mattthefat

Biometrics taken and application received in Sheffield via scanning on 24 April. And it was submitted priority. Wife (Brit), daughter and I (Aussie) were supposed to travel together. We did everything right to fly out on 18 July, used a reputable OISC registered migration agent, paid the exobortant priority fee etc. So all in, paid just under AUD$10,000 to make sure everything was ready before we left. Funny thing was the migration agent thought we could save our pennies on the priority fee as we were so well organised and ready as soon as the date was up.

Now have wife and job waiting on the other side of the world, and daughter and I crashing in spare room at parents. Plenty to give thanks for that we have some safety nets and contingency to land on, but really didn't want to use our 9 lives before we even get into the UK!

Did they actually tell you your application was on hold? That's pretty poor that your MP isn't coming up with the goods either.

Thankfully, I know mine is now with an ECO for assessment through the MP's questioning. Wife lives in a pretty heavy migrant population area in west London. Certainly nothing coming from UKVI directly.

At least every day I get up and have a smiling 7 year old face staring back at me, and I have the excitement of just maybe today this weight is lifted. After that falls through, I try and smack the s4!t out of Plan B. Today, I sat on the back patio after helping Dad cut a load of firewood drinking beer and smiling at the fact that a bad day on forced holiday beats a good day at work

But get really ticked off at a government organisation that has "CUSTOMER EXCELLENCE" painted all over itself, and doesn't come up with the goods.

Inselaffen

suppose its no comfort that the waiting time is still far shorter than going the other way. Have friends where the wife is stuck waiting for her visa for OZ. understand that's normally at least 14 months processing time!

MA17

Hi Matthefat
Almost same date biometric 26th April from France. Have they asked for more documents mid stream then they a not straightforward email 2 seconds after the 1st one. The funny thing they gave me 5 days to send decree absolute and i am still waiting knowing that the file is under consideration from my MP. Hope we all hear some good news soon.

garyede

Difficult to say, maybe some bod has realised that you should have had your docs returned earlier, maybe found them in a dark room so is expediting them now, or, alternatively they are preparing your papers for an ECO to look at.

london_2005

as I know - when they return the documents, it means processing is completed and a decision is made - this is also confirmed by the call centre and the solicitor - is this not correct then ?

being a bit more optimistic; i was thinking; it takes time for call centre and TLS systems to be updated on the final status and it will be reflected on the systems soon ?

garyede

Well from my experience of reading the forum over the last few months the procedure is that supporting docs should be returned to the applicant/sponsor shortly after they have been delivered. But I stand to be corrected on this. Maybe the photocopies are kept. I haven't received my docs back. I agree with you that the TLS systems are probably behind the drag curve. However, I would be cautiously optimistic. Fingers crossed for you.

london_2005

oh yes, I saw that as well but i thought the procedure differs between countries

mattthefat

And more expensive. Back home, I had a tradesman help me out with landscaping our home. He was from Belfast, so doing the exact same move in reverse. To get to permanent residency and eventually citizenship cost him and his wife AUD$90,000 all in. We probably won't extend our visa as we're essentially doing an extended working holiday. But if we did go all the way with my agents helping at each step, I'm probably looking closer to under AUD$25-30K.

Back 230 years ago, they were sending them over for free on the First Fleet

But then again, people have been emigrating to Britain since the Romans, and they still can't get it figured out today. Maybe that's the solution...I need to invade. I'm sure I left my Viking horde lying around here somewhere.

garyede

Well that would explain things, however lets just hope that your docs are processed and they are just waiting to update their systems etc.

mattthefat

No requests for documents or anything. Complete radio silence except for responding to my complaints and whingeing. If I were listening to me in Sheffield or wherever the UKVI Contact Centre staff are, I'd give me a visa just to shut me the hell up! I'm told Aussies are the worst complainers over in the UK (which is always believed to be the reverse back here) because we're always complaining about the weather, or the beaches) so just doing my best to keep that Aussie complainer reputation alive

KernowIan

Hi Gary, none of our docs have been returned. Case with our MP. Waiting....OUT!

Wife biometrics Bangkok 25 April.

This is turning into a disaster. Just about to lose my job as I cant keep to the shift pattern without my wife here to look after our son.

j4v3d

It's an absolute disgrace the system at the moment, so many people are going through hardships and with this on top, life is unbearable, they need to make this process alot more easier for both the applicant and themselves. Hope you hear back soon and something can be sorted out at work. Last thing you need is losing you're job.

london_2005

just talked to the solicitor and TLS again; they don't say returning the documents means a decision is made but they say typically this is a sign that we are getting to the end of the process and the solicitor also added that they typically received the passports within 7-10 days after the documents are returned

j4v3d

My wife's application was submitted online and paper documents sent yesterday, they would have got them today, he said after a week or so they will send back the paper work and he'll give me a call, it doesn't mean that they are at the end of the application, if that was the case then we'd have seen a flurry of decisions made. But let's hope you are right, so many people have waited long enough!

i wish i hit good luck and get a reply back within the week, but within a month would be pretty awesome too! I've gone non-priority - paying priority wasn't worth it for me personally.

london_2005

which country did you apply from ?