Spousal Visa Application - Pakistan

[imranh]

it appears that for post October applicants alot of the VISA processing is done in Pakistan and its alot quicker a friend of mine applied end of October he got a call a couple of weeks ago from Pakisan about his application and his VISA was issued this week. quite remarkable.

[khan786]

it appears that for post October applicants alot of the VISA processing is done in Pakistan and its alot quicker a friend of mine applied end of October he got a call a couple of weeks ago from Pakisan about his application and his VISA was issued this week. quite remarkable.

Just shows when they need to process faster they can.

Can't believe we have to wait so long for a reply.

I will prob have to wait till end of january for a response, pathetic.

[batleykhan]

it appears that for post October applicants alot of the VISA processing is done in Pakistan and its alot quicker a friend of mine applied end of October he got a call a couple of weeks ago from Pakisan about his application and his VISA was issued this week. quite remarkable.

Just shows when they need to process faster they can.

Can't believe we have to wait so long for a reply.

I will prob have to wait till end of january for a response, pathetic.

Where some of you get this information and believe it to be true is just unbelievable. When its said that the visa is being proceesed at Islamanbad, all this means that certain admin staff at Islamabad are checking up to make sure the documents etc one has submitted are true and genuine. Furthermore they make enquiries and checks with employers and otehr Uk government departments etc,to confirm that everything you or the applicant has stated is true.

Once this is done , theh info is relayed to an Entry Clearance Officer in Croydon who looks at the application to make sure the applicant and their sponsor meet all the criterias to be issued visa.If he is happy, then he will issue visa, if not then he will refuse it .

He will relay this info back to ISB who will inturn pass it to Gerrys to let you know whether you have got visa or not.

The decison to grant or refuse a visa is only made by the ECO in London. No deciosn whatsoever is made by staff at Islambad.Therefore if anyone tells you that decisons are made quicker for settlement visa in ISB is telling you a lie, unless those visas are for visitors or for for dependants of people who apply under Tier 1 & 2 applications (work permits etc) whose applications do get dealt solely by staff at Islamabad.

The waiting period for spouse/fiances settlement visa on average is 3- 4 months.

Hope that has cleared things up for you.

[Sairah A]

Aahat...so you emailed them before your 12 weeks expired? My 12 weeks are up on Tuesday 30/11 and status is still on 'under process' grr. do you think its worth sending them an email to see if a decision has been made at least. or wait until Tuesday?

also, which email address to did you send it to and what personal information did you quote so they could track it?

[aahat]

Aahat...so you emailed them before your 12 weeks expired? My 12 weeks are up on Tuesday 30/11 and status is still on 'under process' grr. do you think its worth sending them an email to see if a decision has been made at least. or wait until Tuesday?

also, which email address to did you send it to and what personal information did you quote so they could track it?

Hi Sairah

Yes I emailed them yesterday, I sent the following email:

Dear Advisor


Thank you in advance for your help. My husband has applied for a settlement visa, please could you confirm if the application has been processed?

His details are below:

v Applicant’s name =
v Applicant’s date of birth =
v Applicant’s passport number =
v GRY tracking number =
v Applied from Islamabad Pakistan

I would really appreciate any assistance you could give

I look forward to your prompt response.

and they replied within minutes.

I hope this helps...


The email address i sent it to: UKHUB.PakistanSettlementEnquiriesandComplaints@fco.gov.uk

[ali2102]

Aahat...so you emailed them before your 12 weeks expired? My 12 weeks are up on Tuesday 30/11 and status is still on 'under process' grr. do you think its worth sending them an email to see if a decision has been made at least. or wait until Tuesday?

also, which email address to did you send it to and what personal information did you quote so they could track it?

Salaam yes email them today. I think they would have probz made a decesion already. No harm in mailing dem. Inshallah it will be good news. Use the email address given above from Aahat and you could use her email as an template.

[ali2102]

it appears that for post October applicants alot of the VISA processing is done in Pakistan and its alot quicker a friend of mine applied end of October he got a call a couple of weeks ago from Pakisan about his application and his VISA was issued this week. quite remarkable.

Just shows when they need to process faster they can.

Can't believe we have to wait so long for a reply.

I will prob have to wait till end of january for a response, pathetic.

Where some of you get this information and believe it to be true is just unbelievable. When its said that the visa is being proceesed at Islamanbad, all this means that certain admin staff at Islamabad are checking up to make sure the documents etc one has submitted are true and genuine. Furthermore they make enquiries and checks with employers and otehr Uk government departments etc,to confirm that everything you or the applicant has stated is true.

Once this is done , theh info is relayed to an Entry Clearance Officer in Croydon who looks at the application to make sure the applicant and their sponsor meet all the criterias to be issued visa.If he is happy, then he will issue visa, if not then he will refuse it .

He will relay this info back to ISB who will inturn pass it to Gerrys to let you know whether you have got visa or not.

The decison to grant or refuse a visa is only made by the ECO in London. No deciosn whatsoever is made by staff at Islambad.Therefore if anyone tells you that decisons are made quicker for settlement visa in ISB is telling you a lie, unless those visas are for visitors or for for dependants of people who apply under Tier 1 & 2 applications (work permits etc) whose applications do get dealt solely by staff at Islamabad.

The waiting period for spouse/fiances settlement visa on average is 3- 4 months.

Hope that has cleared things up for you.

BK, you I am sorry but it seems you have an inability to concede a point. We are talking about time frames here, post October applicants (most of them I know) have been issued a visa in less then two months. In fact both me and riz received a call from Islamabad BHC. 8 weeks if far less then 16 weeks, some even on this forum have been issued a visa in the space of 3 weeks. I personally know of 3 folks two how have been issued a visa and one which has been rejected who are also post October applicants.

Even my solicitor who is qualified and has 21 years of experience is saying the same thing, he told me most late October and early Nov applications are being processed.

Salaam that what i thought first but my solictor told me they have always been processed in Islamabad for the past couple of years but the final decesion is made from Croydon, UK. And btw my solictor has been doing immigration work in the UK since 1971. They will be shifted back to pakistan once the security issue has been sorted out. So your solicitor is right they are processed in Islamabad its the decesion making which is in the UK. They have made a few changes for applicants who applied after 25 october. They have been given some extra privalages to speed up the process. I hope its all clear now.

[khan786]

Exactly my point, why are they leaving us who applied prior to Oct 25th in the dust?

[minty]

This information has been posted several times on this forum.

1. Final decision for settlement visa is always made in Croydon for Pakistani applicants.
2. Processing and decision are 2 seperate things. Pakistan has always done some of the processing (ie identity employment checks etc)
3. For Pre October 25 applicants less processing was done in Pakistan and more in the UK, hence UK has a backlog for those applicants. So it may take longer for them
4. Post October 25th applicants - more processing is done in pakistan ( ie document and employment checks) easing the burden on the UK. But the final decision and final check still rests with UK Croydon.

Ultimatley there is no point arguing about time scales, Each of us will recieve our Visa whenever it is destined. We pray to Allah swt that all our visas weather pre or post October 25th are hurried through and wish no delay in decisionsfor anyone

I think we should leave it at that and stop arguing if I will get mine sooner than yours, as that seems to be a fruitless discussion

For the record.

Batleykhan does a lot of good work for this board and provides invaluable advice for which countless people are thankfull for. A certain degree of respect for him when adressing his views would be appreciated.


Please read below!

The dawn newspaper on the 27th October stated the following

It states

"ISLAMABAD: Britain is not ready to entertain Pakistan government’s request for exclusion of the country from the ‘hub and spoke’ programme and return visa processing to Islamabad, but says it is committed to streamlining the procedures. "


It further states

"The home secretary said much of the processing of settlement (long-term) visas had been brought back to Islamabad.

“Increased amount of work is now being done in Islamabad. Some work in UK (on settlement visas) is now being done in Islamabad.â€

[Shadow86]

Calm down people. It doesn't matter who makes decisions or what, we all have to face it that we each have a time frame different from others.

Let's focus on the adrenaline rush we had going on.

So Sairah A, please could you keep us updated on any response you get if you email them.

[Sairah A]

Thanks for that quick reply Ahat.

I am emailing them right now and will let you all know as soon as I get a response.

ps hoping noone at work checks my browsing history - i will prob get sacked hehe

[aahat]

Thanks for that quick reply Ahat.

I am emailing them right now and will let you all know as soon as I get a response.

ps hoping noone at work checks my browsing history - i will prob get sacked hehe

No worries sister, inshallah you will get an early and positive response.

I will keep you all in my duas and inshallah saber ka phal zaroor meetha hoga.

[Sairah A]

wow they sure do rely to these emails quickly....

I sent the following email:

I was hoping to obtain an update from yourselves regarding the progress of my husband's application for a visa. the 12 week time limit has very nearly expired (in a matter of days) and the online status still reads 'under process at the BHC', which was updated on the 22nd September.

I would really appreciate someone looking into the matter and giving me an indication of what is happening. Has a decision been made, and if so are you able to reveal the nature of the decision to me? This email address was provided on the application form.

Thanking you for your kind assistance.

Regards

and exactly 2 minutes later i got the following reply:

Dear Sir

A decision was made on 25th November. We do not provide the nature of the decision before the passport is collected. The process of printing the visa/refusal notice and returning the documents to Gerrys can take at least two weeks from the date of decision

Thank you

UK Visa Section


This is making me so nervous. In people's experience how long does it usually take for them to get the documents back?

My duas are with everyone here who is waiting for a loved one...x

[INH]

Hi, i was wondering if someone has a contact number/email for British High Commission in Islamabad. I have had confirmation from UK that my wifes settlement visa was processed on 03/11/10 and they have told their colleagues in Islamabad to return documents to us but we havent heard nothing. We have rung the switchboard at BHC but we get transferred through to recorded message and when we finally got to speak to someone, he calmly listened to everything, didnt ask for any details to check and just said wait to be contacted by Gerrys as application is still under process, and hung-up, he didnt even take the passport number or name to know if its under process or not? its quite fustrating, i constantly emailed UK to get the info out of them but no contact info for BHC, all they have to do is post the documents. Is anyone else in similar situation or got any adv please? Thanks

[Shadow86]

A decision was made on 25th November. We do not provide the nature of the decision before the passport is collected. The process of printing the visa/refusal notice and returning the documents to Gerrys can take at least two weeks from the date of decision

Now.... now I am so nervous myself! That is fantastic news right there!

May Allah bring good news for yourself within the next 2 weeks.

@INH, sorry to read about the trouble you are facing right now, unfortunately I don't have those details but all I can say is to just hang in there for a little longer. For some it could take up to 4 weeks. Yours is just passed 3 weeks now, maybe urs might take 4 weeks also?

Edit to add: few mins not quite so, more like half an hour.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your email. Details regarding processing times can be found on Gerry’s website www.ukvacpk.com under ‘Guide to processing times.’ All settlement applications can take up to 12 weeks from the date of application to process. Please contact us if this time has lapsed and you have not been contacted regarding your application. Your application has not yet been processed.

Regards

UK Visa Section

^^^^ How generic and what on EARTH is up with the last words there???? You kidding me!!!!?????? really!????

Btw what is a GRY tracking number?

What do they mean by not yet "processed"????? Does that mean employer hasn't been contacted or decision not made yet or that they haven't looked at the application at all??

[unique012]

sallamz, my husband submitted his application on the 27th of september 2010, im expecting some news in the next 3-4 weeks. i hope we hear somthing before the christmas holidays. but you never know because each case is different. some may take longer that others x [/quote]

Hi I know all we can do is hope and pray that we hear some good news soon. All brothers and Sisters please pray that my husband gets his visa soon. Thank you.

[unique012]

Hi

Could you please update the September spreadsheet for me, application under process 27/09/2010, no employer contact, decision made 19/11/2010

I sent an email at 09:18am and they replied at 09:26am

I am so happy. Please pray for me that my husband got the visa.[/quote]

Hi Aahat my husband also sent his visa on the 29th of September but we have heard no reply. what shall we do? Please let me know.

[ali2102]

Hi

Could you please update the September spreadsheet for me, application under process 27/09/2010, no employer contact, decision made 19/11/2010

I sent an email at 09:18am and they replied at 09:26am

I am so happy. Please pray for me that my husband got the visa.

Hi Aahat my husband also sent his visa on the 29th of September but we have heard no reply. what shall we do? Please let me know.[/quote]

Salaam look at the spreadsheet, Aahat submitted her application on 14th of September, wheras you submitted it on the 29th. So I guess it will take about 3 weeks before we hear something.

[sadz]

Hey guys! The visa people contacted my manager today woooo!! Lol Can someone update the Sept spreadsheet? Employer contact on 26th sept. Thankss

[ali2102]

Hey guys! The visa people contacted my manager today woooo!! Lol Can someone update the Sept spreadsheet? Employer contact on 26th sept. Thankss

Salaam great news, September are seem to be moving now. Inshallah everyone should hear news soon, Inshallah.

[sadz]

Thanks Ali! Yeh InshaAllah at least we are progressing.

Hey Aahat congrats!! We just have 3 days difference from when the visa was applied for! So I'm hoping my Hubby's visa will be done soon. Let us know when they call to get the papers collected.

[rhithebomb]

Hi i am new 2 the forum....

I have been a silent follower of this site for the last 3mnths!!!

I found others waiting times useful on this site...so I thought I would share mine.

Place of submission: Karachi
Submission Date: 03/09/2010
Forwarded to Islamabad OC: 03/09/2010
Being processed at the British High Commission: 19/09/2010
Ready for collection: 26/11/2010

Status.........UNKNOWN!! have 2 wait till Monday!! Bricking it!

[rhithebomb]

Bang on 12 weeks my husbands decision!

Hope he gets the visa...please God!!

[safia]

Hi i am new 2 the forum....

I have been a silent follower of this site for the last 3mnths!!!

I found others waiting times useful on this site...so I thought I would share mine.

Place of submission: Karachi
Submission Date: 03/09/2010
Forwarded to Islamabad OC: 03/09/2010
Being processed at the British High Commission: 19/09/2010
Ready for collection: 26/11/2010

Status.........UNKNOWN!! have 2 wait till Monday!! Bricking it!

dont worry sis , inshallah he will have his passpost stamped. just make lots of dua for yourself and others in your situation.

[riz_ras]

Can someone clarify something for me. On the spreadsheet, what does it mean by Email Re Decision. Does this mean you emailed BHC and they confirmed a decision had been made or does it mean something else?