90% and 70% of all cases? Confusing!

[sade]

I read on FLR application form that 70% cases take 4 weeks to process and 90% of cases take 14 weeks to process. I don't get this. So how long can it take?
Is this so confusing to get us pay £500 for prmium service? By the way when you go there on premium you still have to wait whole day, there is no arranged appointment...I 'm talking about student visas.

[John]

70% cases take 4 weeks to process and 90% of cases take 14 weeks to process.

I think you are misunderstanding the form .... under a heading referring to targets it says :-

70% in 4 weeks
(20 working days)

90% in 14 weeks
(70 working days)

Those are clearly separate targets, that at least 70% will be processed within 4 weeks, and secondly, at least 90% will be processed within 14 weeks.

And it goes on to say about a 98% target within 24 hours for applications handed in at a PEO.

Which to do for you? By post or at a PEO? As the saying goes .... "You pays your money and takes your choice.".

[rogerroger]

500 pound for a student visa

that is a rip off

where does all this money go??

i think students should go to other countries. there are some really good uni's out there?

sweden
germany
...

[sade]

Good point. Actually i was thinking about that. Do you know about swedish unis? Accomodation cost and LANGUAGE? I can speak only english.

[John]

£500 for a student visa extension? Well yes, if you apply in person at a PEO. But clearly IND do not expect many students to do that. After all students applying by post will pay £250 (as compared to other postal applicants who will need to pay £335).

Am I missing a point here? Why the great concern about the length of time it will take to get an extension to a student visa approved by post?

[sade]

Yes there is concern about waitting for passport to come back because nobody can travel without passport. It is very inconvenient to wait really long. If that takes 4 weeks thats ok but to be without passport for 14 and more weeks (3-4 months!!!) thats can cause problems to applicant. For example, passport is your ID and in many occasions you need it. And students who work can be in situation where they can't show that they are legally in this country and lose job. Or if they have to change job nobody is going to take them without first showing passport.
When you are in foreign country and your passport is away for three months it is very tricky because you can't choose when do you want to apply for visa and don't plan things. Also you can't plan things in your life at all!! What if you have to travel because of your health issues or your family back home has problems..... you can get your passport back only if you have to go for a funneral or your close family member is ill so his gp has to translate his condition in English so you can show it to HO! And that will take long (they need time to locate your passport then to get all that paperwork done, so your relative can die until you get there or get well again) But there are other reasons really private why you want to go home for example wedding of your friend or family member but you can't go or new baby,...you miss this things because this rules are sooo bollocky and i wish to see the people who brought them to obbey them! If you get your passport back for other reasons then yor application will be withdrawn and you wont be able to reaply if your visa expires by the time you are abroad and won't be able to enterthe country.My friend missed her sister wedding for a Godness sake. She was the one who waited for 4 months. Bollokcs!!!

[sade]

Yes John you are missing the point. I hope you know now why is that concern.
£250 is still high. £500 is not decent.

[John]

Don't get me wrong, I also think the new visa fees are ridiculously high.

I am just so pleased we personally are now past all of that. My wife and step-daughter came to the UK on settlement visas in 2001 and in 2002 needed to apply for ILR. We went along, without an appointment, to the Birmingham PEO and got those visas as a same-day service. The cost? Absolutely nothing!

In-UK visa fees were not introduced until August 2003. The increases as from April 2005 are bound to make life difficult for some applicants.

Without a passport for three months or more? Yes potentially difficult, but often it will be possible to plan around that ... if possible apply when no overseas trip is planned.

In practice, the current waiting time? If the application is straightforward and all the required evidence has been supplied, as I understand it ... 3 to 4 weeks wait at present.

[sade]

but often it will be possible to plan around that ... if possible apply when no overseas trip is planned.

It is not possible. You have to apply 4 weeks in advance of your current leave to remin expires. If applied too early it won't be considered if too late you are out!
HO is not thinking about peoples' life...

[John]

I accept that it is not possible for everyone. But nevertheless it will be possible for many .... to ensure that there are no overseas trips planned just after the student visa application gets submitted.

For example, we knew exactly when my wife's and step-daughter's initial settlement visas were going to expire, that is, when ILR needed to be applied for. Obviously we made no plans to travel abroad around or just after that time, until the visas were safely in the passports.