Hi,
I just wanted to share my recent experience with the premium service at the shambolic UKBA Croydon PEO in case the info may be of interest to others in a similar situation.
My husband is on a "fiance" or "marriage" visa and we married in the UK in May 2012. As my husband had a job offer, we decided to apply for his extension to stay as my husband (using form FLR(M)) in person at Croydon PEO using the "same day" premium service at a cost of £867 (rather than the postal service that we know can take months but costs £561). We booked an apppointment for 1pm on 2 July 2012, our first day back from honeymoon. My husband attended the appointment, paid the fee, enrolled his biometric data all without a problem and was then left to wait for over 3 hours to submit his application form and supporting documents. Eventually, at 5.45pm, he and the hundreds of other people also waiting were told that due to IT systems failures their applciatiosn could not be dealt with that day. A clerk took my husband's form and documents, issued a receipt for the same and told him that someone would call him when his documents were ready to be collected (he had opted to collect his documents rather than rely on the post).
The UKBA website describes premium service as follows:
[quote] If your application is straightforward, you will normally receive a decision on the same day as your appointment - see below. If we cannot make a decision on that day (because your application requires further enquiries, or we are having technical problems), we will decide your application on the next working day or as soon as possible..."
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about ... nginperson
Our application definitely qualified as straight forward as my husband has a good immigration history, we have proven the genuineness of our relationship during the fiancé visa application process, I earn a substantial salary and, as a lawyer myself, I was certain that the application form had been filled in correctly and all relevant supporting documents supplied. So understandably, we were expecting to hear within a day or so. This was important as my husband had an offer of work starting the following week which he could not commence without confirmation that his immigration status had been upgraded.
In the end we waited 3 weeks for a response receiving our documents and his passport back this morning (24 July) with a letter explaining that his biometric residence permit would follow within 10 days.
Prior to that, I had sent a complaint to the UKBA customer complaints email, a fax to the Croydon PEO public enquiries team, an email to my MP and an email to the Parliamentary Ombudsman to try and unlock things. We were extremely frustrated by the process as we were not given any status updates, could not get through to anyone on the phone for a status update (they only give updates to applicants who have been wiating for over 6 months!!) and as a result my husband lost several job offers. All this even though we had paid for a premium "same day" service. Outrageous and a complete shambles.
Advice to others in this situation: I am not sure if any of my complaints helped move things along or not. There are cases of others in a similar situation to us on this forum who waited months to hear back so perhaps complaining did help although I suspect none of my correspondence has been dealt with yet and so did not make a difference. However, I think others in a similar situation should consider logging complaints promptly as well, particualrly with the UKBSA customer complainst team and the Croydon PEO fax line. These may have been picked up and helped prompt a case worker.
Details of my complaints:
1. I received a holding email from UKBA customer complaints team a few days after my complaint stating that my complaint had been passed on to the relevant department who would respond within 20 days. This could have assisted getting a result. Complaints email address is: UKBACustomerComplaints@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
2. No response from the fax and email to the public enquiries line at Croydon PEO, but again, may have made them push things along. Their email is ukbapublicenquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk and fax number is 02081963248 or 02081963249
3. No response from MP yet so this didn't do any good. My MP takes 2 weeks to reply and doesn't have surgery dates that I can attend with my working hours so have found her quite unhelpful.
4. No response from Parliamentray Ombudsman yet (although only sent email yesterday and understand that they only respond to enquiries from MPs so doubt they would have been able to help me in the absence of my MP supporting the cause). Their email is Phso.Enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk.
So thank goodness we finally got a result and in much better time than some poor souls on this forum but it is still outrageous that people that pay for a same day prmeium service at a huge cost to the average person are left waiting 3 weeks without any update and in our case lost employment as a result.
I hope this information helps others in a similar situation. And if you have been in a similar situation, please fill out the poll below so others can get a sense of how long these things take.
Update, pm 24 July 2012 - the Parliamentary Ombudsman (the PHSO) just called me and told me that they had made enquiries on the status of the application and been told that it had now been settled. So it would appear that the PHSO will take on enquires directly provided your MP hasn't already contacted them on your behalf. Luckily for us our case had already been sorted but good to know that the PHSO will be proactive on the point. And quickly too, I only sent them an email late on Friday evening! So I definitely recommend people in a similar situation to send an email to the PHSO.
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I am so disappointed with the service and really frustrated with the process. I am not able to get any response on the phone.I have launched a complaint but i think it is of no use.I am not sure when I would receive my decision. I am highly disappointed.
