Add your timeline: EEA FP

[mEEA]

Applied on 16.04.2012 from Germany. No news yet. I wrote world bridge they said to write them back after 15 working days if I don't hear anything till then.

[Laura721]

Applied on 02.04.12 from Madrid, Spain. Still no news, it is a month today (18 working days).

[ca.funke]

Article 5
Right of entry

(...)
2. Family members who are not nationals of a Member State
shall only be required to have an entry visa...
(...)
Member States shall grant such persons every facility to obtain
the necessary visas. Such visas shall be issued free of charge as
soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure.

After 5 days waiting, I would send a complaint to the relevant UK Embassy, CC the Commission, citing above law, and asking them to justify the wait. Sample letter:

from: me
to: UK Embassy
cc: "EU Commission - Complaints" <sg-plaintes@ec.europa.eu>

Dear Madam or Sir,

on <<date>> I, <<name>> of <<nationality>> nationality, married to <<name>> of <<nationality>> nationality applied for a UK-entry visa for my non-EEA spouse.

The UK-Authorities call this entry-visa "EEA Family-Permit" or "EEA-FP".

I applied for this visa based on article 5, section 2 of 2004/38/EC, which stipulates that any visa for EEA-family-members should be "issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure."

After <<x>> working days I wonder about the legality of the delay in the processing of my spouse´s visa.

I hereby also request an explication in what way our application has been "accelerated" over other "normal" applications, as the law demands.

Thanks and regards,
<<me>>

To be fair: You will (most probably) not receive any reply from the UK-Embassy, but the Commission usually replies. While their replies are usually meaningless and bureaucratical "little strokes fell big oaks", and eventually we´ll get a solution...

Regards, Christian

[Laura721]

Thanks Christian, but I had contacted the European Commission about the 6 month wait for an appointment for my husbands spanish residence card as my family member, and they have not got back to me, it has been a month.

On the other hand every time I have email the visa section of Madrid embassy they have got back to me within 24 hours. Them justifying the delay was that UK border agency had not got back to them with the obligatory checks results and without those they cannot make a decision. They said they had let the ukba know we had been waiting longer than usual and as soon as they get the results a decision will be made immediately.

[ca.funke]

Hi Laura721,

...they have not got back to me, it has been a month...

In the Commission´s space-time-continuum this is roughly the blink of an eye.

Give them 2-3 blinks, and you shall (most probably) hear back

[Laura721]

Thanks Christian.

I have sent the email just to the Madrid Visa Section as I usually find they respond by email the next morning. Will keep you posted. Thanks for the model email, much appreciated.

[Laura721]

Another swift reply from the Madrid Visa Section!

Dear Ms. Ortiz,

We have now received the results of the checks on your husband’s application and an official will be looking at his case today. A decision should be taken this afternoon so we expect to be able to send out his passport either today or tomorrow.

Best regards,

Madrid Visa Section

I feel sick now.

[mEEA]

Another swift reply from the Madrid Visa Section!....

Don't worry it will be all fine, think positive if you think of it.

All in all this is nice that they reply. To they also reply, but using a machine-produced reply, saying that I can check on the status of my application using their website and that I should get in touch with them only after 15 working days! Further that the reply is from World Bridge and not the Visa Section, meaning that my application simply arrived at the visa section, but might not even be under consideration. This is ridiculous.

[Laura721]

Sorry to hear that. In Spain you cannot check the status online and worldbridge got them in touch with me very quickly - since then the Madrid visa section replied to my email each time so a very good response. Apparently our decision is being made this afternoon.

[newbieholland]

Another swift reply from the Madrid Visa Section!

Dear Ms. Ortiz,

We have now received the results of the checks on your husband’s application and an official will be looking at his case today. A decision should be taken this afternoon so we expect to be able to send out his passport either today or tomorrow.

Best regards,

Madrid Visa Section

I feel sick now.

Just be patient till the end of the day now. Hope you post the good news soon

[Amo2012]

Applied For : EEA fp
Applied From: Germany
Application Submission Date: 11th April 2012
Application Delivered to Visa Section: 13th April
Decision: Awaited?

[Amo2012]

on the query after 15 working days, got the following reply from Worldbridge:

"In regards to your question, we would like to let you know that due to the nature of your request it is being escalated for detailed research. Please be informed that we understand the importance of your issue, and we strive to respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible."

still waiting for update...

[Laura721]

on the query after 15 working days, got the following reply from Worldbridge:

"In regards to your question, we would like to let you know that due to the nature of your request it is being escalated for detailed research. Please be informed that we understand the importance of your issue, and we strive to respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible."

still waiting for update...

I emailed Worldbridge and got that too, then I called Worldbridge, got same email from them and then the Madrid Visa Section emailed me directly. I have been in touch with them directly ever since by email. We get the passport back on Monday, she said this morning.

[Amo2012]

I emailed to worldbridge again, asking them for the contact numbers and email addresses for the visa section....let's see if they would provide.

[mEEA]

I emailed to worldbridge again, asking them for the contact numbers and email addresses for the visa section....let's see if they would provide.

I should be contacting them soon. I appreciate your updates.

[Amo2012]

I emailed to worldbridge again, asking them for the contact numbers and email addresses for the visa section....let's see if they would provide.

I should be contacting them soon. I appreciate your updates.

here is the reply of my last email from worldbridge:

"We are sorry to inform you that WorldBridge service cannot provide you with e-mail address nor a phone number of the UK Border Agency.



Please be informed that as per as your previous email inquiry (case number: xxxxxx) from the xx/xx/xxxx at xx:xx your request has been already forwarded to the British Embassy for investigation.



The UK Border Agency understands the importance of your issue, and they strive to respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible.



WorldBridge Service has absolutely no influence over the investigation which is done solely by the British Embassy, therefore we cannot guarantee consideration times.



Thank you for your patience and understanding."

So waiting for the other reply, i think it would be on coming Tuesday (earliest) as there is Bank Holiday in UK...

[mEEA]

... on coming Tuesday (earliest) as there is Bank Holiday in UK...

Thisincludes a list of the holidays.

[Laura721]

The decision for our application was made yesterday and the courier collected our documents at 5pm in the afternoon from the consulate. So on Monday we will receive these but I am concerned because I have heard others got an email from the embassy for feedback the same day of decision or next day, I didnt receive this - is that because it will probably be sent on Monday or is it because our application may have been refused? Does it mean anything? I may well be paranoid, I am having a horrific, slow weekend just waiting for Monday morning

[mEEA]

The decision for our application was made yesterday and the courier collected our documents at 5pm in the afternoon from the consulate. So on Monday we will receive these but I am concerned because I have heard others got an email from the embassy for feedback the same day of decision or next day, I didnt receive this - is that because it will probably be sent on Monday or is it because our application may have been refused? Does it mean anything? I may well be paranoid, I am having a horrific, slow weekend just waiting for Monday morning

Listen! this that you did not receive an email has absolutely no meaning. Watch old photos, watch some movies that you like etc.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

The decision for our application was made yesterday and the courier collected our documents at 5pm in the afternoon from the consulate. So on Monday we will receive these but I am concerned because I have heard others got an email from the embassy for feedback the same day of decision or next day, I didnt receive this - is that because it will probably be sent on Monday or is it because our application may have been refused? Does it mean anything? I may well be paranoid, I am having a horrific, slow weekend just waiting for Monday morning :cry:

Until you receive the package you will not know what's in it. Relax.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

On the other hand every time I have email the visa section of Madrid embassy they have got back to me within 24 hours. Them justifying the delay was that UK border agency had not got back to them with the obligatory checks results and without those they cannot make a decision.

What were the exact words UKBA used?

[Amo2012]

The decision for our application was made yesterday and the courier collected our documents at 5pm in the afternoon from the consulate. So on Monday we will receive these but I am concerned because I have heard others got an email from the embassy for feedback the same day of decision or next day, I didnt receive this - is that because it will probably be sent on Monday or is it because our application may have been refused? Does it mean anything? I may well be paranoid, I am having a horrific, slow weekend just waiting for Monday morning

I hope all will be good, at least you have heard something. we are still out of queue.......please inform us as soon as you receive the package, we all are waiting for a good news....cheers

[Laura721]

On the other hand every time I have email the visa section of Madrid embassy they have got back to me within 24 hours. Them justifying the delay was that UK border agency had not got back to them with the obligatory checks results and without those they cannot make a decision.

What were the exact words UKBA used?

After they told me it was still being processed I asked them to justify the delay and they replied saying:

We apologise for the delay in the processing of your husband’s application. The reason for this delay is that we are still awaiting the results of the obligatory checks that are carried out on all applications, and cannot take a decision until the results are back. We have alerted the UK to the fact that you have been waiting longer than usual, so they are aware of the need to send us the results as quickly as possible. As soon as we have them, a decision will be taken and your husband’s passport and original documents will be returned.

Then I wrote again last Wednesday as there were a couple of bank holidays In Spain last week, they replied right away thursday morning saying checks were back and a decision would be made either the thursday afternoon or friday. Then they emailed me friday morning saying they were sending documents that same afternoon, and so I tracked with DHL and yes they collected them at 5pm friday. Must say really fast at replying by email.

[Laura721]

The decision for our application was made yesterday and the courier collected our documents at 5pm in the afternoon from the consulate. So on Monday we will receive these but I am concerned because I have heard others got an email from the embassy for feedback the same day of decision or next day, I didnt receive this - is that because it will probably be sent on Monday or is it because our application may have been refused? Does it mean anything? I may well be paranoid, I am having a horrific, slow weekend just waiting for Monday morning

I hope all will be good, at least you have heard something. we are still out of queue.......please inform us as soon as you receive the package, we all are waiting for a good news....cheers

Thank you mate, fingers crossed! I hope you hear something positive soon.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

We apologise for the delay in the processing of your husband’s application. The reason for this delay is that we are still awaiting the results of the obligatory checks that are carried out on all applications, and cannot take a decision until the results are back. We have alerted the UK to the fact that you have been waiting longer than usual, so they are aware of the need to send us the results as quickly as possible. As soon as we have them, a decision will be taken and your husband’s passport and original documents will be returned.

They are spinning a line. Normally applications are not referred to the UK. They only refer them if they have policy questions that they want "management approval" or guidance on.

See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27885818/UK/UKB ... lGuide.pdf (Question 17)