Settlement Visa Waiting Times

[cliveshep]

Just a quickie - congrats to all of you who succeeded, kepp going for those waiting, and do not give up for any poor souls refused.

We applied on 6th June, nine weeks later Arisa has been given her Fiancee Visa and my daughter and I are going over to collect her next weekend - direct flights both ways, bending the plastic to almost breaking point but right now I don't care! God bless all of us!

[colin244]

Congrats on the f/v cliveshep and have a good trip

colin 244

[9851colle]

Yes Congrats to you all.

Its all a waiting game from one visa to the next with a few hurdles thrown in front of you. (If this game was in the olympics then most on here would get a gold medal).

Mick

[Frogster1953]

Been absent from here for a bit...... other things have had to come first, but well done to all... congratulations

Kev

[bighill]

Application submitted 6th July, e mail received from UKBA today to say passport ready for collection. So just a few more days to wait whilst courier delivers to the south.......

[Gary & Nok]

Fingers crossed hoping this turns out to be a great first post bighill.

[colin244]

Good luck with the evelope bighill

colin 244

[steady]

Applications for wife's and niece's settlement visa made on May the 22nd received passports August 25th. Visas granted, when I say recieved passports I mean we were knocking at the local post office's door around opening time. A long wait and very frustrating but worth it in the end.

The UKBA drive me mad, the lack of meaningful communication indicates (perhaps falsely) very poor service, yet the ECO applied a very fair common sense approach to our applications. I know that my niece's mother said things, when interviewed, which if taken out of context could easily have meant a refusal but the ECO chose to take what I consider to be the normal view.

In the case of de facto adoptions there should be a break in ties to the original family and my niece's mother said that she would love to keep in contact, she also explained that their relationship wasn't normal mother - daughter because they have not been together for years and there is no way that she can take her daughter back either. The ECO understood that remaining in contact is just a mother's wish and had no bearing on whether ties had been broken. A good call but a little more communication could have saved me a small fortune on blood pressure pills!

Good luck to everyone else still waiting.

Steady

[colin244]

Congrats steady and as with all things UKBA "steady as you go"

colin 244

[MattM85]

Congrats to everyone who got their visas!

We applied on August 15th, will let you know what happens in about 5 weeks I guess!

[ironryon]

Hi....long time no post...but my application eventually came together and...

My wife and I applied at the Bangkok VFS office for her UK Settlement visa on the 28th August.
All the paperwork was in order as per the Embassy's new set of criteria and the agency I used that guarantee a visa lol or money back lol never said I wouldnt receive one so all being well I shall know the outcome soon....ish.

[colin244]

Well good luck with the visa ironryon but agency

colin 244

[bingobano]

Anyone got any ideas on current waiting times? Just booked our appointment for the 16th of October. Will be glad to get this submitted and out of the way.

[MattM85]

We're still waiting...

[ironryon]

Me too

[ironryon]

I contacted the VFS today as I'm getting a little impatient waiting , I asked if anything is being done with our application yet - Quite quickly I received two responses that you can see below. The first one was the standard response I'd expect but the other response made me wonder if its another way of saying the same thing or if our application is actually being dealt with right now....I have replied to ask this but no response as yet...

Dear Mr. X

Thank you for contacting the VFS Visa Information Service.

In addition to below email, we can confirm this application is still under the decision process.

Best regards,
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UK Visa Service Desk
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From: Info on UK Visa in Thailand
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2012 4:33 PM
To: [Name Removed]
Subject: RE: [Reference Removed]

Dear Mr. X

Thank you for contacting the VFS Visa Information Service.

The UK Border Agency aims to process 90% of non-settlement visa applications in not more than 3 weeks, and 95% of settlement visa applications in not more than 12 weeks, and is currently working within these time targets.

The UK Border Agency at the British Embassy in Bangkok and VFS are unable to respond to enquiries regarding the progress of individual applications that fall within the above time targets. However, you can find a detailed guide to visa processing times, and further details on customer service standards on the UK Border Agency website<http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/co...ultTableAnchor>.

Best regards,
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UK Visa Service Desk
----------
To: Info on UK Visa in Thailand

Hello

The application tracker tool hasn't changed its status since my wife's application was passed to the UKBA. Does that mean no one has begun processing it yet?

Thank you

[ddave]

Just be patient it should'nt go past the 12 weeks.
I wouldn't read in to their emails too much probably just a standard email they send to everyone. We waited over ten weeks for ours and i imagine yours will be 2 or 3 weeks away at the most. But as people told me be prepared to wait the full 12 weeks or it will drive you crazy lol.
Good luck with the application bud
Dave

[ironryon]

I keep telling myself the same thing about waiting 10-12 weeks, then someone asks me how its going and how long will it be now...I repeat what I always say....shouldnt be long now, 6-8 weeks is normal...and I start getting impatient again lol

I was just puzzled why two people replied to my one email.....and the last one giving more specific info....

[ddave]

Hard not to get impatient i think, the last 2 weeks for us was a killer, constantly having to reasure my fiance haha but all is good when it comes through. You'll be fine mate, oh and the tracker tool is rubbish. It tells you it's been sent off to ukba and again when its finished.
They'll be on with it mate don't worry

[MattM85]

Ironryon, I applied before you and am still waiting... Sucks I know!