Past the 60 day mark..

when would you say an acceptable time frame to email/call for a spouse visa past the 60 working days?

I would be standing outside their office door waiting for them to arrive in the morning.

Haha.

They would ignore me and then Proceed to put more £££ onto my visa. With a following email saying, “Our staff have taken 60 working days to “look” at your case but for the fun of it add another 20 days to wait time.”

Have a great day sir.

P.s there is definitely not 60 days worth of dust on your file, we got it like that...

Yes. Understood. I would be trying to think outside the box a little though.

@UKDJ have emailed them. Just got automated responses. Not recommended.

As @menchu_edge says, we emailed them around Day 64 (May 18th), but initially just got more or less automated responses... your £5.48 only gets you 3 emails from UKVI, then you get asked to complete a survey...!

Their final email - before the survey - said:

"Thank you for contacting UK Visas and Immigration International Contact Centre.
With regards to your enquiry about the status of your application, I can confirm that your application is being considered and is currently awaiting a decision.
If it has been over 15 working days for non- settlement applications or 60 working days for settlement applications, please provide the following details:

Full Name
Date of Birth
GWF number
IHS number
Passport number
Place of submission
Type of Visa applied for
Date of biometrics
Nationality
E-mail address used on application -

We duly provided the requested information (except an IHS number - not required for a fiance(e) Visa) - despite it all being readily available to UKVI from the application - and heard nothing... for 5 days (3 working days)!!!
We then received the following email -

"Thank you for the information you have provided.
We escalated your case to the relevant department on 23/05/2018. You should be contacted regarding your case within 15 working days from the date of escalation.
If you have already been contacted regarding your application you may not receive any further correspondence until a decision has been made.
Your patience is highly appreciated."

On May 31st we received an almost identical - apparently automated - email, saying:

"Thank you for applying for a UK visa. Your visa application remains under consideration.

We have previously communicated our customer service target for settlement applications as 60 working days. Unfortunately, we will be unable to decide your application within our customer service target. (We already knew this!) We apologise for any inconvenience that this might cause.

We are continuing to work on your application and aim to make a decision as soon as possible over the coming days.

We will write to you again if there is any change to this."

- I'm hoping this duplicate automated email does not constitute "You should be contacted regarding your case within 15 working days from the date of escalation."

The wait goes on - beyond Day 73 so far!

Jeez well that’s a piss take on there behalf..

I hope you get a decision soon.

They should have to face consequences if they fail to meet there time frame with out a valid reason... something like 50% refund that would soon kick there asses into high gear and get the job done...

I totally agree... Unfortunately, they operate with absolute impunity - except in cases such as 'Windrush', which has become a political 'hot potato'! There should be penalties/compensation for their systematic failings...

Whilst I have sympathy for your situation, I completely disagree. Why should the taxpayer be held liable? Unfortunately there's a culture of victimhood that's become far too apparent in modern Britain: anything that goes awry is met with a clamour of "COM-PEN-SAY-SHUN" by those affected.

I know waiting is hard but just be patient.

No hang on they give a time which they clearly can’t keep to and further more they give no valid reason for a lot of there delays.

Why should they be allowed to do that with out no punishment...

Like me saying oh ye I’ll pay my tax on time and proceed to pay them a month past the date I say..

When I pay for something I expect to get the service I pay for.

It’s a poor system and poor communication from them as per usual..

The 'system' is stacked in favour of 'the Establishment' and heavily against the individual, with no form of recourse or complaint...

If - as is clearly the case - they cannot keep to their own timeframe, then they should formally review it not simply say on some hidden 'stats' page online "Most applications are processed within 120 days.", whilst publicly claiming to make Settlement decisions in half that time.

It's like being told you failed an exam, but not being told how to 'do better next time'. IF our decision is delayed because we could have presented our evidence in a better way, I would like to be told that so we can do better next time. As it stands, I can only guess why it is taking so long and if that will be the case next time as well (assuming this Visa is granted eventually).

what i find rather strange is that UKVI can and do give a same day / while you wait decision for FLR ( provided the applicant pays the extra for the privilege ). so why not with the the visa priority service ?

Simple money is the key. Pay up or be quiet is there way and has all ways has been..

Until tighter laws are brought to over see the visa department, they can get away with what they like.

Bring in sanctions for poor performance and we will soon see improvements.

Now befor anyone gets the wrong idea.
I’m saying if the applicant haven’t give the documents they’ve been asked to provide then it should be made to wait or refused.

Now again on that point above that could be avoided with a clear and to the point system on the gov website that’s updated regularly bases on what documents you need, what format they would like in and categories into detailed sections..

They make a easy job hard.

I repeat: why should the taxpayer be held liable and have to pay?

If the visa is refused, you will receive a letter explaining why.

It could well be that all settlement and Tier 1/2/3 visa applications are examined and issued (or not) by the Sheffield visa centre whereas before visas for east Asia, Australia and New Zealand were dealt with in Manila and there were similar centres in India, the US and elsewhere. In that case, the department could well be overburdened and really need more staff but that's not something that can be fixed in the short term: ECO training will be quite lengthy.

what don’t you understand people pay for a service which is not been done and your right they are understaffed but they still won’t fix the problem just like our government..

And befor you even say why live here kinda crap regarding the statement I just made, just don’t.

Regarding this tax payer comment, that’s why we pay fees to them for the service. I don’t get how you don’t understand this. So I think the extortion prices they charge would cover it...

and its been a very effective way of reducing the short term immigration figures.

Why should the tax payer pay compensation to Windrush deportees?

Why should the tax payer pay compensation to (legitimate) Grenfell victims?

Why should the tax payer pay compensation to Chagos Islanders?

In this case, the tax payer pays zilch. The applicant simply receives a discount if the service has fallen below an acceptable standard. Seems fair enough to me.

The comparisons you hi-light are poles apart

The difficulty with compensation payments or refunds is like car insurance it has to be funded and the only way to do it is through premiums.

Hoping you get a positive response soon!