Priority Service is taking too much time

[Aventurier]

Hi
If it is possible please help me understand the situation of my application.
I submitted a UK settlement visa under priority service. I will tell you the time line
24/5/17:. Online application submitted and all the fees including priority service fee of INR 46k something that day.
05/6/17: Appointment at VFS Cochin (Kerala, India). Biometrics were taken that day and submitted my passport. In the evening of the same day I got a message on my phone saying that my application has been forwarded.
12/06/17: Completed application with all supporting docs were sent to Scheffield HO via post from London itself.
15/06/17: Documents were sent back along with acknowledgement letter.
03/07/17: Emailed the HO asking about the status and got the reply that "Awaiting Decision".

As of today, 27 working days have gone by and this is the 28th day. At the time of priority fees remittance I was informed that I will get a decision within 15 or mx 20 working days. Today is the 28th working day and no sign of decision. Also they sent me a link through which we can track the status of our application https://contact-ukvi.homeoffice.gov.uk/ ... _W~zj~PP9f
It is not recognizing any of the reference numbers I got along with my application. How long will I have to wait.... Hope someone can share their wisdom...

[SimonS]

Not quite sure how you are counting your days. I was told that day 1 is the day after biometrics. You say biometrics were done o the 5th June. I count 33 working days including today.

I paid priorirty for a Visa for my wife with biometrics on 21st April. It was decided on 13th July but we were only informed on 15th July, 58 working days. This seems to be the current wait for processing of priority applications.

It is very frustrating that they are still selling this service on the basis of a decision in 15 working days. That is a fallacy.

The tracker will not tell you anything until 2 days after your application is decided. It is normal for it to state "your application is not recognised" It is also absolutely normal for you not to be contacted throughout the entirety of the process.

I would say realistically, you still have another 15-25 working days to wait. Don't forget, there are a whole bunch of priority applications in May ahead of yours in the queue. Not wishing to be the bearer of unwelcome news but that is the reality of the situation.

[Aventurier]

Hi Simon,
I was told that we need to count from the day HO recieve the document onwards by a solicitor in London. That is why I counted 28. My brother in law submitted an application for his wife in April but they took a good 60 days to finally respond. That is why I decided to go for priority service.
This really is a bad news for me because I have to be there in London before 30th this month. Anyway bad luck... Thanks for responding...

[SimonS]

Hi Simon,
I was told that we need to count from the day HO recieve the document onwards by a solicitor in London. That is why I counted 28. My brother in law submitted an application for his wife in April but they took a good 60 days to finally respond. That is why I decided to go for priority service.
This really is a bad news for me because I have to be there in London before 30th this month. Anyway bad luck... Thanks for responding...

Everybody has a different answer to the question, here is the excerpt from the email I received from the home office

"We have service level standards for processing UK visa applications. We
will process 90% of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98% within
6 weeks and 100% within 12 weeks of the application (biometric taken) date;
and 95% of settlement applications within 12 weeks of the biometric taken
date and 100% within 24 weeks of the application (biometric taken) date.
Please note that we define 1 week as 5 working days.
For any further details, or should you need to contact us again please
refer to our website at https://ukvi-international.faq-help.com/, select
appropriate country, click next and then select 'E-Mail form' and complete
as instructed. We will aim to come back to you within 1 day."

Biometrics date was also confirmed by both operators I spoke with each time I used the telephone enquiry service but they told the day after biometrics is day 1.