll post our story so far here anyway.
I suppose on the positive side the lack of recent posts here could be because UK V&I have improved suddenly, although I rather expect that's not the case!
Anyway, we went to the Croydon PEO around a week ago for the 'one day service' for my wife's ILR SET (M) and got the dreaded 'further enquiries' letter. The case worker told us that there was 'nothing to worry about' and that we had submitted lots more documents than she needed and that there were no problems with our documents but that she still couldn't give us ILR there and then. She said something about some of our documents being 'somewhere else' whatever that means (maybe she meant the embassy where we made her original spouse visa application?). This (and her somewhat reassuring tone) suggested to me that she may think it's just a minor technicality, but then again she might say this to everyone.
We came home feeling pretty rubbish at having effectively wasted £400 for Premium Service but reading some of the horror stories on here it looks like we will be (best case scenario) waiting 1-3 months, or if we're unlucky the best part of a year! We've booked to go abroad to see family in August so I really hope we'll be done by then. I don't know whether my nerves (or those of my wife) will take months of waiting with no information so I'm really hoping that we won't have to go through too much.
I can understand them not being able to process all applications made at PEOs in a day. What I don't understand is the murkiness and total lack of accountability. If they can't process in a day, then the least I expect for my money is to be processed significantly faster than the postal people and also be given some indication of what the 'complication' is, especially when they say all our documents are in order.
Anyway, thought I'd post here and would be very happy to hear from others currently going through this purgatory (which we are apparently only just starting).
It's been a month since application now and still no joy. I've been doing a bit of research (based on past FOI requests by others) into whether deferred PEO Premium applications basically become postal applications, with some interesting results.shineangel wrote:
It's sad to pay such money and no quality service. My friend application Set M was also deferred for further checks and letter was given to her on the appointment day, nearly two months still waiting for decision. PEO now waste of money if you can't get same day decision. Please update when you get feedback. Many thanks.
I now believe dedered application are on similar que as postal application looking at how long it takes to get decision. Recently most postal application are decided around 4-6months while deferred application also takes up to 6 mths. My is only counting month after month until it reach four months. It's painful to wait this long after paying for premium service.FireballXL5 wrote:It's been a month since application now and still no joy. I've been doing a bit of research (based on past FOI requests by others) into whether deferred PEO Premium applications basically become postal applications, with some interesting results.shineangel wrote:
It's sad to pay such money and no quality service. My friend application Set M was also deferred for further checks and letter was given to her on the appointment day, nearly two months still waiting for decision. PEO now waste of money if you can't get same day decision. Please update when you get feedback. Many thanks.
Firstly, two separate responses suggest that PEO applications are not put in the same pile as postals and that in fact the average time for deferred apps is 10 days, with an aim to "not extend a case for longer than a month"
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 2.pdf.html (see questions 3 and 8 )
and
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... n.pdf.html
This information just does not appear to stack up with the evidence on here, which seems to suggest that deferred Premium takes about as long as postal in most cases. In fact, I have been unable to find a single case on these forums of someone's application being resolved in less than 1 month having been deferred for further enquiries (IT problems excepted). In fact, most seem to be waiting 3-6 months with some waiting even longer. Weirdly, having read this entire thread it appears that additional documents cases are solved significantly faster than cases where all documents are present and correct.
I just wish we didn't have to play at these guessing games and that more information about the decision making process was made public.
Any news from anyone else?
The same stupid survey message was sent to my friend and yet no decision received. Disregard the survey or use survey to express dissatisfaction about PEO service.FireballXL5 wrote:Now adding insult to injury, the Home Office sent us an email today...
"Having recently received a decision on your application, UK Visas and Immigration would like to ask for your feedback in a short online survey."
Recently received a decision I wish!
This has however slightly raised my hopes (probably falsely). Maybe they really have decided and just not told us yet. Judging by other threads though, this just could be a standard "1 month anniversary present" from the HO to everyone who applied at a PEO.
Has anyone else got this survey email a long time before receiving a decision? If not then it would seem that I might have cause for hope.
FireballXL5 wrote:Now adding insult to injury, the Home Office sent us an email today...
"Having recently received a decision on your application, UK Visas and Immigration would like to ask for your feedback in a short online survey."
Recently received a decision I wish!
This has however slightly raised my hopes (probably falsely). Maybe they really have decided and just not told us yet. Judging by other threads though, this just could be a standard "1 month anniversary present" from the HO to everyone who applied at a PEO.
Has anyone else got this survey email a long time before receiving a decision? If not then it would seem that I might have cause for hope.
Thanks 1unicorn and shineangel. Although I was rather hoping for a different answer. That email was really rubbing our noses in it.1unicorn wrote:I have also received this stupid email long time ago. Around early April or end of March i think. I even faxed them about it. But i still havent received any decision from them. It has been almost three months and I am still waiting.
From what I observed in this forum we should expect decision within 4-6months. I bet this is the period we will get decision.FireballXL5 wrote:Thanks 1unicorn and shineangel. Although I was rather hoping for a different answer. That email was really rubbing our noses in it.1unicorn wrote:I have also received this stupid email long time ago. Around early April or end of March i think. I even faxed them about it. But i still havent received any decision from them. It has been almost three months and I am still waiting.
I know I shouldn't have got my hopes up but with the total lack of information, you try and grab hold of anything you can. I just don't understand what the problem is - our case should be straightforward. It seems that SET (M) is being particularly targeted at the moment (strange because it should be the most straightforward category). Do any of you have any inkling about why they might have stretched your cases out this long?
FireballXL5 wrote:Thanks 1unicorn and shineangel. Although I was rather hoping for a different answer. That email was really rubbing our noses in it.1unicorn wrote:I have also received this stupid email long time ago. Around early April or end of March i think. I even faxed them about it. But i still havent received any decision from them. It has been almost three months and I am still waiting.
I know I shouldn't have got my hopes up but with the total lack of information, you try and grab hold of anything you can. I just don't understand what the problem is - our case should be straightforward. It seems that SET (M) is being particularly targeted at the moment (strange because it should be the most straightforward category). Do any of you have any inkling about why they might have stretched your cases out this long?
Your case sounds exactly the same as ours. The same reassurances that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about but very little specific information (aside from something vague about file location, which sounds like more their fault than mine).1unicorn wrote:I have no idea.On the day the case worker told me everything looked fine and there was nothing to worry about. I asked her if there is anything held us back that I cant get the decision on the same day. She wouldnt tell me the reason, just said occasionally they cant make the decision on the same day and it is common. She just kept reinsuraning me there was nothing to worry about. She even said given my case was premiem one, the case will be treated with priority. Obviously it doesnt look like this is the case.
Is it true I can call them after 12 weeks of waiting? Any idea of this please?
Honestly it's sad PEO decision taking too long and we just need to be patient I only suggest 4-6 months because of my research on this forum and also it appears PEO deferred is on similar que with postal application. Fingers crossed.FireballXL5 wrote:Your case sounds exactly the same as ours. The same reassurances that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about but very little specific information (aside from something vague about file location, which sounds like more their fault than mine).1unicorn wrote:I have no idea.On the day the case worker told me everything looked fine and there was nothing to worry about. I asked her if there is anything held us back that I cant get the decision on the same day. She wouldnt tell me the reason, just said occasionally they cant make the decision on the same day and it is common. She just kept reinsuraning me there was nothing to worry about. She even said given my case was premiem one, the case will be treated with priority. Obviously it doesnt look like this is the case.
Is it true I can call them after 12 weeks of waiting? Any idea of this please?
I really hope it isn't 4-6 months as shineangel suggests or else we're going to go totally mad (and have to cancel a lot of expensive plans). Earlier on in this thread there are examples of people who seem to have got theirs in 1-3 months (look into the cases of vtp11321 or mfb123 and more if you search) after having been served with the further enquiries letter, but these are mostly from 2012, so maybe they've made things even worse since then.
In terms of ringing them up, I don't think you have to wait that long, I have rung them up once already. But it'll do you a fat lot of good, they'll just look up your case on a database and tell you that your application is 'not completed'. The operators only have minimal information so they can't tell you anything else.
Hi FireballXL5 and shineangel, today I had a little update, but not quite a good one. I received a letter from home office when i got home today, they were asking us to attend an interview in Liverpool after a month. I guess they are suspicious about our marriage but i am not sure. I am a bit stressed out as i have to wait for another month, but at least they were looking into my case. Me and my other half are together for 7 years and I am not too worry about the interview. Although I do wonder how the interview is going to be like. Now the only thing i can think is probably my husbands financial situation. He is a contractor and self-employed, and for the last two years (unlucky) he didnt have much luck in job market, although he did have some short term contracts here and there, which means i am the main supporter for the house. I thought with the old 2- year policy, financial situation isnt a issue, plus even with my own income its beyond the new financial requirement anyway. and we did handed in a cover letter to explain that at the time, they know that already, which is why i dont quite understand. I wish they interviewed us three months ago instead. But anyway, I hope you guys dont need to go through the hassle! and fingers crossed to my own case lol.FireballXL5 wrote:Your case sounds exactly the same as ours. The same reassurances that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about but very little specific information (aside from something vague about file location, which sounds like more their fault than mine).1unicorn wrote:I have no idea.On the day the case worker told me everything looked fine and there was nothing to worry about. I asked her if there is anything held us back that I cant get the decision on the same day. She wouldnt tell me the reason, just said occasionally they cant make the decision on the same day and it is common. She just kept reinsuraning me there was nothing to worry about. She even said given my case was premiem one, the case will be treated with priority. Obviously it doesnt look like this is the case.
Is it true I can call them after 12 weeks of waiting? Any idea of this please?
I really hope it isn't 4-6 months as shineangel suggests or else we're going to go totally mad (and have to cancel a lot of expensive plans). Earlier on in this thread there are examples of people who seem to have got theirs in 1-3 months (look into the cases of vtp11321 or mfb123 and more if you search) after having been served with the further enquiries letter, but these are mostly from 2012, so maybe they've made things even worse since then.
In terms of ringing them up, I don't think you have to wait that long, I have rung them up once already. But it'll do you a fat lot of good, they'll just look up your case on a database and tell you that your application is 'not completed'. The operators only have minimal information so they can't tell you anything else.
Well, at least it means they're looking at your case... There was another case on this thread similar to this if you read back into 2012 (chweetgurl) but this situation appears to be rare indeed.1unicorn wrote:
Hi FireballXL5 and shineangel, today I had a little update, but not quite a good one. I received a letter from home office when i got home today, they were asking us to attend an interview in Liverpool after a month. I guess they are suspicious about our marriage but i am not sure. I am a bit stressed out as i have to wait for another month, but at least they were looking into my case. Me and my other half are together for 7 years and I am not too worry about the interview. Although I do wonder how the interview is going to be like. Now the only thing i can think is probably my husbands financial situation. He is a contractor and self-employed, and for the last two years (unlucky) he didnt have much luck in job market, although he did have some short term contracts here and there, which means i am the main supporter for the house. I thought with the old 2- year policy, financial situation isnt a issue, plus even with my own income its beyond the new financial requirement anyway. and we did handed in a cover letter to explain that at the time, they know that already, which is why i dont quite understand. I wish they interviewed us three months ago instead. But anyway, I hope you guys dont need to go through the hassle! and fingers crossed to my own case lol.
FireballXL5 wrote:Well, at least it means they're looking at your case... There was another case on this thread similar to this if you read back into 2012 (chweetgurl) but this situation appears to be rare indeed.1unicorn wrote:
Hi FireballXL5 and shineangel, today I had a little update, but not quite a good one. I received a letter from home office when i got home today, they were asking us to attend an interview in Liverpool after a month. I guess they are suspicious about our marriage but i am not sure. I am a bit stressed out as i have to wait for another month, but at least they were looking into my case. Me and my other half are together for 7 years and I am not too worry about the interview. Although I do wonder how the interview is going to be like. Now the only thing i can think is probably my husbands financial situation. He is a contractor and self-employed, and for the last two years (unlucky) he didnt have much luck in job market, although he did have some short term contracts here and there, which means i am the main supporter for the house. I thought with the old 2- year policy, financial situation isnt a issue, plus even with my own income its beyond the new financial requirement anyway. and we did handed in a cover letter to explain that at the time, they know that already, which is why i dont quite understand. I wish they interviewed us three months ago instead. But anyway, I hope you guys dont need to go through the hassle! and fingers crossed to my own case lol.
Are you the sponsor or the applicant? If you're the sponsor, and your wage is enough then whether your husband is self employed should not matter at all. Which means that they must be somehow suspicious about the relationship - but how can they be without any kind of evidence? Was there anything in your application that could have caused their suspicion? Did you hand in enough joint letters etc? But the fact you've been together 7 years seems to make even this unlikely.
Maybe it's just that they pick out every 100 applications or so and say "OK let's make these people's life a misery" without any kind of other reason and you're one of the unlucky ones.
I suppose I don't really have a massive problem with them wanting to interview people. It's the fact that your "Premium" application probably sat in a dusty pile in the depths of the Home Office for 3 months before they bothered to tell you this that's totally unacceptable.
Anyway, so much for the "you have nothing to worry about" assurances you got from your original caseworker....
If it is because of the self-employed status, interviewing you would be a very strange way of finding out more. Surely, they would just ask for more financial documentation? But the other option around your relationship, which makes more sense at face value in the sense that an interview would be able to allay (or theoretically confirm!) any suspicions, seems stupid in your case if you've been together for 7 years and have submitted all the normal evidence.1unicorn wrote:FireballXL5 wrote:Well, at least it means they're looking at your case... There was another case on this thread similar to this if you read back into 2012 (chweetgurl) but this situation appears to be rare indeed.1unicorn wrote:
Hi FireballXL5 and shineangel, today I had a little update, but not quite a good one. I received a letter from home office when i got home today, they were asking us to attend an interview in Liverpool after a month. I guess they are suspicious about our marriage but i am not sure. I am a bit stressed out as i have to wait for another month, but at least they were looking into my case. Me and my other half are together for 7 years and I am not too worry about the interview. Although I do wonder how the interview is going to be like. Now the only thing i can think is probably my husbands financial situation. He is a contractor and self-employed, and for the last two years (unlucky) he didnt have much luck in job market, although he did have some short term contracts here and there, which means i am the main supporter for the house. I thought with the old 2- year policy, financial situation isnt a issue, plus even with my own income its beyond the new financial requirement anyway. and we did handed in a cover letter to explain that at the time, they know that already, which is why i dont quite understand. I wish they interviewed us three months ago instead. But anyway, I hope you guys dont need to go through the hassle! and fingers crossed to my own case lol.
Are you the sponsor or the applicant? If you're the sponsor, and your wage is enough then whether your husband is self employed should not matter at all. Which means that they must be somehow suspicious about the relationship - but how can they be without any kind of evidence? Was there anything in your application that could have caused their suspicion? Did you hand in enough joint letters etc? But the fact you've been together 7 years seems to make even this unlikely.
Maybe it's just that they pick out every 100 applications or so and say "OK let's make these people's life a misery" without any kind of other reason and you're one of the unlucky ones.
I suppose I don't really have a massive problem with them wanting to interview people. It's the fact that your "Premium" application probably sat in a dusty pile in the depths of the Home Office for 3 months before they bothered to tell you this that's totally unacceptable.
Anyway, so much for the "you have nothing to worry about" assurances you got from your original caseworker....
I am the applicant, maybe that's why? We have enough evidence, if not I presume the case worker would have asked in the first place. You are right, I don't mind getting interviewed, it's the fact they took so long to reply me that botheres me, especially the interview is another month away. And what's the point of paying premium service after all. If they are suspicious they should have interviewed us on the same day when I applied. Since then I also joined contracting and self - employed. Which means I don't have holiday pay. I have to take a day off, lose a day pay, and travel to Liverpool from London, need to get a hotel as well, which makes it even more expensive. I wonder if I can claim my expense from them lol
Good luck and please let us know interview questions just be ready in case we are selected for interview.1unicorn wrote:i think we submitted more than the minumum requirements. Some are not for the whole 2 years as some might miss one month or two, but we have enough resource to cover that i think. I was going to submit some photos,card, letters etc as well, but given when i applied for spouse visa they didnt bother to even take the photos and etc with them,we didnt bother this time. I will bring some photos from the last 7 years for the interview though. I did some research it looks like they do random checks sometimes. As long as i am not the only one i dont mind. Good luck to your case anyway, i am sure you will be fine, especially you submitted photos and other evidence.
I came across this on another part of the forum. http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 11750.html1unicorn wrote:i think we submitted more than the minumum requirements. Some are not for the whole 2 years as some might miss one month or two, but we have enough resource to cover that i think. I was going to submit some photos,card, letters etc as well, but given when i applied for spouse visa they didnt bother to even take the photos and etc with them,we didnt bother this time. I will bring some photos from the last 7 years for the interview though. I did some research it looks like they do random checks sometimes. As long as i am not the only one i dont mind. Good luck to your case anyway, i am sure you will be fine, especially you submitted photos and other evidence.
Yes! Exactly the same letter. And from exactly the same person as you (Amanda). And, yes, we applied at Croydon.sagareva wrote:Hi Fireball,
Have you applied in Croydon? Is your second letter, by any chance, signed by an Amanda W*** or something like that?
Exactly same here. My daughter applied 29th April in Croydon, different category than you, different scenario -- case was held because she had TOEFL and they have put all TOEFL cases on hold. Caseworker said it was going to be with him until we send in results from a different English test. Which we did. Nothing further yet.
However before they received our new test results, they sent us a letter about further enquiries, it's a standard letter as I gather from the Internet. It is not the same letter as our first letter given on the day, because that letter was about TOEFL -- but it is also signed by a different person, not our original caseworker.
I am also a bit confused because it came recorded delivery, while it did not contain any original documents nor requested any information. It was actually quite meaningless as it seems.
We have also been trying to figure out whether this means it was passed on to some other team and whether that team is also in Croydon. our caseworker in fact told us it is going to stay with him and not going to be passed anywhere.
Our case was very straightforward and did not really contain anything one could possibly additionally enquire about. The caseworker said there was no problem of any kind and nothing further was needed, except to resolve the TOEFL issue.
Maybe someone there is just on some weird letter-sending spree ))