THIS IS IT!!!!

Hi Steve, My wife got her visa in the middle of April. It took a full 60 working days..

Awww! Don't tell me that! (although we are around a quarter of the way through that already )

I hear you Steve. Its a long wait!!! It was exactly 60 working days for us but all came good in the end. The waiting really is hard on the head!!

Good things come to them that wait as the saying goes.

Well bad news and good news...

Application has been deferred for 10 days because of TOEIC - even though UKBA said it would be ok when I telephoned them about it.

Good news is that is all we failed on so the rest of the application must be ok, I've appealed for what its worth on the grounds that we took the TOEIC test in good faith before UKBA cancelled the contract with Hopkins and asked under the circumstances if we cant take the test here in the UK (we have a good language college here in town).

A few weeks ago I panicked and booked an appointment at Pearson 'just in case' that is on Friday so its within the 10 days but still its a nightmare having to do it

Wow! Well I guess that answers the question a lot of us have been asking about whether or not a TOEIC test from before the deadline is still valid.

So does this mean that once you get the test done everything is ok?

They didn't query anything else so I guess all is ok apart from the test. I have appealed to the ECO to allow the test as we took in good faith or to allow us to take the test here in the UK, failing that we have a test booked at Pearson on Friday - hope she passes!

Yeah. I'm sure she will if she passed the other. Good luck with that.

Bit of a bummer but like you say, if that's all they have picked up on then everything is rosy.

Good luck with that Steve. I bet you are spitting feathers right now.

Barstewards.

I dont know if you know, Steve, but my wifes TOEIC result was very recently refused for her Citizenship application. So she is going to have to retake here. Not as crucial though as in your case, of course.

Too tired to be angry John, she woke me at 3am to tell me the 'news'

Any news Steve?

No news - another sleepless night, up at 3am phoning the UKBA 'help centre' in Manila 15minutes later with my wallet significantly lighter I was still no better off. No reply from my first email appeal to the ECO the help centre informed me that the ECO wont talk to me unless they want to, fine, but what happens when they don't reply to your queries? The help centre guy was as helpful as he could be, he did confirm that he was 99% sure that if they only asked for english certificate then that was the ONLY problem and the rest of the application is good. He also suggested that I email again and lay on thick the fact that we are super stressed over this situation and its clear that we have a good application and it has failed on a technicality etc etc So I did! hopefully the ECO is suffering a guilty concience now

Anyone any experience with the Pearson Test? It looks complicated even for me, test questions are about graphs and statistics needing knowledge of how to interpret the graphs as well as knowledge of english - I dont see how it proves anything...

Looks like Lisa's partner took it....

http://www.british-filipino.com/ind...guage-test-help-please.8959/page-3#post-59208

Thx John I saw that - its just a flaming nightmare at the moment - Mea is all over the place with her nerves and I don't blame her but the situation is what it is and we challenge it and tackle it and if we fail then we try again!

Nothing to get nervous about at all, you have the same attitude as me, in the unlikely event that the visa application is denied then you try until you do, it really is as simple as that.

The short time you have been waiting for the verdict is nothing compared with all that lovely time together you will be having soon.

You will soon have that surreal feeling when you go to pick the wife up at the airport

I hope you can get this sorted out asap Steve, and you get that visa soon! Thinking of you.

Ok so finally we have a reply from UKBA regarding the TOEIC test and our application - they are not accepting any TOEIC tests AT ALL since 22nd July 2014 even those like ours taken in good faith before the licence was withdrawn on 17th April. They won't allow us to take the test here (not really a surprise) nor will they confirm Meas english ability by interview (again no surprise) They have very kindly allowed us 'unlimited' time to obtain a valid certificate providing we let them know in 10 days when this will be done. The email is shown below - I will post in a separate thread for those in a similar situation that might not be following this thread.

Thank you for your emails concerning the TOEIC certificate you have submitted in support of your settlement application. This has been referred to the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO).


The ECO has advised that for settlement applications, we could not accept the TOEIC certificate for applications submitted after 22 July. Please be advised that the English certificate is required before a visa could be issued. Therefore you cannot take the test after you have arrived in the UK. Also, we do not interview applicants to assess their English language ability. You will need to provide a new test from a Home Office’s approved test provider, which can found on this link: (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...51/Approved_secure_English_language_tests.pdf)


We will keep the application on hold until you are able to provide the required certificate, providing that you would take active steps towards obtaining the requested evidence and provide an update on your progress within 10 working days. Please let us know by 15 September the date when you will sit for the English certificate including the date when you will likely get the result.

OK. Under the circumstances thats good news Steve. A way forward. And at least not a flat refusal. Good luck.