How To Apply For A UK Fiance(e) Visa

Standard auto-response... "Kerrr-ching, £5.48 - thank you very much"!

If it's a standard auto response how come it does have grammar error? I guess they still need to type their script.

Having studied the image you Posted of the response you received @shie1989, it does differ slightly from the various responses we have received by email. I wonder if anyone here knows whether '... referred to the Decision Making Centre' is significant, or just another delaying tactic?

Or it's a 'Copy and Paste' reply... once the errors are there, people become blind to them!

Really? I think it just depends on the agent tbh. But I really hope it does makes a difference this is the third time I emailed them the first two emails from them also says that they will escalate it and I should wait 15 working days. We've already emailed my fiancè's local MP as well. We are just waiting for their reply.

Pretty much the same situation as us, although ours is a non-Priority fiancée Visa application -

Numerous 'escalation' emails - but no follow-ups;
MP contacted (the office told us it can take up to 6 WEEKS for them to get an email response from UKVI!);

Day 119 (August 6th)...

No updates from @Crafty either, so I guess he's heard no news - and he's 8 working days ahead of us!

It's your 120 working days on 7th?
I hope your fiancè gets a text message from VFS. I've been exhausted chasing them last week. I will just leave this to my fiancè's MP. And patiently wait, I feel you guys. I just hope and pray that our waiting will be worth it.

I think its just a case of the sender of the e mail telling @shie1989 they have told the Decision making centre that they have had a query on the waiting time of the application.

Me too...! We are into 'the unknown' now - could be waiting a day, a week, a month, A YEAR! Who knows???

Can I ask: after applying for the fiance settlement visa online (via visas4uk), what does paying for the priority service (PHP38,391) on the VFS website get you?

As visas4uk aren't the ones charging you for the service, does the priority service only impact VFS's side of things - which I guess is quite minimal, considering all my fiancee is going to be doing is handing in her passport and doing biometrics with them - as all else is going to Sheffield.

Or does VFS "instruct" Sheffield to priortize your visa, once you've made the payment?

A bit confused.

That additional fee is for priority processing. Priority processing is around 30 working days if the application is straightforward. We also paid that extra amount all you need to do is pay that on the VFS website or when your fiancè does the biometrics in VFS. VFS will notify the ECO that your application should be prioritize. You can attach the receipt As well once you send your docs to Sheffield put it infront so they will see it right away. But either way VFS will notify UKVI if you pay for priority processing.

I'm currently on day 37 since biometrics. So I don't feel good paying that extra tbh. Most priority applications on other forums are on day 40+++.

Write it on your envelope. "PRIORITY SERVICE PAID FOR"

When it first started - some time in 2016, I think - the Priority service was, in theory, a good idea although it could be argued that it just created a 2-tier service! Nowadays it is little more than a money-spinner, like the email and telephone 'Contact Us/Support' channels.

my thoughts are--if its for a fiancee visa--dont waste your money--but use it for same day service in person when she applies for her first FLR.

Hmm, still... if one can afford it, it would still feel better to invest in the priority service.

I mean if they're taking 40+++ days for priorities, then non-priorities will just suffer moreso.
At least it gives you more ammunition as well, when chasing.

If you apply on 1st September (for example) with a preferred travel date of 1st December... and pay priority and they process it in 30 days, do they still set the visa's validity date to start from your preferred travel date? Or would they still just start it from the day they approve it? I would like to think they honour your requests.... but can anyone confirm?

the start date is either the date you specify--or the date on the visa if your specified date has already passed. which is usually the case. they most certainly do not honour your requests.

But you are saying that if they passed it prior to our (hypothetical) preferred travel date of 1st December, they'd date the visa to begin from 1st December? So in that case, they'd honour it?

I do understand though that what you were likely referring to, is that they wouldn't rush your visa app to meet your preferred date. I just wanted to clarify.

They will date the visa from when they approve it!! The preferred travel date is there to indicate to them (in loose terms) when you want your visa before to allow you to execute your travel plans.

I have my doubts that, if the application is deemed 'not straightforward', paying for the Priority service would in any way expedite a decision..?

The Priority Service is a bit of an unknown.

For my application back in March, I paid for priority and it came back approved in about a month. Whether the priority made any difference to this, God only knows. I don't regret paying the extra money. We have a few horror stories still ongoing on this board which I personally think are lost in an administrative quagmire. It would be interesting to know exactly how common such service has become at UKVI.

I requested a travel date of 14th May, so my partner had a good month or so to properly prepare for her departure (though in reality she did sod all except get a guardian for her house!). I doubt UKVI would have entertained the idea of bringing the travel date forward.

If UKVI go past your travel date, it would be nice to think that they would be flexible. Whilst you've been waiting in limbo for umpteen weeks, you suddenly have to prepare for your new arrival and arrange things such as time off work for September when you had pre-planned June or July. However, as with many things in the civil service, what would be 'nice' is often far from reality. In such a scenario, I think you'd just be so relieved at getting the damned visa that faffing around adjusting the validity dates would be the furthest thing on your mind.