Uk Settlement Visa Application Waiting Times, Bangkok

[ThaiVisaExpress]

hi everyone,

i mentioned earlier about the embassy calling my fiancee and asking for additional information. i kept quiet about the details as because they were making the decision at the time, I didn't want to post anything on here (in case they read boards) which could have jeopardised the application if a comment of mine was misunderstood. it wasn't worth the risk.

I would like to disclose what happened and why now (as the decision appears to have been made) in order to help others in the future. so here goes ...

i applied for a fiance visa 2 years ago through an agent. this got approved, but the relationship failed and we parted for genuine reasons. this time i didn't go through an agent because i had a good idea of what documents were required (plus english test results) and i wanted to save myself a few quid.

in the past, when you applied for a fiancee visa (ie to get married in the UK), you had to show evidence that you were planning on getting married by supplying evidence of the provisional wedding booking with the registrar in the UK.

i did contact an agent to double check about this (because I the guidance on this was conficting and confusing), and they told me that for the fiance visa you don't need to supply a provisional booking with the registrar anymore because a lot of registrars in the UK will no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties (her and me) are not in the UK at the time of doing so. this wasnt the case before. lucky i didnt pay the bugger - (because he may have now jeopardised my application).

I double checked with my local registrar in the UK (to make sure my agent had advised me correctly) and they confirmed that they no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties are not in the UK.but they didn't advise me on what to include in the visa application (why would they, it is not their job to do so).

so i just included a comment in the application cover letter stating that i had tried to book a provisional booking, but couldn't do so due to the above mentioned reasons (ie me and her not being in the same country).

what i should have done (i did read this on another website after i submitted the application) is ask for the registrar to send me a letter confirming (to prove) that I TRIED to make the provisional booking with the registrar.

well ... i didn't do that ... i just made a phone call to the registrar to try to make the provisional booking and assumed that if i mentioned that in the letter that they would accept that.

so, after this long wait (just over 2 months) the embassy called my fiancee in thailand and asked her about 40 questions in 30 minutes. name of my buisness, name of my dad and mum (including correct spelling), what my busienss does, where my family live, etc etc ..... trust me, there were a lot of them. they even asked her why my business trades online (as opposed to having a bricks and mortar shop) and they also questioned her what the products that we sell are being used for. I'm sure you will all agree - these are not easy questions for a Thai fiancee who has never seen my business (or my family in the UK) to answer. well, she told me all the questions (and what answers she gave) and they were spot on and honest.

they mentioned to her on the phone that the reason for the them checking this information was because a) no evidence of the provisional wedding booking and no evidence that i TRIED to book it was supplied... so they wanted additional information to make sure that the relationship was genuine and that we were genuinly wanting to get married in the UK. i kind of get that, but the embassy should know by now that some registrars in the UK dont accept provisional booking anymore and that some genuine people (like myself) will just mention in the letter that they tried to book it. no everyone will automatically realise that they need to prove that they tried to book it.

lesson learnt: a) if you can book a provional with the registrar supply the infos. if you aren't able to book a provisional with the registrar get proof that you tried to do it.

sorry about the long post, but i genuinly want to help others applying in the future. this forum has helped me - so i want to give something back.

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

When you receive the sms it can take 2/3 days to arrive via the courier service.

[simmsc]

hi everyone,

i mentioned earlier about the embassy calling my fiancee and asking for additional information. i kept quiet about the details as because they were making the decision at the time, I didn't want to post anything on here (in case they read boards) which could have jeopardised the application if a comment of mine was misunderstood. it wasn't worth the risk.

I would like to disclose what happened and why now (as the decision appears to have been made) in order to help others in the future. so here goes ...

i applied for a fiance visa 2 years ago through an agent. this got approved, but the relationship failed and we parted for genuine reasons. this time i didn't go through an agent because i had a good idea of what documents were required (plus english test results) and i wanted to save myself a few quid.

in the past, when you applied for a fiancee visa (ie to get married in the UK), you had to show evidence that you were planning on getting married by supplying evidence of the provisional wedding booking with the registrar in the UK.

i did contact an agent to double check about this (because I the guidance on this was conficting and confusing), and they told me that for the fiance visa you don't need to supply a provisional booking with the registrar anymore because a lot of registrars in the UK will no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties (her and me) are not in the UK at the time of doing so. this wasnt the case before. lucky i didnt pay the bugger - (because he may have now jeopardised my application).

I double checked with my local registrar in the UK (to make sure my agent had advised me correctly) and they confirmed that they no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties are not in the UK.but they didn't advise me on what to include in the visa application (why would they, it is not their job to do so).

so i just included a comment in the application cover letter stating that i had tried to book a provisional booking, but couldn't do so due to the above mentioned reasons (ie me and her not being in the same country).

what i should have done (i did read this on another website after i submitted the application) is ask for the registrar to send me a letter confirming (to prove) that I TRIED to make the provisional booking with the registrar.

well ... i didn't do that ... i just made a phone call to the registrar to try to make the provisional booking and assumed that if i mentioned that in the letter that they would accept that.

so, after this long wait (just over 2 months) the embassy called my fiancee in thailand and asked her about 40 questions in 30 minutes. name of my buisness, name of my dad and mum (including correct spelling), what my busienss does, where my family live, etc etc ..... trust me, there were a lot of them. they even asked her why my business trades online (as opposed to having a bricks and mortar shop) and they also questioned her what the products that we sell are being used for. I'm sure you will all agree - these are not easy questions for a Thai fiancee who has never seen my business (or my family in the UK) to answer. well, she told me all the questions (and what answers she gave) and they were spot on and honest.

they mentioned to her on the phone that the reason for the them checking this information was because a) no evidence of the provisional wedding booking and no evidence that i TRIED to book it was supplied... so they wanted additional information to make sure that the relationship was genuine and that we were genuinly wanting to get married in the UK. i kind of get that, but the embassy should know by now that some registrars in the UK dont accept provisional booking anymore and that some genuine people (like myself) will just mention in the letter that they tried to book it. no everyone will automatically realise that they need to prove that they tried to book it.

lesson learnt: a) if you can book a provional with the registrar supply the infos. if you aren't able to book a provisional with the registrar get proof that you tried to do it.

sorry about the long post, but i genuinly want to help others applying in the future. this forum has helped me - so i want to give something back.

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

who and under what circumstances would i give that code that you just posted above? sorry not following.

[retard]

Forgive me, it's 7.30 Sunday morning, I've been awake 3 hours, and I'm bored out of my mind. Still waiting for that elusive courier. So I started to think about all that has gone before.

MY WIFE AND THE TEMPLE

After a number of early baths at the hands of various monks, and a ridiculous forecast that we would have a child within 2 years ( ridiculous because I have been incapable of fathering a child for about 30 years) I began to lose faith in these guys.

My wife didn't. She hangs on every word and visits regularly. Here are a few forecasts relating to her visa application.

1. " If you don't go to England before end of March you will never go" The application went in on 16th March!

2. "You will have your application approved but don't travel in April, it will be expensive. Wait until May" He must have been looking at the flight schedules because April was ridiculously expensive.

3. " Your application will be approved either on the 14th or 24th May" Got that wrong. It was considered last Friday, still waiting for result.( Bloody courier)

4. Very recent. "You will arrive in the UK on 24th May" Oh what a coincidence, the 24th.

Believe it or not my wife my wife expects the visa approval to come through on Monday but is planning delaying her flight until 24th

Lord knows what she will do when she comes to England, the nearest temple is about 100 miles away, I guess she will be building a spirit house in the back garden.

Fingers crossed for our visa and best of luck to all those still waiting

[tribalfusion001]

Forgive me, it's 7.30 Sunday morning, I've been awake 3 hours, and I'm bored out of my mind. Still waiting for that elusive courier. So I started to think about all that has gone before.

MY WIFE AND THE TEMPLE

After a number of early baths at the hands of various monks, and a ridiculous forecast that we would have a child within 2 years ( ridiculous because I have been incapable of fathering a child for about 30 years) I began to lose faith in these guys.

My wife didn't. She hangs on every word and visits regularly. Here are a few forecasts relating to her visa application.

1. " If you don't go to England before end of March you will never go" The application went in on 16th March!

2. "You will have your application approved but don't travel in April, it will be expensive. Wait until May" He must have been looking at the flight schedules because April was ridiculously expensive.

3. " Your application will be approved either on the 14th or 24th May" Got that wrong. It was considered last Friday, still waiting for result.( Bloody courier)

4. Very recent. "You will arrive in the UK on 24th May" Oh what a coincidence, the 24th.

Believe it or not my wife my wife expects the visa approval to come through on Monday but is planning delaying her flight until 24th

Lord knows what she will do when she comes to England, the nearest temple is about 100 miles away, I guess she will be building a spirit house in the back garden.

Fingers crossed for our visa and best of luck to all those still waiting

It seems most of the applications submitted on 16th March, (which people have posted the info on), have been processed, but a few awaiting the courier service. We are only 5 stops on the MRT to Lumphini, so will be picking the passport up in person, (whenever that may be), I don't think I could handle waiting for the post!

[retard]

Forgive me, it's 7.30 Sunday morning, I've been awake 3 hours, and I'm bored out of my mind. Still waiting for that elusive courier. So I started to think about all that has gone before.

MY WIFE AND THE TEMPLE

After a number of early baths at the hands of various monks, and a ridiculous forecast that we would have a child within 2 years ( ridiculous because I have been incapable of fathering a child for about 30 years) I began to lose faith in these guys.

My wife didn't. She hangs on every word and visits regularly. Here are a few forecasts relating to her visa application.

1. " If you don't go to England before end of March you will never go" The application went in on 16th March!

2. "You will have your application approved but don't travel in April, it will be expensive. Wait until May" He must have been looking at the flight schedules because April was ridiculously expensive.

3. " Your application will be approved either on the 14th or 24th May" Got that wrong. It was considered last Friday, still waiting for result.( Bloody courier)

4. Very recent. "You will arrive in the UK on 24th May" Oh what a coincidence, the 24th.

Believe it or not my wife my wife expects the visa approval to come through on Monday but is planning delaying her flight until 24th

Lord knows what she will do when she comes to England, the nearest temple is about 100 miles away, I guess she will be building a spirit house in the back garden.

Fingers crossed for our visa and best of luck to all those still waiting

It seems most of the applications submitted on 16th March, (which people have posted the info on), have been processed, but a few awaiting the courier service. We are only 5 stops on the MRT to Lumphini, so will be picking the passport up in person, (whenever that may be), I don't think I could handle waiting for the post!

If it's a choice between courier or collect I would advise collect. The wait for that courier is unbearable!

[tribalfusion001]

We are collecting, easier.

[7by7]

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

who and under what circumstances would i give that code that you just posted above? sorry not following.

AECIP/83/03 is the reference number of the memo/instruction sent to all entry clearance sections some time ago reminding them that a couple cannot book a wedding in the UK unless both are physically present and so the ECO must not demand to see evidence of a booking or refuse if such evidence is not present.

I think TVE means that if there are problems with your fiance's application due to you not having a booking that you should remind them of this.

If it is refused simply because you don't have this booking then you must immediately write to the Entry Clearance Manager reminding him/her of this instruction and asking that the refusal be overturned.

However, this is unlikely to happen nowadays as ECOs are now well aware of the instruction; although it did frequently happen some years ago which is why the instruction was sent out.

[chogiekim]

Still waiting for an sms! That's bad enough! Why make the decision a week ago,and not tell us the when it's coming and what the final answer is!!

[chogiekim]

I understand everyone's circumstances are different,but it's so strange how the VFS and the Embassy do things!

[7by7]

The UKBA consider the result of a visa application to be confidential between them and the applicant. Passports are returned to VFS in sealed envelopes and no one outside the Entry Clearance Section knows the result, or will be told it, until the applicant or their authorised agent receives and opens the envelope

I don't understand why you have received an email (from whom? The embassy?) saying a decision has been made but have not received an SMS to say the passport is ready for collection or delivery (whichever option you chose). Did you actually subscribe to the SMS service?

All I can suggest is contacting the VAC tomorrow to try and find out if the passport is there.

[chogiekim]

I got an email Wednesday to say the decision has been made on the visa. But can't tell me the answer until i get the passport. They said i should be able to collect my passport from the VFS in a few days. (I subscribed for the sms and courier service) . Friday i called the VFS they still had not received my passport,but later on did get an email from them saying decision has been made and wait for the sms. It all seems very strange!

[chogiekim]

First email was from UKBA.

[simmsc]

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

who and under what circumstances would i give that code that you just posted above? sorry not following.

AECIP/83/03 is the reference number of the memo/instruction sent to all entry clearance sections some time ago reminding them that a couple cannot book a wedding in the UK unless both are physically present and so the ECO must not demand to see evidence of a booking or refuse if such evidence is not present.

I think TVE means that if there are problems with your fiance's application due to you not having a booking that you should remind them of this.

If it is refused simply because you don't have this booking then you must immediately write to the Entry Clearance Manager reminding him/her of this instruction and asking that the refusal be overturned.

However, this is unlikely to happen nowadays as ECOs are now well aware of the instruction; although it did frequently happen some years ago which is why the instruction was sent out.

Thanks a lot to both of you for your valuable comments regarding this issue. This information could be "lifesaver" should the worst happen (refusal). However, I am still quietly confident about our application. I have already printed this post off should I ever need it. Thanks again.

Edited May 20, 2012 by simmsc

[simmsc]

I got an email Wednesday to say the decision has been made on the visa. But can't tell me the answer until i get the passport. They said i should be able to collect my passport from the VFS in a few days. (I subscribed for the sms and courier service) . Friday i called the VFS they still had not received my passport,but later on did get an email from them saying decision has been made and wait for the sms. It all seems very strange!

For me these are all signs that the embassy/VFS are currently overloaded with applications. When I made my application 2 years ago the notifications were all coming in on time (sms and email). We also paid for courier and sms servive this time, and have only had the email, no sms. And the tracker is still not updated too. We still get this message: "your application has been forwarded ..... ". This does beg the question as to when the docs will be (or have been) actually sent. Obviously I will leave a post here as soon as we get them.

[chogiekim]

Yes but why others who applied on the 16th of March got their visa or had some sort of contact to collect or to deliver their passport? Very strange why everyone has different answers or information.

[7by7]

It seems that something may have gone awry with the system in your case, chogiekim.

All I can suggest is contacting them on Monday to see if they do have her passport or not, and if they do when can she collect/will it be sent.

[simmsc]

It seems that something may have gone awry with the system in your case, chogiekim.

All I can suggest is contacting them on Monday to see if they do have her passport or not, and if they do when can she collect/will it be sent.

My situation is quite similar. But we don't have the option of collecting as my fiancee lives near Udon and I am in the UK. We've had no other notifications (apart from the embassy email) either. We just have to sit back and wait for the visa to arrive. But I guess we could make a call tomorrow just to find out if a) they are holding the docs or they have already been sent. I would assume that after the embassy has made a decision they send the docs back to the VFS and then they do the SMS notification and take care of the dispatch side of things. If this is the case it looks to me like there is an overload of applications sitting at the VFS which they are struggling to handle. A few days of waiting (after a 2 month+ wait) doesn't bother me too much, but it does mean that my fiancee can't leave the house until it arrives as she needs to sign for it. So it would help to find out if it has been sent or not. I'll make the call tomorrow (Monday) when I wake up UK time.

[simmsc]

Quick question - so that I am prepared when I call the VFS - do I quote this ref when I call them? APET/160415/224715/1

Or is there another ref / number I need to quote for them to locate our application file?

I have changed a few numbers in the ref given above ... you never know who is reading lol

[tribalfusion001]

Yes it's the APET number.

[chogiekim]

VFS told me they get passports from the embassy at 11am. They then probably like you said start sending out the sms and get them onto the courier people.

[chogiekim]

Somebody always as to be at the end of the pile. I guess it just could be me this time.

[tribalfusion001]

Hopefully you will get the sms tomorrow, by the letter VFS sent you, looks like its processed, but not at VFS yet.

[chogiekim]

Yeah sounds like it. need some luck for tomorrow now!

[chogiekim]

Just called VFS. No sign of my passport there. But it has been processed! Again i have to call back before 4.30pm or before 12pm tomorrow. Very odd all this!

[rightontime]

I got an email Wednesday to say the decision has been made on the visa. But can't tell me the answer until i get the passport. They said i should be able to collect my passport from the VFS in a few days. (I subscribed for the sms and courier service) . Friday i called the VFS they still had not received my passport,but later on did get an email from them saying decision has been made and wait for the sms. It all seems very strange!

This is (part of) the e-mail message received today from the UK Border Agency in Bangkok. Application forwarded 19th March. Messaged received 21st May.

''THAILAND APPLICANTS: your documents can be collected from VFS in 1 working day, if you paid a courier fee your documents will be sent to you.''

We paid for SMS. We paid for Courier. So we (expect to) will receive by courier sometime Wednesday? Does not seem by all accounts from some members of this thread. An observation.

Does anyone here strongly recommend ringing VFS about our documents posted by courier? Or should I be expecting further mail?

We are now waiting for some two hundred documents in the post. Hope it is a strong envelope! Would this include the applicant's passport? Or are passports couriered separate? Thanks for help guys.

[tribalfusion001]

I got an email Wednesday to say the decision has been made on the visa. But can't tell me the answer until i get the passport. They said i should be able to collect my passport from the VFS in a few days. (I subscribed for the sms and courier service) . Friday i called the VFS they still had not received my passport,but later on did get an email from them saying decision has been made and wait for the sms. It all seems very strange!

This is (part of) the e-mail message received today from the UK Border Agency in Bangkok. Application forwarded 19th March. Messaged received 21st May.

''THAILAND APPLICANTS: your documents can be collected from VFS in 1 working day, if you paid a courier fee your documents will be sent to you.''

We paid for SMS. We paid for Courier. So we (expect to) will receive by courier sometime Wednesday? Does not seem by all accounts from some members of this thread. An observation.

Does anyone here strongly recommend ringing VFS about our documents posted by courier? Or should I be expecting further mail?

We are now waiting for some two hundred documents in the post. Hope it is a strong envelope! Would this include the applicant's passport? Or are passports couriered separate? Thanks for help guys.

Yes, it has been processed, passport included with application documents. Bang on 42 working days, hope you get what you want!

[chogiekim]

Wednesday for me

[tribalfusion001]

Wednesday for me

Is that a definate to pick up passport?

[chogiekim]

Tomorrow i will get my passport just had an sms