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UK Spouse/Settlement Visa


Guest MXP78

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Just thought I'd add in my details!

 

applied online: 28th October

Biometrics: 1st November (Posted application via platinum express that day)

email to comfirm application received: 4th November

approval email direct from ECO (mine was a bit of a complicated case, which I won't go into here) - 24th December (best Christmas present ever!)

email to say visa would be dispatched in 2 days: 4th Jan

Visa arrived! today, 6th Jan

 

I fly back home to my hubby tomorrow, so excited! :D

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Guest Rollergirl86
Just thought I'd add in my details!

 

applied online: 28th October

Biometrics: 1st November (Posted application via platinum express that day)

email to comfirm application received: 4th November

approval email direct from ECO (mine was a bit of a complicated case, which I won't go into here) - 24th December (best Christmas present ever!)

email to say visa would be dispatched in 2 days: 4th Jan

Visa arrived! today, 6th Jan

 

I fly back home to my hubby tomorrow, so excited! :D

 

thanks for adding your stats!! 37 working days is not too bad. I'm praying for a speedy application, I'm only on day 16 :(

 

All the best.

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thanks for adding your stats!! 37 working days is not too bad. I'm praying for a speedy application, I'm only on day 16 :(

 

All the best.

 

 

Thanks! I think it must be a 'good' time of year to apply, unlike the middle of the year, when it does seem to take the full 12 weeks.

:biggrin:

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Guest Rollergirl86

Stats for December are finally up. From 70% in October down to 9% for settlement applications processed in 30 days in Canberra. 11% for Wellington. Fml! November stats were skipped.

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Good to hear processing times are down compared to when I was first looking into relocating. My application was submitted on the 26th of November, got my confirmation email December 2nd. I guess I'll see something next month, given the Christmas and New Year period probably slows things down.

 

I'm Australian, as is my partner, but she holds dual citizenship via her mother; so we have the luxury of not finalising any plans until I get my Visa and don't have to send her ahead like many here.

 

It's been great to have all of the Visa and relocation experience on this forum; Ive hardly had to research anything from scratch!

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Guest Rollergirl86
Good to hear processing times are down compared to when I was first looking into relocating. My application was submitted on the 26th of November, got my confirmation email December 2nd. I guess I'll see something next month, given the Christmas and New Year period probably slows things down.

 

I'm Australian, as is my partner, but she holds dual citizenship via her mother; so we have the luxury of not finalising any plans until I get my Visa and don't have to send her ahead like many here.

 

It's been great to have all of the Visa and relocation experience on this forum; Ive hardly had to research anything from scratch!

 

Danny can you please let me know when you get your visa? My confirmation email was on the 6th December so I should hopefully get my visa shortly after you do. My partner is in England and we've been apart for 6 Months :(

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Guest lemondrop

Hi everyone...my husband has applied for a spouse visa for the UK. I'm british he is aussie. Me and the children are currently sitting in cold old england whilst he is holed up in melbourne waiting for the visa. Does the countdown start when the application/biometrics is recieived by the embassy (high commission canberra) or when they receive the supporting evidence which in our case arrived 5 days later? Is anyone else waiting for a spouse visa? My husband applied on 15th December 2010 and as yet we haven't heard anything...hopefully no news is good news??!!

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Guest Rollergirl86
Hi everyone...my husband has applied for a spouse visa for the UK. I'm british he is aussie. Me and the children are currently sitting in cold old england whilst he is holed up in melbourne waiting for the visa. Does the countdown start when the application/biometrics is recieived by the embassy (high commission canberra) or when they receive the supporting evidence which in our case arrived 5 days later? Is anyone else waiting for a spouse visa? My husband applied on 15th December 2010 and as yet we haven't heard anything...hopefully no news is good news??!!

 

Hi lemondrop,

 

Processing "officially" begins when they send you a confirmation email saying that they have received your application and supporting evidence and processing has begun.

 

For me this was my timeline

 

Application Submitted: 25 November 2010

Case Officer (C/O) Email: 06 December 2010

Visa: Not yet granted

 

So taking into account the time they were closed over Christmas I am on my 30th working day waiting for my visa.

 

DannyT is also waiting for his and his confirmation email was on the 02 December 2010.

 

Hope that helps!

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Guest vintage

Hi.

We applied for settlement visa for my aussie husband over xmas holidays and we recieved an email on 7/1/11back saying all had been recieved and they estimated it to take 15 working days ..am hoping they right but will not hold breath..lol

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Guest Rollergirl86
Hi.

We applied for settlement visa for my aussie husband over xmas holidays and we recieved an email on 7/1/11back saying all had been recieved and they estimated it to take 15 working days ..am hoping they right but will not hold breath..lol

 

WOAH! They actually said that in the email? That's great news! I really hope that means we should all get ours soon :D

 

Did you specifically ask them how long would take? Usually they just send an automated email.

 

Thanks for posting - I've been looking for other visa applicants for ages. Nice to know I'm not alone :)

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Guest vintage

this is the first part of the email we received

and we did not ask for any time line ..

"

 

 

Dear Applicant,

 

 

Your application has arrived safely at the Canberra office and is currently being processed. The estimated processing time for your application is 15 working days plus mail time."

 

Having read on here it was taking approx 12 weeks we were prepared for wait

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Guest Rollergirl86
this is the first part of the email we received

and we did not ask for any time line ..

"

 

 

Dear Applicant,

 

 

Your application has arrived safely at the Canberra office and is currently being processed. The estimated processing time for your application is 15 working days plus mail time."

 

Having read on here it was taking approx 12 weeks we were prepared for wait

 

That's awesome. If they're on target then you might even get it by this Friday 28th Jan! (15th working day). Let us know.

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That's interesting, mine didn't have any detail at all:

Your Visa application has arrived safely at this office and initial processing has commenced.

 

Our processing times are detailed on our website UK in Australia - the British High Commission in Canberra. *Please do not send in any progress requests, as this will only delay your application.

 

You will receive further notification once a decision has been reached.

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Guest Rollergirl86

Yeah mine neither

 

"Dear applicant

 

Your passport and supporting documents have arrived safely at this office and initial processing has commenced.

 

Our processing times are detailed on our website UK in Australia - the British High Commission in Canberra. Please do not send in any progress requests, as this will only delay your application.

 

You will receive further notification once a decision has been reached.

 

This is an automated message - do not respond to this email address as incoming mail is not answered."

 

If the message is automated why are all 3 worded differently?

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HI all,

 

I'm on Day 35 with waiting! Ofcourse taking away all the public holidays we've had over the Christmas break. It is pretty stressful and heartbreaking when my fiance is in the UK.. I was just lucky that he came to see me over the Christmas break!

 

My application was submitted on the 25th of November 2010 and I received the confirmation email on the 2nd of December (not lucky enough for them to say that I'll hear back from them in 15 days!).

 

DannyT, I see you've got the same starting date as me, so keep us posted if and when you hear something please?!

 

Reading back I'm so jealous of the ones who lodged there's in early November, they seemed to have got their replies in 35-37 days! I'm not sure how busy or laid back they are this time of year.. but have my fingers and toes crossed that I'll hear something GOOD soon!

 

Good luck to the rest of you aswell!

x

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Guest Rollergirl86
HI all,

 

I'm on Day 35 with waiting! Ofcourse taking away all the public holidays we've had over the Christmas break. It is pretty stressful and heartbreaking when my fiance is in the UK.. I was just lucky that he came to see me over the Christmas break!

 

My application was submitted on the 25th of November 2010 and I received the confirmation email on the 2nd of December (not lucky enough for them to say that I'll hear back from them in 15 days!).

 

DannyT, I see you've got the same starting date as me, so keep us posted if and when you hear something please?!

 

Reading back I'm so jealous of the ones who lodged there's in early November, they seemed to have got their replies in 35-37 days! I'm not sure how busy or laid back they are this time of year.. but have my fingers and toes crossed that I'll hear something GOOD soon!

 

Good luck to the rest of you aswell!

x

 

Maybe you'll here in the next couple of days! I hope so, good luck :)

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Guest lemondrop

Hi Rollergirl..thanks for the help. We hadn't received a confirmation e-mail and were starting to panic but realised that as we had applied through an agent that they had probably received it...which they had...on the 22nd December...so not as far along as we thought...only at day 21!!!! At least we know it is being processed, hopefully they will catch up with the christmas backlog and we won't have to wait 60 days.

Good Luck with you application:)

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Hi all

 

I am new to this forum and am in the same boat as the rest of you. Thank goodness I found this place!

 

I submitted my spousal visa application on 22 December 2010 and received an e-mail on 4 January confirming receipt of application. My husband left for the UK 3 weeks ago to start work.

 

I got the same e-mail as DannyT did, saying that they estimated that my visa would be processed in 15 working days. The e-mail also said: "Please note that we are unable to answer status questions enquiries unless we have exceeded the estimated processing time".

 

I called today to check where my visa was (being over 15 working days and no word from the High Commission) and basically got told that the 15 days "means nothing" and only applies to tourist visas, not settlement applications. The woman I spoke to was incredibly rude and told me to expect the whole process to take 12 weeks. I told them that it was incredibly misleading to put the 15 working days figure in there and she told me that it was probably a mistake, and that she would tell her supervisor for future applications not to put it in there.

 

What I really don't appreciate is paying $11 to make a simple inquiry and having to deal with very rude people.

 

Anyway, I have now been waiting 3 weeks... only 9 more to go, I suppose? I suspected that it would take longer than 15 working days but it is just cruel to put that in there - it creates false hope!

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Guest vintage

hi Planb

 

I agree to say 15 days is misleading but I never thought we would get a visa that quick esp as most on this thread have said 12 weeks...and i would have been surprised if we did get it that quick ..after all it is the British Embassy ..lol..but we have time as we not planing on going to uk until mid May when my dog can go home with us ..

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Guest Rollergirl86
Hi all

 

I am new to this forum and am in the same boat as the rest of you. Thank goodness I found this place!

 

I submitted my spousal visa application on 22 December 2010 and received an e-mail on 4 January confirming receipt of application. My husband left for the UK 3 weeks ago to start work.

 

I got the same e-mail as DannyT did, saying that they estimated that my visa would be processed in 15 working days. The e-mail also said: "Please note that we are unable to answer status questions enquiries unless we have exceeded the estimated processing time".

 

I called today to check where my visa was (being over 15 working days and no word from the High Commission) and basically got told that the 15 days "means nothing" and only applies to tourist visas, not settlement applications. The woman I spoke to was incredibly rude and told me to expect the whole process to take 12 weeks. I told them that it was incredibly misleading to put the 15 working days figure in there and she told me that it was probably a mistake, and that she would tell her supervisor for future applications not to put it in there.

 

What I really don't appreciate is paying $11 to make a simple inquiry and having to deal with very rude people.

 

Anyway, I have now been waiting 3 weeks... only 9 more to go, I suppose? I suspected that it would take longer than 15 working days but it is just cruel to put that in there - it creates false hope!

 

I had a feeling it was a mistake.

 

I know it's a governmental department but we're still paying them (a lot) for a service and to make a mistake like that then charge you $11 to find out sucks. Being apart from loved ones is the most stressful and hard thing to be put through, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

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Haven't applied in Oz as we did ours when we were in the UK as my husband came to UK on WHV and then when we got married we went to London to apply in person so we got ours the same day but queued for 4 hours outside and was then told to go away as they weren't seeing any more people. They then lied and told me that someone had come round the huge queue explaining this an hour ago - they did not otherwise why would everyone still be there!! Eventually got in as I was not taking no for an answer and we got his granted but the people were so rude and it cost us extra for the privilige of being there in person.

JUst curious - Do they not have the same day service at Canberra?

Hope everyone hears very soon!!

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Guest Rollergirl86
Haven't applied in Oz as we did ours when we were in the UK as my husband came to UK on WHV and then when we got married we went to London to apply in person so we got ours the same day but queued for 4 hours outside and was then told to go away as they weren't seeing any more people. They then lied and told me that someone had come round the huge queue explaining this an hour ago - they did not otherwise why would everyone still be there!! Eventually got in as I was not taking no for an answer and we got his granted but the people were so rude and it cost us extra for the privilige of being there in person.

JUst curious - Do they not have the same day service at Canberra?

Hope everyone hears very soon!!

 

You can submit you application in person but there is no same day service. If there were I'd be on the first flight to OZ!

 

Sounds like a mission but you're so lucky you got it so quickly! When did you get your visa?

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I had a feeling it was a mistake.

 

I know it's a governmental department but we're still paying them (a lot) for a service and to make a mistake like that then charge you $11 to find out sucks. Being apart from loved ones is the most stressful and hard thing to be put through, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

 

I got a bit teary this morning when I realised that I might not see my husband until the first week of April, if it takes the full 12 weeks for the visa to be processed. We have never been more than 3 weeks apart from each other and it sort of hit me after the phone conversation with the UK Visa hotline.

 

The lady at my biometrics interview in December told me that it would probably take 10 - 12 weeks, so I had an idea it would take that long and was surprised when I received the e-mail with the 15 day estimate for processing. Clearly it was too good to be true.

 

The really frustrating thing is not being able to plan. Thankfully my work are being super understanding about it and are letting me work until I get my visa.

 

Have you heard any news Rollergirl? Hope it turns up for you soon.

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