Documents held by UKBA after COA Abolished!

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:36 pm

Hi, As we know that COA abolished on 9th May 2011, but we sent out our application when it was in force, now COA is invalid, so when are suppose to get our documents back from UKBA? and how long does it take UKBA to send back documents to people's who applied COA?? any idea, has anyone requested documents from UKBA? any experience?

legalalienabz · Post by **legalalienabz** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:12 pm

I'm going through this myself. We applied March 15, HO acknowledged on March 28, then the scheme was abolished about a week later. Really wish they'd said when the debate was scheduled instead of writing it so vaguely on the website - I would have never applied for our COA in the first place had I known.

Our first return of documents request went out April 15, via the HO e-mail for COA returns, and the second request was faxed to a number given to me by the HO call center staff yesterday.

My partner and I just put in a request today to let us collect them from Croydon ourselves. We had to make this request together over the telephone, and provide names, DOB, application reference # etc. We were told that once the COA staff find the application (which could take hours, or could take days...), they would call to inform us that it is on the Return Documents desk and that we can fetch them in person. If our documents are in the mailing room already, they will be mailed out shortly.

The man we spoke to on the phone sounded a little startled when we said we'd drive from Aberdeen to get them, but we're trying to make a flight on Wednesday. He was nice to us, though, and emailed the third request through, which is a start.

Will see how it goes.

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Wed May 11, 2011 7:21 pm

legalalienabz wrote:I'm going through this myself. We applied March 15, HO acknowledged on March 28, then the scheme was abolished about a week later. Really wish they'd said when the debate was scheduled instead of writing it so vaguely on the website - I would have never applied for our COA in the first place had I known.

Our first return of documents request went out April 15, via the HO e-mail for COA returns, and the second request was faxed to a number given to me by the HO call center staff yesterday.

My partner and I just put in a request today to let us collect them from Croydon ourselves. We had to make this request together over the telephone, and provide names, DOB, application reference # etc. We were told that once the COA staff find the application (which could take hours, or could take days...), they would call to inform us that it is on the Return Documents desk and that we can fetch them in person. If our documents are in the mailing room already, they will be mailed out shortly.

The man we spoke to on the phone sounded a little startled when we said we'd drive from Aberdeen to get them, but we're trying to make a flight on Wednesday. He was nice to us, though, and emailed the third request through, which is a start.

Will see how it goes.

Thanx "legalalienabz" for your reply, so you mean you had withdrawn COA, as you made your request when it was in force, but now it is abolished and UKBA wrote on their website COA section that, they will start returning documents when the policy legally ends on 09 May 2011, but as we know that they have a backlog of COA pending applications already then, i don't know if they send our first or give priority to Backlog applications.

Another problem, Since COA is abolished so there is no need to have it prior to register your marriage, there will be a long queue in the registrar office for registration, as mentioned on UKBA website in COA section, which was updated after 9 May 2011.

mastermind72 · Post by **mastermind72** » Thu May 12, 2011 9:24 pm

This situation with the return of the passports is bound to create a big problem, for all of us (we are in the same boat) who want to go to the registrar and get married.

I spoke to the Westminster Council registrar to try and arrange and appointment and, while they knew all about the abolition of the CoA scheme, etc, they insisted that, without a valid passport, or any other form of official photo ID (e.g. a National ID from an EU member state) they will not be allowing people to give notice of intend to marry.

This will cause big problems to a lot of people, as many people applying for CoA, who are overstayers, etc, will have to wait for their passports to be returned; also they may also have passports that are expired...

Right now this is our biggest concern right now, we have our appointment on 2 June, and we will go there regardless, with a letter from our solicitor and whatever other evidence we have, so I will let you know (the registrar advised us to ask for the passports back, but our solicitor told us that in the cases where people are overstayers, etc UKBA are reluctant to return passports...).

legalalienabz · Post by **legalalienabz** » Fri May 13, 2011 9:07 am

Oh geez, I didn't even think of that. We're getting married this August and applied for COA because we hoped to get it in plenty of time to register our marriage in Scotland. My fiance is divorced, so we figured our notice might not be as straightforward as someone else's.

We still haven't heard whether we can go to Croydon to collect our passports. My fiance spoke to Enquiries again yesterday, and was told the best we can do is send one more fax requesting a phone call to let us know when (if) to come down from Aberdeen, and to send a copy of our e-ticket as evidence of our flights. However, it is entirely up to the COA staff whether they feel like giving us a phone.

Sigh. Our application is not the most straightfoward it could be - fiance is divorced - but otherwise it should be easy to process. I have never, ever overstayed any of my visas. Two years ago, I was turned down the first time I applied for Tier 1 General due to maintenance funds being Â£30 too low for three days, but reapplied well before the previous visa's expiration and was granted leave. There will be a record on the HO system of that denial and reason, but there's nothing in my passport to indicate it.

Noteasilyimpressed · Post by **Noteasilyimpressed** » Fri May 13, 2011 10:41 am

legalalienabz wrote:Oh geez, I didn't even think of that. We're getting married this August and applied for COA because we hoped to get it in plenty of time to register our marriage in Scotland. My fiance is divorced, so we figured our notice might not be as straightforward as someone else's.

We still haven't heard whether we can go to Croydon to collect our passports. My fiance spoke to Enquiries again yesterday, and was told the best we can do is send one more fax requesting a phone call to let us know when (if) to come down from Aberdeen, and to send a copy of our e-ticket as evidence of our flights. However, it is entirely up to the COA staff whether they feel like giving us a phone.

Sigh. Our application is not the most straightfoward it could be - fiance is divorced - but otherwise it should be easy to process. I have never, ever overstayed any of my visas. Two years ago, I was turned down the first time I applied for Tier 1 General due to maintenance funds being Â£30 too low for three days, but reapplied well before the previous visa's expiration and was granted leave. There will be a record on the HO system of that denial and reason, but there's nothing in my passport to indicate it.

Hi there,

I just wanted to share my experience with UKBA in getting my passport back. I went to the Croydon office in person yesterday to collect my passport and my fiancee's (he gave me an authorization letter to collect it on his behalf). Before that I phoned UKBA and placed an urgent request to come in and collect my passport. They called me 3 days later to say my documents were ready and I could come in and collect. I had to chase up with emails and phone calls (and lots of tears and grovelling) though before they contacted me.

It's important to be calm and polite when contacting them over the phone, but impress the urgency of it. That way they will be more sympathetic and want to help you.

You mentioned that your fiance is divorced - that should not be an issue with home office as the COA system is now abolished. What may be an issue are over stayers or people without leave to remain in the UK. Just follow up on your request with phone/ fax or email and explain how urgent it is in the nicest possible way.

Some suggest that you can just turn up at the Croydon office and collect your documents back if you tell them its an emergency. A couple tried this while I was at the Croydon office yesterday and it did not work, they were turned away and asked to make a request by phone and wait to be contacted.

I would suggest that you just keep chasing them up - they should contact you after 3 - 4 days.

Hope this helps

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Fri May 13, 2011 7:19 pm

Noteasilyimpressed wrote:
legalalienabz wrote:Oh geez, I didn't even think of that. We're getting married this August and applied for COA because we hoped to get it in plenty of time to register our marriage in Scotland. My fiance is divorced, so we figured our notice might not be as straightforward as someone else's.

We still haven't heard whether we can go to Croydon to collect our passports. My fiance spoke to Enquiries again yesterday, and was told the best we can do is send one more fax requesting a phone call to let us know when (if) to come down from Aberdeen, and to send a copy of our e-ticket as evidence of our flights. However, it is entirely up to the COA staff whether they feel like giving us a phone.

Sigh. Our application is not the most straightfoward it could be - fiance is divorced - but otherwise it should be easy to process. I have never, ever overstayed any of my visas. Two years ago, I was turned down the first time I applied for Tier 1 General due to maintenance funds being Â£30 too low for three days, but reapplied well before the previous visa's expiration and was granted leave. There will be a record on the HO system of that denial and reason, but there's nothing in my passport to indicate it.
Hi there,

I just wanted to share my experience with UKBA in getting my passport back. I went to the Croydon office in person yesterday to collect my passport and my fiancee's (he gave me an authorization letter to collect it on his behalf). Before that I phoned UKBA and placed an urgent request to come in and collect my passport. They called me 3 days later to say my documents were ready and I could come in and collect. I had to chase up with emails and phone calls (and lots of tears and grovelling) though before they contacted me.

It's important to be calm and polite when contacting them over the phone, but impress the urgency of it. That way they will be more sympathetic and want to help you.

You mentioned that your fiance is divorced - that should not be an issue with home office as the COA system is now abolished. What may be an issue are over stayers or people without leave to remain in the UK. Just follow up on your request with phone/ fax or email and explain how urgent it is in the nicest possible way.

Some suggest that you can just turn up at the Croydon office and collect your documents back if you tell them its an emergency. A couple tried this while I was at the Croydon office yesterday and it did not work, they were turned away and asked to make a request by phone and wait to be contacted.

I would suggest that you just keep chasing them up - they should contact you after 3 - 4 days.

Hope this helps

Now another problem has arisen, regarding giving notice to the registrar, as mentioned in the COA section on UKBA website that since there is no need to apply for COA, there will be a huge increase in waiting times to give notice to registrar for marriage......

DefSufi · Post by **DefSufi** » Fri May 13, 2011 9:45 pm

Noteasilyimpressed, what enquiry number for the UKBA did you ring?

I am looking to get my passport and documents back as well. I applied for the COA in March, and got a letter from the UKBA acknowledging the receipt of my application at the beginning of April, about a week before the programme ended. I've sent two COA withdrawal requests, one before May 9 and one this past week, but have not heard from anyone regarding the first one (I know that there might not have been enough time to act on my second one). I tried to FAX a copy of the withdrawal to the FAX number in Croydon given on the website, but the number never answered.

I have to travel to Ireland the 7th of June, so I'm anxious to get my passport back.

Since you seem to have had success, any help and contact info that works that you can give would be appreciated!

legalalienabz · Post by **legalalienabz** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:49 pm

DefSufi, my fiance and I have been phoning the Enquiries Bureau and getting a fax number through them.

0870 606 7766 - then hit Option 2.

The fax number I've been given is not the one they published on the COA website - I tried to send a fax to that too, and it defo doesn't work anymore. I don't have the correct fax number to hand, but it is the one for the PEO in Croydon. Enquiries told my fiance today that PEO handle return of documents requests. PEO prioritizes it, PEO requests the documents from the COA staff, and only when they have them, will they give us a call to collect them. The call center guy had similar advice as Noteasilyimpressed - he said to keep calling, so we're calling again Monday morning. He also said as a last resort we could just drive down and turn up, but I have doubts as to how good that advice is.

I think how far your request gets via phone depends entirely on who you catch on the phone. If you make a telephone request to collect in person, you may need to get your other half to make the call with you.

leony · Post by **leony** » Sat May 14, 2011 2:42 pm

Hi,

Me and my fiancee applied on 29/03/11 however due to urgent travel, I had to withdraw the application on 1st April. Unfortunately I still do not have the docs back. I sent a fax message on the number provided by the PEO on 09th May, not mentioning the numerous emails.

The problem is we also do not have any acknowledgement from the HO (no reference no or case ids) However we have the Royal Mail acknowledgement that the docs had been delivered.

Another problem is my fiances visa expires at the end of June. As COA staff have no intention to send the docs back, I am a bit worried that she will overstay her visa.

Any advise please?

Noteasilyimpressed · Post by **Noteasilyimpressed** » Mon May 16, 2011 9:50 am

DefSufi wrote:Noteasilyimpressed, what enquiry number for the UKBA did you ring?

I am looking to get my passport and documents back as well. I applied for the COA in March, and got a letter from the UKBA acknowledging the receipt of my application at the beginning of April, about a week before the programme ended. I've sent two COA withdrawal requests, one before May 9 and one this past week, but have not heard from anyone regarding the first one (I know that there might not have been enough time to act on my second one). I tried to FAX a copy of the withdrawal to the FAX number in Croydon given on the website, but the number never answered.

I have to travel to Ireland the 7th of June, so I'm anxious to get my passport back.

Since you seem to have had success, any help and contact info that works that you can give would be appreciated!

Hi DefSufi,

Yes like legalalienabz, I called the UKBA Croydon Public Enquiry Office on 0870 606 7766 and also followed up with an email to ukbapublicenquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk

I also applied for the COA on the 15th of March and sent a return of document request via email on 18th April but did not get a response until I called and raised an urgent request.

You mentioned that you are traveling on the 7th of June, you've still got time. Just call and tell them its urgent and you want to collect your documents in person from the Croydon office. Also, chase up everyday and they should respond to urgent requests after 3 -4 days.

Best of luck with this, you will get your documents back. Its just not an easy road that's all!

newway · Post by **newway** » Mon May 16, 2011 3:03 pm

we are also waiting for the return of all our passports,
I tried email to the requested email address but so far no reply yet.
Had try the 0845 number but seems I couldn't get throu to a human.

Any suggestions?

hussainfarhad · Post by **hussainfarhad** » Mon May 16, 2011 6:48 pm

hi guys..just to let u know..my documents are back today..i was just thinking to call them to request them back.. but atleast thats good that ukba has been prompt in returning them..hopefully me and my fiance will go and give notice soon

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Mon May 16, 2011 8:39 pm

hussainfarhad wrote:hi guys..just to let u know..my documents are back today..i was just thinking to call them to request them back.. but atleast thats good that ukba has been prompt in returning them..hopefully me and my fiance will go and give notice soon

Hi "hussainfarhad" could you please tell us, when did u send your COA application to HO and how long does it take to get your documents back??? Thank you in advance

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Mon May 16, 2011 8:56 pm

ultimate12570 wrote:
hussainfarhad wrote:hi guys..just to let u know..my documents are back today..i was just thinking to call them to request them back.. but atleast thats good that ukba has been prompt in returning them..hopefully me and my fiance will go and give notice soon
Hi "hussainfarhad" could you please tell us, when did u send your COA application to HO and how long does it take to get your documents back??? Thank you in advance

The FAX number mentioned on UKBA COA section for the request of return of Documents Doen't work at all????? i've tried so many times but no to avail....

hussainfarhad · Post by **hussainfarhad** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:41 pm

hi, all.
i was about to send them letter to request for my return of documents yesterday but got a phone call from my fiance that our documents were back in the post. i applied in mid march..got acknowledgement end of march..then got this now..hope it helps to calm some nerves..dont worry i think they are getting round to sending every1s docs as soon as they can..

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Tue May 17, 2011 10:47 pm

hussainfarhad wrote:hi, all.
i was about to send them letter to request for my return of documents yesterday but got a phone call from my fiance that our documents were back in the post. i applied in mid march..got acknowledgement end of march..then got this now..hope it helps to calm some nerves..dont worry i think they are getting round to sending every1s docs as soon as they can..

yeah but we never know when they will gonna send us our docs, i think bcoz of a huge backlog of pending applications, it might take them around 3 months??? isn't it...

hussainfarhad · Post by **hussainfarhad** » Wed May 18, 2011 8:57 pm

no i dont think its gonna be 3 months..maybe 3 weeks is acceptable..even that seems a bit too much tho.. they sent a letter explaining the abolishment of the scheme with my documents so i assume they are just sending out all the passports and other docs as soon as they can..doesnt matter its pending application or not..they are just returning the docs..i didnt get a certificate..just got my docs back thats it..hope this helps

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:45 pm

hussainfarhad wrote:no i dont think its gonna be 3 months..maybe 3 weeks is acceptable..even that seems a bit too much tho.. they sent a letter explaining the abolishment of the scheme with my documents so i assume they are just sending out all the passports and other docs as soon as they can..doesnt matter its pending application or not..they are just returning the docs..i didnt get a certificate..just got my docs back thats it..hope this helps

i hope that they will return documents as soon as possible....guys please update when you receive yours...!

brent1981 · Post by **brent1981** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:22 am

Hi guys,

This topic is very useful, thanks to everyone. I will explain my situation as short and clear as possible.

I and my partner, we applied for COA in January 2011, before my student visa expired, but after the application while waiting for the COA, my visa expired and COA has been abolished, how great! My partner is Spanish, and when I have my docs back I will be tecnically an overstayer. Can we still go to register and get into Civil Partnership to apply for the suppouse visa? I remember reading some topics and my solicitor saying that it'd be fine as long as i apply for coa before my visa expires. As it's abolished now i am confused, I dont know if i will be able to get an app. and get married. Thanks a lot.

NFilbeck · Post by **NFilbeck** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:38 am

My fiance and I applied for Certificate of Approval on 11 April. We had an urgent need to travel, so on 7 May, we started trying to get our documents back from the Home Office.

We first tried faxing. We faxed several urgent requests and they didn't do anything. I called every day for two weeks and didn't make any progress.

Finally, I told them it was a life or death situation (gave details) and they transferred me to a customer service representative. She (Barbara) let me put in a request to pick my documents up from the Home Office in Croydon. They called me 3 days later to tell me I could come pick them up. I now have my passports.

For anyone in this situation, keep calling. Be calm. Make them feel sorry for you. It really does depend on who you speak to and it varies from day to day. Some people won't even type anything into the system.

Our total time to get our documents back was May 7 - May 20. Keep trying! You have to beg and plead, but it can be done.

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:41 pm

NFilbeck wrote:My fiance and I applied for Certificate of Approval on 11 April. We had an urgent need to travel, so on 7 May, we started trying to get our documents back from the Home Office.

We first tried faxing. We faxed several urgent requests and they didn't do anything. I called every day for two weeks and didn't make any progress.

Finally, I told them it was a life or death situation (gave details) and they transferred me to a customer service representative. She (Barbara) let me put in a request to pick my documents up from the Home Office in Croydon. They called me 3 days later to tell me I could come pick them up. I now have my passports.

For anyone in this situation, keep calling. Be calm. Make them feel sorry for you. It really does depend on who you speak to and it varies from day to day. Some people won't even type anything into the system.

Our total time to get our documents back was May 7 - May 20. Keep trying! You have to beg and plead, but it can be done.

i've also called them and told them the urgency of my request but then i've been told to wait till they send my documents and they've just checked in their system that the documents havn't been returned yet....the person whom i spoke with said they can't do anything...i should wait and the COA team are already returning documents to people who applied COA....

ultimate12570 · Post by **ultimate12570** » Fri May 27, 2011 5:00 pm

ultimate12570 wrote:
NFilbeck wrote:My fiance and I applied for Certificate of Approval on 11 April. We had an urgent need to travel, so on 7 May, we started trying to get our documents back from the Home Office.

We first tried faxing. We faxed several urgent requests and they didn't do anything. I called every day for two weeks and didn't make any progress.

Finally, I told them it was a life or death situation (gave details) and they transferred me to a customer service representative. She (Barbara) let me put in a request to pick my documents up from the Home Office in Croydon. They called me 3 days later to tell me I could come pick them up. I now have my passports.

For anyone in this situation, keep calling. Be calm. Make them feel sorry for you. It really does depend on who you speak to and it varies from day to day. Some people won't even type anything into the system.

Our total time to get our documents back was May 7 - May 20. Keep trying! You have to beg and plead, but it can be done.
i've also called them and told them the urgency of my request but then i've been told to wait till they send my documents and they've just checked in their system that the documents havn't been returned yet....the person whom i spoke with said they can't do anything...i should wait and the COA team are already returning documents to people who applied COA....

Hi All, today we've received our documents from UKBA, after sending 2 fax and the same letter requesting them to send our docs as soon as possible, today we got it, it took us around 2 weeks....

Mr.Kayani · Post by **Mr.Kayani** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:11 am

Can you please pass me contact details like phone number or email address as I been waiting for last 3 month but did not get even confirmation

. I do appreciate if you could pass me contact details of COA . my email is

Mr.kayani@yahoo.com

or you can reply on this post .

Thanks

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