Uk Settlement Visa Application Waiting Times, Bangkok

[Kiggs]

With the way its going I should only have a 4 week wait.

Hope we all get the correct result.

Nick: did your partner have a phone interview if so when within the period did they call her?

Cheers

Edited August 10, 2012 by Kiggs

[braid101]

Hi everyone,

My wife got her visa granted today Iv been in Thailand with her for the last few years and we have a 1 year old.

We got the visa with a work contract for me able to start soon as iam home... and 3rd party support on living and finance from my mother.

If we were denied the visa I would have been devastated as with the new rules... theres no way we would have got it, the job I have lined up dosnt make much... certainly not £18000 per year and no where near £22000 which it would need to be with our 1 child.

So I would have been given the choice of leaving my family for several years or staying in Thailand and making little money

So happy my son will have all the benifits of the UK. And my wife gets to start a career and see snow for the first time hehe First time shes left Thailand.

Anyways, just thought id tell you all our story in short. We are off to Scotland in 1 week!

Thanx to Paul and all the staff at Thai Visa Express for there help... they were amazing

And thanx to everyone involved in this website... its been a tremendous help in learning about visas and citizenship

O yeah, we applied 8th June, visa express emailed on 8th Aug.... visa granted 10th Aug. No phone calls or interview... just applied and waited till now

[freddy5]

Braid . Did your wife get ILE stamp .

[freddy5]

7 by 7 . I am just wondering what possible reason could there be for my wife not getting ILE . My wife has not passed a KOL whatever that is , though she did very well on the English speaking and listening . In the last 11 years I as the Father , Husband and sponsor of my little family have only been to the UK twice and only for a total duration of 3 months , could this be a reason . It is not the end of the World as they now have their visas and we are going but I would rather sort is all out now rather than later . Don't really want to wait 24 months before applying for ILR . From what you said earlier am I right in thinking that if my wife takes the KOL as soon as we arrive , then she should be able to apply for ILR straight away . I say this because I see that some people who have been living out of the UK go there for a holiday and take it then return to Thailand and then apply for settlement . I don't think any of it will apply to our two young children as I intend to apply for them to get their UK passports when we get there . I tried contacting Jessicanguy but to no avail . Is there a special number at the embassy I can call to discuss this or should I just turn up at embassy and get told to clear off . I don't really want to email and wait up to 20 days for a reply as we will probably be in the UK by then .

[braid101]

Hi freddy5

No we only got married last dec... and only been together since summer 09'. So we cant get that. We will be able to apply for IRL in 2 years time offcourse

Not sure wether you should have ILE stamp or not... sorry, hopefully someone here can help you soon. good luck.

[bobrussell]

If your children are eligible for British passports you could have saved quite a lot of money by doing this in Thailand. They would not have required visas.

[nickynalack]

With the way its going I should only have a 4 week wait.

Hope we all get the correct result.

Nick: did your partner have a phone interview if so when within the period did they call her?

Cheers

Hi Kiggs, no, my wife nor I have had any contact from the authorities since we applied on 27th June. I'm hoping this means the application went through without the need for any further questions/queries . It does look like they are processing the applications quite quickly now so hopefully everybody will hear soon

Edited August 10, 2012 by nickynalack

[7by7]

7 by 7 . I am just wondering what possible reason could there be for my wife not getting ILE

Assuming that she meets all the requirements for ILE except KOL then she should have been issued ILE subject to KOL, as said before. If they haven't then the only reason is that they have made a mistake.

KOL is the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement. This can only be satisfied in the UK.

Stop panicking!

As I said to you before, if you do not have time to contact the embassy then she can use the visa she has and then contact the UKBA to change it once in the UK, as per this post

To update also the situation of my friends who applied for ILE at the UKBA this past March, he was finally issued his visa but on arriving in UK his wife noticed he was given an SV instead of the ILE stamp he was entitled to (he has already met the Life in the UK test requirements the previous year whilst on a TV) she called home office & explained that he was issued with the wrong entry, they in turn asked her to contact the UKBA again as they were the ones who gave the wrong stamp. She sent an email & the UKBA sent him a letter stating they issued the wrong entry & that was then sent off to the Home office who are now changing his stamp from SV to ILE (no charge)

I tried contacting Jessicanguy but to no avail

I have removed the post you made in another topic on this. Duplicate posts in different topics are poor netiquette and do not help. I suggest that you PM him (place your cursor over his name and then click on 'Send Message') as he may not see a post in a topic he has no further interest in.

Contact details for visa enquiries can be found here, but that is VFS, who may or may not be able to help.

[landerson72]

Hey Folks,

My wife was issued with the spouse CP visa and was told to take the TB test before travelling. She called the IOM to make an appointment but was advised that she could travel without taking it as the test can take up to two months to arrange. The TB test is usually required before the ECO will issue the visa but in our case they issued the visa without one. So I am wondering what is to stop my wife travelling without taking the test? She has travelled to the UK several times before and has never been asked to show her test certificate and X-Ray. She has one from two years ago, could she use that. How closely to regional passport official inspect document written in Thai? Have the rules/entry procedures changed? Is she likely to get stopped by passport control and refused entry to the UK without a valid cert? Or would they let her in anyway or send her back to Thailand?

How long does it usually take to do the test at the IMO and get the results? Surely it can't take two months?

Does anyone have any advice on this matter?

[Kiggs]

What I did with the IMO was give them a ring first thing in the morn and ask them for an appointment,while your on he phone ask if you can come down and be on standby. We did this and had the test done and results within the day. Got there 10:30am home for 3.

The TB teat is only valid for 6 mths . If I remember its on silom road opposite MacDonald's

Edited August 10, 2012 by Kiggs

[jessicanguyenself]

7 by 7 . I am just wondering what possible reason could there be for my wife not getting ILE . My wife has not passed a KOL whatever that is , though she did very well on the English speaking and listening . In the last 11 years I as the Father , Husband and sponsor of my little family have only been to the UK twice and only for a total duration of 3 months , could this be a reason . It is not the end of the World as they now have their visas and we are going but I would rather sort is all out now rather than later . Don't really want to wait 24 months before applying for ILR . From what you said earlier am I right in thinking that if my wife takes the KOL as soon as we arrive , then she should be able to apply for ILR straight away . I say this because I see that some people who have been living out of the UK go there for a holiday and take it then return to Thailand and then apply for settlement . I don't think any of it will apply to our two young children as I intend to apply for them to get their UK passports when we get there . I tried contacting Jessicanguy but to no avail . Is there a special number at the embassy I can call to discuss this or should I just turn up at embassy and get told to clear off . I don't really want to email and wait up to 20 days for a reply as we will probably be in the UK by then .

It doesn't matter if your wife did well on speaking and listening , to be able to get ILE from Thailand you need to pass life in the uk test and it's the rule , Lituk test is a test base on general knowledge of life in the UK ., it has nothing to do with your wife speaking and listening skills though it would help her to study the test easier . I got IELTS overall band ( and this is academic level not just speaking and listening )at 7.0 which allow me to do master degree in the UK and yet I had to sit the test to get my ILR in the UK . And in case your wife doesn't have her settlement visa subject to KOL ,neither you want to mess around to change ur visa do not worry as ur wife do not have to wait for 24 months if she got proof that you both have been living outside the uk for 4 years , all she needs to do is to sit the test , as soon as you past the test then u can apply straight away for her ILR ( if you apply in person you have to wait 2 days after you pass the test ) .

Ps : I am a she not a he

Edited August 10, 2012 by jessicanguyenself

[jessicanguyenself]

Hey Folks,

My wife was issued with the spouse CP visa and was told to take the TB test before travelling. She called the IOM to make an appointment but was advised that she could travel without taking it as the test can take up to two months to arrange. The TB test is usually required before the ECO will issue the visa but in our case they issued the visa without one. So I am wondering what is to stop my wife travelling without taking the test? She has travelled to the UK several times before and has never been asked to show her test certificate and X-Ray. She has one from two years ago, could she use that. How closely to regional passport official inspect document written in Thai? Have the rules/entry procedures changed? Is she likely to get stopped by passport control and refused entry to the UK without a valid cert? Or would they let her in anyway or send her back to Thailand?

How long does it usually take to do the test at the IMO and get the results? Surely it can't take two months?

Does anyone have any advice on this matter?

Nope they would not refused her to entry to the UK but they will ask her to go for the X-ray test right at the Airport . I am from Vietnam and when I applied for my settlement visa , I did not need to have TB test done but when I arrived at Heathrow airport the officer did ask me to go for an X ray test right at the airport which takes around 15' .

[toddmeister]

She has travelled to the UK several times before and has never been asked to show her test certificate and X-Ray

Was it on a visit visa? If so she would not be required to show the tb cert because they are only required for anyone coming to the UK for longer than 6 months.

If she gets an appointment at the IOM in the morning then she will get the tb cert same day......thats if there are no issues or requirement for further xrays or sputum tests (my wifes first xray was rejected and she had to go for another but still got the certificate same day after the second xray).

My wife called the IOM a week before to book her appointment. Never heard of anyone having to wait for an appointment and certainly not two months

[7by7]

Ps : I am a she not a he

Apols; but in your profile you say you are male!

when I arrived at Heathrow airport the officer did ask me to go for an X ray test right at the airport which takes around 15' .

When my wife and stepdaughter arrived for the first time they were sent by an IO for an X-ray; they weren't X-rayed as the doctor took one look at their vaccination scars, asked me if they would be registering with my GP and sent us on our way. Took less than 5 minutes.

But: we were there for over three hours before we saw the doctor!!!!

Mind you, this was before TB certificates were required from high risk countries. Maybe they're not so busy these days.

Landerson; as others have said, if she makes an appointment for the morning she can pick up the certificate in the afternoon; provided the X-ray is clear.

If she travels without it then she may be sent for an X-ray at her port of entry. If that isn't clear then I am not sure what would happen; but think that she could be refused entry.

Trying to short cut the system only causes problems later; as you have already found out. Had she taken the LitUK test or an ESOL with citizenship course she'd have ILR and would not have had to return to Thailand and start the process all over again!

[freddy5]

7 BY 7 . Not really a panic situation . I am sure it can get sorted in the UK , though if that is the case just to cover all bases I feel I will probably get the documents translated again here before I go . Yes , I am presuming they may have them now on record since they kept them though that may not stop someone wanting me to produce them when I tell them they made a mistake . In view of this I will call the embassy here on Monday and try to fix it before we relocate . If it cannot be sorted immediately it will have to wait till we reach the UK as I am hoping to prepare my car for shipping this week . Thanks for your invaluable advice and that link you posted to the GOV website enabled me to get my head around the KOL . Basically I tried to follow the requirements for settlement on the Embassy website and it is always a worry in case of missing something .

[popper8469]

I know the answer to this (pick it up and then you know), but I can’t stop thinking and preparing for the result (bad or good). One of those people that can’t handle disappointment to much and would like to be prepared. I was really confident before this week. Basically, applied for three visas on 1st June. 1 for wife married in April 2012, met April 2010 and my two step-children 11 and 4 years old.

On Tuesday 7th august my wife was phoned from the embassy. I assume this was an interview and it was intense. It was 60 minutes.

She then got 6 emails (2 per application) on Friday August 10th.

First "Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:17:26 - Your Visa application reference number xxx has been processed by the British Embassy and is received at the UK Visa Application Centre." this was from visa alert

Second "Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:07:11 - Processed visa application ref no xxx is ready for collection at UK Visa Application Centre." from vfs global

Questions:

1) Why have we not been told to collect in two working days as everyone else I have seen on here? Does that mean vfs don’t have to print the visa or not (I assume they don’t but).

2) Is having a visa interview typically bad news. I thought not beforehand but now worried

3) Is 3 days between interview and decision necessarily bad?

4) Is 1 hour between the two emails normal?

Thanks in advance for any people who can advise. As said, paranoid and worried sick. She will be collecting from Bangkok on Tuesday after very long journey from Isaan

Paul

[hardgrafter187]

Hardgrafter187 Submitted 18/05/12 visa issued 10/08/12

2 weeks longer processing time due to being isle of man resident

[tomcreeduk]

Well what can I say.

Settlement Visa submitted

19/6/2012 and ready for collection on the 9/8/2012

I make it 37 working days and Visa was approved.

Thank you to everyone who helped me & the wife truly couldn't have done it without you especially 7by7 & toddmeister absolutely 2 of the nicest men who I owe a lot to.

[hardgrafter187]

Hello could anybody tell me would my wife be able to enter the uk only having a single ticket not a return or would immigration stop her

Thanks

[7by7]

She has a settlement visa, she is coming to the UK to live; why would she need a return ticket?

Even visitors do not need a return ticket, though a visitor must be able to produce one or show that they have the available funds to by one if asked.

But your wife is coming to live; she wont be asked for one.

Make sure that she has her TB certificate in her hand luggage, she may be asked for this. Also your phone number, unless you are traveling with her.

[popper8469]

I know the answer to this (pick it up and then you know), but I can’t stop thinking and preparing for the result (bad or good). One of those people that can’t handle disappointment to much and would like to be prepared. I was really confident before this week. Basically, applied for three visas on 1st June. 1 for wife married in April 2012, met April 2010 and my two step-children 11 and 4 years old.

On Tuesday 7th august my wife was phoned from the embassy. I assume this was an interview and it was intense. It was 60 minutes.

She then got 6 emails (2 per application) on Friday August 10th.

First "Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:17:26 - Your Visa application reference number xxx has been processed by the British Embassy and is received at the UK Visa Application Centre." this was from visa alert

Second "Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:07:11 - Processed visa application ref no xxx is ready for collection at UK Visa Application Centre." from vfs global

Questions:

1) Why have we not been told to collect in two working days as everyone else I have seen on here? Does that mean vfs don’t have to print the visa or not (I assume they don’t but).

2) Is having a visa interview typically bad news. I thought not beforehand but now worried

3) Is 3 days between interview and decision necessarily bad?

4) Is 1 hour between the two emails normal?

Thanks in advance for any people who can advise. As said, paranoid and worried sick. She will be collecting from Bangkok on Tuesday after very long journey from Isaan

Paul

All; My wife went to visa and was granted 3 settlement visa's (one for her, and 2 for my step-children of 11 and 4).

Quick timeline to help others, applied 1st June, she had intensive 1 hour telephone interview 6th August, received 6 emails (2 per application) with 1 hour on 10th August with visa backdated to 6th August

to answer my own questions

1) Having the two emails (one for processed, one for collection) with 1 hour of each other isnt a bad thing. Longer gaps may not be a bad thing either. There probably isnt a pattern for pass or fail. it just what it is

2) Having a telephone interview isn't neccessarily a bad thing. She was accepted after this hour questioning. Actually, think of it another way. its great. its get you to put over your side of the story and if you are not lying (dont even think about it), then at least if they say no, they did it on the facts as you lay them down, not an assumption from a form

3) Interview and short time to decision isnt necessarily good or bad either. Again, who knows what they are checking or if the ECO is sick etc. Again, we all get paranoid and see paterns that are not there

So, great news for me today after approx 70 days.

Let me say one thing about the waiting. I was personally fine until i knew the decision was made. I know some rant on here and as GB are gold medlists at ranting it may help, but what worked for me is this.

Its 10 to 12 weeks. That it. Probably before but maybe not. Thats how long i have to wait. Anytime befoe is a bonus. When my children was born i didnt moan it was 9 months. I didnt think it was unfair. I didnt beg for it be earlier as if it is then may not be good. 10 - 12 weeks is a lot quicker than the U.S. Its nothing if are know it going to be 3 months. Keep with the phone calls. Keep with the cam messaging. Keep the fires burning. Absence does make the heart grow stronger. Nurture it. Take the 3 months as a way to build that passion for the rest of your life together. You will probably get the visa (as long as in rules of a) you can financially look after her and you have proven you are in a genuine relationship).

Good luck all. You will be fine.

Paul

Edited August 14, 2012 by popper8469

[Amoudi]

Hi all, just update for everybody: I got my ILE on Mon. Applied on 11yh of Jun and got it less than 9 weeks:-). Me and my husband will move back to uk for good next month. Not sure if I need to do any medical check before I move to uk with my husband?.

Thanks 7by7 for Ur advises :-)

[richio]

Hi

Applied for visa on the 29th June had an email today saying "your documents can be collected from VFS after 2 working days, if you paid a courier fee your documents will be sent to you."

We paid for the documents to be sent by courier, so do they get sent direct from the embassy now or do they get sent back to VFS and then sent from there? just wanted to know how long delivery would be.

Thanks

[ear8jp]

Hi

My wife just received her UK Spouse Settlement visa today . Total waiting time was 6 weeks and 1 day.

Yes, it can be a frustrating process. Our circumstances were slightly "suspect" but I made sure I clarified everything on my sponsor's letter and backed it all up with the supporting documents.

My advice for anybody intending to apply is:

- Read thoroughly all the information on the UK Border Agency website (and yes, it is a bit of a maze but you need to spend the time and dig deep)

- Read through the very good posts in this forum, especially the pinned topics

- Keep all your papers in order and take time to prepare the whole application and documents. With such high fees, get it right first time ! If in any doubt:

- Put yourself in the shoes of the ECO

As I have read on here before "settlement is a right, not privilage", meaning if you have a genuine case you should have no problems.

All the very best and good luck.

JP

[davos09]

Well done ear8jp!! Could you specify the date you applied please??

[Jared]

My Wife collected her settlement visa today.

We applied 25th June and it was issued 09th August

One thing im not sure on is if she has the correct visa type. Weve been married 6 years abroad so wanted an ILE.

The visa say 'Visa Settlemtn Spouse/cp(Kol Req) xxxxxxxx Valid for 2 years.

Im sure its correct and once shes done her Kol she will get an ILR visa?

Then its a 3 year wait before she can apply for her passport

Edited August 15, 2012 by 7by7
Name removed for privacy reasons.

[7by7]

Not sure if I need to do any medical check before I move to uk with my husband?.

No, but keep your TB certificate in your hand luggage in case immigration on entering the UK want to see it. If you have one; I'm not sure if it's required in Vietnam.

We paid for the documents to be sent by courier, so do they get sent direct from the embassy now or do they get sent back to VFS and then sent from there? just wanted to know how long delivery would be.

They get sent from the embassy to VFS who will arrange a courier. How long? Depends a lot, I believe, on where you are, but two or three days after VFS receive them I hear.

One thing im not sure on is if she has the correct visa type. Weve been married 6 years abroad so wanted an ILE.

The visa say 'Visa Settlemtn Spouse/cp(Kol Req) xxxxxxxx Valid for 2 years.

Im sure its correct and once shes done her Kol she will get an ILR visa?

Then its a 3 year wait before she can apply for her passport

That is the correct endorsement for ILE if she has not previously satisfied the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement (KOL) whilst in the UK as, for example, a visitor. Once she has done so she can then apply for ILR without having to live in the UK for 24 months.

After she has ILR and has been in the UK for at least 3 years she can apply for British citizenship and once she has that a British passport. Note that the three years does not necessarily begin when she enters the UK with her settlement visa; if she has previously been in the UK as, for example, a visitor this may be counted toward the three years if she can still satisfy the residential requirement; see British Citizenship Basics.

[nickynalack]

Hi all, my wife got her visa today starting from end september (as stated in visa application for flight date)...now time to start looking for flights

Thanks to all who helped me with my questions prior to applying for the visa and good luck to everyone else here

thx

Nick

[davos09]

When did u apply nickynalack??

[nickynalack]

When did u apply nickynalack??

We applied on 27th June and my wife was notified about visa on 10th August so I think it's about 32 working days from application to decision

good luck