Submitted Online Form today - have I applied to early?

I submitted the online SET(M) today, although haven't made an appointment yet.

I rang the visa helpline and was told categorically that it was the appointment date that was the relevant one, not the submission date. I also read similar on this forum.

However, after having read some contrary information here:

indefinite-leave-to-remain/premium-serv ... 3-540.html

I rang the helpline again just now and was told - IT'S THE FORM SUBMISSION DATE THAT COUNTS AS THE APPLICATION DATE.

You can imagine my horror at this - we cannot apply for ILR until 28th November, so what am I supposed to do now? I said to the girl on the phone "I was told the exact opposite this morning, a call I made to confirm things before I submitted" and she replied "I can't speak for what you were told this morning, only what I am saying to you now."

This is the most unbelievable thing to have happened to us in five years of dealing with the Home Office. We are now terrified that we've either lost £3000 or we're going to get rejected and we have no idea what to do.

Do we try to cancel the application from today?

I no longer trust the information we get from the visa helpline, should we believe what we were told this morning before we submitted or what we've been told recently?

Is there any way for us to speak to someone more senior? I think we are going to have to try and find an immigration solicitor to help us in this situation.

oldmankensey wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:38 pm

I submitted the online SET(M) today, although haven't made an appointment yet.

I rang the visa helpline and was told categorically that it was the appointment date that was the relevant one, not the submission date. I also read similar on this forum.

However, after having read some contrary information here:

indefinite-leave-to-remain/premium-serv ... 3-540.html

I rang the helpline again just now and was told - IT'S THE FORM SUBMISSION DATE THAT COUNTS AS THE APPLICATION DATE.

You can imagine my horror at this - we cannot apply for ILR until 28th November, so what am I supposed to do now? I said to the girl on the phone "I was told the exact opposite this morning, a call I made to confirm things before I submitted" and she replied "I can't speak for what you were told this morning, only what I am saying to you now."

This is the most unbelievable thing to have happened to us in five years of dealing with the Home Office. We are now terrified that we've either lost £3000 or we're going to get rejected and we have no idea what to do.

Do we try to cancel the application from today?

I no longer trust the information we get from the visa helpline, should we believe what we were told this morning before we submitted or what we've been told recently?

Is there any way for us to speak to someone more senior? I think we are going to have to try and find an immigration solicitor to help us in this situation.

Most of the people on the other end of the helpline dont know anything about the immigration rules and application guidance. And they will usually avoid giving advice.
When exactly are you qualified to apply? When do you clock 5 years or when are you 28 days to clocking 5 years?

With the new system, there no need to rush to apply early, because you can almost be 100% sure that you will get an appointment when you want.

Unfortunately I am in same boat.
I am using a new system UKVCAS I will be eligible for ILR long term as on 26/11/2018.
I made a premium service appointment for 27/11/2018 at Manchester.I made a payment and book apointment on 10/11/2018.
However today I received an email from HO saying thanks for your application they have received it and will be considered.
I am very worried if they considered it from 10/11/2018. I will not be eligible.
Paid approx £3000. No one seems to know whats going on.

Avy18 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:39 pm

Unfortunately I am in same boat.
I am using a new system UKVCAS I will be eligible for ILR long term as on 26/11/2018.
I made a premium service appointment for 27/11/2018 at Manchester.I made a payment and book apointment on 10/11/2018.
However today I received an email from HO saying thanks for your application they have received it and will be considered.
I am very worried if they considered it from 10/11/2018. I will not be eligible.
Paid approx £3000. No one seems to know whats going on.

With the new system, your application will not be considered until you have submitted your biometrics and supporting documents.

Thanks DJSucess for giving some hope. Initially I thought I have lost my money.Already situation is but tight.
But why they send a standard email ? And are you sure about the information mate?

I guess you would be ok because it will be considered when your biometrics and documents will be submitted.
I have been speaking to UKVI call centres quite a few times and they have said that it would be the date of appointment.

I doubt that in call centres advisers know anything themselves so I dont give any weightage to their advice/information.

I also read at this forum that someone's solicitor has confirmed that it will be the date of online submission.

But personally I feel that it would be the date of appointment because how would they consider your application without documents and biometrics.

Best of luck.

Please keep us updated on any progress on your application.

Thanks

Can we cancel an appointment? And re submit new one by the end of November. As no one seems to know what is correct and Do we get full refund £3020 form UKVCAS?
I rang them earlier today but they have very limited information. They are giving an excuse of being third party.

Avy18 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:24 pm

Can we cancel an appointment? And re submit new one by the end of November. As no one seems to know what is correct and Do we get full refund £3020 form UKVCAS?
I rang them earlier today but they have very limited information. They are giving an excuse of being third party.

I already looked into cancelling. Two points:

1. All visa fees paid for applications in the UK are non-refundable
https://www.gov.uk/cancel-visa

2. It says on that page that applications that have been received cannot be cancelled. Does an online submitted form count as having been instantly received?

I have a little more optimism about all of this due to the answers given above, specifically the point that an application surely can't be considered complete and submitted if no supporting documents have been submitted yet (which is the case for me, I uploaded nothing to sopra steria yet).

Just now spoke to someone in their call center.
They said you will be able to claim full refund and usually get it in 5 working days and then submit new application when you are eligible.

With online application cancellation is non refundable but rescheduling is free. Please don’t cancel or you’ll lose your money. Application date is the day you appear at PEO. I used online set O

Avy18 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 7:01 pm

Just now spoke to someone in their call center.
They said you will be able to claim full refund and usually get it in 5 working days and then submit new application when you are eligible.

Who are you calling, Sopra Steria to cancel the appointment or the visa helpline to cancel the application?

Spoke to UKBA call center not sopera steria.
If you say I will not cancel. I was very much assured by a lady over the phone that I will get my money back in 5 working days and I can re apply once again in 48 hours of cancelation.

Avy18 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:34 pm

Spoke to UKBA call center not sopera steria.
If you say I will not cancel. I was very much assured by a lady over the phone that I will get my money back in 5 working days and I can re apply once again in 48 hours of cancelation.

You cannot rely on what someone tells you on the phone. If you want to know why, try to call again tomorrow, and you might be surprised to hear something different. Refund processing will take at least 4 weeks from the UKVI

[quote=oldmankensey post_id=1703067 time=1542037086 user_id=205964]
I submitted the online SET(M) today, although haven't made an appointment yet.

I rang the visa helpline and was told categorically that it was the appointment date that was the relevant one, not the submission date. I also read similar on this forum.

However, after having read some contrary information here:

indefinite-leave-to-remain/premium-serv ... 3-540.html

I rang the helpline again just now and was told - IT'S THE FORM SUBMISSION DATE THAT COUNTS AS THE APPLICATION DATE.

You can imagine my horror at this - we cannot apply for ILR until 28th November, so what am I supposed to do now? I said to the girl on the phone "I was told the exact opposite this morning, a call I made to confirm things before I submitted" and she replied "I can't speak for what you were told this morning, only what I am saying to you now."

This is the most unbelievable thing to have happened to us in five years of dealing with the Home Office. We are now terrified that we've either lost £3000 or we're going to get rejected and we have no idea what to do.

Do we try to cancel the application from today?

I no longer trust the information we get from the visa helpline, should we believe what we were told this morning before we submitted or what we've been told recently?

Is there any way for us to speak to someone more senior? I think we are going to have to try and find an immigration solicitor to help us in this situation.
[Any update regarding application date as there is no formal statement yet?]

Please update....
[Any update regarding application date as there is no formal statement yet?]

I've spoken again to the visa helpline and been told "as long as you have the appointment within the 28 day limit, it should be fine" which I said was clearly not anything like the type of confirmation I was looking for.

He then also said "the rules clearly state that online submission date is to be considered the visa application date"

Does anyone know if this is the case? Where is this stated?

So, in short, I'm no wiser as to what to do. The phone helpline is little help, everyone you speak to gives a different version.

Do I risk allowing the application to go through because I've been told it "should be fine" and then have it rejected?

If you read the guideline, you can see it states very clearly the caseworker must consider either: (i) the application date, (ii) the appointment date; or (ii) the decision date whichever is most beneficial to the applicant. This means you should be fine because they will consider the best for you, not rejecting you because of a simple reason like that.

ilovethebeatles wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:47 am

If you read the guideline, you can see it states very clearly the caseworker must consider either: (i) the application date, (ii) the appointment date; or (ii) the decision date whichever is most beneficial to the applicant. This means you should be fine because they will consider the best for you, not rejecting you because of a simple reason like that.

could you link that for me, please. Is that in the guidance notes?

You search for the document titled "Indefinite leave to remain: calculating continuous period in UK" and look for Page 9. But I copy it here for you. It looks even better because they can consider any date up to 28 days after the data of application.

Calculating the specified continuous period
Applicants can submit a settlement application up to 28 days before they would reach the end of the specified period. You must calculate the relevant qualifying period by counting backward from whichever of the following is most beneficial to the applicant:
• the date of application
• the date of decision
• any date up to 28 days after the date of application

This seems very good news, I would be interested if there is a different system for online submissions or if that PDF has been superseded by something else. It does seem up to date and valid though.

I suggest you apply for refund and then re submit the application when you are eligible within 28 days. Similar situation happen to me with IHS payment and I have received refund in 3 working days. Also try to pay through credit card as give you more security for refund through card company in case of any problem with HO.

ilovethebeatles wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:12 am

You search for the document titled "Indefinite leave to remain: calculating continuous period in UK" and look for Page 9. But I copy it here for you. It looks even better because they can consider any date up to 28 days after the data of application.

Calculating the specified continuous period
Applicants can submit a settlement application up to 28 days before they would reach the end of the specified period. You must calculate the relevant qualifying period by counting backward from whichever of the following is most beneficial to the applicant:
• the date of application
• the date of decision
• any date up to 28 days after the date of application

Just some clarification.

My wife entered the country on 26/12/2013

Looking at the three options above:

1. the date of application. This I did yesterday, 12/11/2018
2. the date of decision. Whenever we do the appointment plus day or two
3. any date up to 28 days after the date of application. So, that's number 1 plus 28 days, 10/12/2018

Big question, do these dates have to be 5 years after entry or 28 days before 5th anniversary? That's not very clear from what is written in the rules.

If it's the first, surely it's enough for us to arrange an appointment after 26th December so therefore any decision would necessarily be after 5 years of UK entry and we would be ok.

does this make sense?

I did not have experience with your situation but what I tell is from reading the guideline and others' experience shared in this forum. So:

Your wife is eligible to apply from 28/11/2018.
Date of decision: if you book for biometrics taken on or after 28/11/2018, it is fine.
Any date up to 28 days after the date of application: it will be until 10/12/2018, so it covers 28/11/2018 i.e. you should be fine.

My understanding is you have not booked an appointment, so better to book it on 28/11 or after -> you should be fine.

ilovethebeatles wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:14 pm

I did not have experience with your situation but what I tell is from reading the guideline and others' experience shared in this forum. So:

Your wife is eligible to apply from 28/11/2018.
Date of decision: if you book for biometrics taken on or after 28/11/2018, it is fine.
Any date up to 28 days after the date of application: it will be until 10/12/2018, so it covers 28/11/2018 i.e. you should be fine.

My understanding is you have not booked an appointment, so better to book it on 28/11 or after -> you should be fine.

I notice the PDF you referred to earlier has a list of ILR categories that are covered by the document. SET(M) does not seem to be listed there - this is the category we are going for. I wonder if it's different and where I would find that out.

for those following this thread, I have posted an update in another thread:

indefinite-leave-to-remain/premium-serv ... l#p1704044

so at the moment, it seems like I will most likely cancel the application. The PDF referred to in this thread (talking about appointment date, appointment + 28 days, decision date) does not refer to SET(M), that category is not listed at the start of that PDF and I've read elsewhere on these boards how marriage visas are treated differently and I guess this is another example of it.

What I may do is push for a refund due to having been given woefully misleading information on the visa helpline, the day that I submitted my form. I have the time and duration of the call and the name of the person who I spoke to and I know that all calls are recorded.

My guess, though, is that somewhere in the fine print of the visa website is a disclaimer stating that they are not responsible for advice given over the phone, so I don't hold out much hope for that either.

I've done nothing but read obscure gov.uk webpages and PDF's for 48 hours

I've found what I consider to be the key paragraph in this PDF:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... n-v1.0.pdf

which I've quoted from before in this thread. The paragraph says (not very clearly)

The date of application for online applications is the date it is submitted via the online process. This date of application applies even where the applicant subsequently chooses to, or is asked to, attend an in person appointment.

When applying online, an applicant can choose to make an appointment at a premium service centre to submit their proof of identity, passport photos and supporting evidence in person. An applicant may also be requested by the Home Office to attend an appointment. Any appointment must be usually made and attended within 45 business days of submission of the application online.

The date of application for an in person application is the date it is submitted in person.

I've read elsewhere on this forum claims, from moderators too, that the premium service appointment date is the application date.

But reading that paragraph above.

The red sentence says online applications count the form submission date as the appointment date.
The blue sentence (which is the one I find most ambiguous) says this is true even if the applicant then chooses to attend an in-person appointment.
But then we have the green sentence, which uses the wording "in person application" (not "appointment")

My two questions:

1. what exactly is the green sentence referring to?

2. What is the difference between the green and the blue, between an in-person appointment and an in-person application?