British Government Visa rant (Update)

[thaimite]

Any progress with your wife's application, thaimite?

No newa ytt\yet.

I was unable to take advantage of the accelerated processing as this is a first visa application.

The 15 working days is abnother week

The so called web traking address points to a premium rate phone number that will do doubt tell me it is "in progress"

[thaimite]

Further update.

Today I received an email from the customer abuse centre of the Visa application office that told me that a decision had been made on my wife's visa application, but helpfully declined to advise me what that derision was.

As the wedding is on Saturday I decided top call their no-help desk at the extortionate rate of 1,50GBP a minute only to be told their records are not of the live data and as far as they were concerned no decision had been made.

so after 10 minutes on the phone to a very helpful but uniformed lady I am no better off just 15 quid poorer.

The only good news in the whole saga is that as my daughter is an air hostess she can get us last minute cheap tickets to LHR with her airline so hopefully IF we do get a visa we can leave quickly.

[7by7]

Visa decisions are considered confidential; rightly so, in my opinion.

They will not tell anyone the outcome in an email or over the phone.

Maybe you should find things like this out before posting attempts at humour?

[thaimite]

Visa decisions are considered confidential; rightly so, in my opinion.

They will not tell anyone the outcome in an email or over the phone.

Maybe you should find things like this out before posting attempts at humour?

With all due respect that is a rubbish excuse that does not bear up to scrutiny. .

What is the point of sending an email to the nominated email address given on the form that does not actually impart any useful information. To be told the decision has been made but not to provide that decision is useless and serves no benefit to any party other than to the visa processing firm who can state applicants were notified within 3 weeks that a decision had been reached. It does not help the applicant in the slightest.

In addition, the helpful lady who dealt with my phone seemed fully prepared to give me the requested information if it had been available. The fact that her records are not up to date is not her fault.

So in the end I retract nothing I have said about the service. It is inefficient lacks any focus on customer satisfaction and if was open to competition I am sure it would not last long/

[The Fat Controller]

For the last 10 years at least, the applicant will only know the outcome when they open the package of returned documents.

The previous system had an online tracking option but that only told of where the application was in the system and never the final outcome.

VFS just do what they are contracted to do, albeit with a few issues, but do not blame them for not being able to tell you the outcome, they are simply not able to do it as all packages are sealed when they come back to them from the decision makers.

[theoldgit]

Whilst I sort of understand your frustration, the UKVI are bound by data protection laws so it would be against the law for them to divulge information over the phone, I'm sure you have encountered things like this before.

I agree with 7by7 that it's right that the information was not divulged to you, you are not the applicant, you're a third party.

The sending of the email was an automated part of the process.

Likewise VFS wouldn't know the result as they just receive the envelope containing the passport with hopefully a visa vignette attached.

[7by7]

Thaimite,

The information given in the email is that a decision has been made and the applicant's passport is ready for collection or forwarding; depending on the option chosen at the time of the application.

How useful this is is open to debate; but it does let applicants know when their application has been processed; not by a 'visa processing firm' but by UKVI, an agency of the Home Office.

If the woman you spoke to was willing to give you the result of the application over the phone, had it been available to her, she shouldn't have been.

Of course, had you got her application right in the first place, she would have received her visa at the first attempt and you would not be having this rant!

[jimn]

Visa decisions are considered confidential; rightly so, in my opinion.

They will not tell anyone the outcome in an email or over the phone.

Maybe you should find things like this out before posting attempts at humour?

With all due respect that is a rubbish excuse that does not bear up to scrutiny. .

What is the point of sending an email to the nominated email address given on the form that does not actually impart any useful information. To be told the decision has been made but not to provide that decision is useless and serves no benefit to any party other than to the visa processing firm who can state applicants were notified within 3 weeks that a decision had been reached. It does not help the applicant in the slightest.

In addition, the helpful lady who dealt with my phone seemed fully prepared to give me the requested information if it had been available. The fact that her records are not up to date is not her fault.

So in the end I retract nothing I have said about the service. It is inefficient lacks any focus on customer satisfaction and if was open to competition I am sure it would not last long/

Thaimite, its got nothing to do with the records not being updated. The premium phone service and the slower e mail service, not sure if they still do e chat. These services have been outsourced by UKV1 to a separate company that handles UK visa enquiries across the world. As far as I know all they have is a screen to look at that tells them if the application is still in progress or ready for collection, nothing else. Its not their fault, not VFS fault, its a privacy decision taken to protect yours and mine interests. I hope you are successful.

added link to the information provided

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-international-enquiry-service-for-visa-applications

Edited July 7, 2014 by jimn

[thaimite]

You can appologise for this sevice all you like.

However my opinion remains.

It is unfriendly, lacks clear and concise information fraught with traps and does nothing to give confidence in a fair and honest visa application system.

I understand the need to be able to process and reject fraudulent applicants, but this service is not it.

Given the above I feel there is no further pint in discussing this system other.

Therefore my final words of advice to all applicants when dealing with this service (for want of a better word) is caveat emptor

[jimn]

You can appologise for this sevice all you like.

However my opinion remains.

It is unfriendly, lacks clear and concise information fraught with traps and does nothing to give confidence in a fair and honest visa application system.

I understand the need to be able to process and reject fraudulent applicants, but this service is not it.

Given the above I feel there is no further pint in discussing this system other.

Therefore my final words of advice to all applicants when dealing with this service (for want of a better word) is caveat emptor

I agree the service of giving updates is a waste of time. Tells you no more than the e mail. By the way its a Budha holiday this weekend. Closed Friday and possibly close early Friday, don't reopen until Monday 14th. Hopefully you will be in UK by then.

[7by7]

Therefore my final words of advice to all applicants when dealing with this service (for want of a better word) is caveat emptor

Had you learned from your experience, you advice would be "Check your supporting documents and make sure they actually have the right name on them!"

[thaimite]

So now you want to tell me my opinion

In this unhurriedly ambigous process conducted by various private companies on behalf of the British governement there is a lack of information, advice and transparancy and wehat there is is hidden in various ;locations which thew average applicant will not know about.

.

As a British citizen legally married to my wife for many years names on bank statemnst which were clearly identified in a covering letter should be a VERY minor consideration.

Caveat Emptor fits the bill

.

Believe nothing,Trust Nothing, Check Everything. and assume you are dealing with a bunch of morons who have no interest in a fiar service but just want to tick unnamed and known boxes. and you might succeed.

I am sure you will disagree with this but it is MY opinion and if you do not like it DILLIGAF

[7by7]

I am not defending the UKVI, immigration rules nor any individual ECO; my record shows that I am highly critical of all of them when such criticism is warranted.

But the above post shows a total ignorance of the whole process; a process which is conducted by an agency of the British government, the UKVI, not by any private companies.

A process which in Thailand has a success rate consistently around 95%.

Your arrogance, thaimite, prevents you from learning anything from your initial cock up, instead you simply blame others for your mistakes; which is your problem.

Hopefully, though, others reading this will have learned something from your experience; the 7 P principle.

You are right, though, when you say "check everything." Shame you didn't do so with her first application!

Edited July 7, 2014 by 7by7

[thaimite]

I am not defending the UKVI, immigration rules nor any individual ECO; my record shows that I am highly critical of all of them when such criticism is warranted.

But the above post shows a total ignorance of the whole process; a process which is conducted by an agency of the British government, the UKVI, not by any private companies.

A process which in Thailand has a success rate consistently around 95%.

Your arrogance, thaimite, prevents you from learning anything from your initial cock up, instead you simply blame others for your mistakes; which is your problem.

Hopefully, though, others reading this will have learned something from your experience; the 7 P principle.

You are right, though, when you say "check everything." Shame you didn't do so with her first application!

You continue to expound this position.

My opinion remains as stated above, and success of failure in the current application nor your making excuses on their behalf will change that. I understand you are well versed in this subject but most applicants are not and it is not right to except them to trawl the web and spend hours looking for hidden information when their only interest is a short family holiday.

I think it best for all if we agree to disagree on the subject.

Thank you for the advice given in previous posts but none of it should have been necessary if the whole process was more transparent and focused on providing a good service for all applicants with clear and comprehensive guidelines.

It is not as if my application was for anything out of the ordinary

I repeat. Caveat Emptor

Edited July 7, 2014 by thaimite

[durhamboy]

7 by 7 - as usual you are technically correct but your way of delivering your advice just rubs people up the wrong way - in this case Thaimite. It seems that you just want to keep criticising people for minor errors and not being as au fait with the rules and procedures that you are.

Perhaps you should take some heed of your own tag line from Lemmy.

[thaimite]

7 by 7 - as usual you are technically correct but your way of delivering your advice just rubs people up the wrong way - in this case Thaimite. It seems that you just want to keep criticising people for minor errors and not being as au fait with the rules and procedures that you are.

Perhaps you should take some heed of your own tag line from Lemmy.

I am not criticising people but the process.

And as for my tag line the drink is in hand as I write.

[theoldgit]

OK, maybe we can draw a line under this now and move on, the OP has already indicated that he has had his last say.

I will leave the thread open in case the OP wants to share the result of his wife's application.

[thaimite]

OK, maybe we can draw a line under this now and move on, the OP has already indicated that he has had his last say.

I will leave the thread open in case the OP wants to share the result of his wife's application.

Thank you

I think that is a wise decision, however I will not be posting again on this thread, and if somebody wants to know the result of the application they can PM me. Therefore please feel free to close it

Again I am thankful to all who have offered advice and sympathy to my rants and I hope the information contained .in this and the previous thread can help others understand just what sort of a bureaucratic process they are getting involved in no matter how straigt forward the application may seem to be.

.

[marstons]

I am not defending the UKVI, immigration rules nor any individual ECO; my record shows that I am highly critical of all of them when such criticism is warranted.

But the above post shows a total ignorance of the whole process; a process which is conducted by an agency of the British government, the UKVI, not by any private companies.

A process which in Thailand has a success rate consistently around 95%.

Your arrogance, thaimite, prevents you from learning anything from your initial cock up, instead you simply blame others for your mistakes; which is your problem.

Hopefully, though, others reading this will have learned something from your experience; the 7 P principle.

You are right, though, when you say "check everything." Shame you didn't do so with her first application!

Why waste your time, better off spending it with those who take on board your advice. I went from tourist to ILR over time, if people get things right, provide what's required and should be no hassle.

[jimn]

OK, maybe we can draw a line under this now and move on, the OP has already indicated that he has had his last say.

I will leave the thread open in case the OP wants to share the result of his wife's application.

Thank you

I think that is a wise decision, however I will not be posting again on this thread, and if somebody wants to know the result of the application they can PM me. Therefore please feel free to close it

Again I am thankful to all who have offered advice and sympathy to my rants and I hope the information contained .in this and the previous thread can help others understand just what sort of a bureaucratic process they are getting involved in no matter how straigt forward the application may seem to be.

.

Ok Thaimite, shame though was interested to see how you got on. Maybe you can start a new topic Update on British Government Visa rant (Update)