Immigrationboards.com

sunshine wrote: ''a friend of mine applied in october and got approval in november..just under 1 month.''!! and other people have been waiting more than 9 months !
Just wondering how does the system work? by luck as described by sunshine or how complex is your case ?or your nationality?..is there a queue or randomly pick up a case!? or what?
Moderators, seniors..please advise

I think it is down to a case worker that takes your application and there were instances that a case worker went on a leave for few months and the application was waiting for his/hers return. Also HO trains new case workers so depending on how an application is complex cases are assigned. I don't think it has anything to do with nationality.

I was wondering if the HO normally do checks on applicants with foreign governments or checks should be made exclusively within the UK and why these bloody checks take few weeks for some applicants but have no time limit for many others?!
Is it your country of origin that is the cause of the delay??!!

I don't think they make checks with other countries unless it involves something very serious.

I might have completely the wrong end of the stick, but I think part of the delay can be on the quality of paperwork submitted and the complexity of the case.
By the latter, I mean that the spouse of somebody who gets his wages paid into a company and then is remunerated in dividends is more complex (in terms of getting information from other government departments) as compared to somebody who is salaried and has payslips to back it up.
The quality of paperwork also makes a difference. If the paperwork is correctly authenticated and trackable (such as, for instance, having the NI No. so that it can be traced through the system), I think it results in quicker decisions. If the HO has to ask other departments to reply with verification details, that case will likely sink to the bottom of the pile awaiting a response, while easier more recent cases are dealt with faster.
This is my conjecture and should not be taken as fact.
We know from the recent report about the UKVI that delays are not caused by checking with foreign governments, because such checks do not take place at all!!!

From my limited understanding, some applicants fit "high risk profile". For them, a large number of checks are done, e.g. through security services, Interpol, foreign governments, HMRC etc.

secret.simon wrote:We know from the recent report about the UKVI that delays are not caused by checking with foreign governments, because such checks do not take place at all!!!

Not quite true. I quote directly from the report:

Managers told us that they were unable to conduct overseas criminality checks unless there was specific intelligence that warranted a request for information via Interpol.

People who wait for a very long time may well be such cases.

If only we have the answers.....

Managers told us that they were unable to conduct overseas criminality checks unless there was specific intelligence that warranted a request for information via Interpol.

Point taken. I should phrased it as "such checks do not take place as a matter of routine". Thanks for the correction and clarification.

PS: It is gratifying to know that somebody other than me bothers to read the actual report and not the tabloid summary of it.

20 DAYS APPROVAL! improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the HO.
xprzy wrote:
Eligibility Criteria: 3yr WP+2T1+1yr ILR
Language: UK degree
Method of application: NCS
Council if NCS: Edinburgh
Date of application: 19/11/2014
Payment Method: CC
Date of receipt by UKBA : 20/11/2014
Date of acknowledgment: 29/11/2014
Date of clearance of fees: 01/12/2014
Date of approval received: 11/12/2014

I think system may works as follows, based on FOI information.
There are 3 stages during the process, 1, case creation (document collection). 2, security check. 3, decision make. the FOI shows 70% of the over 6 month pending is due to ‘awaiting for decision’.
The Nationality team is divided to two branch, one for case creation/check and one for decision making. Normally, 94 caseworkers make decisions on naturalisation applications. But the home office may deploy the caseworkers to other department, for instance, 67 naturalisation caseworkers were allocated to passport office from Friday 13 July until Monday 1 September 2014
The home office didn't contact third party companies to curry out checks but they do check information inland and overseas.
The Home office stated they make 99% of case in 6 months, but for unknown reasons, the service standard is no longer met, the FOI information shows until 18 Dec 2014, 2495 of 7405 applications submitted on May 2014 still not be completed, and the information from this forum suggests the home office stop make decisions after about 70-75% of applications approvals every month afterwards.

stokbrig wrote:sunshine wrote: ''a friend of mine applied in october and got approval in november..just under 1 month.''!! and other people have been waiting more than 9 months !
Just wondering how does the system work? by luck as described by sunshine or how complex is your case ?or your nationality?..is there a queue or randomly pick up a case!? or what?
Moderators, seniors..please advise

Many thanks hunanuk .
If staff shortage causes the delay,how can you explain that there are many people applied last November and got approval after few weeks!

I think for every suggestion here there is at least one case which disproves it.

I can't guess. I have been waiting for over 6 months. We all consider our applications as straightforward, maybe they aren't. I provided payslips and employers letters covering the relevant period. I wouldn't call myself high risk. I'm a chartered certified accountant. I'm currently a German citizen and have been since birth, there are no economic reasons for my application. Citizenship won't make any difference to my status in the UK unless the UK leave the EU.

Unless one of us actually knows someone at the HO, we simply can't tell. I think it's just a case of incredible incompetence on their part.

Hi, I didn't say the staff shortage causes delay, I have no clue what can cause delay, as you said some people got results early somebody not. It confused a lot of people in this forum, I don't knows how the decisions are made, and there is no FOI information about this decision making stage.

The home office told us they process the application broadly based on 'first come first serve' methods, I think this rule probably only apply to 1st and 2nd stage of the whole process.

The most confusing thing is, the home office told us 70% of the over six month application due to 'awaiting for decision', What kind of decision need months to make?

stokbrig wrote:Many thanks hunanuk .
If staff shortage causes the delay,how can you explain that there are many people applied last November and got approval after few weeks!

hunanuk wrote:Hi, I didn't say the staff shortage causes delay, I have no clue what can cause delay, as you said some people got results early somebody not. It confused a lot of people in this forum, I don't knows how the decisions are made, and there is no FOI information about this decision making stage.

The home office told us they process the application broadly based on 'first come first serve' methods, I think this rule probably only apply to 1st and 2nd stage of the whole process.

The most confusing thing is, the home office told us 70% of the over six month application due to 'awaiting for decision', What kind of decision need months to make?

stokbrig wrote:Many thanks hunanuk .
If staff shortage causes the delay,how can you explain that there are many people applied last November and got approval after few weeks!

Since we are all guessing here, so let me guess this, by giving the official "awaiting decision" reply, they mean "its in the pile/queue on one of the immigration officers".

But good to all who are waiting.

Just wondering if the HO has notified any applicant by letter that they are not able to decide his or her application within six months from the date they submitted it and has advised them of the new time frame for deciding their application.
Thanks in advance.

stokbrig wrote:Just wondering if the HO has notified any applicant by letter that they are not able to decide his or her application within six months from the date they submitted it and has advised them of the new time frame for deciding their application.
Thanks in advance.

This could be a new thread, you could start and ask the new question there perhaps?