In considering everything for the FLR application I am still torn between a postal application and taking pot luck on how long the process takes or paying the exorbitant sum required for a premium service application to know the result on the day.  Has anyone had recent experience of making an application and if so how long did it take from application to decision?  I am a natural worrier and I know I will be on tenderhooks the whole time even though I am sure I will have covered everything in the application

We applied for my wife last September and there is no way I would use the premium service unless there was a very big reason to need my, (or my wife's) passport in the seven week time period it usually takes. The visas are expensive enough as they are without me filling their pockets any further.

 

I'm not a worrier and never have been and there isn't much you can do to influence the visa process at all apart from supplying all of the information that is required and waiting. Worrying solves and does nothing.

 

My wife's application took a couple of days over seven weeks. You don't even get acknowledgement for almost three weeks. A good indication that all is fine is when, after about four weeks, they will invite your wife to go to a post office to supply her biometrics. I has missed ticking a box on one of the forms and this was sent to us at the same time so we could tick it and return it.

Thanks for that rasg.  I agree the cost is outrageous and I certainly am leaning towards not paying the extra.  We won't need the passport anytime soon after the application.

My personal experience of in UK applications is over 15 years old, but from what I have read on forums such as this and the experiences of those I know personally, most postal applications are processed within the 8 weeks target UKVI have set themselves. It seems that it only takes longer if there is a problem, such as missing documents.

 

The fee of £993 for a postal application is outrageous enough. I see no point in paying an additional exorbitant £593 for a personal application unless you really, definitely need the passport back within that 8 weeks.