uk visa - why such long waiting times

[silentnine]

Hi all.

a UK tourist visa takes a few weeks.

settlement & long term visa take 6 monhts +

the paperwork the applicant & sponsor have to supply is nearly the same.

so why such a huge difference it times.

do they just leave it on the side longer ?

do they send the paperwork to the home office in the UK on settlement applications ?

from a process of decision making does anyone know the difference ?

[David48]

I know this doesn't help you but the Australian Government quotes circa 10 months for their equivalent Visa.

... and the cost is $4,500 if you apply in Australia ... ... $3,100 if applied for in Thailand.

[7by7]

Silentnine; processing a UK settlement visa does not take 6 months plus.

From Guide to processing times

We have service standards for processing UK visa applications. The standards below relate only to applications made at our visa application centres overseas and not to in-country leave to remain or settlement applications. Our standards say that we will process:

• 90 per cent of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98 per cent within 6 weeks and 100 per cent within 12 weeks of the application date;
• and 95 per cent of settlement applications within 12 weeks of the application date and 100 per cent within 24 weeks of the application date.

Please note that we define 1 week as 5 working days.

Using the tool on that page you will see that the processing times for settlement applications decided in November in Bangkok were:

• 91% within 60 days
• 98% within 90 days
• 100% within 120 days.

Applications are processed in post, but some applications do take longer than others to be processed, usually due to the ECO having, or choosing, to obtain further information; sometimes from agencies in the UK. In very rare circumstances an application will need to be referred to the UK for a decision.

Obviously, applicants for non settlement visas usually have time constraints upon them which settlement applicants don't have. Also, they receive far more non settlement applications than settlement ones. So I believe that although applications are processed on a 'first come, first served' basis, non settlement applications do have more staff working on them than settlement ones.

Also, the paperwork for a visit application and a settlement one is not 'nearly the same.' Settlement applicants do have to provide a lot more evidence, particularly on finances, than non settlement ones.

I make no comment on the rights and wrongs of this; but to be fair to UKVI all the information provided does warn settlement applicants to allow at least 12 weeks for their application to be processed. A target they hit in Bangkok on average for 90% of applicants.

[durhamboy]

What 7by7 says is basically correct. Nevertheless the OP's point is still valid. Settlement visa application decisions take too long. In my own case my wife's settlement visa decision took exactly 3 months - funny that they pulled their finger out at the last minute to keep to the 3 month target. Our application, in my opinion, was relatively simple with everything documented and referenced as clearly as possible. It would have taken an ECO about 30 minutes especially as virtually everything is now a "tick box" exercise. Also I think that some other UK embassies in other countries make decisions a lot quicker.

I don't really accept 7by7's statement that settlement visa applications don't have time constraints. Taking months to make a decision surely means in many cases that the partners have to live apart.

So the OP's question remains - why? I don't know for sure but I think that despite UKVI charging an extortionate amount for a settlement visa they do not put enough resources into the decision making process. 7by7 seems to be suggesting that some ECOs work exclusively on non-settlement visas whilst other ECOs work exclusively on settlement visas. Frankly I would doubt this - I think they would work on both and they are given priorities and targets. It would seem that they are told to process visit visa applications over settlement visas. The cynic in me would suggest that visit visas generate income for the UK - tourism, student fees etc. whilst settlement visas don't!!!!!!!

By the way, when UKVI say that they process 91% in 60 days then it is easy to think that that is 2 months. I don't think it is - its 60 working days with 5 working days in a week less public holidays (of which Thailand has a lot). Net result is that in elapsed time it is over 3 months. I also believe that (as in the case of my wife) the vast majority of the decisions are made in the last couple of days of the time frame i.e. between day 58 and 60.

[7by7]

I am not looking to make excuses for UKVI nor the ECOs in Bangkok, and am on record for being highly critical of both where I consider such criticism deserved.

But I am going to play devil's advocate.

From the link above, you can see that there were a total of 4079 decisions made in November 2013.

The embassy was not closed for any public holidays, Thai or British, so there were 22 working days in November 2013.

That's an average of 185.4 decisions made per day.

I think it's safe to assume ECOs work 9 to 5 with a one hour lunch break, so that's 7 hours per day.

Which means an average of 26.5 decisions per hour.

I have no idea how many ECOs are employed in Bangkok. But I recall being told some time ago by an ex member here who used to be an ECO that each application takes, on average, 18 minutes to process; including the paperwork afterward, i.e. issuing the visa or writing the refusal notice. Obviously, some will take longer than the average, but some will take less time.

If that is still the case then each ECO, on average, can process 3.3 applications per hour.

I agree that it is not ideal for sponsor and applicant in a settlement application to have to suffer separation for up to three months while the application is processed; been there, done that

But I can see why non settlement applications are given priority over settlement ones.

The decision to move to the UK with one's British partner is not, or should not be, taken lightly. Unlike a holiday or even a student or worker, the applicant is moving to the UK for the long term. Looking back over the 13 plus years since they applied, the wait for my wife and step daughter's visas now seems like nothing.

Also, if sponsor and applicant have, as they should, researched properly then they will know that they are in for a wait of between 12 and 24 weeks, although at quieter times this can be shorter. To be frank, having been told that it's going to probably take that time, one has no cause for complaint unless it takes longer.

If one has read the information provided by UKVI properly, then one will know that 60 days means 60 working days, i.e. 12 weeks.

Given the workload, the only way to bring processing times down would be to employ more ECOs. Given the high fee charged, this may seem reasonable to you and I, but would the average British tax payer think so?

In the present climate, I doubt it.

[durhamboy]

7by7 - I think you make some good points and it is an interesting analysis. If we look at the figures a little more closely we can see that there were 2,690 general visit visa applications of which 98% (2,636) were decided on with 2 weeks. There were only 118 settlement visa applications of which none were decided within 8 weeks!

Whilst I agree that applying for settlement is a big, life-changing decision I don't think that UKVI are providing any sort of silent counselling by delaying decisions!

So maybe it is not more ECOs that are needed but a slight change in emphasis and priorities.

[7by7]

To be fair, they say that 95% of settlement applications should be decided within 12 weeks, and 100% within 24 weeks.

They did, in Bangkok at least, hit that target for decisions made in November.

Unfortunately, I cannot find figures for previous months; but it will be interesting to compare December's when they are published (surely they should have been by now!)

[durhamboy]

Yes they may have hit their targets but are they not self-imposed targets? i.e. not calculated by a third party as being a reasonable turn around time. Does anyone really think that 12 weeks is a good service for settlement decisions especially given that virtually everything is "tick box"? Just about the only thing an ECO has to decide is whether the relationship is genuine.

I agree December figures should be out now....could be a problematic month bearing in mind the number of public holidays and ECO leave!

[7by7]

I don't know if the target is set by UKVI, the Home Office or parliament. But remember, it is a target for the maximum time. Apply at a quiet time and it can be a lot shorter.

Indeed, not that long ago a member posted that his wife received her settlement visa after just two days (you'll have to believe me on that, I can't find the post).

The UK actually has one of the shortest processing time for this type of visa among comparable countries. David48 has already said in this topic that for Australia it can take circa 10 months and for the US it takes 6 to 18 months (click on first question).

The shortest I can find is Ireland, and even for there the Bangkok consulate says it takes at least 6 to 8 weeks for any type of visa.

I have already given my views on processing times, and you have given yours; I see no point in us arguing round in circles and suggest that we agree to disagree.

I do agree that in an ideal world visas either wouldn't be necessary, or at worst a formality and issued immediately. Unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world.