Rusty Chainsaw

Well, we've been married for 6 years, so we showed them our son's passport.

There was a lot of paperwork, but there's plenty of guides online to everything you need to send them. Since the money requirements are somewhat arbitrary, we were a little worried we might not have enough savings. As it turned out, we must have had enough.

kwazywabbit

Thats too funny!
Thats good to know, good luck with everything.

just_jenn

Wow, super fast issuing! Do you mind me asking, did you use priority service or just regular? DH is having his biometrics on Monday and will be sending all the supporting docs on Thursday (USA though)...hoping for a fast issuance too as I won't be able to relax to until he has visa in hand!

Paws3

So..... with a ILR you don't have this 3 month window in which you must move to the UK?
Confused in Canada

Rusty Chainsaw

No - you've got up to 2 years to use it.

just_jenn - Yes, we used the priority service. It was an extra $300, but it was worth it.

Paws3

Sorry to be so dumb, but just to be clear...
You filled in the on-line form, they told you to get the biometrics done...Then you sent paperwork (passports etc) to the New York office and they approved the visa?
Did you need a letter from the bank to prove your $$$ or did statements do?

bigals

Glad things went well for you guys,I on the other hand just can not get things done smoothly.I have a job in the UK when I arrive 32000 pounds my sister is letting us stay with her in her rented house we provided this info ,and we get an email asking for my current pay stubs from the job in UK (im not there yet and told them that) and they want a copy of my sisters deeds ,on a house she does not own ,,,,,,WHY OH WHY do I get the person who can not read my application correctly

englishguygoinghome

Feel for you bigals. I know the heartache and stress the ukba can cause. You thought about sending a copy of your contract and her rental agreement in response?

bigals

I have both coming asap and then straight to them ,and hope thats all the crap over with

sydneyladybird

reading this with a mix of hope and fear..

I"m english and we have 2 girls (1 and 4) born in Oz but just received UK passports too. We are about to head to London until December, wanting to spend some time nearer family and old friends before eldest starts 'big school'

My aussie husband sent his application for settlement visa off on 30 March, had done the biometrics a couple of weeks earlier and the online application had timed out a couple of times while we sought further info to complete it. we weren't too worried as the recommendation was not to apply more than 12 weeks before travel.

However we are now due to leave in just over 2 weeks and no sign of the visa nor any indication of processing status. revisiting the website they actually quote 12 weeks as standard - how can they combine both these?

I realise (now) we should have got the application in earlier but thats done now.

we are 'not allowed' to contact them during these 12 weeks - i rang last week (at $3.60/minute) to be told they can't tell me anything. He emailed them to ask what he can do and they said the same.

If we were to get further and ask for his passport back so we can leave the country then work it out, they will cancel the application (which cost over $1200) and then have to start all over again.

We have a booked trip to Japan on our way over, have removals booked and lease signed with tenants for our house. He is due to leave work in just over a week. I don't feel up to facing Japan alone with luggage a double pram and 2 kids plus jetlag.

desperately hoping we get it this week, i don't suppose anyone has any further tips on what we can do?

will post a separate posting in the forum about this for more views..

thanks

englishguygoinghome

Hi LadyBird,

My experience of the extortionate-rate call lines is similar - they can't tell you anything because they don't know anything and are incompetent (we were told the same by various consulate employees too).

What has always worked amazingly well for us is to phone the consulate yourself, tell them you are a British citizen and need to talk to someone in the visa section (explaining the reasons). We have ALWAYS found that the consulate have been extremely helpful and competent (and often just as frustrated as we were with the outsourced application processors)

(examples: flying back for a funeral - New Zealand HC (we were on holiday at the time) called us back on a bank holiday to help arrange how to get a visa; for the same funeral - Geneva agreed to expedite the processing and call me when it was done to see if I wanted to pick it up in person or have it posted back; once we had won our appeal - the head of appeals processing called us back a few times to make sure we had sent in all the details and guide us through the process)

What have you got to lose?

sydneyladybird

how long did that process take for you?

I did call the consul last week but she just tried to put me through to her colleague in biometrics, who didn't answer - but i know my husband said she basically did nothing except take his fingerprints so i wouldn't expect that much from her. then they gave me the 1902 extortion line which got me nowhere..

mm04ze

I got my Visa in 4 days as well! Submitted it with all my documents and biometrics in Toronto on a Monday in April, paid the $300 for premium processing (I would absoutely reccommend this to everyone as a decision is made within 15 days as opposed to a few months, it lessens the stress and worry of the wait).
I recieved an e-mail the next day from the consulate in NY saying they received my documents, and the very next day an e-mail saying my Visa was issued and was on its way back to me! So naturally I was looking out the window like a crazy person the whole next day waiting for the DHL delivery man to bring me my package.

Words of advice- send in as much documentation as you can. If you think you've got enough, add something else! Don't worry about it being "over-kill", you can never have enough evidence.
Be organized. The more organised and user friendly your supporting documents are to review, the easier it will be for the immigration officer to make a decision.
Follow instructions carefully to alleviate any possible delays or denials. Give them exactly what they want- ie. correct passport photo, original documents and not photocopies, etc.
Expedite your application! The $300 was more than worth it. You'll have your Visa back to you within a few weeks and can rest at ease and start planning your next life steps.

nataliemclean

Congrats for those who got speedy responses. We are about to take on the waiting game here in Australia, biometrics done today & now to courier docs. Sydneyladybird I so feel for you such a tough situation & to be honest things are so slow over here being processed, we are affected by the mountains of working holiday visa applications they get. Would be interesting if we could find anyone over here who has recently processed an application via Sydney/Manilla. I know another poster thinks it roaringmouse got it done in 3 weeks but if I can remember correctly that was the end of last year. Please keep us posted on how you get on?