worried about how long my partners visa is taking

[eastonsteven]

hi all,
My partner applied for her visa at the end of july 2009 and her biometric interview was a few weeks afterwards in early august. At the interview she was told her application was very staightforward. And they made it seem like she would be reciving her visa very soon. its now the ed of october and there's no sign of it. All the government helpline will tell us is they cant check the progress of the app unless it's been more than 14 weeks. This wouldn't be much of a problem but we have a vacation booked for the 12th of december to the phillipines. Without her passport it would be difficult for her to travel, obviously. Is there any way that we can get the passport back earlier so she can travel? or are we just at the mercy of the home office?