Allocation process

[Danlavis]

Does anyone have a good understanding of how the "allocation" process works? My best buddy submitted his application (under almost identical circumstances) one day before me, and has already had his response. I'm still awaiting my letter and have been told my application is awaiting allocation over the phone.

His was submitted at Southwark, London.
Mine was at Brent, London.

Brent is one of the most culturally diverse boroughs - does that mean my application may be in a big "Brent" pile?

Any thoughts/insights greatly apprecitated!

[wunder]

Even if your circumstances are almost identical - your credit history, criminal records, HMRC data, and other information that Home Office checks may be different and could take longer to find or process.

[dgat]

Jus to add more info to the previous post.

Two applications were submitted on 16 th Dec ( one from Hounslow and one from Redbridge). One of them got debited on 24th Dec and the other on 31st Dec.

It's not clear on how it works, even before the 'real' processing starts.