lenardparnold said:
So this just must mean that in cases like ours that take 3 - 4 times as long as others, they believe we are fraudulent criminals and need to conduct extensive background checks or something.
You know I have read a number of your posts where the frustration level is clearly very high and you are obviously very upset with the process and that is understandable as it's a very strict and inflexible one. BUT having said that I do think you need to just back up a bit take a few deep breaths and relax. Getting yourself upset is not going to help your application nor is it for that matter going to help your physical or mental health. I do really wish I wrote this to you prior to receiving our PPR as I know you are just going to dismiss what I say by thinking "easy for him to say he has Visa" but truth is even while waiting the times when I did feel more stress coming on (usually after reading this forum haha) I learned to step back stop reading for a few days and just calm down. It takes what it takes and once we have accepted that there is no rhyme or reason that we personally can see they do things how they do them. The system clearly needs to change I think everyone can agree with that, but I don't believe you working yourself up will help that change happen nor does it do you as I said physically or mentally any favors.
Just because YOU or some one else finds their application taking a "different" amount of time compared to other applications it does not mean they think your wife is "whore" or you and her are "criminals". What it might mean is that your application is more complicated in some way based on how they do their processing. I don't know your whole story but that might very well be the case.
Our application was done in four months but it was very very easy and straight forward in a number of ways. How that compares to yours I don't know but it is something to consider. Plus assume your application does take four times as long and you are done is 16 months, that is still 4 months below what they are calling average processing time now. Plus in the big picture of your life as hard as 16 months is and I imagine it is hellish being apart from loved ones it really is not that long in the grand scheme of your life. Saying that of course I still think 20 months is obscene but it is what it is right now until enough political pressure can come to bear to have changes made, but that will not happen by posting in this forum of that I am sure.
I also want to point out I am not picking on you I just happened to see your post today and after seeing a few of late where you clearly seem to be on the razor's edge I thought I would comment and hopefully help you gain some perspective. Once I posted about our PPR I received quite a number of PM's most were very nice and offered good wishes etc, some OTOH were rather snippy and borderline rude more or less implying it wasn't fair we got our PPR after waiting such a short period of time, when they had been waiting so long.
Almost to a person when I asked them details about their application it was clear to me anyway why it would take longer compared to ours. Things like talking to someone for three months online and marrying them first time they meet. Or marrying then spending six months at a time apart. I am well aware that being apart is something that MUST be done in some cases, but you still have to look at it from the VO's side of things. You might feel undying love and devotion to your spouse, but if you are apart for three or six or whatever months at a time it really is impossible for your relationship to mature and grow in the most needed manner which is face to face time. It is one thing to talk to someone online every day and think about how much you miss them for months at a time, it is quite another to wake up beside that person every day for those six months.
Nobody is perfect we all have our little faults and quirks and that is what makes us human, so the goal in life is not to find someone that is perfect but rather someone that is perfect for US. The person who thinks our quirks are cute and endearing, that is just not something you can do over the internet. The net is filled with tales of people that "thought" they were madly in love and longed endlessly to be with the object of their affection in real life after months or years of waiting they found after a few months of face time they really couldn't deal with that person 24/7. I don't say this to imply this is the case with you, just to point out that the VO's have seen a LOT of applications come across their desks over time and each of them must have their own personal set of red flags that makes them go hmmmm better dig deeper on this one... whether right or wrong that too is human nature.
I won't list why I think our application was "easy" notice the word when I say easy I mean easy for the VO to quickly look at the facts contained within and verify what is there easily and quickly. But after hearing so many other details from the people that PM'd I really do believe I have a better understanding as to why ours was done so much faster than the stated average. Again that does mean it was right just that humans being what they are, I can see how it could have happened.
Time to step off the soapbox now I do have work to get done, but I hope you will read what I've written and take any of it to heart that might relate to you and just relax a bit and bring your stress down... and I am sure before you know it, you too will get your PPR and all this nonsense will be behind you soon enough. Good luck... my fingers are crossed for you... but you really should get CharlieD to do that.. she is very good at crossing fingers.