Applying before April 6 to save money - pros cons

[qasimali002]

My current visa expires on 13th June. I have two dependents. In new fee structure applicable from 6th April, the fee of dependents has increased by £400 for post. I am thinking to apply before 6th April to save £850. However this means I'll be applying almost 9-10 weeks ahead of my Visa expiration and that's why I have a few questions:

1) I don't want to be in a situation where I run short of 5 years of ILR if our visa is approved before 12th June. Looking at the sticky post it looks like some people got their visa approved in less than 2 months. If that happens for me then I may have to pay a lot more for another extension befor ILR. Is there a way I could delay my app processing naturally if I apply before 6th April?

2) I have previously paid UKBA by cheque, will do same this time. Suppose I send application to UKBA that they receive on 4th April. Cheques take a week to clear normally. If my cheque clears after 6th April despite I applied before this date, would they consider old fee or new fee structure?

Thanks,
Qasim

[mulderpf]

1. You never know - people have been reporting a remarkable increase in processing times, so it's a risk that you take and nobody can tell you how long your application will take.
2. The fee is the fee that's applicable on the application date (which is the posting date for postal applications).

[tier1_applicant]

You may add some margin if you delay your biometrics. I think there is 15 days limit.

[cs95tdg]

As already stated, looking at the current trend in processing times for postal applications ( http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... &start=540 ), on avergae they do appear to be deciding a majority within 2 months (unlike before where it took anywhere upto 5 months!). This too may improve further in the coming months. So there are no gurantees that you will not lose out be making an early postal application. You would need to weigh the pros and cons and decide what to do. Delaying submission of biometrics would give you some time, but not much.

You could calculate your earliest ILR eligible date now and then work out what the likelihood of you meeting that is, if you make an early application.