Spouse visa delay

[Aarav086]

Hi - my husband and I have been waiting for an update since February. We’ve received a few emails since saying the application has been on hold and that our application isn’t straightforward. However I believe the latter is because we applied for priority services from India and because of Covid they wouldn’t meet the priority timeline. With the opening of businesses starting, has anyone received a recent update (ie last 2 weeks) in terms of a decision made (ideally applications submitted in India)?
Thanks

[ChugaLuvMe]

Unfortunately we have not received any updates other than informing us our application was on hold, however I have seen one or two Reddit posts confirming they have been been granted the visa within the past week but this was for an application made within the UK.

I do think they will be operating at less capacity and will likely focus on applications made from within the UK first as opposed to ones made outside.

[Aarav086]

Thanks for your response. Fingers crossed we hear something soon!

[Aarav086]

Hi

This question is for anyone who has made a UK spouse visa application from India.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to change the address to which the courier is delivering the passport? If so, how to go about doing this?


Thanks in advance

[Aarav086]

Hi - my husband is also waiting for his spouse visa at the moment. His application was done in India and biometrics submitted on 16th March. We received messages saying application is on hold etc because of corona and until the VACs open.

My question is: the VACs that we’re waiting on to open, is this in the UK or in India? Might seem obvious but I’ve tried working this out from all the forums but don’t understand if his passport ever left India. Sounds like a decision is made in the UK but the passport never leaves India. The decision is communicated to the VAC in India and then they put the vignette in (hopefully!) and return the passport to the applicant?

The reason I ask is because in the UK some things have opened up however in India hopefully the lockdown will ease from Monday onwards.


Please can someone confirm the process if they know?

Thanks in advance!

[CR001]

Please do not tag your questions onto other members topic. Stick to your own thread please!!

[CR001]

Hi - my husband is also waiting for his spouse visa at the moment. His application was done in India and biometrics submitted on 16th March. We received messages saying application is on hold etc because of corona and until the VACs open.

My question is: the VACs that we’re waiting on to open, is this in the UK or in India? Might seem obvious but I’ve tried working this out from all the forums but don’t understand if his passport ever left India. Sounds like a decision is made in the UK but the passport never leaves India. The decision is communicated to the VAC in India and then they put the vignette in (hopefully!) and return the passport to the applicant?

The reason I ask is because in the UK some things have opened up however in India hopefully the lockdown will ease from Monday onwards.


Please can someone confirm the process if they know?

Thanks in advance!

All ukcvas biometric centres are closed in the UK as are the centres abroad.

The process for visas within the UK and outside the UK are different as within the UK, original passports are not submitted and visas are not a sticker in the passport.

Outside the UK, visas are processed by ukvi in the UK. The British Embassy in the applicants country process the visa vignette once visa is approved and the passport is sent back to the VFS/VAC application centre for collection.

There are delays, in the UK and abroad!!

[Aarav086]

Thanks for your response and am aware of the delays, wasn’t challenging this.

I just wanted to understand what the process is and where the VACs fit in because this wasn’t clear to me from all the research I’d been doing.

We have paid for priority service so I thought that this wouldn’t go back to the VAC? I thought the high commission would issue the vignette and then directly courier back to the applicant. Or do they, irrespective of priority/non priority, return the passport to the VAC who then send out via courier (if on priority)?

Thanks for your help. Appreciate you replying.

[CR001]

It is only sent by courier if you purchased the courier service. If not purchased, passports are collected when ready from the visa application centre.

[Aarav086]

It is only sent by courier if you purchased the courier service. If not purchased, passports are collected when ready from the visa application centre.

We’ve done the priority service and included the courier service in this. So yes, courier is paid for. Does the VAC (ie VFS India) courier this back to the applicant or the high commission..?

[CR001]

The priority service does not include courier service, if that is what you mean. Courier service is extra, clearly stated on the website.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/in/en/premi ... settlement

[Aarav086]

The priority service does not include courier service, if that is what you mean. Courier service is extra, clearly stated on the website.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/in/en/premi ... settlement

To be clear - we have paid for courier service. But really just trying to understand if the high commission couriers or the VAC does? trying to understand who is responsible for this step in process, if you know?

[KASHIF830]

The priority service does not include courier service, if that is what you mean. Courier service is extra, clearly stated on the website.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/in/en/premi ... settlement

To be clear - we have paid for courier service. But really just trying to understand if the high commission couriers or the VAC does? trying to understand who is responsible for this step in process, if you know?

Hi
VAC sends the passport even you purchased courier service.

Thanks

[Aarav086]

The priority service does not include courier service, if that is what you mean. Courier service is extra, clearly stated on the website.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/in/en/premi ... settlement

To be clear - we have paid for courier service. But really just trying to understand if the high commission couriers or the VAC does? trying to understand who is responsible for this step in process, if you know?

Hi
VAC sends the passport even you purchased courier service.

Thanks

Thank you for confirming! Exactly what I needed to know

[Aarav086]

Does anyone know, following the lockdown announcement in India yesterday, if the VACs are now able to reopen in India? Thanks in advance!

[Aarav086]

Anyone from India had their spouse visa approved in last 2 weeks please?

Thanks

[Aarav086]

We received an email from the Sheffield Decision Making team today regarding the mandatory checks that need to be carried out:

“ Once these mandatory checks have been completed the results of these checks may mean that further extended checks need to be carried out, this was the case with this application”

Q: Does anyone know what the ‘further extended checks’ are or what this means? Is this just them buying time in this covid period. Appreciate any help/guidance!

Also, my husband’s application was escalated for the 2nd time today.

Thanks

[Angella21]

Have you heard anything from Homeoffice regarding your application. I was wondering if it is being processed now since lockdown ease.

[Aarav086]

Have you heard anything from Homeoffice regarding your application. I was wondering if it is being processed now since lockdown ease.

Not yet. They told us there were extended checks to be performed in an email we received last week. But haven’t confirmed anything beyond that. I’ve asked what such extended checks could be (to them and on this forum) but haven’t heard back.

[Aarav086]

Has anyone applying from India recently had any positive views pls?