I've been following recent posts regarding settlement visa apps and have a question about interviews when they are deemed necessary.

My wife submitted an application on 18 Feb for travel late Mar/early Apr. She was told to expect a wait of about a month for an answer. Am I right in thinking that if the embassy had decided that they needed to interview her that she would have been contacted by now and given a date to return for questioning?

I'm concerned that she'll have to wait six weeks or so only to be told to attend interview in another six weeks time

From posts in other threads there does seem to be a delay in processing settlement applications at the moment, probably due to a high number of applications. Possibly there have also been a large number of EEA applications; remember EEA rules mean that these applicants must be dealt with before other applicants.

When an application is first received by the visa section it goes into a queue to be assessed. When it reaches the top of the pile the ECO will look over the application and decide on one of three actions.

If all the paperwork shows that, on the balance of probabilities, the criteria for the visa are met then the visa will be issued and the application and passport returned to the VAC for collection by the applicant.

If the paperwork is inadequate or shows that the criteria are definitely not met then the application is refused and the application and passport returned to the VAC for collection by the applicant. From the refusals I know about, I would say that the vast majority are refused not because the applicant doesn't qualify but because they failed to show that they did. Remember that the burden of proof lies with the applicant. However, as settlement application refusals can be appealed the ECO has to be very sure before refusing without an interview.

If there is an area of doubt, but not enough to refuse outright, then the applicant will be invited to an interview. Interviews are allocated on a strict 'first come, first served' basis, and the wait for one again depends on how many people are ahead of you in the queue. It can be as long as three months.

Thanks 7by7. I've been married and living with my wife over here for 6 years. Hopefully, we've ticked all the boxes and she wont need an interview - just need to be patient.

Thanks 7by7. I've been married and living with my wife over here for 6 years. Hopefully, we've ticked all the boxes and she wont need an interview - just need to be patient.

I'm in a similar situation.. been here with wife 6 years and am awaiting visa so I can return home and get on with things. Don't want to wait potentially 3 months to get a refusal and then wait all over again. I'm pretty much just sitting around now waiting for things to be processed but visa is nearing its end which will incur more expense getting out and in again.

One thing that is interesting is that if there are 162 applications a month and they are only processing 69% per month, every month that goes by the queue must increase by 30% and so on. It's all a bit worrying.