Spouse Visa Waiting Time - 8 months?

[Joe3474]

Hi everybody,

I am looking for advice regarding my partners Visa

My partner submitted their passport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in FEBRUARY at the request of UKVI, so that a visa could be placed into the passport. (Overturned Visa Decision from December 2019). Unfortunately, soon after, the VFS offices closed due to Corono.

Colombo VFS (& Chennai VFS, because Sri Lanka visas are processed here) re-opened & resumed services on the 6th of JULY, but still not received their Passport & Visa.

I have contacted UKVI via email and expensive phone calls, only to be told repeatedly, that they will 'Escalate the Case'.

My questions are, is anyone else in this same position, is this waiting time unusual AND does anybody have a contact email or telephone number for the VFS in Chennai, as the passport seems to be stuck there.

Thanks in advance

[AmazonianX]

Hi everybody,

I am looking for advice regarding my partners Visa

My partner submitted their passport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in FEBRUARY at the request of UKVI, so that a visa could be placed into the passport. (Overturned Visa Decision from December 2019). Unfortunately, soon after, the VFS offices closed due to Corono.

Colombo VFS (& Chennai VFS, because Sri Lanka visas are processed here) re-opened & resumed services on the 6th of JULY, but still not received their Passport & Visa.

I have contacted UKVI via email and expensive phone calls, only to be told repeatedly, that they will 'Escalate the Case'.

My questions are, is anyone else in this same position, is this waiting time unusual AND does anybody have a contact email or telephone number for the VFS in Chennai, as the passport seems to be stuck there.

Thanks in advance

In my experiences and interactions it appears HO adversely treat any visa grant stemming from the applicant winning an appeal or review which is disheartening.
This may require you to contact your MP to take it up for you.

[Joe3474]

Thank you for the reply, but I hope that this isn't the case. I was guessing that they have a huge back log to get through, but its been 8 months.

UKVI are no help, calls costing in the region of £20, only to be told they will escalate, followed by a email asking us to wait patiently

[AmazonianX]

Thank you for the reply, but I hope that this isn't the case. I was guessing that they have a huge back log to get through, but its been 8 months.

UKVI are no help, calls costing in the region of £20, only to be told they will escalate, followed by a email asking us to wait patiently

So it's either you keep waiting or explore all avenues to get a response or know the state of things I.e. your MP enquiring on your behalf.

[Joe3474]

I have explored all possible angles, my solicitor, VFS, UKVI, even the British Embassy in Chennai and Sri Lanka.

I was just hoping that there was a contact number or email for VFS Chennai but there doesn’t seem to be. All contact links direct you to the UKVI.

Thanks for you’re input

[AmazonianX]

I have explored all possible angles, my solicitor, VFS, UKVI, even the British Embassy in Chennai and Sri Lanka.

I was just hoping that there was a contact number or email for VFS Chennai but there doesn’t seem to be. All contact links direct you to the UKVI.

Thanks for you’re input

I mentioned about twice to get your MP involved, have you tried that?

[Joe3474]

I will consider that but I don’t know what he can do to help.

[seagul]

I will consider that but I don’t know what he can do to help.

Some are really very helpful. Ideally approach him/her through phone/email to ascertain as whether will you get any assistance as some flatly refuse to assist over immigration matters.

[Joe3474]

I will indeed as he did write a letter a few years ago supporting our rship when we applied for the Spouse visa, even though it got rejected.
Thanks guys, I’ll reach out to him, can’t do do harm

[AmazonianX]

I will consider that but I don’t know what he can do to help.

What he can do is to reach out directly to the appropriate quarters to ask what the situation is and or what is causing delay.
You mentioned haven being helped by him before, the other time didn't work, this time his enquiry may spur action on your case.

[Joe3474]

I will email him tomorrow and ask. There isn’t any harm or no loss to enquire. Failing that, I suppose I will just have to wait. In December, it will be 12 months since the original decision was overturned. 24 months since my partner left the UK

Again, thanks for you’re input, it’s much appreciated

[AmazonianX]

I will email him tomorrow and ask. There isn’t any harm or no loss to enquire. Failing that, I suppose I will just have to wait. In December, it will be 12 months since the original decision was overturned. 24 months since my partner left the UK

Again, thanks for you’re input, it’s much appreciated

Welcome and hoping you get respite soonest.

[itsellyk]

Hello!

We're in a similar situation! Glad I found this forum since I'm losing my mind at this point...

I've got a Ukrainian passport but have been living in Spain for 20 years now. I hold a permanent residency and all my paperwork is in order. My husband is British, so we applied for the FM (Spouse) Visa in August 2019 from Madrid but we're still waiting for it.

I never had any problems applying for visitor visas to the UK in the past. However, we made a mistake in the Spouse visa application (wrong English test certificate), and the application was refused (decision made within 8 weeks).
We were lucky to have been able to sort that out quickly and get the right IELTS certificate within the time frame to appeal to the HM Courts & Tribunals Service. A decision was made on 26.02.20 to overturn the initial decision to refuse the application and we received an email from Sheffield office on 13.03.19 to pay for the IHS (again). I did everything right away, but unfortunately we went into lockdown right after that and UKVI stopped everything they were doing. I tried to inquire about the possibility to send them my passport to get the vignette on from within the UK, since I was staying with my husband on a visitor visa at the time. After a couple follow-up emails, all they could say was that their processing times have been disrupted and I'd be contacted when things go back to normal.

My visitor visa expired so I went back to Spain when international travel was resumed in summer, hoping to be contacted soon to resume the application, since the VAC was now open, but I heard nothing for weeks. We decided to reach out to the UKVI Contact Centre via phone call on 09.07.20. They took all pertaining details and said they would escalate the application. We heard nothing for another 4 weeks. I then sent them an email. They re-escalated the application on 09.08.20.

I was finally contacted by Sheffield office on 28.08.20. They said to just go to the VAC in Madrid and submit my passport. Now there was two problems - 1) you can't attend the VAC without an appointment, which I couldn't make without the link to their platform, usually provided on gov.uk when you finalize your online application (my link had obviously expired) and there's no way to contact VAC to confirm the appointment (no phone numbers or email addresses available), and 2) Madrid is a high risk area for COVID-19 infection, so I'd be basically risking my health and finances to travel there (I live in a different area) without any guarantees that they'd accept my passport.

UKVI took ages to respond to my queries and always replied in 1 or 2-sentence emails.
Finally, I managed to get a confirmation from TLS as well by sending them a complaint form through their website (no other way to contact them).

I went to the VAC on 09.09.20. The people there are always very nice but unfortunately can't give you much info on your individual case. They just complete formalities and that's it. To my surprise, they told me they could put the sticker/vignette on my passport right then and there. Unfortunately, they then realized that the vignette was still with UKVI (I'm assuming, in Sheffield). So I just left the passport with them and hoped to finally get it sent by courier in the next week or so.

On 21.09.20 I get contacted by Sheffield office to confirm if I had been to the VAC to submit my passport since they "hadn't received notification from them". I responded right away and also contacted the complaints email from TLS that week, just like before, to ask for a confirmation. They just responded that I'll be notified when my passport has been dispatched to me.

Since then (almost 3 weeks), I had 0 information from them. We contacted Sheffield office again on 05.10.20 and UKVI Contact centre via email on 12.10.20. No acknowledgement of receiving our requests and no info on what's going on with my passport and my application whatsoever.

It's been 7.5 months since the decision was overturned. 3.5 months since the VAC opened (they're working 3 days/week, I get that, but they only have to stick the vignette on the passport and that's it). So, I don't understand what is going on, and most importantly, why are UKVI not providing any updates on the status of my application.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant. I was looking for tips on how to write to your MP (as that is what we're going to do now), when I found this forum and was hoping to find some answers.
I also found this article, which I'm going to use as a guide to structure our letter to the MP. Might help you too: https://righttoremain.org.uk/your-mp-an ... egal-case/

Hopefully, they will see how important this is to us and decide to help. But I'm concerned that they can take so long to review it...

If anybody else is in a similar situation, I hope that at least knowing that you're not alone makes you feel better and gives you the strength to carry on

[AmazonianX]

Yes, it sounds like a rant which you are entitled to as only those who has been in your situation can understand what it is like.
There are several instances similar to.yours where it seems undie delay to acting when HO loses at appeal and applicant is made to wait for so long.
It is that line of thought about contacting the MP that you should explore well.

[itsellyk]

Hi!
Thanks for your support!
I can understand that things might not be working smoothly atm, as the current global situation is affecting everyone. It's just the lack of communication for me... wish they were more open about what is actually happening.
Wishing the best to everyone in a similar situation! x