IHateVisas

My wife (Filipino citizen) applied for UK entry clearance on April 2nd 2013 from Australia.

Assuming the Manila processing hub received the application on Monday the 8th of April. So far it has been exactly 16 business days waiting on an outcome... we are both living and working currently in Australia on PR visas

I am slightly worried that we did not provide enough evidence to show our relationship is genuine!! I could be tripping out here but would love to know what people think and if my application below is strong enough?

we did not provide any pictures of our wedding day or any photos for that matter or emails, phone or Skype logs etc considering we live together!


Do u think i am getting worked up for no reason? Do u think the documents provide in the application will be sufficient?


Please see below a list of all documents provided

Visa application form filled out online.
Appendix 2 (VAF 4A November 2012) financial requirement form printed and completed
My current signed employment contract here in Australia dated in 2010 showing salary of 40k+ which meets the 18,600 financial income requirement for the past 6 months
Signed and stamped copies by the bank showing Electronic Bank Statements for joint account for the past 7 months that correspond with my salary payments for the past 7 months (extra month to be safe)
Pay slips for the past 7 months
Letter from employer clearly stating length of tenure, length of current salary, and employment status
End of year payment summary, tax statement for June 2012 by current employer showing all tax paid for 2011/2012 and yearly gross payment of 40k+
Copies of lease agreements showing my wife and I living at the same address for the past 2 years
Copy and original marriage certificate, produced in Manila Philippines, (written in English)
Original ILETS test certificate plus a certificated copy for English language requirement, dated April 2012 with average score of 8.0 above 7.0 in all categories
Letter from parents stating they own their own property in Bristol UK for 8 years, 3 bedroom house and willing to accommodate us when we move back to the UK together
Electricity, gas bill, plus another statement showing ownership of property from parents showing proof of UK address / accommodation.
Copy of my UK birth Certificate
2 copies of current passport photos for both myself and my wife
Certified copies of my wife’s passport
Copy of my British passport
Along with sending wife’s actual passport
Letter of confirmed job offer showing start date, gross annual salary, within 3 months of application date (May) with a basic salary of 23k which meets the 18,600 financial income requirement
Letter showing Australian permanent residence provided by the Australian government for my wife and I
Cover letter explaining why we are making the visa application and outlining the fact we have never attempted to or claimed access to any public funds inside of the UK or in Australia.
UK police check certificate for applicants spouse

Perth

I'm no expert but it looks pretty comprehensive to me. There's nothing you can do about now anyway but wait. So relax

pennylessinindia

It is early days yet:
Service standards
We have service standards for processing UK visa applications in Australia. Our standards say that we will process:

90 per cent of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98% within 6 weeks and 100% within 12 weeks of the application date; and
95 per cent of settlement applications within 12 weeks and 100% within 24 weeks of the application date.
Please note we define one week as 5 working days.

If you did not show enough evidence of your relationship, they may ask for more by giving you a call or at worse they refuse and you can appeal, but at this stage you can not do anything but wait

IHateVisas

Thanks

I hope its enough, (should have included pictures! damn it!)

Although im hoping considering all documents are in her married name and we were married 3 years ago that might count for something, and our last lease agreement was only signed 2 months ago.

anyhow the worry i have now is because im going through the salaried employment route, since we both live and work in Australia at the moment. When i move back to England next week to start work and IF the visa gets rejected i can only apeal since if we re-apply i asumme i would need to wait another 6 months with my new employer in the UK

So worried now to be honest, just praying it gets accepted first time around OR they request the photos

WEBlue

So it's been 4 and a half weeks or just under 25 working days since your wife applied? Remember that UKBA count only work days, that is (non-holiday) weekdays, in their predictions of how long the visa applications take to process.

Have you looked at this page and plugged your processing centre in--I presume--Canberra, Australia?
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...cessing-times/

When I do that, and am sent to the Canberra page, it says down at the bottom under 'Settlement Visas' that only 57% are processed in 40 working days, and 100% are finished in 60 working days.

So you may have some more time to wait, IHV. I think it's premature to worry yet.

IHateVisas

^ hey buddy, yup i have seen that

although the waiting time isnt really what im worried about, i mean since we applied on April 2nd i have been feeling sick and worried every day, i am leaving for England on Monday without my wife and these last few days have been really tough

My wife has been crying lots knowing i am leaving soon and we have no idea if the visa will be approved or not.

I am majorly paranoid now at the fact we did not include any photos in our application, although i feel we have most of the other bases covered i have almost convinced myself that the application will fail and its driving me insane with worry

Worst part is since we both live in Australia and we are applying through the salaried employment route as the job i have accepted in the UK starts next week im worried that what happens if it does get rejected? to re-apply would mean i would need to start all over again waiting for another 6 months to pass with my new employer in the UK since i have quit my job now here in Australia in preparation to move! and then start the application process all over again! meaning up to 1 year wait time.

The appeal process may be our only option if it fails and i have heard that can take up to one year long! If that's the case i wouldn't want to be away from my wife for that long - it would destroy her, i would need to move back to Australia

Feeling sick is an understatement

I pray that worst case scenario they attempt to contact us if any missing info is needed!

Does anyone know how they contact you? email or phone? and who do they contact the applicant or spouse?

WolfieThai

I dont think you need to panic yet. We have just submitted our application in Bangkok Thailand and have been advised that it can take upto 15 weeks to process the application. I'm sure other Embassy's have different waiting times, but i would expect them to be in the 8-15 week region.

englishguygoinghome

I feel for you. I know how stressful the waiting can be even when you aren't scheduled to move.

As for a "plan b" - I feel like a broken record but take the Singh route. It can be done. It can be done quickly, cheaply, and in any circumstances with a little forethought. Maybe start putting your nervous energy into researching exactly how you would do that so that you are ready to start on day 1 in case you get a "no". At least that will keep you occupied and make you feel like you are in control no matter what.