Pipmeister

So I mailed of my Settlement Applications, via Priority Service on Friday and was very happy when I received two confirmation emails from them saying they had received them.

Only then to receive an email stating that for one application there was no Airbill attached? Are they for real? Every document was numbered and indexed on the front covered, I tripled checked and made sure that the Priority Service Receipt and the Airbill were the first two pages in the pack.

So mass panic to get a copy and email it. No response other that the generic email response.

Now today. After all the hoo-har two weeks ago with me being caught out having to pay for the surcharge, and for which I did pay, and have the email confirmations I now get emails from UK Immigration telling me I need to purchase the IHS... even though I clearly wrote the correct number they gave me on the front of both applications, as stated, and as checked by the ASC officer.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE. Any course there is no number you can call - apart from the $1.75/min help line who can't tell you anything about your application and whose advice has actually be wrong on two occasions I have called then.

I am really astonished at this level of gross incompetence by a UK government department office - yes I really am. I never had this issue with any US department when I moved here.

So I am guessing that has already held up my application process.... and I paid for the damn priority service as I need a decision within 3 weeks.

Jeez what next... what else are they going to say wasn't in the pack that actually was - by the way, I took photo copy of the entirety of each pack I sent, so I know I'm 100% sure of what was in there.

I really wish there was a phone number you could call to speak to someone and find out why they are having a hard time.

Pipmeister

$80. $80 to spend 45 minute on the phone with the company that UK Immigration outsources their 'Information Line" to - who was only able to spend that time taking down all my details, filling out a form and themselves sending it off as an escalation email to Sheffield with a response due within 5 days. And they confirmed our applications are ON HOLD.

I'm wondering if this is yet more evidence of yet another government IT project cock-up.

In order to pay for the Surcharge, you have to enter your GWF numbers. So their system should already have our applications marked as PAID.

If only you could actually speak to someone at the UK Immigration office.

And if I here one more bleeding heart in the UK going on about making Immigration tougher as an issue in the May General Election - I'm going to through something at them. THEY COULDN"T MAKE IT ANY HARDER!

alfista1

Feel for you Pipmeister.

I am here very tense now due to the IHS number disappearing even though worldpay have taken our money!! No clue what to do, who to call.

As per your comment below I hope this is the case. I asked my wife who did it from 8000 miles away and doesn't remember at all. She only remembers getting to the card details page. Then received the worldpay transaction complete with IHS. But no other email and now no IHS on her account. I don't want any issues in a few weeks either saying we haven't paid.
What a mess!!

alfista1

I wrote through this portal!
https://ukvi-international.faq-help.com/

Hope I get a sensible answer and confirmation of the IHS we paid for a week ago!

Pipmeister

Fingers crossed for you.

Like BritParis said - I bet they are having teething issues with a new IT system,

alfista1

Praying! Been working up to this moment for the last 9 months! Now this is the last thing we need. They lose our IHS number, the account says we haven't paid but then we have the confirmation from worldpay that we have paid them.

I wrote to worldpay also.

Thought I would be having a scotch to celebrate the 1 step towards the visa tonight. Instead my blood pressure is rising and I feel helpless.

Hope it turns out ok quickly for you.

Pipmeister

I hear you!!! That's how I felt all day yesterday until I got the apology email this morning,

And to think, if I had gotten off my backside over Easter break I could have avoided all of this because I wouldn't have had the IHS need in the first place.

Seems like they have IT issues so I would think they have a few management types aware of the situation.

The key thing is you have the receipt that you paid. That is the most important thing.

What befuddles me is that you can't even start the IHS process without first supplying your GWF application number
So it sounds like to me these are actually two discrete systems that are supposed to share a linked table of data... And it's not working,

NiHao

Sorry you are both having these issues, it sounds beyond frustrating! It's all so stressful. Fingers crossed for you that they get there "system" sorted quickly.

alfista1

Yes the most worrying part of the loss of our IHS number. That's a real mess up!!

By any chance do you have the email address they wrote to you from?
Can I use that to write to them?
Thanks

n.b. yes at least we have the worldpay and also bank statement of the IMM surcharge. Shame we didn't send that but my wife in a panic at the time in Argentina when she saw the IHS disappear when she logged in. wasn't thinking straight.

Pipmeister

The email address, I think, is the generic -do-not-reply-to-this-email-address

Pipmeister

Have you replied to the email you got from Them saying you hadn't paid?

The one I got had a specific email to respond to

Pipmeister

[email protected]

alfista1

Thank you!.

Email just sent with all prove we paid.
Fingers crossed.

alfista1

I have to thank you very much Pipmeister for this email.

I sent them proof we had paid and they responded with an hour stating that all was ok, they had it in their systems and the visa application will go ahead.



Time for a bottle of Shiraz!

Pipmeister

Aww, that's wonderful news for you. It really does seem to be that they just hadn't "user acceptanced" their folks.

Which is ironic - as I make a living helping organizations all over the globe improve the business value from their IT based on Best Practices frameworks developed by... wait for it.... The UK Government!!!! That's right.. The UK Government pumped a lot of money into discovering how "leading/respected" organizations do this properly with IT projects and then published it.

Seems like every other organization is getting the benefits of this work except for the Tax Payer in government projects.

Oh the irony.

Well I hope your application fares better than mine has.

And I hope that is Argentinian Shiraz you are drinking!