Settlement visa processing time: 8 months??

[Mikeb91]

Greetings

I am a British citizen living in Russia. My wife has just submitted biometrics at the nearest visa centre (Yekaterinburg) to apply for our first 2.5 year family visa. Two things have thrown a spanner in the proverbial works.

1: The woman receiving the application was surprised that we had not already sent our supporting documents to Sheffield. They still begrudgingly accepted her application, but said we better send our documents quickly. I was under the impression that this was to be done after biometrics had been submitted. We had received zero instruction to send our documents before the appointment and there is no such requirement on the official government website. Was I mistaken or misinformed... or both?

2: (and this was the real kick in the teeth) The same woman informed us that these visas take an increadible amount of time to process. She said there are still applications waiting to be approved from September. That gives us a possible waiting time of 8 MONTHS. We told her that we were planning to relocate to the UK at the end of this summer. She answered that this was simply “impossible.” I have already written to UKVI for an explanation, because this new processing time is NOWHERE near the official guidelines. Is there anyone else here who’s got similar information? because I can’t find any similar stories online.

Thanks for your help.

[Davit]

Hi,

1) You are correct about the supporting documents they can be submitted after the biometrics within 10 days for priority or 20 for standard applications.

2) It can take longer than official guide lines but only if your application is not straightforward and they need to query some of the documents you submitted. If it is a priority application it will usually be around 30 days if your docs are in order, standard application around about 60 days.

Our experience using the Moscow centre was it took 27 days priority to get a decision.

[Mikeb91]

Thanks for the swift reply.

It sounds like a case of incompetence at the visa centre (not uncommon). May I ask: when did you apply for your visa? I wonder if UKVI is doing a go-slow as a result of recent unpleasantness in UK-Russia relations.

[Davit]

We applied on the 28th of March and the visa centre in Moscow gave great advice on how to package the doc to make it easy for ECO, there did not seem to be any issues

Just make sure where you address it to Sheffield you put the GW number, if its priority and what visa application centre you used on the top right.

Inside we enclosed 3 bundles of doc.
1) original docs
2) copies of original docs
3)Relationship proof (skype, whatsapp, call logs, pictures)

In 1 & 2 we broke it down into categories within plastic covers, with a cover page detailing what was enclosed with the GW number & priority on top right again of each cover page.
Broke it down like this in plastic covers

Application & appendix 2... with English test & tb included, translated Marriage cert
Employment & Financial docs
Accommodation docs.
Other Docs.... util bills, cover letters

The relationship proof was just one folder as really apart from the marriage cert they were all copies and did not need returned.

All the original docs were returned and the copies were kept in Sheffield. It was a fairly painless process for us, no calls to employer or interviews needed

[lutga]

I'd advise it takes around 6 weeks for the priority service, and 12 weeks for the non-priority service.

You do need to send all your sponsor documents to Sheffield, but that can be done after submitting biometrics - just don't take too long to do it.

And I know it's probably not what people want to hear, but my suspicion is that what country you're applying from/spouse's nationality *does* make a difference - as when you call UKVI to ask about your application status, first question they always ask is 'what is their nationality?'. But hey, that's just my opinion.

[Blighty]

TLScontact were just trying to get you to buy their 'Priority Visa' Added Service, which costs € 251.35 in Kiev.

[Mikeb91]

Hi people,

I know this is very nit-picky and doesn’t make much of a difference to my application, but I was just curious: what does UKVI mean when they say “application date?” This is my timeline so far.

18 May: biometrics submitted
25 May: supporting documents received by UKVI in Sheffield
5 june: email from UKVI giving projected timeline of 12 weeks from “application date”

My question is, from which date should I be counting down from 12 weeks? Should I expect a decision by the beginning or end of August? If they mean 5 June, it seems a bit unfair that they get to not only set the timeline, but also to decide for themselves when my application was submitted after the fact... any advice appreciated. Thanks!

[vinny]

Posts merged.

[vinny]

See also Application date.