2 Months And Starting To Get Worried

[cpr21]

Hi everyone,

I know people are always posting on this site because they are worrying about there wifes visa outcome, but i am also getting really stressed waiting, i keep reading posts with guys applying weeks after me and getting there wives visas already. my wife and i submited our application on the 1st of january and still hav'nt heard anything. There should'nt be any problems with evidence, (emails, skype call history, photos,phone bills, letters etc... My wife and i are both the same age, she can speak fluent english is well educated and has a good job, i feel i have shown good evidence that this is a genuine marriage that we love each other and she will have a nice place to live and i can support her. I am probably just being impatient but its driving us crazy we are both stressed and really missing each other ( we havn't been together since sept 08) i can't make any plans because i don't know if my wife will be allowed into the uk. i feel like i have no contol over our future. if the visa is refused i will have to move to thailand and i am also worried about that, best holiday destination in the world but nervous about living there. hope someone could put my mind at ease, none of my freinds understand how horrible and stressful all this can be sometimes.

Many thanks.

Carl.

[Marksamui]

It can take up to 3 months.

Has she been called and had an interview? You can check the progress online, what is the status?

[Merangue]

One thing that seems to effect the length of time it is taking appears to be the date required you put on her application.

It appears if you put a delayed date on the application it isc seemingly put to the bottom of the pile while they deal with more urgent cases.

Note this is just an assumption on my part going by what others experiences have been and purely anecdotal evidence.

What date did you put on your application?

[yaketyak]

I've only read this quickly, so i may be missing something , but why don't you just ring them and ask?

[cpr21]

It can take up to 3 months.

Has she been called and had an interview? You can check the progress online, what is the status?

my wife has called the vfs office a few times and all the say is, 'Visa has be submitted to the british embassy, just keep calling every monday to find out the status', Which she does do and they tell us the same thing everytime (keep calling ), Ive checked the online tracker and it just tells me the date it was submitted. Like you say, it can take 3 months so maybe we just have to wait a few more weeks. thanks for your reply.

[cpr21]

One thing that seems to effect the length of time it is taking appears to be the date required you put on her application.

It appears if you put a delayed date on the application it isc seemingly put to the bottom of the pile while they deal with more urgent cases.

Note this is just an assumption on my part going by what others experiences have been and purely anecdotal evidence.

What date did you put on your application?

Thats a good point, i can't really remember because we filled out the application in december, but i think she put down that she wanted to travel to the uk in march. So it could of been put to the bottom of the pile, can't see why they might work like that , i think it should be first come first serve. Thanks for reply.

Edited March 13, 2009 by cpr21

[yaketyak]

To the OP....

actually i meant call the Embassy not the VFS office. If it were me i would have been onto them after a month , speaking to someone higher up , and getting it looked at. The delay you have suffered, without any updates , is outrageous.

But then they operate like that because they can . Considering your feelings is not part of their remit.

[tlusername]

Hope you have some luck soon. I can understand how hard it must be and I know you need to put your life on hold. I am now awaiting the same thing after having to go through this once already for a visit visa for my then girlfriend now wife.

I must say I am quite un-impressed with VFS and the service provided by the Embassy. My wife is always a little upset when she leaves VFS as they seem to treat everyone with an air of superiority and contempt.

My wife and I now have a settlement visa pending (but only for a week now) and I think its out of order that we have to layout money supporting loads of little businesses that base themselves close around the Embassy punting for translation fees, medical certificates and then layout over £500 pounds to access a UK government service when I am already taxed %40 of my salary every year to insure a job and a gold plated pension for its employees - who can then decide that they won't provide the visa and leave me screwed.

Once we have got the whole thing done I will be penning some harsh letters and letting my feelings known.

Edited March 13, 2009 by tlusername

[7by7]

It can take up to 3 months.

Has she been called and had an interview? You can check the progress online, what is the status?

The wait for an interview can be up to three months, depending on demand, but if an interview is required the embassy will inform the applicant via the VAC before then. The applicant should have heard something by now.

Contacting the VAC wont do much good as once they have sent the application to the embassy the matter is out of their hands; all they know is what the embassy tells them.

I suggest contacting the embassy direct.

If you wish to complain about the service you received from the UK Border Agency at this Embassy, please address your complaint to the Entry Clearance Manager at Visa Services, British Embassy, 14 Wireless Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, or by e-mail at [email protected].

[cpr21]

To the OP....

actually i meant call the Embassy not the VFS office. If it were me i would have been onto them after a month , speaking to someone higher up , and getting it looked at. The delay you have suffered, without any updates , is outrageous.

But then they operate like that because they can . Considering your feelings is not part of their remit.

Im going to call the embassy first thing monday morning, my whole experiance of the british government in thailand is a bad one, they treat their own citizens like s**t, Mind you they are no better here.

[cpr21]

Hope you have some luck soon. I can understand how hard it must be and I know you need to put your life on hold. I am now awaiting the same thing after having to go through this once already for a visit visa for my then girlfriend now wife.

I must say I am quite un-impressed with VFS and the service provided by the Embassy. My wife is always a little upset when she leaves VFS as they seem to treat everyone with an air of superiority and contempt.

My wife and I now have a settlement visa pending (but only for a week now) and I think its out of order that we have to layout money supporting loads of little businesses that base themselves close around the Embassy punting for translation fees, medical certificates and then layout over £500 pounds to access a UK government service when I am already taxed %40 of my salary every year to insure a job and a gold plated pension for its employees - who can then decide that they won't provide the visa and leave me screwed.

Once we have got the whole thing done I will be penning some harsh letters and letting my feelings known.

I completely agree with you, the whole thing makes me really angry, if the visa application was free i could understand a poor service but the fact that i've paid them over £500 and then treated like this is unexceptable

[cfrmatt]

I wish you all the best, I was one of the lucky ones I got my wife’s visa back within 5 days but that was back in April last year. my friend is currently in the same situation as you, he has been waiting 6 weeks now and he is also getting very stressed, but I did hear that the embassy cut back on its staff back in December 08 so maybe that could be a reason for the delay. Best of luck and I’m sure you will be fine.

cfrmatt

[tlusername]

Any news Carl?

[7by7]

.......I think its out of order that we have to layout money supporting loads of little businesses that base themselves close around the Embassy punting for translation fees, medical certificates and then layout over £500 pounds to access a UK government service when I am already taxed %40 of my salary every year to insure a job and a gold plated pension for its employees - who can then decide that they won't provide the visa and leave me screwed.

Once we have got the whole thing done I will be penning some harsh letters and letting my feelings known.

I completely agree with you, the whole thing makes me really angry, if the visa application was free i could understand a poor service but the fact that i've paid them over £500 and then treated like this is unexceptable

Please direct your anger to those responsible; this Labour government who have imposed massive visa fee increases and cut staff in an exercise to raise revenue.

[eddibabyyeah]

Please direct your anger to those responsible; this Labour government who have imposed massive visa fee increases and cut staff in an exercise to raise revenue.

How do u know this?

I can't imagine there will be any profit out of the £500. I'd imagine there are many costs incurred by the whole process. Staff at VFS, wages of staff at embassy and imigration in the UK. Cost for offices in different places. Cost of IT systems, the list goes on.......

[7by7]

Current price of a settlement visa: £515

Proposed new price of a settlement visa: £585

Unit cost of a settlement visa: £379.

Who says so? Not me, but the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, Phil Woolas MP in this written ministerial statement.

If you look at that statement in full you will see the excessive profits made by this government on nearly all types of visa and similar applications. For some discussion on this see here.

[tlusername]

Please direct your anger to those responsible; this Labour government who have imposed massive visa fee increases and cut staff in an exercise to raise revenue.

I see your point so I retract my statement as I don't really know the inner workings of the embassy (headcount of staff per department) and big gov sets the fee price as you say. Its just frustrating to go through the experience of not knowing when you will see you love one again. Having to pay a fee reflective of a commerical price with no idea of the outcome (I feel for anyone whom would have to pay out all that money to wait three months and then get told 'Rejected').

[cpr21]

Any news Carl?

My wife got her visa last week Im so so happy, No interview or any problems. Really pleased with my wife, she prepared the whole application herself and translated everything. Thank you to everyone who has posted a reply.

[Lucifer]

Well done Mr and Mrs Carl.

Ask her to hang around Thailand for a while longer, until the weather improves in the UK.

Great news.

[tlusername]

Any news Carl?

My wife got her visa last week Im so so happy, No interview or any problems. Really pleased with my wife, she prepared the whole application herself and translated everything. Thank you to everyone who has posted a reply.

Thats great news mate - congrats!!