Still waiting for a decision.....

[elada]

Hi Mehmoods87,

Can you pls tell me how long did u wait for the response from MP? I have contacted them and they say that I should wait max 20 working days till they come with an answer from the HO.

My husband's income are from salary employed (24K) and he still has a deposit, and I have a deposit as well. I have even a son who has British passport and now im getting really worried that they might refuse mine as well. Did u apply in the UK or outside?[/quote][/quote]

Hi

Why do you think they will refuse visa as you don't fall in that category... in terms of salary ( spouse with a child )

Hi Geet1328

At the beginning I though my case is easy for a decision (not an approval but decision) hence my husband's salary is 24K and for the fact that my child is British. But after 5 months of waiting now I have thousand of questions going through my mind. Im really scared because I see they don't care much even though the applicant might fulfil the financial requirement. I have called the HO but they gave me the standard answer: Your case is still awaiting for a decision. I contacted MP on the 13th of July but i haven't heard anything back from them and that's why i'm getting worried now.

[biosho]

Everything happening makes no sense at all. It clearly stated the new changes will apply to application made from 10th august onward. I think they should have taken off the hold on our application with immediate effects and start to make decisions

But on the other hand why did they wait for the new changes before planning to take off hold in the first place . Really don't know how much longer I have to wait and they still have not returned my supporting documents

[Fatzipoo]

Guys I'm on £19,200 that's just above the minimum requirement but I also have £29,000 in savings. Do I stand a chance?

Speaking of just above the minimum...my husband earns 18760 (!) , no savings whatsoever, so...we are in a worse situation you should be fine, best of luck with the visa!

Hopefully all should be okay, especially with the new ruling good luck all, and I really hope we all start to get some positive news soon

I'm sorry I may have missed something, but what is the new ruling? X

[Misskatie]

Everything happening makes no sense at all. It clearly stated the new changes will apply to application made from 10th august onward. I think they should have taken off the hold on our application with immediate effects and start to make decisions

But on the other hand why did they wait for the new changes before planning to take off hold in the first place . Really don't know how much longer I have to wait and they still have not returned my supporting documents

I read that the new rules will apply after August 10th, regardless of when you made the application, which f*cking sucks!

[Geet1328]

Hi Mehmoods87,

Can you pls tell me how long did u wait for the response from MP? I have contacted them and they say that I should wait max 20 working days till they come with an answer from the HO.

My husband's income are from salary employed (24K) and he still has a deposit, and I have a deposit as well. I have even a son who has British passport and now im getting really worried that they might refuse mine as well. Did u apply in the UK or outside?

[/quote]

Hi

Why do you think they will refuse visa as you don't fall in that category... in terms of salary ( spouse with a child )

Hi Geet1328

At the beginning I though my case is easy for a decision (not an approval but decision) hence my husband's salary is 24K and for the fact that my child is British. But after 5 months of waiting now I have thousand of questions going through my mind. Im really scared because I see they don't care much even though the applicant might fulfil the financial requirement. I have called the HO but they gave me the standard answer: Your case is still awaiting for a decision. I contacted MP on the 13th of July but i haven't heard anything back from them and that's why i'm getting worried now.[/quote]

Hi

I totally understand what you are going through ... but I guess these changed rules are for our betterment ( that's what we want to believe in)
Everything will be fine ...

[bijoubougy]

Hi,
Can I ask for some clarity in regard to the ruling from anyone out there...

So they are basically saying anyone who got the "on hold" email would have been rejected (but they couldn't until the legal update from Supreme court.). From my reading this is the impression i got.

We received the on hold email. Financially I received a gift from my parents, and it had been in my account for over a year (they asked for a minimum of 6 months to legally determine it was yours). I took the full cash savings route.

But I'm reading in the ruling that a letter would also be required to say the money a is not a loan. This was never require post supreme court ruling. Only having the money in your account for 6 months was required.

Will this mean we will be rejected as a result of the new ruling? Retrospectively applying documents required surely isn't right. Will UK Immigration not allow in those situations for such changes to documentation required to then be provided by the sponsor.

And is the right of appeal still there or is it gone?

Hi

im in the same position as yourself ! i applied through this route , my husband submitted his biometrics on 24/03/2017 and we have not heard a thing . I'm extremely worried at this point

[Misskatie]

There's some interesting people to follow on twitter - mostly solicitors who are posting on the recent update. The most helpful one I've found is JMWilsonUK. They summarised the main change as
"Home Office amendments following MM case ruling -The Home Office has finally published their efforts to amend the rules in order to meet the flaws set out by the Supreme Court in our case of MM. It has now allowed third party support,"

I thought we could use third party support? It's all starting to make sense now though. My income worked out as £14,500 ish in salaried employment, plus cash savings of £35,000 (£20,000 of which was a cash gift from my mother) meaning my income worked out to be around £22,000. So over the threshold with savings, but not if only relying on my job income. So, I'm thinking originally it would have been denied, but it was placed on hold until the new rules were decided. But tbh it doesn't look like much has changed. So, I don't really know what to expect now. Do we have to wait until after August 10 for a decision? What if it's a refusal? Can we appeal and send additional info, seeing as they're going to retrospectively impose the new rules?

Honestly none of this is fair on any of us, and why are they making it so difficult for us to be with our loved ones

[Fatzipoo]

Since the Supreme Court judgment in MM (Lebanon) & Others was handed down on 22 February 2017, the Secretary of State has placed a temporary hold on decision-making in respect of applications falling for refusal under the Immigration Rules, in Appendix FM, with which the judgment was concerned. These are applications which fail to meet the minimum income requirement for entry clearance or leave to remain as a partner or child under Appendix FM or which otherwise fall for refusal under Appendix FM and involve a child under the age of 18 years. As of 30 June 2017, there were around 5,000 such applications on hold. The Secretary of State considers that the changes set out in this statement will enable her to decide those and future applications consistently with the findings of the Supreme Court judgment. Those applications which are refused will normally have a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) against that decision.

[SimonS]

There's some interesting people to follow on twitter - mostly solicitors who are posting on the recent update. The most helpful one I've found is JMWilsonUK. They summarised the main change as
"Home Office amendments following MM case ruling -The Home Office has finally published their efforts to amend the rules in order to meet the flaws set out by the Supreme Court in our case of MM. It has now allowed third party support,"

I thought we could use third party support? It's all starting to make sense now though. My income worked out as £14,500 ish in salaried employment, plus cash savings of £35,000 (£20,000 of which was a cash gift from my mother) meaning my income worked out to be around £22,000. So over the threshold with savings, but not if only relying on my job income. So, I'm thinking originally it would have been denied, but it was placed on hold until the new rules were decided. But tbh it doesn't look like much has changed. So, I don't really know what to expect now. Do we have to wait until after August 10 for a decision? What if it's a refusal? Can we appeal and send additional info, seeing as they're going to retrospectively impose the new rules?

Honestly none of this is fair on any of us, and why are they making it so difficult for us to be with our loved ones

You have been very honest about your circumstances. They have loosened the rules around 3rd Party support. As long as they believe the money was a gift and not a loan it should be fine. The right to appeal on these grounds if they refuse is still there. It's the Article 8 appeals that I believe they are trying to do away with.

[Misskatie]

There's some interesting people to follow on twitter - mostly solicitors who are posting on the recent update. The most helpful one I've found is JMWilsonUK. They summarised the main change as
"Home Office amendments following MM case ruling -The Home Office has finally published their efforts to amend the rules in order to meet the flaws set out by the Supreme Court in our case of MM. It has now allowed third party support,"

I thought we could use third party support? It's all starting to make sense now though. My income worked out as £14,500 ish in salaried employment, plus cash savings of £35,000 (£20,000 of which was a cash gift from my mother) meaning my income worked out to be around £22,000. So over the threshold with savings, but not if only relying on my job income. So, I'm thinking originally it would have been denied, but it was placed on hold until the new rules were decided. But tbh it doesn't look like much has changed. So, I don't really know what to expect now. Do we have to wait until after August 10 for a decision? What if it's a refusal? Can we appeal and send additional info, seeing as they're going to retrospectively impose the new rules?

Honestly none of this is fair on any of us, and why are they making it so difficult for us to be with our loved ones

You have been very honest about your circumstances. They have loosened the rules around 3rd Party support. As long as they believe the money was a gift and not a loan it should be fine. The right to appeal on these grounds if they refuse is still there. It's the Article 8 appeals that I believe they are trying to do away with.

Thanks SimonS, that makes me feel slightly better. I'm already thinking about what documents I could provide on appeal to show it's a genuine gift (just in case, always best to plan for the worst!)

You mention the article 8 appeals - can you explain what this relates to exactly? I couldn't make that document out and didn't have the documents to reference it to

[SimonS]

There's some interesting people to follow on twitter - mostly solicitors who are posting on the recent update. The most helpful one I've found is JMWilsonUK. They summarised the main change as
"Home Office amendments following MM case ruling -The Home Office has finally published their efforts to amend the rules in order to meet the flaws set out by the Supreme Court in our case of MM. It has now allowed third party support,"

I thought we could use third party support? It's all starting to make sense now though. My income worked out as £14,500 ish in salaried employment, plus cash savings of £35,000 (£20,000 of which was a cash gift from my mother) meaning my income worked out to be around £22,000. So over the threshold with savings, but not if only relying on my job income. So, I'm thinking originally it would have been denied, but it was placed on hold until the new rules were decided. But tbh it doesn't look like much has changed. So, I don't really know what to expect now. Do we have to wait until after August 10 for a decision? What if it's a refusal? Can we appeal and send additional info, seeing as they're going to retrospectively impose the new rules?

Honestly none of this is fair on any of us, and why are they making it so difficult for us to be with our loved ones

You have been very honest about your circumstances. They have loosened the rules around 3rd Party support. As long as they believe the money was a gift and not a loan it should be fine. The right to appeal on these grounds if they refuse is still there. It's the Article 8 appeals that I believe they are trying to do away with.

Thanks SimonS, that makes me feel slightly better. I'm already thinking about what documents I could provide on appeal to show it's a genuine gift (just in case, always best to plan for the worst!)

You mention the article 8 appeals - can you explain what this relates to exactly? I couldn't make that document out and didn't have the documents to reference it to

It's the fact they are now openly stating that they believe the FM rules and FM SE take full consideration of Article 8 - European Convention on Human Rights "right to respect for ones private family life....."

They are basically trying to do away with the European Human Rights Act - at least in respect of immigration and border control - before we've even left the European Union. Don't forget, this is a key part to Brexit.

[charlie2000]

So it does look like good news on the hold being lifted and the new court ruling. Happy to know we can appeal when it is a third party financial issue.

I wonder what further evidence you can show to distinguish that it is a gift and not a loan? Is there any guidelines produced yet by government on that?

[UK-Japan-Couple]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

No further contact, for example requesting documents, has been received by email, phone or post by either myself or my wife.

"12 weeks" target: July 7th
"60 working day" target: July 14th

On July 10th I called the advice line at £1.37/minute. They said its status was "awaiting a decision" and they escalated it, with a 15 working day target for responding to escalations. My concern was that we'd somehow missed a request for more documents, but the advice line said they would have emailed and phoned both my wife and myself. Called again on July 21st, still "awaiting a decision". I've also emailed my MP to ask for help.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

[Raj86]

Hello everyone
I would say it's a good news as they will start working
on 5000 applications from 10th of august...
I would say doesn't matter how long it takes from the
10th as long as now we know they gonna look at our applications.....
Another good thing is that if they really wanted to reject
Us.... they would've done that in the first 3 months...
just shows that they had a doubt in there mind that
*we cannot reject this application coz we r not sure about the new rules* and the new news, as far as I know has good abit better for those who's income is low....
Most important thing is after 10th august I wanna see what happens to my application status "when I call them or email them"
Don't worry guys personally I am quite happy as I have been waiting over 7months.... "applied Jan 17"
Fingers cross

[Sweetlarkee]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

No further contact, for example requesting documents, has been received by email, phone or post by either myself or my wife.

"12 weeks" target: July 7th
"60 working day" target: July 14th

On July 10th I called the advice line at £1.37/minute. They said its status was "awaiting a decision" and they escalated it, with a 15 working day target for responding to escalations. My concern was that we'd somehow missed a request for more documents, but the advice line said they would have emailed and phoned both my wife and myself. Called again on July 21st, still "awaiting a decision". I've also emailed my MP to ask for help.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

Did u apply using priority?

[MrClientServer]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

Dear UKJC,
Dont worry and be happy. There are people who are waiting from Nov2016. Myself I am waiting from Dec2016. Looks like there is a huge backlog. Awaiting status is quite common for most of the applicants. So dont think too much about me. My application status is awaiting decission since 3rd March 2017.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Not really. Now a days holding or delaying applications is very quite common.

Are we more likely get rejected?
95% you will get success approval. Rest 5% cant say until unless have some blunder mistakes in your application or forget to submit any imp documents.
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
not sure what does this mean. But many people they successfully got visas after long delay. so be +ve.

What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?
There is no straight forward answer for this but you can try options like
-Contacting MP
-Contacting and writing to HO through solicitor
-Email/phone up if you can afford some amount (most of tried and said its useless)
-Contact news channels if you are waiting for more than 8 months.
-have a pint of beer and sleep well

[MrClientServer]

Hello everyone
I would say it's a good news as they will start working
on 5000 applications from 10th of august...
I would say doesn't matter how long it takes from the
10th as long as now we know they gonna look at our applications.....
Another good thing is that if they really wanted to reject
Us.... they would've done that in the first 3 months...
just shows that they had a doubt in there mind that
*we cannot reject this application coz we r not sure about the new rules* and the new news, as far as I know has good abit better for those who's income is low....
Most important thing is after 10th august I wanna see what happens to my application status "when I call them or email them"
Don't worry guys personally I am quite happy as I have been waiting over 7months.... "applied Jan 17"
Fingers cross

Hello Raj - How are you?
You always inspire people and keep them afloat. Like the point u said, if the HO wants reject they will reject within first 3 months. Somewhat true and I have observed same.

On last friday my solicitor wrote a letter to UKVI sheffield office. Hopefully I will get back something positive. Frustrating.... in another 10 days i m going to complete 8 months.

[cutiieepiie]

Hi All,

I read this thread daily and have found it very useful. First of all congratulations to those who have received their visas and for those who are waiting (like myself) all the best and hope you hear good news soon In Sha Allah. It is quite confusing actually because the new ruling states it is okay to meet the financial requirement using third party support, as in savings, but this has been the case for a while now. So if the new ruling stated this is not okay anymore would they have just rejected the cases after making people wait so long?

[Raj86]

Hello everyone
I would say it's a good news as they will start working
on 5000 applications from 10th of august...
I would say doesn't matter how long it takes from the
10th as long as now we know they gonna look at our applications.....
Another good thing is that if they really wanted to reject
Us.... they would've done that in the first 3 months...
just shows that they had a doubt in there mind that
*we cannot reject this application coz we r not sure about the new rules* and the new news, as far as I know has good abit better for those who's income is low....
Most important thing is after 10th august I wanna see what happens to my application status "when I call them or email them"
Don't worry guys personally I am quite happy as I have been waiting over 7months.... "applied Jan 17"
Fingers cross

Hello Raj - How are you?
You always inspire people and keep them afloat. Like the point u said, if the HO wants reject they will reject within first 3 months. Somewhat true and I have observed same.

On last friday my solicitor wrote a letter to UKVI sheffield office. Hopefully I will get back something positive. Frustrating.... in another 10 days i m going to complete 8 months.

Hey thanks
All the best hope you get a answer back soon...
And I am sure after waiting for so long we will get the visa soon...
I just wanna stay positive Nd every month I send them my new payslip and bankstaments just to prove of imployment and income.... so that helps a lot according to me....
And hope for the best guys .... don't worry

[Misskatie]

Hello everyone
I would say it's a good news as they will start working
on 5000 applications from 10th of august...
I would say doesn't matter how long it takes from the
10th as long as now we know they gonna look at our applications.....
Another good thing is that if they really wanted to reject
Us.... they would've done that in the first 3 months...
just shows that they had a doubt in there mind that
*we cannot reject this application coz we r not sure about the new rules* and the new news, as far as I know has good abit better for those who's income is low....
Most important thing is after 10th august I wanna see what happens to my application status "when I call them or email them"
Don't worry guys personally I am quite happy as I have been waiting over 7months.... "applied Jan 17"
Fingers cross

Hello Raj - How are you?
You always inspire people and keep them afloat. Like the point u said, if the HO wants reject they will reject within first 3 months. Somewhat true and I have observed same.

On last friday my solicitor wrote a letter to UKVI sheffield office. Hopefully I will get back something positive. Frustrating.... in another 10 days i m going to complete 8 months.

Hey thanks
All the best hope you get a answer back soon...
And I am sure after waiting for so long we will get the visa soon...
I just wanna stay positive Nd every month I send them my new payslip and bankstaments just to prove of imployment and income.... so that helps a lot according to me....
And hope for the best guys .... don't worry

Hey Raj86, how/where do you send payslips to? I'm considering sending some information to show the cash gift I'm using is indeed a gift not a loan. Thanks!

[MrClientServer]

Hey thanks
All the best hope you get a answer back soon...
And I am sure after waiting for so long we will get the visa soon...
I just wanna stay positive Nd every month I send them my new payslip and bankstaments just to prove of imployment and income.... so that helps a lot according to me....
And hope for the best guys .... don't worry

Hi Raj - Thank you very much. By the way you said u will send payslip and bank stmts every month. Can we send like that and will they accept? Becoz i heard , after application submission they will not accept any more.Anyways Its good idea and doing something better than nothing.
Can you please provide me the UKVI address where you are sending payslips and bank stmts? Infact I want send them my P60 form (2016-2017). Also kindly provide me if any additional things need to take care while sending new documents please.
All the best Raj.

[UK-Japan-Couple]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

Dear UKJC,
Dont worry and be happy. There are people who are waiting from Nov2016. Myself I am waiting from Dec2016. Looks like there is a huge backlog. Awaiting status is quite common for most of the applicants. So dont think too much about me. My application status is awaiting decission since 3rd March 2017.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Not really. Now a days holding or delaying applications is very quite common.

Are we more likely get rejected?
95% you will get success approval. Rest 5% cant say until unless have some blunder mistakes in your application or forget to submit any imp documents.
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
not sure what does this mean. But many people they successfully got visas after long delay. so be +ve.

What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?
There is no straight forward answer for this but you can try options like
-Contacting MP
-Contacting and writing to HO through solicitor
-Email/phone up if you can afford some amount (most of tried and said its useless)
-Contact news channels if you are waiting for more than 8 months.
-have a pint of beer and sleep well

Thanks for the reassurance.

Part of why it's so frustrating is that when we applied we looked at the visa processing times, https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice ... settlement, and in April it said for March 100% were decided in 60 working days. Then in May it said for April 100% in 60 working days. Then in June it said for May 100% in 60 working days. It hasn't been updated since, and it's stuck on May. Why even show that information if it will disingenuously only update for months where the target was met?!

Anyway. We'll keep waiting.

[UK-Japan-Couple]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

Dear UKJC,
Dont worry and be happy. There are people who are waiting from Nov2016. Myself I am waiting from Dec2016. Looks like there is a huge backlog. Awaiting status is quite common for most of the applicants. So dont think too much about me. My application status is awaiting decission since 3rd March 2017.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Not really. Now a days holding or delaying applications is very quite common.

Are we more likely get rejected?
95% you will get success approval. Rest 5% cant say until unless have some blunder mistakes in your application or forget to submit any imp documents.
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
not sure what does this mean. But many people they successfully got visas after long delay. so be +ve.

What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?
There is no straight forward answer for this but you can try options like
-Contacting MP
-Contacting and writing to HO through solicitor
-Email/phone up if you can afford some amount (most of tried and said its useless)
-Contact news channels if you are waiting for more than 8 months.
-have a pint of beer and sleep well

Thanks for the reassurance.

Part of why it's so frustrating is that when we applied we looked at the visa processing times, https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice ... settlement, and in April it said for March 100% were decided in 60 working days. Then in May it said for April 100% in 60 working days. Then in June it said for May 100% in 60 working days. It hasn't been updated since, and it's stuck on May. Why even show that information if it will disingenuously only update for months where the target was met?!

Anyway. We'll keep waiting.

So I just called the advice line again, to see if there's any update on our escalation. They informed us that the escalation was on July 20th, so 15 working days to get a response is August 10th. I pointed out that we escalated it on July 10th, and their response was that an escalation 'attempt' was made on July 10th, but the actual escalation was July 20th. What? Why? How is that possible? Dunno, that's what the computer says.

What is wrong with these people who work in visa offices?!?!?!

[pearl0109]

This thread has been very helpful for me ! Has anyoen tried to request for their partner/husband/wife passport back ? My husband is travelling on Weds and it's been 9 days now still no news ! I'm so anxious !!!

Application Submitted on : 3rd Feb 2017
Postal or In Person Application : Postal (first class)
Application deferred for further checks (in person app) :
Acknowledgement Received on (for postal app) : 22nd February 2017 (dated) - received 24th Feb
Biometric Letter Received (for postal app) : 22nd February 2017 (dated) - received 24th Feb
Biometrics Enrolled on (for postal app): 28th February 2017
Additional Documents Requested on (if any): n.a

Wrote to home Office request an update on : 18th May and 4th July -NO REPLY ON EITHER OCCASION
Wrote to Local MP : 19th July
ONLINE TRACKER : Awaiting a decision last updated 14th June 2017

Decision of Application : waiting
Date of Decision :waiting
BRP Card Received :waiting

Switching from Tier 4. Quite a straight forward application. No financial issue (Cash Saving of £80k - Because I'm switching from tier 4 I am not working at the moment. Just cash savings as a gift from my father. Husband is working as an apprentice so the entire application finance is based on my cash savings !). No reply no letter from HO whatsoever. This August would be 6 months from application. Really frustrated !

[Geet1328]

Our spouse visa is now delayed, with no information why.

Applied online: April 10th
Attended VFS Tokyo: April 13th
Confirmation of scanned documents received in Sheffield: April 14th

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Are we more likely get rejected?
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?

Dear UKJC,
Dont worry and be happy. There are people who are waiting from Nov2016. Myself I am waiting from Dec2016. Looks like there is a huge backlog. Awaiting status is quite common for most of the applicants. So dont think too much about me. My application status is awaiting decission since 3rd March 2017.

Does the fact it's overdue have any indication that there's a problem?
Not really. Now a days holding or delaying applications is very quite common.

Are we more likely get rejected?
95% you will get success approval. Rest 5% cant say until unless have some blunder mistakes in your application or forget to submit any imp documents.
What's the typical delay experienced these days and still got a visa?
not sure what does this mean. But many people they successfully got visas after long delay. so be +ve.

What other actions can we take to get an answer faster?
There is no straight forward answer for this but you can try options like
-Contacting MP
-Contacting and writing to HO through solicitor
-Email/phone up if you can afford some amount (most of tried and said its useless)
-Contact news channels if you are waiting for more than 8 months.
-have a pint of beer and sleep well

Thanks for the reassurance.



You can expect anything and everything from the HO. ... when ever I've tried to mail them all I read is " awaiting for a decision " every time ... same reply ... don't know what exactly is happening and when will our patience will pay us