Another New "service" From Ukba ?

[Tony M]

Coming to an Embassy near you soon ?

Super priority visa service in Pretoria

07 January 2013

A new service will be launched on 14 January 2013 at the Pretoria visa application centre. Visa applicants will be able to pay extra to have their visa application processed in 24 hours.

[Tony M]

This is unbelievable. Settlement visa applicants are already waiting up to 12 weeks ( maybe more ) to get a decision here in Thailand, and the UKBA introduces yet another premium service ( in South Africa at the moment, but no doubt here soon). More "premium" applicants ( that is those who wish to pay a higher application fee ) will be dealt with as " super priority", in preference to settlement visa applicants. Settlement queues will presumably get even longer while ECOs deal with premium and super premium applicants. It really is a business, not a service any longer.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Tony M

[Kiggs]

We paid £800+ and its close to 12 weeks, Whats this 24hour visa going to cost 12 large!!!!! They need to concentrate on the shit they have going on now before they start this crap...........

Mornin all btw

[RabC]

Ever thought the people requiring the super fast visas may well be business men and its quite a good idea to get them to the UK to do business? Others however are of no financial benefit to the UK,with quite a few ending up as burdens, this is not directed at anyone just what I see as a true statement.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

They should offer this service for Settlement visa application perhaps a 20 working day service.

[7by7]

I do believe that, due to the tighter time requirements, visit applications should be prioritized over settlement ones.

I also believe that there should be provision for fast tracking an application in an emergency situation; serious illness or death of a family member for example.

However, I am totally against some applicant's being treated better simply because they can afford to pay more.

Another cynical money raising scheme by the government; Cameron and Clegg being as bad as Blair and Brown were in this regard.

You can bet any money you like that posts will not be employing extra staff to deal with these priority applications; which means even longer processing times for us mere mortals!

[Waterloo]

This is unbelievable. Settlement visa applicants are already waiting up to 12 weeks ( maybe more ) to get a decision here in Thailand, and the UKBA introduces yet another premium service ( in South Africa at the moment, but no doubt here soon). More "premium" applicants ( that is those who wish to pay a higher application fee ) will be dealt with as " super priority", in preference to settlement visa applicants. Settlement queues will presumably get even longer while ECOs deal with premium and super premium applicants. It really is a business, not a service any longer.

A business would not get away with charging what they charge measured against there performance figures.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Waterloo