Eea Visa .What Is Maximum Processing Time ? UK

[junglejimbo]

visa was submitted sat 30 june , was told by vfs staff i would wait no longer than 15 days. it is now 17 july. i fly home on 25 july. can someone tell me max waiting time ?

we need to book tickets for children etc and we are running out of precious time . if we wait any longer we will not get tickets for kids on our return flight.

thanks

[7by7]

What type of EEA visa and for which country?

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING

[junglejimbo]

eea family permit for thai wifes children to join her in uk. irish passport holder.

[7by7]

The actual regulation is that EEA family permits must be issued with the minimum of delay. As far as I am aware there is no actual maximum time laid down in the regulations.

Even so, by '15 days' I am sure they meant working days, so this period will be up on the 20th.

I have amended the topic title to show which country you are asking about.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

We got 1 back recently in 5 days if that helps.

[junglejimbo]

good to hear that thaivisaexpress

also we got the papers translated and copied etc by the office down stairs in vfs building for only 3.500 thb )))

anyway besides the point we were told by vfs staff the decision would be with us by 15th july . not 15 working days so the moral of the story is do not take their word for it.

[7by7]

VFS staff play no part in the decision making process and so any estimates of processing times made by them cannot be relied upon.

Besides, you say in your OP

was told by vfs staff i would wait no longer than 15 days

yet now you say they told you

the decision would be with us by 15th july

Maybe the delay is because the application contained similar contradictions?

[VisasPlus]

There is no published service standard for the issue of EEA family permits. The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 say :

12(4) An EEA family permit issued under this regulation shall be issued free of charge and as soon as possible.

I would say that 15 days is too long ( if that is what you were actually told) as general visit visas are issued quicker than that. Perhaps there is a problem with your application ?

[scorpio]

What happens in the event when you go home on 25th july and when you are back in uk the embassy tells you to come collect your passport? refused or not. Can embassy not give your decision by email instead of getting people to go all the way to bangkok again to collect the passports and decision?

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[ThaiVisaExpress]

What happens in the event when you go home on 25th july and when you are back in uk the embassy tells you to come collect your passport? refused or not. Can embassy not give your decision by email instead of getting people to go all the way to bangkok again to collect the passports and decision?

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

I wish they would giver you answer via email/text but they wont.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

There is no published service standard for the issue of EEA family permits. The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 say :

12(4) An EEA family permit issued under this regulation shall be issued free of charge and as soon as possible.

I would say that 15 days is too long ( if that is what you were actually told) as general visit visas are issued quicker than that. Perhaps there is a problem with your application ?

As you know Tony I complained to the UK/BA on several occasions about processing times for EEA permits, I think they can turn these around in 5 working days quite easily.

[7by7]

What happens in the event when you go home on 25th july and when you are back in uk the embassy tells you to come collect your passport? refused or not. Can embassy not give your decision by email instead of getting people to go all the way to bangkok again to collect the passports and decision?

The embassy don't keep the sponsor's passport.

They usually want a copy, but wont keep the original. If they did then you would not be able to go home as you need it to both leave Thailand and enter your destination country.

They are also, of course, well aware of the Thai law requiring foreigners to produce their passport to the police on demand.

They do keep the applicant's passport, which they need to enter the appropriate visa into. The applicant, of course, cannot enter the UK until and unless they have been granted the visa or entry permit.

There is a facility to have the passport and returned documents couriered back to the applicant, negating the need to return to Bangkok to collect them. This should be arranged when submitting the application.

The UKBA say that they wont email or text etc. the result of an application as it is confidential between the applicant and them and that emails or texts could be opened and read by a third party.

But so could an envelop[e containing the passport!

[bangkockney]

What happens in the event when you go home on 25th july and when you are back in uk the embassy tells you to come collect your passport? refused or not. Can embassy not give your decision by email instead of getting people to go all the way to bangkok again to collect the passports and decision?

The embassy don't keep the sponsor's passport.

They usually want a copy, but wont keep the original. If they did then you would not be able to go home as you need it to both leave Thailand and enter your destination country.

They are also, of course, well aware of the Thai law requiring foreigners to produce their passport to the police on demand.

They do keep the applicant's passport, which they need to enter the appropriate visa into. The applicant, of course, cannot enter the UK until and unless they have been granted the visa or entry permit.

There is a facility to have the passport and returned documents couriered back to the applicant, negating the need to return to Bangkok to collect them. This should be arranged when submitting the application.

The UKBA say that they wont email or text etc. the result of an application as it is confidential between the applicant and them and that emails or texts could be opened and read by a third party.

But so could an envelop[e containing the passport!

Yes but around the world it's a criminal offence to open mail addressed to someone else and act maliciously.

There is no such protection if you leave your mobile on the table or email open (or indeed opened post).