December Limit reached as well?

[thelionking]

A mate of mine went to apply for Tier 1 at VFS Bahrain yesterday and they told him that they are not accepting any more applications as December limit has already been reached and since they are still in November, they are not accepting any more applications. They will however start receiving applications again from December 1 to process them and if his visa is rejected, he'll be informed straight away and if it is given, it will only be issued in January from that month's quota (or February for that matter).

Can anyone else confirm any simmillar story from any VFS anywhere else in the world? This means the UKBA website will announce on Dec 1 that they are open for business again and at same time declare that the limit has been reached? Given this, those waiting to apply in Jan/Feb or Mar, should apply ASAP as I guess around end of this year, the allocated limit for all future months (till mar) might run out.

UKBA had earlier announced that they'll continue to receive applications and if your turn comes post the quota period (i.e. 31st March 2011) then your application will have the option to either be withdrawn (lose your fee) or will be accessed at new rules in effect then. Given the Tier 1 (General) has been closed from April 1, 2011 that might be the reason they're simply switching to not accepting any more applications on monthly basis now becuase they don't want to be left with hundreds of extra applications worldwide when they already know visas are over.

[mulderpf]

I don't understand how they can say that unless they base it on some sort of approval rate. My understanding is that they stop processing altogether and the applications just pile up until the next month and then they start processing again.

If they haven't processed anything since the 10th of November, how can they tell whether the limit was reached.

That said, I believe that this very well might be the case. It does not bode very well for people still wanting to apply.

[dandm]

Well that makes sense. I thought they would have reached the December limit already.

It's interesting that they are now telling people to come back rather than taking their applications immediately. This is sensible as otherwise they would be sitting on people's passports for too long.

People trying to get a Tier 1 visa MUST apply within the next few weeks IMO.

[thelionking]

I don't understand how they can say that unless they base it on some sort of approval rate. My understanding is that they stop processing altogether and the applications just pile up until the next month and then they start processing again.

If they haven't processed anything since the 10th of November, how can they tell whether the limit was reached.

That said, I believe that this very well might be the case. It does not bode very well for people still wanting to apply.

no, that's not how it works, they continue to process so thats how they know how many worldwide are processed and are just waiting to be issued as december hits. i did and like me other who applied in october but didn;t get visas in october but as soon as nov came, quite a few visas were issued dated nov 1 ... so they weren't necessarily issued in a day, they had already been working on them.

i think why they are stopping receiving now is to coordinate from embassies around the world, i am sure a central office in uk somewhere gives them final approval and no. but this way they can probably manage how many they should receive more ... last thing they want is law suits by applicants who simply are rejected at the end cuz limits are reached.

the difference between before and now is, before they simply knew there will be 'new rules' on which they can acess post quota, but now they know, there will be 'no rules' they can access, so i guess legally, they can't keep accepting knowing limits already reached for even months that haven't started.

[mulderpf]

It makes sense the way you explained it. I also calculated that they will reach the cap before December starts - just kind of wished that they hadn't.

[riteshgaur]

I agree with all above points but still confused ...

Since I applied on Nov 9 and quota was reached on Nov 10.
And I saw the last visa issued was for application filled on Nov 4 (as per forums data only), therefore Can I expect the decision on my application in Dec (probably 1st week)?

[thelionking]

I agree with all above points but still confused ...

Since I applied on Nov 9 and quota was reached on Nov 10.
And I saw the last visa issued was for application filled on Nov 4 (as per forums data only), therefore Can I expect the decision on my application in Dec (probably 1st week)?

yup, you shud expect visa stamped on 1st dec (given they have processed it completely, cuz if they have and they wanted to refuse it, they'd already done so).

[riteshgaur]

Thanks a ton ...

[rohitys]

how is tat possible there cud be rejections out of the num of applications they have receieved as well ???

[thelionking]

how is tat possible there cud be rejections out of the num of applications they have receieved as well ???

for rejections, they don't have to wait for the next month, they send them replies straight away. they only hold on to the approved ones so to issue the visa when the next month starts and the quota opens ... i guess from all over the world, they pipe them in a queue in some office in uk and so they know the global limit, else if each mission is left on their own, it will be pretty hard administratively.

[mtuckersa]

It makes sense the way you explained it. I also calculated that they will reach the cap before December starts - just kind of wished that they hadn't.

my calculation tells me if you havent applied by end of december you will not make the 31st March.

Assuming there is panic application this may even move back from the 31st december.

The application dates are falling behind a minimum of 10 days per month, panic applications are probably pushing that closer to 12-15 days per month

[mtuckersa]

sorry 20th January

assuming 900 apply and 600 quota

900 in backlog on 1st december there the backlog takes you to 15th January

Then the 900 who apply in december would take up the time between teh 15th January to end of February.

Then the 3 weeks in January up till 20th Jan would take up the application in March

so 20th Jan

[rohitys]

not good news at all considering the fact that im applying next week

[neosumit]

Looking at the data available on UKBA's site, there are around
1000+ Tier 1 PBS applications from India alone every month since
April 2010.

Even with a 25% approval rate, 250 qualify from India alone.
600 is a very small number if data from all other countries (Asian esp.) is added.

One should not be surprised if UKBA does not accept applications beyond January.

[kamran9558]

I don't understand how they can say that unless they base it on some sort of approval rate. My understanding is that they stop processing altogether and the applications just pile up until the next month and then they start processing again.

If they haven't processed anything since the 10th of November, how can they tell whether the limit was reached.

That said, I believe that this very well might be the case. It does not bode very well for people still wanting to apply.

no, that's not how it works, they continue to process so thats how they know how many worldwide are processed and are just waiting to be issued as december hits. i did and like me other who applied in october but didn;t get visas in october but as soon as nov came, quite a few visas were issued dated nov 1 ... so they weren't necessarily issued in a day, they had already been working on them.

i think why they are stopping receiving now is to coordinate from embassies around the world, i am sure a central office in uk somewhere gives them final approval and no. but this way they can probably manage how many they should receive more ... last thing they want is law suits by applicants who simply are rejected at the end cuz limits are reached.

the difference between before and now is, before they simply knew there will be 'new rules' on which they can acess post quota, but now they know, there will be 'no rules' they can access, so i guess legally, they can't keep accepting knowing limits already reached for even months that haven't started.

same thing happened with me, I applied from Riyadh on 18th october and around 24th / 25th i received a call from the embassy that the limit has been reached for ctober and my visa would be stamped in Nov, and guess what I received my passports back on 1st Nov with visa.

[wf]

Looking at the data available on UKBA's site, there are around
1000+ Tier 1 PBS applications from India alone every month since
April 2010.

Even with a 25% approval rate, 250 qualify from India alone.
600 is a very small number if data from all other countries (Asian esp.) is added.

One should not be surprised if UKBA does not accept applications beyond January.

Problem is they are basing the quota numbers on applications made a year ago, when the Masters requirement was in effect meaning a lot less people were eligible, not to mention the recession which also meant less people were applying for Tier 1.

End result is that Tier 1 applications were quite low and now they are basing the quota on a percentage of that number.

[push]

A mate of mine went to apply for Tier 1 at VFS Bahrain yesterday and they told him that they are not accepting any more applications as December limit has already been reached and since they are still in November, they are not accepting any more applications. They will however start receiving applications again from December 1 to process them and if his visa is rejected, he'll be informed straight away and if it is given, it will only be issued in January from that month's quota (or February for that matter).

Can anyone else confirm any simmillar story from any VFS anywhere else in the world? This means the UKBA website will announce on Dec 1 that they are open for business again and at same time declare that the limit has been reached? Given this, those waiting to apply in Jan/Feb or Mar, should apply ASAP as I guess around end of this year, the allocated limit for all future months (till mar) might run out.

UKBA had earlier announced that they'll continue to receive applications and if your turn comes post the quota period (i.e. 31st March 2011) then your application will have the option to either be withdrawn (lose your fee) or will be accessed at new rules in effect then. Given the Tier 1 (General) has been closed from April 1, 2011 that might be the reason they're simply switching to not accepting any more applications on monthly basis now becuase they don't want to be left with hundreds of extra applications worldwide when they already know visas are over.

That should not have been the case. They should have let you apply irrespective. See this

The limit does not affect the way that you should make your application. You can still submit your application, even if the limit for the current month has been reached.

Some can argue that the statement above specifies the current month only but it doesn't change the principle at all.

[raoul1987]

does the monthly quota applies to an applicant living in the uk, applying from the uk, hoping to switch from post study work visa to tier 2 visa? or does it just apply to out of country applications or just tier 1? can someone enlighten me please
regards

[mensacorp]

does the monthly quota applies to an applicant living in the uk, applying from the uk, hoping to switch from post study work visa to tier 2 visa? or does it just apply to out of country applications or just tier 1? can someone enlighten me please
regards

It applies to the out of UK applications.

[silverTR]

well i applied for the visa yesterday.. no body told me that limit is reached..They accepted it and i can track online ..

[SureShot]

Yeah i too applied at the New Delhi VFS... they accepted the application telling em that the november limit has reached.

dont quite know what they meant though. but a question comes to my ming here... now if my application gets put up in lets say January quota.

then the proof of maintenance funds is going to be more than one month old... not sure if that would be a problem.

[rohitys]

here... now if my application gets put up in lets say January quota.

then the proof of maintenance funds is going to be more than one month old... not sure if that would be a problem.

surely u shudnt be worrying abt that

[silverTR]

shouldn't they write it on the web site that December limited is reached .. even in November ... i would expect to see such news..

[rohitys]

shouldn't they write it on the web site that December limited is reached .. even in November ... i would expect to see such news..

pls don't create panic when it hasn't happened yet

[silverTR]

Yeah i too applied at the New Delhi VFS... they accepted the application telling em that the november limit has reached.

We already know November limit has been reached.. actually i want to know what about December limit..