Any Tier-1 (General) new applicants??

[abhishekagrawal79]

ashraya:
======
Date Applied :6th march
Reached Home office : 8th march
Debit charged: 13th March
Reference Number received :18th March ( PB2988....)
Approval Date: 9th April
Docs Received: 15th April

asiar08 ( Tier 1 with Valid HSMP letter )
=====
Date Applied : 11 March
Reached Home office : 12th march
Credit card charged: 13th March
Reference Number : PB299***
Decision : Approved
Documents received :22nd Apr


aylee:
======
Date Applied :11th march
Reached Home office : 12th march
Debit charged: 13th March
Reference Number received :14th March ( PB2993....)
Decision : Approved on 19th March
Passport Stamped 1st April.
Docs Recieved :3rd April


lisa_simpson
========
Date Applied : 11 March
Reached Home office : 12 March
Debit card charged: 13 March
Reference Number Received: 14 March
Reference Number : PB299***
Decision Received: YES!! Very Happy
Documents Received: 8th April

butterfly08: ( HSMP to Tier 1 )
=======
Date Applied :12th march
Reached Home office : 13th march
Debit charged: 13th March
Reference Number received :14th March ( PB2994....)
Decision : Approived and got documents back on 16th April

hsmpaspirant2007:
================
Date Applied:15th March
Payment Taken: 17th March
Reference Number Received: 18th March
Decision Taken: 31st March
Passport stamped: 4th April
Current Status: Approved.
Documents Received: 9th April

irf_bar:
================
Date Applied:15th March
Payment Taken: 17th March
Reference Number Received: 18th March(PB299**)
Decision : Awaited (with case worker, asked him to wait for 5-7 working days)

sinspider:
=========
APPLIED: March 13th
RECD at Home Office: March 14th
Charged : 18th March
REFERENCE no: 19th March
Decision :Rejected 2nd April( Reason mentioned: Degree was in Swedish)


GobOOst:
=======
Date Applied:14th March
Payment Taken: 20th March
Reference Number Received: 25th March (PB299**)
Decision : Approved on 10th April
Stamped: on 10th Apirl
Documents received: 18th April

qqq
========
Date Applied :17th March
Reached Home office : 18th march
Credit card charged: 18th March
Reference Number received :20th March ( PB2999....)
Approved on 2 April 2008
Stamped on 24th April 2008
Valid until 2 April 2011
Documents recieved: 30th April


rajiv502
======
Date Applied :19th march
Reached Home office : 20th march
Credit card charged: 25th March
Reference Number received :28th March ( PB3001....)
Approval date: 31st march
Received date: 16th April

Carpra
===========

Date Applied : 19 March
Reached Home office : 20th March
Credit card charged: 20th March
Reference Number : PB300***
Decision : Approved on 26th April
Documents received :06 May


SSTier1:
=======
Posted my Tier 1 Application: 25-March-08
Recieved Home office : 26-March-08
Debit card charged: 26-March-08
Reference number recieved : 29-March-08
Decision : Approved
Visa stamped: 08-April-2008
Passports received : 12-April-2008

Tier1HSMP
===========

Applied Date - 25/03/2008
Debit Card Charged - 04/04/2008
Reference number allocated - 04/04/2008
Reference number received - 08/04/2008
Passport stamped - 29/04/2008
Documents received - 07/05/3008 (by RoyalMail recorded delivery)


mmmsa5:(From student to Tier 1 )
=======

Application received at HO: 26 March
Payment Taken: 26 March
Reference number received: 29 March (PB300***)
Decision Taken: 3 April (Approved), 4th April for dependants
Documents Received: 15th April

getkumars:
=========
Date Applied : 25 March
Reached Home office : 26th march
Debit card charged: 27th March
Reference Number Received: 29th March
Reference Number : PB3007***
Passport stamped: 3 rd April
Documents Received: 15th April


cisman:
=======
Application Sent : 29 March 2008
Application Received : 31 March 2008
Payment Processed : 31 March 2008
Reference no. Allocated : 31 March 2008
Reference no. Received : 02 April 2008 (.....)
Decision : Awaited


urgent:
=======
Date Applied :29th march
Reached Home office : 31st march
charged: 31st March
Reference Number received :2nd April( PB3012***)
Passport stamped: 17th April
Documents Received: 22nd April

AmitGoyal
---------
---------
Date Applied :1 April
Reached Home office : 2 April
Debit charged: 3 April
Reference Number received :4 April ( PB3014....)
Approval Date: 16th April
Docs Received: 21 April

Twinkle.
---------
Date Applied :2 April
Reached Home office :
Debit charged:
Reference Number received :
Status: Approved
Docs Received: 30 April

mg
====================
Date of application:2nd April.
Payment date: 9th April.
Reference: Received
Results: desperately waiting.....


nibbs:
====
applied by special delivery-4th april
fees deducted - 7th april
reference no - 7th april
passport stamped - 28th april
docu+pp recieved - 3rd May - by special delivery post
(self addressed send with application)




wp2tier1:
--------------
Applied:5th April
Received at HO: 8th April
Reference Number: awaited

SKris:
==========
Applied - 7th April
Fees deducted - 8th April
Ref number received - 10th April
Approval date - 29th April (as indicated in the HO letter)
Docs received - 7th May

fardeen:
=====
From WP to Tier1
Applied: April 7th (Royal mail special delivery)
Recd at Home Office: April 8th (confirmed)
Payment Processed: April 8th
Reference no: April 8th PB3020***(sent on 8th by post)
Decision: Approved
Stamped: May 1st 2008
Docs: special delivery 8th may (they left a card yesterday)


rashsmp:
======
pplied: April 9th (For Tier1 with valid HSMP approval Letter)
Recieved at Home Office: April 10th
Payment Processed: April 10th
Reference no: April 12th(lettter dated 10th) -PB3022****
Decision: Awaited

Sidshekhar:( Work Permit to Tier1)
========
Applied: 11th April
Received: 14th April
Payment Taken:
Reference Number:
Decision:
Documents Received:

SR1992:(HSMP to Tier1)
========
Applied: 14th April (Royal Mail Special Delivery)
Received: 15th April
Payment Taken: 15th April (Postal orders)
Reference Number: PB30270XXXXXX/001 dated April 15.
Decision: Waiting
Documents Received: Waiting

alpharulez:
=======
From WP to Tier1
Applied: April 16th (Royal mail special delivery)
Recvd at Home Office: April 17th
Payment Processed: April 17th
Reference no: waiting...
Decision: waiting...

Sankar
-------------------
--------------------
applied by special delivery-16th april
recvd Ho & fees deducted - 17th april
reference no - 19th april
decision - waiting eagerly

Blue.olive
===========
From WP to Tier1
Applied: April 17th (Royal mail special delivery)
Recd at Home Office: April 18th (confirmed)
Payment Processed: April 18th
Reference no: April 18th PB3030***(sent on 18th by post)
Decision:

venkmano:
======
pplied: April 18th for Tier1
Recieved at Home Office:
Payment Processed: April 18th
Location: Chennai
Reference no: April 18th
Decision: Awaited


AnxiousWait
===========
Date Applied: 24th April 2008
Ref No Recvd: 26th April 2008
Decision: AWAITED
Documents Recvd: AWAITED

Kmore97
============

Application Date: 1-May-08
Appl. Received by HO : 2-May-08
Payment Deducted: 7-May-08
Ref No: Awaited

Vipul 1981
============
Date Applied: 6th May 2008
Ref No: AWAITED
Date Recd: AWAITED
Decision: AWAITED
Documents Recd: AWAITED

[kmore97]

MG has applied on 2nd april and his fee is deducted on 9th Apr. Is there any specific reason of such delay. MG, what was your mode of payment?

[abhishekagrawal79]

I think you can have a word with HO and ask them. They should be the best to guide. As far as my knowledge goes, you can get a letter from your University, which is anyway recognised by self assessment tool, about the degree and medium.

Abhishek
.

Have read through most of the thread and have a couple of questions..

a quick update on my background, i am currently here on a work permit and it expires in about 8 weeks.. so planning a switch to tier 1..

1. The names on my degree certificates and passport do not match (initials not expanded in the degree certificate). is this an issue? How to obtain a notary letter?

2. my bachelors and masters degree are listed in the self assessment tool? do i still need an Naric endorsement? can i sent the naric assessment as a seperate attachment to support my application after the initial application?

any help will be much appreciated

Thanks

[abhishekagrawal79]

Hi Sankar,

I am not too sure about the time lines and how are the applications being processed. Also I am not aware how are they assigned to case workers. It seems to be more random as far as the statistics suggest.

Lets c

Hi Abhishek,
Do you have any statistics how long it takes if applied from UK during April? Because, I have seen applicants got their approval within less than 3 weeks. I mean most cases are 2 to 3 weeks. But the same speed doesn't seems to be now. Do you have any idea if there are long queues now???

Thanks
~sankar

Thanks Sankar.

I updated the list with your name as well.

Abhishek

[synchrony786]

Hi Irf, Sankar, Lassk/All,

thank you all for your positive feedback however I 'll be in calm once i am in the receipt of my documents no matter whatever is the decision. I rang them again today and surprisingly this time their response was not the traditional "under consideration" but rather the advisor told me that it may take roughly 2 more weeks to have a decision. I dont know why did he tell it to me but the answer was changes from the previous 1000 one. any way finger crossed and hope i get my documents and decision by the ned of next week roughly speaking 16th May. It will be more thna 2 months until 16th May since I have sent my application.
hope you all get your decision in no time. keep intouch

saint

[mg]

I paid by cheque

MG has applied on 2nd april and his fee is deducted on 9th Apr. Is there any specific reason of such delay. MG, what was your mode of payment?

[ammughal]

Hello mg,

i paid by cheque as well, and my payment was deducted on the 9th too.
I think we will get the answer on the same day

my ref number was PB30122 what was ur ref no? and date on ref letter

Please let me know as soon as you hear anything thx, i will call HO on friday

I paid by cheque

MG has applied on 2nd april and his fee is deducted on 9th Apr. Is there any specific reason of such delay. MG, what was your mode of payment?

[sankar]

Hi Abhishek,
I would like to share some knowledge how the applications get processed. When the doc is initially received, they will immediately deduct money and put it in a queue. Then it will be allocated to a case worker. The case worker will pass it to a duty inspector or someone who will validate authenticity of docs. After getting the clearance, then case worker starts valuation of points based on docs provided. Then he approves/rejects the application. The process takes not more than 1 week after getting allocated to a case worker. If the case worker gets some doubts, he may ask duty inspector to cross examine the docs again or ask the applicant for clarification. At the end it goes for stamping which takes very very less waiting time.

IMP - This above process that I explained is the info I have collected from my friends and others since a long period of time. I don't know if there is something I collected wrongly. Kindly, correct me if so.

~ sankar (mera number kab aayegaa )

Hi Sankar,

I am not too sure about the time lines and how are the applications being processed. Also I am not aware how are they assigned to case workers. It seems to be more random as far as the statistics suggest.

Lets c

Hi Abhishek,
Do you have any statistics how long it takes if applied from UK during April? Because, I have seen applicants got their approval within less than 3 weeks. I mean most cases are 2 to 3 weeks. But the same speed doesn't seems to be now. Do you have any idea if there are long queues now???

Thanks
~sankar

Thanks Sankar.

I updated the list with your name as well.

Abhishek

[vineet_sn]

Hi,

I am from DELHI and Y'day I called up VFS call center no 080-40084008
and they have informed me that from 1st April on wards following is the one of the procedure for Applying Tier-1

1) Fill form and attach all original documents
2) Take a appointment in VFS center thru their site for deposition of form.
3) Go to VFS center at appointment date and deposit form/documents(They told me that there are 2 ways of depositing Visa fee)
-Either pay visa fee which is flat 51,000/- as CASH or make DD in favor of British HighCommisioner.
4) They will issue you application no/ref no once they take application and fee.
5) After 15 days person can start calling their call center/site to inquire about his/her application status.
6) Once visa is stamped, All the documents will be returned to VFS center.
7) If Applicant has deposit 170/- Rs courier fee then VFS will courier all documents otherwise Person can Physically go there and collect his/her document.

I think this is the easiest way of applying Tier-1 visa, I request all comment from all the members on this procedure.

Thanks,
Vineet

[junior]

Hi Sankar & Abhishek,

your observation is correct, initial applications i.e. in the month of March the first month after Tier1 was rolled out, seem to have taken 2-3 weeks to process (max) but for April applicants there seem to be no time lines or a definitive answer given by the HO cc ppl. There are some set of standard replies..

I guess the HO cc is not at all set up to provide any interface/information about the application progress/status...that has primarily been set up to advise ppl who need to apply for Tier1 and want information about specific section of the application or some additional related information

as regards time lines, I don think any benchmark holds true, it shall be nice to hear from ppl who have applied in the third and fourth week of April, about the time lines criteria in their reference letters ?? Is it the same 28 days window period or has that changed....

Sankar - you have just explained the process of application evaluation in one of ur posts...I am a little curious to know wt is the difference between inspector / case worker if both have the same role to play...i was under an impression that it's one individual (read as case worker) who does the whole evaluation of the apps right from points claims to verification checks in context with the documentation provided by the applicant.

Regards,
junior

Hi Abhishek,
I would like to share some knowledge how the applications get processed. When the doc is initially received, they will immediately deduct money and put it in a queue. Then it will be allocated to a case worker. The case worker will pass it to a duty inspector or someone who will validate authenticity of docs. After getting the clearance, then case worker starts valuation of points based on docs provided. Then he approves/rejects the application. The process takes not more than 1 week after getting allocated to a case worker. If the case worker gets some doubts, he may ask duty inspector to cross examine the docs again or ask the applicant for clarification. At the end it goes for stamping which takes very very less waiting time.

IMP - This above process that I explained is the info I have collected from my friends and others since a long period of time. I don't know if there is something I collected wrongly. Kindly, correct me if so.

~ sankar (mera number kab aayegaa )

Hi Sankar,

I am not too sure about the time lines and how are the applications being processed. Also I am not aware how are they assigned to case workers. It seems to be more random as far as the statistics suggest.

Lets c

Hi Abhishek,
Do you have any statistics how long it takes if applied from UK during April? Because, I have seen applicants got their approval within less than 3 weeks. I mean most cases are 2 to 3 weeks. But the same speed doesn't seems to be now. Do you have any idea if there are long queues now???

Thanks
~sankar

Thanks Sankar.

I updated the list with your name as well.

Abhishek

[anxiouswait]

Hello All
I have applied for Tier 1 application today.
Details are as follows:

Date Applied: 6th May 2008
Ref No: AWAITED
Date Recd: AWAITED
Decision: AWAITED
Documents Recd: AWAITED

will keep u updated.

Thanks

MY TIMELINE:

Date Applied: 24th April 2008
Ref No Recvd: 26th April 2008
Decision: AWAITED
Documents Recvd: AWAITED

Thnx

[skris]

Applied - 7th April
Fees deducted - 8th April
Ref number received - 10th April
Approval date - 29th April (as indicated in the HO letter)
Docs received - 7th May

Phew - the last few weeks have been nerve wracking & what a relief!!!

Mine was a first time tier 1 and I applied from the UK with UK earnings and India degree. I claimed 80 points and got 80 points.

I've been watching this forum from day one and the posts have been a great help. Many thanks to all of you!!!

[lion686]

guys

have some queries from the aplication form, WP to tier switching.

a) In Pg 10 of the tier 1 form, there is a query for "Visa number". if i see the WP stamp on the passport it has 2 different numbers. one on top right side corner of the stamp(9 digits) and another one next to VAF no - XXXXXX(6 digits)..which number should we enter?

b) In Section Z(maintenance funds),
Personal bank or building society statements covering
a 3 month period - Can i tick this even if i submit only one month bank statment?

c) Is the home office number asked in the application is as same as the HSMP ref number?

can someone help me in these please?

Cheers

[abhishekagrawal79]

Congrates mate...

I have updated the list

Abhishek

Applied - 7th April
Fees deducted - 8th April
Ref number received - 10th April
Approval date - 29th April (as indicated in the HO letter)
Docs received - 7th May

Phew - the last few weeks have been nerve wracking & what a relief!!!

Mine was a first time tier 1 and I applied from the UK with UK earnings and India degree. I claimed 80 points and got 80 points.

I've been watching this forum from day one and the posts have been a great help. Many thanks to all of you!!!

[mg]

Congrates...

Applied - 7th April
Fees deducted - 8th April
Ref number received - 10th April
Approval date - 29th April (as indicated in the HO letter)
Docs received - 7th May

Phew - the last few weeks have been nerve wracking & what a relief!!!

Mine was a first time tier 1 and I applied from the UK with UK earnings and India degree. I claimed 80 points and got 80 points.

I've been watching this forum from day one and the posts have been a great help. Many thanks to all of you!!!

[irf_bar]

Hi every one,

I call BIA today, and they finally told me that my documents has been dispatch through post this morning (huuuh!!!!), but fail to say the decision. I think i'l able to get all my documents tomorrow by this time.

Once i received the decision, i will share with you.

Regards,
Irf

[abhishekagrawal79]

Hi Irf,

Thats a great news. Finally the wait is over.

Abhishek

Hi every one,

I call BIA today, and they finally told me that my documents has been dispatch through post this morning (huuuh!!!!), but fail to say the decision. I think i'l able to get all my documents tomorrow by this time.

Once i received the decision, i will share with you.

Regards,
Irf

[venkmano]

venkmano:
======
pplied: April 18th for Tier1
Recieved at Home Office:
Payment Processed: April 18th
Location: Chennai
Reference no: April 18th
Decision: Awaited

[sankar]

Hi skris,
Congrats mate. Seems the queue is moving, but slowly. Me too in pipeline.

Did you provide a self addressed envelope which is meant for next day delivery?

~sankar

Applied - 7th April
Fees deducted - 8th April
Ref number received - 10th April
Approval date - 29th April (as indicated in the HO letter)
Docs received - 7th May

Phew - the last few weeks have been nerve wracking & what a relief!!!

Mine was a first time tier 1 and I applied from the UK with UK earnings and India degree. I claimed 80 points and got 80 points.

I've been watching this forum from day one and the posts have been a great help. Many thanks to all of you!!!

[Tier1HSMP]

Hi all,

I had come across this forum once i submitted my Tier1 HSMP, I can say this forum is really helpful for lots of people who have applied and also for those who are gonna apply...

My Timelines for switching from a WorkPermit to Tier1 within UK are as follows...........


Applied Date - 25/03/2008
Debit Card Charged - 04/04/2008
Reference number allocated - 04/04/2008
Reference number received - 08/04/2008
Passport stamped - 29/04/2008
Documents received - 07/05/3008 (by RoyalMail recorded delivery)


What im unable to understand or rather some one can provide me the info for my query !

My stamped passport says
Date of Issue - 29/04/2008
Valid Until - 23/04/2011

And also the letter from Home Office says that my Tier1 is Valid until 23/04/2011

Now my question is why there is a difference of 6 days though my passport was stamped on 29/04/2008, will it not affect during extension or applying for PR ????????????????

Should not my visa not be valid until 29/04/2011 rather than 23/04/2011.

If someone has faced the similar situation, please let me know...
whether its a OK thing or else i need to inform the home office for correction.

Any info from you guys would be of great help.

Cheers !

[vipul1981]

Date Applied: 6th May 2008
Docs Recd @HO: 7th May 2008
Card Charged: 7th May 2008 (checked from bank)
Ref No: AWAITED
Date Recd: AWAITED
Decision: AWAITED
Documents Recd: AWAITED

[vipul1981]

Hi All

Need some clarification. I applied for Tier 1 yesterday and was just goin thru the forum and noticed something.

for earning proof i sent bank statements and

1. Letter from Previous Employer
2. Letter from Current Employer

The letter from Previous Employer states my gross and net salary. But in the breakdown of salary dates and payment into my account, it shows only net salary for instance

Date Amount Credited
01/01/08 £xxxx.00

IS this ok, or it should be gross and net both? It does have all relevent details like tax reference, my NI, address, gross salary, title, every other detail which is relevent.

Please advice.

Thanks

[wp2tier1]

Hi All,

I got my approval and docs today.

Here is timeline:

Payment taken: 8th April
Ref number received: 10th April
Called HO on 28th April and they told Its waiting to be assigned to case worker
Called HO again on 6th May and they told its under consideration and with case worker.
Called HO again on 7th and they told documents despatched on 6th.
Received documents on 7th May.
Approval letter dated 28th April
Passport stamped 28th April(for myself and spouse)
Validity till 28th April 2011


Here is application summary:

I am in Uk from 1.5 years on WP and applied now to switch to tier 1.
Straight forward case with 85 points claimed(and awarded)
qualification - 30
previous earning - 40
uk exp. - 5
Age - 10

Provided IELTS 7.5 for english and NARIC letter for qual. (though both were not needed as my qual. is on BIA calculator)

I provided formal salary slips - not signed or stamped by employer and bank statement on bank letter head - again not signed or stamped by bank.

Provided maintenance funds bank statement for 3 months . The last date of transaction on this statement can be within last one month(doesnt need to be 3 months exactly prior to date of application)

Provided marriage certificate which was just a hand written letter given by releigious institution where marriage took place.Wasn't formal marriage certificate.

As you can see from my timeline details my application was approved and even passports stamped on 28th april but when I called HO on 28th they said its not assigned to caseworker yet. So you can guess the accuracy of the status which they say.

I have been watching timelines since beginning of tier1 and initially it was 13-14-15 working days.. now it has increased to 20-25 days.Right now people who had applied around 7th,8th april are receiving approvals.

I read following on BIA website couple of days back:

We aim to decide 70% of applications within 5 days and 90% within 15 days. Regrettably, due to resource pressures, we are currently taking longer than normal to decide applications. We are considering applications received at our payment processing centre as follows:

Business and Commercial:
Straight forward applications (including Tier 1's) between 10 April 2008 and 25 April 2008

All other applications between 10 April 2008 and 14 April 2008

Reviews: are currently considering applications received on 15 April 2008

This forum has been of immense help and great source of very useful information. Thanks to all and good luck to all waiting for decision.Let me know if there are specific queries and I will see if I can help.Thanks again.

[Tier1HSMP]

hi mmmsa5,


I need some info from ur end please let know,
My timelines are

Applied Date - 25/03/2008
Debit Card Charged - 04/04/2008
Reference number allocated - 04/04/2008
Reference number received - 08/04/2008
Passport stamped - 29/04/2008
Documents received - 07/05/3008 (by RoyalMail recorded delivery)


What im unable to understand or rather some one can provide me the info for my query !

My stamped passport says
Date of Issue - 29/04/2008
Valid Until - 23/04/2011

And also the letter from Home Office says that my Tier1 is Valid until 23/04/2011

Now my question is why there is a difference of 6 days though my passport was stamped on 29/04/2008, will it not affect during extension or applying for PR ????????????????

Should not my visa not be valid until 29/04/2011 rather than 23/04/2011.

could you please let me know as urs is also the same case with a 7 day difference..???

thx in advance !!!

Cheers !

May be it's too early to think about 5 year qualifying period in the face of rapidly changing immigration rules. Anyway, my understanding about qualifying period is that it starts the day your leave to remain (in country switching) as Tier 1 is issued (sticker in the passport).

In my case the date decision to grant me further leave to remain as Tier 1 was taken on 3 April 2008 (Date on cover letter). But the date of issue of leave as Tier 1 (on visa sticker) is 10 Apr 2008. The thing which is bothering me is Valid untill date on the visa sticker is 3 Apr 2011 (It is 1 week short of 3 years starting from the date of issue of visa on the passport).

My question is: does the qualifying period start from 10 Apr 2008 in this case (as this is the date of issue on visa sticker)? If so, why I have not been given visa untill 10 Apr 2011?

Can I please ask the other members who have recently received their approvals under Tier 1 post these dates (valid from and valid untill) for clarification.

[abhishekagrawal79]

Congrates mate....

And thanks for the summary as well. One thing which we can infer from your conversation with HO is that even though it is assigne to a case worker, they might say that it has not been assigned, as your approval date is 28th and when you called up on 28th HO people said that its not ben assigned to any case worker.

Abhishek

Hi All,

I got my approval and docs today.

Here is timeline:

Payment taken: 8th April
Ref number received: 10th April
Called HO on 28th April and they told Its waiting to be assigned to case worker
Called HO again on 6th May and they told its under consideration and with case worker.
Called HO again on 7th and they told documents despatched on 6th.
Received documents on 7th May.
Approval letter dated 28th April
Passport stamped 28th April(for myself and spouse)
Validity till 28th April 2011


Here is application summary:

I am in Uk from 1.5 years on WP and applied now to switch to tier 1.
Straight forward case with 85 points claimed(and awarded)
qualification - 30
previous earning - 40
uk exp. - 5
Age - 10

Provided IELTS 7.5 for english and NARIC letter for qual. (though both were not needed as my qual. is on BIA calculator)

I provided formal salary slips - not signed or stamped by employer and bank statement on bank letter head - again not signed or stamped by bank.

Provided maintenance funds bank statement for 3 months . The last date of transaction on this statement can be within last one month(doesnt need to be 3 months exactly prior to date of application)

Provided marriage certificate which was just a hand written letter given by releigious institution where marriage took place.Wasn't formal marriage certificate.

As you can see from my timeline details my application was approved and even passports stamped on 28th april but when I called HO on 28th they said its not assigned to caseworker yet. So you can guess the accuracy of the status which they say.

I have been watching timelines since beginning of tier1 and initially it was 13-14-15 working days.. now it has increased to 20-25 days.Right now people who had applied around 7th,8th april are receiving approvals.

I read following on BIA website couple of days back:

We aim to decide 70% of applications within 5 days and 90% within 15 days. Regrettably, due to resource pressures, we are currently taking longer than normal to decide applications. We are considering applications received at our payment processing centre as follows:

Business and Commercial:
Straight forward applications (including Tier 1's) between 10 April 2008 and 25 April 2008

All other applications between 10 April 2008 and 14 April 2008

Reviews: are currently considering applications received on 15 April 2008

This forum has been of immense help and great source of very useful information. Thanks to all and good luck to all waiting for decision.Let me know if there are specific queries and I will see if I can help.Thanks again.