For canadians

My girlfriend is from Canada and I am from Scotland, I was unable to get a working holiday visa for Canada be use of the small amount of places available. We are now applying from my girlfriend to get a teir 5: first problem is, why does she need to pay £400 for two year surcharge when she only wants to be in the uk for a year?
Problem 2: Why does Canada send it to New York to be done? On the website it says it should take up to 15 days, but when we went to the appointment in Toronto they said it can take up to 4 weeks.
on her application she put her flight is in 2 weeks time but now we don't think we will get it in time, will that affect the outcome of her visa?

Thanks in advance for information. Ryan

The surcharge is payable according to the length of the visa. If the visa is 2 years the surcharge is 2 years.

The consulate in NY is very hit and miss at the moment - they'll do it when they do it. 15 working days should be achievable but don't risk buying a ticket you can't change. If the visa is approvable then it will be issued regardless of the date she put on the application form. In other words they could still issue the visa even if the travel date on the form has passed.

Hope this helps a bit.