Hi I'm trying to make an appointment for my wife at the Liverpool UKBA as she is coming to the end of her first 2 years and the visa runs out on August 11th. Not having any luck. It was my Mother who actually spoke to them but they said the waiting time was six weeks and that they wern't taking any more appointments for the next couple days? My mum tried calling again but was just passed from person to person and redirected then eventually cut off. Also on the UKBA website were unable to make an appointment as it just kept timing out. We are still unsure which rules we will have to apply by, the new rules that are coming in or the old as her initial settlment application started before July 9. Any help out there?

Why are you applying in person and paying the extra fee? The fee for a postal application is exorbitant enough.

The only advantage of applying in person is that a postal application can take up to 6 months to process. Unless your wife will need her passport within the next 6 months, then save some money and apply by post.

If I've read it right, anyone who applies for their initial entry clearance as a family member before 9th July will be dealt with under the old rules up to their receiving ILR. In which case your wife will apply under the old rules.

See Appendix E of the statement.

I would normally have agreed that the extra cost for an in person application is not worthwhile but having seen the stress my wife went through whist waiting, tells me otherwise!

She was quite convinced that the delay was because her (very straight forward) application was going to be rejected. No amount of comforting worked! I spent months telling her the delays were because the UKBA were 'unfit for purpose' but she did not relax until her passport was safely back in her hands.

For nearly six months we were unable to travel abroad because the UKBA had both passports!

Hi and thanks for the replies. i know it's more expensive to apply in person but I have a month off work which I can only take during August or September. Heading to Thailand for a month so will need the wifes passport back asap. Hoping ours too will be straight forward. Also we did finally get an appoitment online for August 1st. Thanks again