timdavies

Hello everyone,

I've posted quite a lot here about the problems I've had with my wife's visa. It now looks like it maybe resolved soon (my MP found it had been incorrectly classified as non-priority), and therefore we are trying to work out future travel plans. We made the mistake of booking a holiday, leaving the UK in a few weeks (my wife and I are both in the USA until her visa is approved) and therefore want to get to the UK, and collect her biometric ID card as soon as possible.

Don't worry, we won't book more tickets until we have the visa!

This means we have two main questions.

1) When we get the passport back, will we immediately be able to travel to the UK? The planned date of UK entry listed in the application was the 15th of October, so I'm hoping the vignette will be dated from the approval day.

2) Is the biometric ID card available immediately for collection, or does it take days/weeks after the visa is approved?

Thanks for you help!

BritInParis

1) Yes

2) Immediately, in theory

timdavies

Ok thanks - do you know if anyone else can check if the biometric ID card is available for pickup? For example, can we call the post office to check if it is there? Or maybe a family member can go to check, as it is going to my hometown. I assume my wife will need to present her passport to collect it.

Having had a mess up in the visa approval process, you can tell we're paranoid about further complications!

BritInParis

No, she’ll need to go down in person with her passport after she arrives.

timdavies

Decision made on the 21st, and her passport arrived today (22nd) which was excellent, and the visa was approved. Unfortunately the vignette doesn't allow entry until the 25th of October, and the letter states the BRP is available from the 1st of November.

Of course this is very frustrating as the entry date listed in the application was the 15th of October. As mentioned above, we have travel plans on the 29th of October (which seemed to allow for so much extra time when we booked it!). Is there any way of expediting the BRP availability? We hoped it would be available within a week of the decision.

BritInParis

What are your travel dates?

timdavies

Decision email arrived yesterday (21st of Oct). Tickets booked to arrive back in the UK on the 25th of Oct. BRP pickup on the 1st Nov (according to the UKVI letter), but hoping to leave for a long vacation on the 29th of Oct.

Out MP contacted UKVI and they said they'll try to help speed it up.

BritInParis

When do you get back from your holiday?

timdavies

Not until mid-December. It seemed like a good idea to take a once in a lifetime holiday (when else do you and your partner quit your jobs and know you have 2.5 months until the new one starts!).

BritInParis

BRP pickup is the only way to go then. Best of luck.

timdavies

It just seems ridiculous. We contacted our MP (again) and he reached out to the Home Office (again). They said they'd try and help as they'd made the initial mistake, but no guarantees.