Delays in processing UK visa and immigration application by the Home Office can sabotage trip plans. Prolong uncertainty, and put applicants through hardship by stopping them from working in the UK. Spending time with loved ones. If you’re looking to purchase or sell a home or business in London. The best law firms with the best teams of attorneys. They are Dispute resolution solicitors in London. This article outlines some of the typical reasons for delays. How you can pressure the Home Office for a quick resolution if your application for a UK visa. The immigration is taking too long to process.
Has my application for a UK visa been delayed?
On its website, the Home Office posts the expected wait periods for judgments on applications received both inside and outside the UK. It also makes its service standards available online. Please check our site, UK Visa Processing & Decision Waiting Time-frames, for the most recent summary of current UK visa processing and decision-waiting times.
COVID-19 and the Ukraine War have recently had an impact on processing time-frames. For instance, partner visa applications from outside the UK are taking up to 24 weeks to process from the date of biometric enrolment at a visa application center, although they typically take 12 weeks to process.
Our most recent post outlines the processing times of standard service applications for various types of applications.
According to the Home Office website, the “waiting time starts once you’ve filed your application online. Ends when you get a letter or an email with a decision” for applications made from within the UK. The Graduate Immigration Route is an exception. Where the waiting period begins whenever you show up for your appointment at a service center or send your paperwork using the ID Check app.
When you “attend your appointment and produce your fingerprints and a photograph (biometric information) at a visa application center” or “check your identification using the UK Immigration: ID Check app,” the waiting period for applications submitted from outside the UK begins. You will be informed if you can utilize this depending on the type of visa you apply for.” When “you get an email detailing the decision on your application,” the waiting period is over.
If this applies to your application, you should allow extra time for the Home Office to issue. They send you a BRP before submitting an immigration application. Typically, this occurs ten working days after the judgment.
Why Has My UK Visa or Immigration Application Been Processed Lately?
If the Home Office has not responded to you and the stated waiting period has passed. You should look into potential delays.
According to the Home Office website, applicants should make sure the following to guarantee. That their applications are processed following the service standards:
- You submit your application before the expiration of your current visa.
- Your application has been correctly filled out.
- You submit any necessary images.
- If necessary, you demonstrate financial means to support yourself on the application form and instructions.
- You enroll your biometric data and comply with any requests for further information by the specified deadlines.
- You present the necessary paperwork together with your application when you arrive for your appointment at our business partner or Service and Support Center.
- If you submit your application via a paper form
- It is made on the appropriate form, signed, dated, and attaches the necessary paperwork.
- Any check is signed and dated for the full cost, and you have included the payment.
According to the Home Office’s guidelines, simple applications that satisfy these prerequisites should be processed within the typical processing time.
The Home Office “will write to explain why it will not be decided within the usual standard if there is a difficulty with your application or if it is unusually complex.” We’ll write the 8-week standard within the typical processing period and the 6-month standard within 12 weeks. What will happen next will be explained in the letter.
Your case could take longer than usual to process and decide for the following reasons:
- You are to be interviewed by the Home Office regarding your application;
- You must provide more information to the Home Office;
- The Home Office is performing outside investigations into your application (for instance, with other governmental agencies);
- The Home Office is processing more applications than normal (for example, right before special occasions or sporting events);
Only “complete” applications are subject to the Home Office’s service standards: “If your application is incomplete when you finish your appointment, the caseworker will examine whether the case may be excluded from the service standard.”
Steps for Chasing a Delayed UK Visa or Immigration Decision
Step 1: Request assistance from UK Visas and Immigration
The next step is to contact UK Visas and Immigration and get an update on the status of your application if you are suffering delays in processing and the Home Office has not contacted you. The Home Office’s pertinent contact information can be found here.
If your application has been delayed, UK Visas and Immigration should be able to advise you on why and whether there are any actions you can take to hasten the process.
Keep a record of all communications
If you had with the Home Office regarding your application, including who you spoke with when the communication was made and the shared details. You might receive “ticket” numbers from the Home Office in email contact; you should keep them safe. To pursue your immigration decision further, you will need proof that these actions were taken.
You should use your visa application number or your Home Office reference number when speaking with or writing to the Home Office (s). These numbers can be obtained on your downloaded application form and in correspondence with the Home Office (s). The dates your application was submitted, when your bio-metrics were enrolled, and the processing time listed on the Home Office website at the time of submission should also be included. You can also describe how the delay hurts you and your family, such as if it prevents you from accepting a job offer or keeps you apart from close family members.
Asking the Home Office to reimburse you for the priority or super-priority service fee if you paid for this is advised. You should also request that the issue be escalated or fast-tracked as a matter of priority.
Step 2: Complain about UK immigration and visa policies
If getting in touch with the Home Office doesn’t help, the next step is to use UK Visas and Immigration’s online form to file a complaint. Alternatively, you can send an email to complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk or a letter to the complaints allocation center.
You must provide the following details when filing a complaint internally with UKVI:
- Include your address and phone number in your contact information. Since we may need to get in touch with you to settle your complaint over.
- If you are filling out this form on behalf of someone else. Please provide their name and the name of the original complaint. We require written permission before disclosing information about another person’s case.
- Complete information about the issue you’re complaining about, including times, dates, and places
- The names or badge numbers of any employees you’ve interacted with
- if applicable, information about any witnesses to the occurrence
- information about any problems with reimbursement, together with documents and receipts supporting your claim
Your Home Office reference information, as well as any additional references that can aid. In our investigation of your complaints, such as refund, appeal, UAN (unique application number), IHS, and any payment references.
A complaint about the length
The time it takes to receive a decision on an immigration application. It may result in a response taking up to 20 days, according to the Home Office website. It may take up to 12 weeks when a complaint alleges serious professional misconduct. UKVI should write to you to explain.
In your complaint, you must provide all relevant information. Including the specifics of prior conversations with the Home Office, your reference numbers, full name, date of birth. The other pertinent details.
The government website outlines the complaints process for UK Visas and Immigration. Unless there are special circumstances. It states that complaints must be filed “no later than three months following the date of the incident.”
According to the UKVI website, it “only responds to inquiries that are considered complaints.” If you use our online complaints form, UKVI “will not respond to progress inquiries.”
Contact Your Local MP in Step 3
Many of our clients have successfully contacted their MPs to intervene on their behalf if they haven’t heard back from the Home Office after doing the aforementioned measures.
The simplest method is to write a letter to your MP at the House of Commons, London SW1A OAA, or email them using the Directory of MPs. This way, you can be sure to include all of the information related to your complaint, including a description of the above-mentioned methods.
Step 4: File a complaint with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman.
You might ask your MP to report your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. If their letter to the Home Office is unsuccessful. It allows it to investigate your complaints and, if necessary, make things right for you. Before your MP can contact the Ombudsman on your behalf. You must have filed a formal complaint with the Home Office and waited 20 days.
According to the law, the Ombudsman can only look into complaints concerning UK government. Agencies if an MP submits the issue to them. You can fill out the complaint form on their behalf. They have your MP sign it, and mail it on their behalf.
Pre-Action Protocol Letter, Step 5
If you have followed all of the aforementioned instructions, you might think about getting legal counsel before suing the Home Office. You are only legally permitted to sue the Home Office as a last resort, according to the legislation.
