Motola

Hi, my wife and I just got married, she is Mexican and I am british, and we plan to move back to the UK as I have a job offer there. We applied for the visa very late with only 15 days before we went, which was the best idea, but we had only just got married, and were waiting for that.

The visa people require that they take my wife's passport, which means that she won't even be able to travel as a tourist.

Does anyone have any experience with settlement visas in the UK, on processing times etc, they give a generic 60 working days email and you can't ask specifically in regards to your case, so it's hard to plan.

Also, does anyone know if you can retrieve her passport while they are processing her application so she can travel as a tourist. It seems strange that they can keep it for 3 months, what if she had business trips, or there was a family emergency or something?

Thanks for reading

M

missot

Hi...

I am British and recently married my Canadian husband. We applied to the British embassy in Canada and it took just 15 days from sending the passport and documents to receiving it back, complete with a 2 year open visa. And, that was over the Christmas period!

The waiting was very stressful as he had an interview lined up in the UK and we weren't sure whether he would be able to go. As far as I know, there is no way to retrieve the passport once it's sent.

I wish you the best of luck and will keep my fingers crossed that passport complete with visa comes back quickly :-)

cathy22w

I know people who have just done it.... I think generally it takes 2 weeks. The expedited route takes 2 days, apparently.

You might get some information on www.uk-yankee.com - that's a forum for immigrants to the UK.

Motola

Thanks. I hope it comes that quickly. It is very nerve racking. I hope it comes earlier to be honest but it's the not knowing anything that is the most difficult thing to plan for.

Thanks again to all

Tom

Tr1boy

Ours (in Oz) took 2-3wks but that was after biometrics etc, which I assume you have done? I can't see a way around the passport issue. You don't need to send yours though as a notarised copy will suffice (I did this as I traveled for work).

Patzy

As somebody else stated with a straightforward application it is normally approved in 48 hours using an expediter.

My OH did his biometrics on a Monday, sent the paperwork that afternoon to the expediter, passport and visa were back in his hand by Friday of the same week.

Motola

Pardon my ignorance but what is an expediter? We have already sent off the application is it too late for us to do this now? Any specific info on this method would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much for your replies.

UrsTX

An expediter can help you get your visa more quqickly - they hand deliver them .. I have heard of people calling an expediter who then intercepts the visa and gets it through the embassy more quickly. You'll have to look for the expediters in Mexico online.

In the US if you apply by mail it can sometimes take up to 3 months to get your visa - with an expediter then take less than a week usually. But you have to pay the expediter a fee. (about 150$ US here)

Expediters are authorized through the home office - so make sure that you check that before paying anyone. They are not qualified to give immigration advice though - just deliver the visa app.

Good Luck!

Motola

Right ok. Interesting. Our application arrived to the visa office 1 day after we had sent it, as it went through the embassey, so is it that this expediter doesn't just deliver it to the visa place really quickly but that they speed it through the visa process some how? Passing it to the relevant department one after the other putting it to the top of the pile or something?

The mexican visas are processed in New York actually, so I guess I would need an expediter from the U.S right?

Sorry for all the questions, you have been very helpful indeed.

Thanks.

UrsTX

Yes - the expedited applications are processed before the ones that are sent in the mail - I would assume the same about which to use- but I would call one to find out. There's a good list of recommended expediters on the www.uk-yankee.com forum for american expats - that might be a good place to start looking for one for New York.

Motola

Great. Thanks to everyone for there comments. I'll look into it.