I am a little curious now regarding the implimentation of this English test.

This comes into effect on the 29th November 2010, but how does this affect settlement visas already applied for?

Judging by the processing times at present there will be many that applied for a visa in September and October that will not have submitted certificates therefore will the visa be issued subject to passing the test before entry to th UK?

Or will only application made from the 29th need the certificate?

We are assuming that applications made before the 29th November will not have to take the test . Nobody has said otherwise. However, don't leave it too late as I'm sure the appointment dates will fill up fairly quickly with those trying to avoid the test !

We are assuming that applications made before the 29th November will not have to take the test . Nobody has said otherwise. However, don't leave it too late as I'm sure the appointment dates will fill up fairly quickly with those trying to avoid the test !

i would be interested in your opinion visa plus, do you think that come the 29th november there will be a big drop in the amount of applications going in due to the fact that applicants will be studying and taking the test before applying???because these test centres have not been mentioned much, are they operating now?, not that it affects me or my wife but im curious because hopefully in the new year i will be applying for my 2 stepsons settlement and wondered if this situation will give the embassy time to clear up all waiting applications thus dropping the future waiting time down considerably???

We are assuming that applications made before the 29th November will not have to take the test . Nobody has said otherwise. However, don't leave it too late as I'm sure the appointment dates will fill up fairly quickly with those trying to avoid the test !

i would be interested in your opinion visa plus, do you think that come the 29th november there will be a big drop in the amount of applications going in due to the fact that applicants will be studying and taking the test before applying???because these test centres have not been mentioned much, are they operating now?, not that it affects me or my wife but im curious because hopefully in the new year i will be applying for my 2 stepsons settlement and wondered if this situation will give the embassy time to clear up all waiting applications thus dropping the future waiting time down considerably???

I'm sure there will be a drop, but not necessarily a big one. A lot of the applicants that we see speak sufficient English to get through the test. But, we do see some applicants who will need some tuition before they can pass. I would say 60 - 70 % of the applicants that we see would pass. So, there will be a drop in applications whilst some applicants get their language skills up to passing level. This is, of course, only my opinion, based on the applicants that I see here in Pattaya. The percentage of English speaking applicants could well be different from elsewhere in the country.

I'm of the opinion that it won't make a big difference to the waiting time for decisions. Hopefully the waiting time will come down, perhaps from about 12 weeks to 8 weeks, but there is an " expectation ", I think, that there will be a waiting period, and I suspect that the Embassy will maintain that expectation and some period of waiting. They will, of course, have other areas where they can usefully employ their staff - visit visas, student visas, etc.