does anybody have experience with UK VAC in London & actual processing times?

[Hansi89]

Hi Bryanna,

yes after 7.5 weeks! Im very happy about it. Again, thank you very much for you help, advise and suggestions! you are very helpful! one thing i have learnt is to check forums first before applying for a visa lol!

 

[Bryanna]

You're most welcome

You've been very patient. Hope your husband gets a TRV until the full validity of his passport.... although a 6 months or 1 year MEV might be more like it

 

[Hansi89]

yes i almost lost it :-\ yes i am expecting 6 months as we don't have any family or friends to return there. anyway I am happy even with 1 month. ;D

 

[Hansi89]

Now it's official! File is closed and final decision: approved! Passport not received though but expecting it early next week ;D

 

[Bryanna]

Fantastic

 

[Hansi89]

Re: does anybody have experience with UK VO in London & actual processing times?

Hey guys,

today we received my husbands passport. He got MEV for 4 years! ;D we did not expect that! we are so happy that we can relax and go on our holiday!

I would like to share the timeline with you for future (tourist visa) applicants seeking information:
Sri Lankan nationality, has resident permit in the UK. Family member of an EEA national. We don't have any friends or family in Canada so this is purely a tourism based application.

25-05 - Applied for TRV online
25-05 - application acknowledged and received bio-metrics instructions
08-06 - provided bio-metrics
09-06 - bio-metrics received at London VO
18-07 - received passport request
19-07 - passport sent to VFS London via royal mail special delivery
20-07 - passport received by VFS and sent to London VO
21-07 - passport stamped and sent back to VFS
22-07 - passport dispatched from VFS
25-07 - passport received

Documents included when submitting the online application:

Part 1

Finances; 18000 CAD for 3 weeks, 6 months bank-statements, saving and credit card statements
Employment: 4 months payslips, letter from employer stating the job position (approval of leave was NOT included)
Travel history: Peru visa, UK resident permit, entry and exit stamps to Netherlands
Travel itinerary: Hotel and Airbnb bookings, camping bookings at national parks, car rental booking
Flight tickets: London to Vancouver, Calgary to Toronto and Toronto to London.
Copies of the passport and other pages.


After messaging with Bryanna, on her advise we sent an email (on 10-July) to London VO with the following documents hoping they will accept them:

Part 2:
Marriage certificate
Copies of my passport (Dutch national)
Approved ETA number and copy of the letter
Tenancy agreement and bills, insurance documents where we are both named
Employment contract of my husband
Updated itinerary with estimated costs and travel plan etc.
New payslips and bank statements from May to July

As you can see if they have approved the visa only based on the docs in part 1 we have to consider ourselves very lucky! However they might have taken the new docs into consideration too (we are not sure!). If this is the case we have Bryanna to thank for it!

Anyways my advise is to apply with all the documents in part 1 and 2 just to be sure (also include letter of approval of leave).

I hope this information is useful to future applicants

 

[Bryanna]

Hey Hansi,

Such wonderful news. I'm so happy for you

Getting a 4 years MEV (for a short holiday, no relatives/ties to Canada) is the best possible thing after the long, stressful wait

If you're curious to know what/why/how it happened then you can order GCMS notes.... by your timeline, the passport request came one week after you sent the CSE and the additional documents.


Enjoy a fantastic holiday


PS: AnnPCD, any updates on your TRV application?

 

[Hansi89]

Hi Bryanna,

yes I think I will order them, I want to know what has happened. I will do this when I'm in Canada because they won't allow me to go to the next page when I select None of the above in ATIP website.

Have a great day!

 

[Julian82]

Hi there,

Does anyone have any idea what the standard time frame for a TRV out of the London visa office may be at the moment?

My girlfriend (Chinese passport holder living in the UK) put her visitor application in on the 6th of July at the VFS offices, and the CIC website claims 9 days is the standard waiting time for London, which is obviously not the case. Anyone have a better idea of how long it’s really taking at the moment?

Thanks!

 

[Hansi89]

Hi there,

Does anyone have any idea what the standard time frame for a TRV out of the London visa office may be at the moment?

My girlfriend (Chinese passport holder living in the UK) put her visitor application in on the 6th of July at the VFS offices, and the CIC website claims 9 days is the standard waiting time for London, which is obviously not the case. Anyone have a better idea of how long it’s really taking at the moment?

Thanks!

Hiya,

according to the website it's 9 days, but my husbands took around 55 days to receive the pasport request. But another person received the passport request within 1 week... so it all depends on the application itself.

 

[Julian82]

55 days?! That's a definitely a odd one out I hope.
Her passport went in with the application so I'm hopeful that they'll deal with it quickly!!

 

[Hansi89]

yeah but I hope for you it wont take that long! When is she flying or you haven't bought any tickets yet?

 

[Julian82]

25th August, although we have changeable flights.
Would be day 50..

 

[Hansi89]

let's hope it wont hit 50! I think they are probably understaffed due to summer holidays. or maybe they are doing background checks...can be anything. If you want you can send a CSE as the processing time is way passed, asking them to expedite the decision?

 

[Julian82]

I filled in the CSE and got a fairly standard response..

The service standard for temporary resident visa applications received outside Canada is currently 2 weeks.

As indicated on our website, the processing times provided are based on how long it took to process 80 percent of all applications during that time period and are subject to change. As these processing times refer to 80 percent of applications, some applications will fall outside of these timeframes. In addition, as they are an average, there will be some fluctuations in processing times at peak periods during the course of the year.

That being said, please be assured that your application has been received and is currently in active process.