Uk Settlement

[7by7]

It takes as long as it takes; the length of wait depends purely on how many applications are ahead of you in the queue and that seems to be mainly down to when you apply. Do so at a quiet time and you will get the result within 10 working days, apply at a busy time and it will take longer.

One could argue that the entry clearance section should employ more staff, but doing so would mean that for large parts of the year they would be sat there twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do; and as a taxpayer I'm sure you would not want you taxes to pay for that.

I have every sympathy for all those who are still waiting, but would again remind people that all the official guidance recommends allowing three months for a settlement application to be processed.

[kooyoonii]

Dear all,

Only to show you all that I'm the one who have been waiting for 3 months and 5 days now since 10 Feb when my settlement visa application was forwarded to British Embassy. Probably, mine is the longest?? I'm afraid that my application has already been freezed for their decision to be made after having the determination from the Tribunal. As my appeal case will be on the court by June 10 and my husband will be there to fight for our rights.

I've already sent the complaint about their poor service for not infroming their clients for this unusual situation also asking for their good explanation if they are care enough. As same as your experience here, I have been left in the silence since. My case is quite complicated but we have been fighting for our rights to reunite in the UK for these 3 years. We have actually come through this stage with the great help from a sponsor on this forum and if we win the case or obtian the visa, I will recommend his service here.

Congratulations to those successful applicants!! then you both can be reunited in your motherland. I hope that I and my husband will get the justice soon.

Wonny

Wonny i am not being funny or anything but is it truly 3 months and 5 days so far or is that a typo? The reason i ask is that feb 10 is only 2 months 5 days ago.

Either way it is a long time and a disgrace they make us wait so long for anything after paying so much.

I hope your response goes through with no further delays and things get a lot better for you and your other half.

Hi, sorry for making a mistake about the time. It's been nearly 3 years that I've been living with an unhappy life. The dissappointment and stress has taken away of my spirit as I've remained only 60% of wonny

Anyway, I would have never been informed about my case if I didnt not make a complaint.

On Friday, I got a call from Embassy staff and this is the explanation on my case.

My application has not been execercised yet but I will be heard something by May.

My fresh application and my appeal will be treated individually, no effect from one to another.

And all delays is the result of the protest last year as the air port was closed.

What I can only do is to be more patience and leave my life in their hands. Their decisions this time will effect to my marriage life greatly. Lots of women and men can be more patience but 3 years maybe the most that I can do. Then they will be so happy to get rid off another alien.

Sorry if this sounds like a soap opera for some of you but this is my life.

Thank you for all support here.

Wonny

Ps. If any of you wish to advise or share experience with me, please do.

Thanks

[kooyoonii]

Wonny - I wish you luck!

We have now been waiting 6 weeks now.

Thank you "tlusername"

I wish you luck and all bests to you both

Wonny

[kooyoonii]

tlusername.

Don't Forget to post as soon as you receive your Visa

We submited our application 2 weeks after you so it will give me an indication

Only my Flight booked at the moment For May 3rd looks like I may have to re-book for a later date

Unfortunatly I have A Hospital Appointment at the End of May so I would like to get back for that

plus My Prescription meds are running out.

Good Luck To All. But most of all To Wonny

Thank you for your support "kennkate"

Hope you both get good news soon!!

[Merangue]

Dear all,

Only to show you all that I'm the one who have been waiting for 3 months and 5 days now since 10 Feb when my settlement visa application was forwarded to British Embassy. Probably, mine is the longest?? I'm afraid that my application has already been freezed for their decision to be made after having the determination from the Tribunal. As my appeal case will be on the court by June 10 and my husband will be there to fight for our rights.

I've already sent the complaint about their poor service for not infroming their clients for this unusual situation also asking for their good explanation if they are care enough. As same as your experience here, I have been left in the silence since. My case is quite complicated but we have been fighting for our rights to reunite in the UK for these 3 years. We have actually come through this stage with the great help from a sponsor on this forum and if we win the case or obtian the visa, I will recommend his service here.

Congratulations to those successful applicants!! then you both can be reunited in your motherland. I hope that I and my husband will get the justice soon.

Wonny

Wonny i am not being funny or anything but is it truly 3 months and 5 days so far or is that a typo? The reason i ask is that feb 10 is only 2 months 5 days ago.

Either way it is a long time and a disgrace they make us wait so long for anything after paying so much.

I hope your response goes through with no further delays and things get a lot better for you and your other half.

Hi, sorry for making a mistake about the time. It's been nearly 3 years that I've been living with an unhappy life. The dissappointment and stress has taken away of my spirit as I've remained only 60% of wonny

Anyway, I would have never been informed about my case if I didnt not make a complaint.

On Friday, I got a call from Embassy staff and this is the explanation on my case.

My application has not been execercised yet but I will be heard something by May.

My fresh application and my appeal will be treated individually, no effect from one to another.

And all delays is the result of the protest last year as the air port was closed.

What I can only do is to be more patience and leave my life in their hands. Their decisions this time will effect to my marriage life greatly. Lots of women and men can be more patience but 3 years maybe the most that I can do. Then they will be so happy to get rid off another alien.

Sorry if this sounds like a soap opera for some of you but this is my life.

Thank you for all support here.

Wonny

Ps. If any of you wish to advise or share experience with me, please do.

Thanks

Wonny

What can i say but Oh my god!

3 years?

I hope everything goes through quickly for you finally and you can get on with your life as you should be able to.

I echo the good luck comments from the others.

[Bastian]

It takes as long as it takes ... One could argue that the entry clearance section should employ more staff, but doing so would mean that for large parts of the year they would be sat there twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do; and as a taxpayer I'm sure you would not want you taxes to pay for that.

That the staff is overworked or that it is merely a busy time of the year cannot be a satisfying reason for delaying the processing of applications indefinetely.

Consider, that the waiting period for a visa is a kind of forced separation for couples. While one of the - at least implied - obligations of the state is to protect and preserve the sanctity of the family, the executive branch of government is tearing families apart by forcing upon them long periods of separartion and long periods of separation are rightly a ground for divorce recognized by courts.

If the govenrment does not (want to) commit enough staff to work through the complicated procedures prescribed by the laws they enacted, then they need to change the law to simplify the procedure.

[Merangue]

It takes as long as it takes ... One could argue that the entry clearance section should employ more staff, but doing so would mean that for large parts of the year they would be sat there twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do; and as a taxpayer I'm sure you would not want you taxes to pay for that.

That the staff is overworked or that it is merely a busy time of the year cannot be a satisfying reason for delaying the processing of applications indefinetely.

Consider, that the waiting period for a visa is a kind of forced separation for couples. While one of the - at least implied - obligations of the state is to protect and preserve the sanctity of the family, the executive branch of government is tearing families apart by forcing upon them long periods of separartion and long periods of separation are rightly a ground for divorce recognized by courts.

If the govenrment does not (want to) commit enough staff to work through the complicated procedures prescribed by the laws they enacted, then they need to change the law to simplify the procedure.

If anything the government is making things MORE complicated not less.

There is a political aspect that in some cases is costing the government votes. Due to the fact the EU citizens can enter freely they appear to be clamping down on applications from outside of the EU to reduce the numbers.

If anything i expect more draconian rules to come into effect over the next year or so.

[gypsymoth]

Hi All,

It's a bit like standing outside the labour ward here. I've been reminded of the similarity more & more recently as friends have been phoning saying "Have you heard anything yet?"

Our application went in March 13th so I was starting to worry if there was a problem. Reading some these posts has given me a bit of relief if anything, just knowing not to expect anything 'til at least 6 weeks.

The VFS website originally seemed to say 2-5 days for settlement visas, then my wife was told by them 2-4 weeks, so there must have been a massive influx of apps for it to have extended like this. Bad luck on you guys who'd booked flights, but there was no way I'd book a flight 'til we have a stamped passport in our hands.

Hey, best of luck to all of us, and I'll post when I get news online - that seems to be the best way to check. Seems like posting real results is the best way to help folks in the future. Out of interest, could anyone who has heard online tell us what wording to expect - I'm just sick of that "Your application was forwarded blah blah"

[7by7]

That the staff is overworked or that it is merely a busy time of the year cannot be a satisfying reason for delaying the processing of applications indefinetely.

Consider, that the waiting period for a visa is a kind of forced separation for couples. While one of the - at least implied - obligations of the state is to protect and preserve the sanctity of the family, the executive branch of government is tearing families apart by forcing upon them long periods of separartion and long periods of separation are rightly a ground for divorce recognized by courts.

If the govenrment does not (want to) commit enough staff to work through the complicated procedures prescribed by the laws they enacted, then they need to change the law to simplify the procedure.

You seem to be implying that the visa staff are deliberately delaying the processing of applications; which is nonsense.

The waiting period for a visa cannot be definitely stated, depending as it does on how many applications a post has to deal with at any one time.

The UKBIA and all other official guidance advises applicants to allow three months for a settlement application to be processed. From results quoted previously in this thread (not by me) it appears that the Bangkok visa section are hitting this target in at least 98% of cases.

If you are referring to Wonny's case; then obviously there is a lot of information we do not have, although as she talks of an appeal it is obvious that it is the appeals process that is taking so long, not the initial application. Other than that, I am not going to comment as I do not have all the information. (BTW, all the best to you, Wonny, and I hope things are resolved soon.)

Obtaining a UK settlement visa is in most cases not complicated. Time consuming, maybe; requiring a bit of effort in researching what is needed, certainly. But on the whole simple and straightforward. Especially when compared to the complex and lengthy procedures our Transatlantic cousins have to go through!

The set criteria are very clear and it is simply a matter of showing one meets those criteria.

Although I do accept that some cases do not fit into a neat little box, and so some applicants may need advice on how to show that they do qualify. However such cases are a minority and is precisely why the ECOs are allowed to use their discretion.

As already said, at least 98% of settlement applications are resolved within three months; many in far less time than that. How any sane person could describe three months as "tearing families apart by forcing upon them long periods of separartion (sic)" is beyond me.

[Bastian]

7by7, you are reading too much into my post, that I have never written, please do not assume too much.

I never wanted to imply that the staff are twiddling their thumbs deliberately or that the application was too complicated but rather that the prescribed procedures on how to handle applications by the staff, once they are submitted, are too complicated with the paperwork going through too many hands and requiring too many deciders, resulting in long processing times, which is a problem of the government responsible for laying out the process how to handle the applications.

If the workers were deliberately twiddling their thumbs, then again the government would be to blame for failing to implement propper measures to excert control over and motivate their workforce to prevent that from happening.

I did not advocate a definite period for the handling of applications, but rather want reasonable time limits for the government to decide on the application, because, if there are none, a person, who by law has a right to a visa, could effectively be denied the visa by having her wait indefinetely. The point about marriages being broken up by long periods of separation was merely made to illustrate, that real damage is being done this way and it is not just a slight inconvenience.

I did not characterize a timeframe of three months as unreasonable, indeed my spouse has been waiting 80 days now and is is likely going to take another 2 months, but at some point a court must have its say, whether the long period in a certain case is justified or unreasonable.

Maybe it is just my background of comming from a country with civil law and being unfamiliar with the principles of anglo-saxon common law that makes me have a different take on this whole matter of dealing with a government entity.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Bastian

[tlusername]

One aspect that they could improve would be the awful tracking system...the current one suggest once it leaves VFS its in outer orbit until it returns. I think this would help somewhat considering the only way of gaining update is to write a letter and wait 20 days for reply. This seems what drives most folk around the bend - its the waiting without a clue where you are in the process.

I would suggest they run a basic database that reflects the internal in and out box - that way you will be able to see your are X number in the queue.....I am sure something so simple would greatly comfort those fretting over no information at all.

[Merangue]

One aspect that they could improve would be the awful tracking system...the current one suggest once it leaves VFS its in outer orbit until it returns. I think this would help somewhat considering the only way of gaining update is to write a letter and wait 20 days for reply. This seems what drives most folk around the bend - its the waiting without a clue where you are in the process.

I would suggest they run a basic database that reflects the internal in and out box - that way you will be able to see your are X number in the queue.....I am sure something so simple would greatly comfort those fretting over no information at all.

The problem with that is the ECO's are then under the microscope on a constant basis. Would any office worker want to be quality and speed checked every day they work, by people in the public who have no idea how complex or time consuming a job might be?

If anything this would serve to generate more complaints than to reduce them. It may be just fine for those of us who actually get a quick Visa but for those of us who are having to wait ( EG: me and now ) you can guarantee many more complaints would be arriving. This in turn increases the workload and therefore the delays because complaints need to be dealt with as well.

Sometimes no news is actually the best way to go about things.

[Merangue]

Out of interest has anyone recieved any good news on this front in the last couple of weeks. The good news posts seem to have dried up.

[tlusername]

No good news here - we are still waiting..

My wife also spoke with her friend whom spoke to the Embassy about her application (submitted mid Febuary) and she was apparently told that the system has changed from Settlement Visa's now taken a total of 3 months to process and not 'within' 3 months - i.e. you wait 3 months either way and that the website had not been updated to say this yet.

I am not sure this is right and may have been misunderstood - did anyone else hear anything to suggest this?

Edited April 22, 2009 by tlusername

[Tango7]

Out of interest has anyone recieved any good news on this front in the last couple of weeks. The good news posts seem to have dried up.

Placed my application on 10th May. Still waiting. Only "news" I have had was when the embassy called to enquire about my wife's pregnancy which we discovered after we submitted the application. I faxed them this info and received a call roughly a week later but as her pregnancy is only 8 weeks, it's not considered urgent and so we're just waiting...and waiting....and eating into savings..and waiting

[tlusername]

The new processing times for March have been added;

And the figures from Feb;

Settlement Visas 5 days 2% 10 days 9% 15 days 15% 30 days 69% 60 days 98% 90 days 100% 120 days 100% Applications per month

[kennkate]

tluser Thanks for the post. Mid Feb and still waiting

Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and go back on my own

Submitted application on March 17

If 3 months wait then Mid June at the best

Will have to give that A good coat of thinking about.

[kennkate]

Just seen the Prossesing Chart 60 Days looks promising. If it can be belived

Would like to here from someone who as recived there Settlement Visa this week that would give us A better Idea.

[Merangue]

No good news here - we are still waiting..

My wife also spoke with her friend whom spoke to the Embassy about her application (submitted mid Febuary) and she was apparently told that the system has changed from Settlement Visa's now taken a total of 3 months to process and not 'within' 3 months - i.e. you wait 3 months either way and that the website had not been updated to say this yet.

I am not sure this is right and may have been misunderstood - did anyone else hear anything to suggest this?

I know when you ring them they always state the 3 month bit. This is simply a way to fob you off and not get into a discussion at all. don't take any notice of it. 3 months is still the target only. They will not keep a completed application till the 3 months are up. This would only go to cause complaints and is creating more work for themselves.

Out of interest has anyone recieved any good news on this front in the last couple of weeks. The good news posts seem to have dried up.

Placed my application on 10th May. Still waiting. Only "news" I have had was when the embassy called to enquire about my wife's pregnancy which we discovered after we submitted the application. I faxed them this info and received a call roughly a week later but as her pregnancy is only 8 weeks, it's not considered urgent and so we're just waiting...and waiting....and eating into savings..and waiting

I am assuming thats a typo and you mean 10th March. That would put you about 2 weeks ahead of me. a friend of mine is roughly 2 weeks further along again at 8 weeks total and still not heard anything.

I am beginning to think we need to re revise the expected average waiting times from 6 or so weeks to something more like 9-10 weeks. This is why i was hoping some people had some received better news but not reported it. The desperate hope that SOMEONE has had theirs in the last week and is within the 6 week window, is fast fading.

[Merangue]

Don't forget the above 60 days figure is actually 60 working days. EG 99% completed after 12 weeks.

Seems to me they are getting slower and slower as time goes by.

[tlusername]

Don't forget the above 60 days figure is actually 60 working days. EG 99% completed after 12 weeks.

Seems to me they are getting slower and slower as time goes by.

Dam - good point on working days.

I am really, really getting tired of the whole fiasco now. Hope someone gets some good news soon.

[kennkate]

I do belive they only work Half Day Fri Thankfully May day is on a friday

Looking at my Calander Hollidays on May 5th 8th & 11th

Nightmare.

[tlusername]

Here is what has been collated so far;

Submitted / Received

Feb 2nd / March 30th .

Feb 10th / March 26th

Feb 17th / March 24th

Feb 20th / 1st April

No pattern to see from the above apart from slower, quicker, slower. None of the above had requests for further information or interview.

Edited April 22, 2009 by tlusername

[Merangue]

Interesting all the same. It suggests that for whatever reason NONE of the March applications is has been completed yet.

The initial 6 week guesstimate average (8-6-5-6 weeks above )would appear to have risen to at least 7 or 8 weeks with nothing yet to say it is not going to be higher.

Even allowing for songkran/easter it is slowing down apparently.

[Jamesbones]

46 working days so far for me i just hope it comes within that 60 day period its not easy been away from your wife for 3 months

[Merangue]

46 working days so far for me i just hope it comes within that 60 day period its not easy been away from your wife for 3 months

I can fully understand what you mean. I am just coming up on one month apart from my Wife and it is not fun. Effectively i have got my life on hold until this is resolved.

Even though i expected to have to wait it is difficult.

[Tango7]

No good news here - we are still waiting..

My wife also spoke with her friend whom spoke to the Embassy about her application (submitted mid Febuary) and she was apparently told that the system has changed from Settlement Visa's now taken a total of 3 months to process and not 'within' 3 months - i.e. you wait 3 months either way and that the website had not been updated to say this yet.

I am not sure this is right and may have been misunderstood - did anyone else hear anything to suggest this?

I know when you ring them they always state the 3 month bit. This is simply a way to fob you off and not get into a discussion at all. don't take any notice of it. 3 months is still the target only. They will not keep a completed application till the 3 months are up. This would only go to cause complaints and is creating more work for themselves.

Out of interest has anyone recieved any good news on this front in the last couple of weeks. The good news posts seem to have dried up.

Placed my application on 10th May. Still waiting. Only "news" I have had was when the embassy called to enquire about my wife's pregnancy which we discovered after we submitted the application. I faxed them this info and received a call roughly a week later but as her pregnancy is only 8 weeks, it's not considered urgent and so we're just waiting...and waiting....and eating into savings..and waiting

I am assuming thats a typo and you mean 10th March. That would put you about 2 weeks ahead of me. a friend of mine is roughly 2 weeks further along again at 8 weeks total and still not heard anything.

I am beginning to think we need to re revise the expected average waiting times from 6 or so weeks to something more like 9-10 weeks. This is why i was hoping some people had some received better news but not reported it. The desperate hope that SOMEONE has had theirs in the last week and is within the 6 week window, is fast fading.

Sorry, my mistake. Yes, I meant 10th March.

I've decided not to go back without my wife unless she gets a rejection and then we'll be up the creek.

Like many of you here, I'd hate to be away from my wife. I've been living with her for 6 years and now she pregnant and so to be separated will cause a huge amount of stress for her and me. Stressing just thinking about it.

Good luck to all...

[tlusername]

I called the Embassy this morning to clarify about the rumour of the processing time / rules changing as I had my wife on the phone in floods of tears as its really starting to get her down now. There has been no changes according to the Lady I spoke with at the embassy. She said that most applications were taking 3 months.

The only update should could give me was that they were now just starting to work through February's applications. This statement however does not correlate with all the posts seen in here where people have submitted in February (latest being the 20th) and now have been returned passports with Visa's stamped inside.

So its really a waiting game and not worth trying to work out when it will be returned.

[chewy22]

I don’t think I can be much help here but wanted to add to the thread with my situation. I had to leave my wife at the airport in February and my wife’s settlement visa was put in on the 18th March with the text reply to say it has been forwarded the next day 19th March. To date after 21 working days if you take into account Songkran we like you all here haven’t had any news yet.

I have had a look at the last two months figures on the visa application processing times and it does make a bit of a depressing read for February and March

They seem to be getting about 160 to 170 applicants a month but if you look close at the numbers it seems they only process an average of 3 a day so at the end of each month they have about 100 outstanding applications.

I will post up if we get any news but now expect at least another 4 to 5 week of waiting. It is a big strain and it is getting me down at the moment.

I wish I could be more positive but I think we just have to wait.

Edited April 23, 2009 by chewy22

[JASON THAI]

Here's what been going on with the British embassy over the last 6 months (Just click on Bangkok to find figures)

OCT___DEC_08.pdf

JAN___MAR_09.pdf

as you can see we have seen a bad decline

5 DAYS 10DAYS 15 DAYS 30 DAYS 60 DAYS 90 DAYS 120 DAYS APPLICATIONS

OCT - DEC 37% 63% 76% 94% 99% 100% 100% 568

JAN - MAR 4% 13% 32% 69% 98% 99% 100% 596

DIFF +/- -33% -50% -44% -25% -1% -1% 0% 28

I only applied for my wives settlement visa on the 2nd April, lucky I did not do it on the 3rd as it seems you have to do it online and make an appointment to hand in the evidence & not to mention the price increase. I am planning my honeymoon next month and will be leaving Thailand on the 5th June I hope I she gets the visa in time, but I know that will most likely not happen and I will need to come back in July, reading the rest of the posts & looking at other forums it looks like to me that they are just finishing off Feb's applications, so people in March who applied I think you will not hear an answer to May/June if you are lucky

Edited April 24, 2009 by JASON THAI