November Applications and before: some tips

[Blackhole]

Hi All

i have decided to start this topic for two reasons:

1- to see how many people in here who passed 4 months by now -so we can make a good estimation about the timeline of the application

2- to discuss some tips that they might help people in here to accelerate their process

I will start with my self:

I have applied on 9th Nov which is exactly 4 months and 4 days now
still nothing

called about 9 times and as you may expect all information obtained from the call centre were totally unreliable

MY TIP:

One thing I have learned in here which might help you accelerating your process is:

if you have applied through post; just give them a ring and request your passport to be sent back
most of people who done that recieved their document a long with the approval letter

from what I have seen in here and heared from my friends this trick worked almost 90% times once you passed 3 months.
unfortunatly for the people who applied through NCS like me; this doesnot apply

So Guys; lets share our experience in here and try to help each other by exchanging our ideas

[goonzilla]

Applied Nov 28th, still nothing.

I called 4 times:
1st time: Still undergoing checks (around 2 months ago) - was advised that I'll have to wait till end of Feb/beginning of March for decision
2nd time: Waiting to be allocated to caseworker (I think around a month ago)
3rd time: Can't give updates, less than 6 mths (around 2 weeks ago)
4th time: Same as 3rd (today)

Unfortunately this process seems just random with no identifiable trend!

[goonzilla]

Worth mentioning that when I called 4th time, they just said 'application still in progress' as the status, with no clarification on what stage it was at...since it was within 6 months.

[Blackhole]

goonzilla

I was thinking to use a similar trick

so I have called HO and claimed that I havenot recieved my Aknowledgment letter yet

requested it to be sent back

they have confirmed that it is on its way

so, lets see if something else comes with it, or not

might worth you try the same!

will update

[goonzilla]

Yes, please do. Will be interesting to see if that works!

[Blackhole]

from what I read:

here is a list of the people who are on the same Nov / OCt / Sep boat

correct me if I am wrong

hen76,
sichuantoufu ,
HANDYMAN,
AlexS,
goonzilla,
jonnyb,
london11,
nebu2008

[cherryplum]

I rang them a few weeks short of 3 months and said I did not get acknowledgement letter and wanted ref number to keep a record of my application and they told me it was with a case worker - 2 days later my application was approved.

[idrissule]

I rang them a few weeks short of 3 months and said I did not get acknowledgement letter and wanted ref number to keep a record of my application and they told me it was with a case worker - 2 days later my application was approved.

Not so sure it helps in all cases. I did try the "trick" but received an acknowledge letter after a week. still waiting for the approval.. August 2011 and still waiting "patiently".

its a privilege and not a right!

[AlexS]

I wonder if not receiving the ack letter means that you're not even in the queue... In Idrissule's case, suppose that his application was "lost" until he complained about not receiving the ack. Then they looked up his application, sent the ack, and only then put the application in the back of the queue.

I my case, my ack letter took more than the usual (compared with what I see in people's timelines here). I applied on 26/11, but I only got the ack letter on 6/1
How long did your ack letter take to arrive, Blackhole?

[Blackhole]

AlexS, idrissule, goonzilla

I have Applied on 9th Nov

Acknow - letter received on 23rd Nov


I have caled them two days ago ,
I spoke to a lady, took my details and she Immediatly said that you have called us many times and I will not be able to provide any updates.

I told her I dont want updates but I have requested my Aknow-letter 2 weeks ago and nothing arrived

today I opened my box and a brown envelope was there

Sadly the trick DIDNOT work and all what I get is another copy of the letter.

18 weeks now

[goonzilla]

Interesting...so they keep a record of how many times we call?!

[juliajules1979]

Some of those advisors are awful, I have had the same woman on two occasions, they just treat you like a nuisance, so I wouldn't be suprised if it was her!

[Blackhole]

Some of those advisors are awful, I have had the same woman on two occasions, they just treat you like a nuisance, so I wouldn't be suprised if it was her!

and again my nice luck put me at the same lady's hand one more time

as rude as usual

she almost used F word

forgot her name though

[friend12345]

Some of those advisors are awful, I have had the same woman on two occasions, they just treat you like a nuisance, so I wouldn't be suprised if it was her!

and again my nice luck put me at the same lady's hand one more time

as rude as usual

she almost used F word

forgot her name though

My timeline
Applied: 8 March 2012
Received: 9 March
Payment taken: 14 March
Acknowledgement letter received today ( 19 March ) dated 14 March.

Lets's see what happens next LOL

Good Luck folks!!!

[goonzilla]

Any news fellas?

Couldn't resist and ended up calling again this morning! They say it's now with a caseworker...and that once a caseworker is assigned, it takes about 4 weeks. Said it could be a case of the caseworker sending out the letter today, or 4 weeks from now.

Any one know how long it normally takes once it's assigned to a caseworker? Of course, this could all be pointless since their updates don't tend to be accurate anyway!

[MyHSMPApplication]

Hi Goonzilla / all,

Is there a pattern to your application ? i.e. Any common reason why the application is taking this long ? I have heard cases for
WP + HSMP + Tier 1 G + ILR taking less than 6 weeks; hence my question

KR
PG

[AlexS]

The only reason I can think my application can be more "difficult" than others (5 years EEA family member + 1year ILR), is because I have travelled out of the UK many times. Not even close to the maximum allowed time, but for many short periods.

But still I don't think this can cause such delay, on the 26th it'll be 4 months since I applied, when some other people got it in 2 months.

[Blackhole]

Hi Goonzilla / all,

Is there a pattern to your application ? i.e. Any common reason why the application is taking this long ? I have heard cases for
WP + HSMP + Tier 1 G + ILR taking less than 6 weeks; hence my question

KR
PG

as said before dont think there is any pattern
and from my point of view is all depend on how lucky you are.

I know a guy who never worked claiming benifits all the time and got his approval in 6 weeks

other Italian friend waited 7 months before received any reply although he was a good tax payer.

I believe that some applications got forgotten by some lazy case workers and the proof is when you have a chance to remind them with your application like requesting your Doc back ; there is high chance you recieve an approval immediatly

total mess!!!

[Blackhole]

Hay Guys

any news from November family?

anyone?

[mamou]

Hay Guys

any news from November family?

anyone?

How about september !!
Applied 23 sep 11
ack on 7th Oct 11
Called 10-15 times. It was with a case worker around xmas but now under security check
I'm speechless ...waiting

[goonzilla]

Nothing yet...I wonder if the xmas break affected our applications?

[OctApplication]

hey guys - what number are you guys calling the HO on? I've been trying to reach them on the number shown on teh UKBA website, but just not able to get through.

Is there any trick in being able to get through on their phones? I submitted my application on 17th October, checked DX website and application delivered on 18th October. Money taken from account on 6th November, but to date no letter of any sort. No acknowledge letter even.

[Blackhole]

hey guys - what number are you guys calling the HO on? I've been trying to reach them on the number shown on teh UKBA website, but just not able to get through.

Is there any trick in being able to get through on their phones? I submitted my application on 17th October, checked DX website and application delivered on 18th October. Money taken from account on 6th November, but to date no letter of any sort. No acknowledge letter even.

Try:

08450105200
then option 2
then option 2 again

sorry but you have to lie mate !!:D

so tell them that aknowlegment letter never received, and slowly try to obtain some information about your case

17 oct is longer than usual, please let us how it goes with you

Good luck mate

[OctApplication]

Thanks Blackhole - thats the number i've been trying. Option 2 and 2. the line keeps ringing with the "we are experiencing high number of calls" message in between. then after about 3 minutes the line just drops.

I'll try from 9am sharp tomorrow and see how that goes.

These forums are extremely enlightening. Cant believe i didnt stumble upon this before submitting my application.

Fingers crossed i get some info on my application soon.

[OctApplication]

finally managed to get through to HO today. It seems they'd finished processing my application ages ago, but for some reason sent the package to my old address, where i lived about 2 years ago. i havent moved from my current address for the past 2 years.

so its been lying there for i dont know how many months. HO said they'll send out another pack to my current address and should receive it in the next 10 working days.

they said they couldnt say what the result of the application was so will have to wait to get the pack to see if its been approved. I'm hoping there wasnt any further information they needed and since i hadnt responded, they made a decision based on what they already had.

Preparing for the worst, so any advice if my application is declined and not having the chance to respond within the timeframe as the letter never reached me?