a223chu

Hi All I am new to this forum and I find that this is informative, see if anyone has experience with this.

Recently my fiancee has submitted her settlement visa (in Hong Kong) in the first week of Feb (and unfortunately did not fast track it) and as many people would expect, we are still waiting for the result from home office. We got our venue booked in early May the pressure is on now as the council is waiting for her visa for the notice and although they have been very flexible and may accept scanned copy to get the process started, we are very worried that if she can get the visa in the coming two weeks or any surprises (like missing some silly information in the submission). Obviously, there is no way to speed up at this stage, or even getting a little bit more update apart from being told that the application is with them but not being touched yet.

I am wondering if any similar cases who were submitted recently and wondering the current turnaround time. I understood there are figures online but I reckon those include the fast track cases so they are not that accurate. Thanks.

BritInParis

I don't think we have any recent Hong Kong applicants. The published processing times do include priority applications but given that 81% are processed within 15 working days I would suggest that your fiancee should be receiving an answer very shortly.

a223chu

Thanks BritInParis, that 15 working days I read somewhere that is the number of days for non-settlement visa, and the fiancee visa that we are after is a settlement visa which I am not sure if that would take up a bit longer time to process. In fact, I do not know how their system works but I believe that what she has submitted should have satisfied all the requirements for her entry, if one of the ECOs is going to read her application, it wont take long to make that decision, I hope...

There is one change on my side however, i have also clearly mentioned that in my letter which is part of the submitted document, at the time of applications i was at another address so all of my docs associated with that address, and at the point of submission I was a week away to move to another address, I have also provided the new address and the rent contract of my new home, and floor plan etc... in case I need to be contacted and use that as the reference of my fiancee's future home. I wonder if any sponsor of settlement visa been contacted by post / phone / email for verification / clarification on their current status in UK at all? I hope that they are not trying to post me something to my old address for this purpose...

It is just all the wait and stresses with the clock ticking, it is a torture.

But thanks a lot for your comment and hopefully once she's got her visa, I can share more about the timeline.

Also if there is anyone who has recently done the similar application particularly in Hong Kong, kindly share your experience.

BritInParis

15 working days is for settlement visas.

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoff...sas/settlement

You are correct on your second point; once the application lands on an ECO's desk it'll take him or her an hour or so to come to a decision. It's just a matter of waiting your turn to be assessed.

They won't be contacting you by post to clarify anything.

a223chu

Are these visas actually being processed in UK (like they physically ship all documents to UK office) or outsourced to their regional offices?

BritInParis

I think Hong Kong applications are processed in Manila.

a223chu

2 weeks gone with no news. Have both emailed and called the VISA centre, the last attempt I called in and spoke on behalf of my fiancee, by calling the UK visa office and surprised that I can enquire on behalf of her. Explained our situation and he said the only thing he could have done is to escalate this application, then the next morning I got a standard template email that basically just the similar template that we normally receive when we enquire, except a few wordings that look different, in short they cannot guarantee anything, not even mention about the escalation which I believe they just dont want their applicants to reference to anything they black and white on email for further actions.

It feels like we are still far away from the decision maker...

Nankay

Hi all,
I am married to UK citizen and we have applied to settlement visa on the 3rd of November of 2016 ...it's around 20 weeks and still no desicion made...this satuation is really stressful.
We have done all the appropriate documents. .please any advice?

BritInParis

Not necessarily. Yours could be first on the ECO's desk on Monday morning. It just depends on how busy they are currently. 81% of Hong Kong settlement applications are processed within 15 working days so three weeks so if you lodged two weeks I would be waiting until at least the end of next week before expecting any decision.

Where did you lodge your application?

Nankay

I have appllied in beirut - lebanon but they told me they send the file to the british embassy in jordan ...

BritInParis

A 20 week wait is unusual. Here are the processing times for November 2016:

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoff...sas/settlement

a223chu

Hopefully, I am feeling pleased that local council is being so flexible on their side and they can literally see the real VISA just days before the wedding day, but still, without any confirmation, we are running into many risks.

Nankay

Its really weird ... i wish they tell me the reason for this delay .. i guess if we have any mistakes in the documents they would refuse it long time ago ..how can i contact them?

a223chu

After the escalation, got an email from their deferrals team asking for more details of my employment.. excited for 10 mins then back to the waiting queue again...

BritInParis

At least that means your application has been assessed. A decision will be imminent once you have provided what has been asked for.