Certificate of Approval (COA) waiting times 2010

I got my COA on the 6th of August , 1 month (or 4 weeks) after submitting an EEA4 application

Anyone know how fast I can get my fiance passport back urgently from Home Office as he needs to travel for his beloved grandmother's funeral?

Any comments/reply appreciated.

Just to update, fiancé got his passport back after 2 days and manage to arrive home for grandma's funeral.

As for the COA application, still in q I hope and next week will be week 14 (70 working days). Can they still keep my passport and not issue me my COA after week 14?

Hello there!
I've got a question about COA.
I received COA about a week ago, after applying EEA2
Does COA mean that I'll get Residence Card or it means only that HO got my documents ?
Thank You for any replying

noodles wrote:I just got my EEA4 COA on Friday 30th of July 2010, submitted since 11th of MAY 2010.

noodles, you were very lucky. i applied for my coa on 23 of June 2010. and still waiting (28 September 2010) and absolutely no news. may i ask you what is eea4.

and does anyone know that this procedure is affected by the nationality of the applicant?

About 04-05 Weeks to get COA...

HO has now changed the processing time for Certificate of Approval according to COA guidance from 70 working days to 180 working days!!

Looks like it's up to individual luck now who gets it fast and who doesn't

I'm still waiting for my coa to get married and all they can tell me is that it's outstanding!!! I can't believe it after 14 weeks, they still want to hold on to my application for god knows what reason!!!! Grrr!!!

Do the posters here actually realise that this thread was opened for a query regarding a Certificate of Approval and not Certificate of Application (for an application under EEA regulations)?

It is now about 14 weeks since my application, and absolutely no news.

When I tried to call them before 14 weeks they said can't answer because it is not 14 weeks. and now, they say under process.

Does anyone know what HO do with these applications?

I learnt that HO has changed the processing time to 180 working days which unfortunately is true. They say in the website between 20 to 180 days. and also they say those ones that are not straight forward may take longer.

Does anyone know what does "not straight forward" mean?

they also say that 65% of the applications are done in 4 weeks. Does this mean that all of people who are here are the unluckiest 35%.

Please comment, this is just frustrating.

86ti wrote:Do the posters here actually realise that this thread was opened for a query regarding a Certificate of Approval and not Certificate of Application (for an application under EEA regulations)?

i meant certificate of approval.

86ti wrote:Do the posters here actually realise that this thread was opened for a query regarding a Certificate of Approval and not Certificate of Application (for an application under EEA regulations)?

I've noticed some were talking about EEA cert of application which was a bit confusing but good information for my next step ... If I ever get to the next step.

Does anyone know that what they do in the HO to issue the COA?
It is about 4 month now that we are waiting for the COA. However absolutely no news. We called them today and asked how come some people get their documents in 4 weeks (20 working days) and some like us would have to wait for more than 14 working weeks. Well now it is 6 working month.

The thing that he told us (he did not mention very clearly but you could easily assume the conclusion from his words) it seems that the procedure is based on the nationality of the foreign part. for example if you are American and want to marry a British citizen it takes less time. But for example if you are from middle eastern countries especially those ones that are always on top of the news (which I am from one of them) you will have to wait longer. If this is the case, this would mean discriminating some applicants to the others.

Can anyone support me with information in this regards. If this is the case, I will start thinking about running a legal case against the HO. Please reply directly to the message or PM me.

UKgoodboy wrote:Does anyone know that what they do in the HO to issue the COA?
It is about 4 month now that we are waiting for the COA. However absolutely no news. We called them today and asked how come some people get their documents in 4 weeks (20 working days) and some like us would have to wait for more than 14 working weeks. Well now it is 6 working month.

The thing that he told us (he did not mention very clearly but you could easily assume the conclusion from his words) it seems that the procedure is based on the nationality of the foreign part. for example if you are American and want to marry a British citizen it takes less time. But for example if you are from middle eastern countries especially those ones that are always on top of the news (which I am from one of them) you will have to wait longer. If this is the case, this would mean discriminating some applicants to the others.

Can anyone support me with information in this regards. If this is the case, I will start thinking about running a legal case against the HO. Please reply directly to the message or PM me.

The scheme will be cancel at the end of this year or early next year anyway because of the court ruling which state its infringe human right, only God knows the logic scheme that will be put in place afterwards.

Brown212 wrote:

UKgoodboy wrote:Does anyone know that what they do in the HO to issue the COA?
It is about 4 month now that we are waiting for the COA. However absolutely no news. We called them today and asked how come some people get their documents in 4 weeks (20 working days) and some like us would have to wait for more than 14 working weeks. Well now it is 6 working month.

The thing that he told us (he did not mention very clearly but you could easily assume the conclusion from his words) it seems that the procedure is based on the nationality of the foreign part. for example if you are American and want to marry a British citizen it takes less time. But for example if you are from middle eastern countries especially those ones that are always on top of the news (which I am from one of them) you will have to wait longer. If this is the case, this would mean discriminating some applicants to the others.

Can anyone support me with information in this regards. If this is the case, I will start thinking about running a legal case against the HO. Please reply directly to the message or PM me.

The scheme will be cancel at the end of this year or early next year anyway because of the court ruling which state its infringe human right, only God knows the logic scheme that will be put in place afterwards.

I applied for mine 30th of June and still waiting.and i was checking on guidance that processing time 20-180 working days which used to be 20-70 days which means if u ring them they can still say its pending..whats the point applying for COA if home office wont allow you to get marrid in time and you may risk runnig out of your leave to remain.my advise to every one who is still waiting for COA if they agree take HO to court on this matter

Regarding the replacement of the Certificate of Approval, I would not worry about it too much, for two main reasons:

1. Firstly, the abolishment of the Certificate of Approval seeks, via Remedial Action, to remove section 19(3) of the Immigration & Asylum Act of 2004, which says:

"The superintendent registrar shall not enter in the marriage notice book notice of a marriage to which this section applies unless satisfied, by the provision of specified evidence, that the party subject to immigration control—.
(a)has an entry clearance granted expressly for the purpose of enabling him to marry in the United Kingdom,.
(b)has the written permission of the Secretary of State to marry in the United Kingdom, or.
(c)falls within a class specified for the purpose of this paragraph by regulations made by the Secretary of State."

What this means is that, regardless of immigration status, you will be able to get married in the UK.

2. Secondly, after the announcement of the cuts in government spending in October, the Home Office and UKBA will be losing a large number of their staff, therefore will be unable to continue to support a scheme such as the Certificate of Approval (which incidentaly does not bring any money to the UKBA as it is free, so not much point in continuing).

Therefore for reasons 1 + 2 UKBA are compelled to stop the scheme and indeed not replace it with anything hindering marriage, as they have already been kicked in the butt by the House of Lords on this subject, so I think it is highly unlikely that we see any replacement.

mastermind72 wrote:Regarding the replacement of the Certificate of Approval, I would not worry about it too much, for two main reasons:

1. Firstly, the abolishment of the Certificate of Approval seeks, via Remedial Action, to remove section 19(3) of the Immigration & Asylum Act of 2004, which says:

"The superintendent registrar shall not enter in the marriage notice book notice of a marriage to which this section applies unless satisfied, by the provision of specified evidence, that the party subject to immigration control—.
(a)has an entry clearance granted expressly for the purpose of enabling him to marry in the United Kingdom,.
(b)has the written permission of the Secretary of State to marry in the United Kingdom, or.
(c)falls within a class specified for the purpose of this paragraph by regulations made by the Secretary of State."

What this means is that, regardless of immigration status, you will be able to get married in the UK.

2. Secondly, after the announcement of the cuts in government spending in October, the Home Office and UKBA will be losing a large number of their staff, therefore will be unable to continue to support a scheme such as the Certificate of Approval (which incidentaly does not bring any money to the UKBA as it is free, so not much point in continuing).

Therefore for reasons 1 + 2 UKBA are compelled to stop the scheme and indeed not replace it with anything hindering marriage, as they have already been kicked in the butt by the House of Lords on this subject, so I think it is highly unlikely that we see any replacement.

Does anyone knw when this scheme gonna be abolished as its been 70 days since they annoucned it and bill has to be laid in parliament only for 60days

Hello!
Please I need an advice I sent an application for COA (Certifacate of Approval) in March 2010 and got the conformation it was received and forwarded to a caseworker of 26th of March. In a month i got a letter from my caseworker asking to answer a number of questions concerning our relationship and swear on oath in a presence of fully qualified solicitor. We did as told. Since then we did not hear anything from our casewoker and the only answer to our numerous calls was "the case has not been decided on yet". Its been over 6 months now I am russian and my partner is greek. We lived together for almost 3 years and provided all the utility bills and bank statements. How much longer can they think over my case?? And knowing how long it takes ppl to get their EEA (over 6 months as well) I am really scared now that I won't be able to live a normal life for another year or so?
Please if somebody can help me:
1) How much longer may it take to get COA?
2) Will it take me another half a year to get EEA after we get married?
3) Is there anything i can do to speed this?
Thank you!

I know it is not much help now, but why didn't you put an application for EEA2 as "durable relationship" at the same time when you sent the COA application?

Since you appear to have strong supporting documents that your relationship is genuine, you would have waited 6 months and would have gotten the 5 year permit.

It is no surprise that UKBA are dragging the whole thing: the COA process as well as all the EEA path applications are free of charge, i.e. the UKBA make no money out of it so they are their last priority.

This is more true these days, with all austerity measures that the coalition government is trying to push, which will lead to even less caseworkers and hence longer processing times - if you read a couple of thread above you will see that UKBA have changed the processing time of COA to 120 working days...

Clearly you are beyond 120 days so the best option for you is to keep the pressure on and call them/write to them every other week - if you have a solicitor then maybe he can do it for you.

I would also seriously consider of sending an EEA2 application under durable partnership - it is likely that it will be approved, ok it can take 6 months, but at least at the end of it you will have your 5 year permit, without the need to get married.

The other things that is "good" is that UKBA have announced they will abolish the COA by the end of 2010 - early 2011. So in a couple of months you may no longer require the COA so you can get married without it.

Of course all of the above are my interpretation of the situation based on the facts and things happing in the UK right now, but I am in a similar situation like you (I am Greek as well!) and I have come to read and learn a lot about the whole process.

Just to demonstrate how crap UKBA are, here's a recent article:

http://www.foreignersinuk.co.uk/refugee ... _2233.html

One can realy understand now why the times for COA processing have gone up to 180 working days... with this backlog, how can anyone expect that attention will be given to fee-free services...

mastermind72 wrote:I know it is not much help now, but why didn't you put an application for EEA2 as "durable relationship" at the same time when you sent the COA application?

Since you appear to have strong supporting documents that your relationship is genuine, you would have waited 6 months and would have gotten the 5 year permit.

Ive never thought about it. It would be great if i actually could do that. But we've sent all the bills and stuff to HO for COA. Shall i request them back? Or can I send the second application as an additional to the previous one? (Sorry, I really have no idea how its done ) Can I still do it even if my previous visa has already expired and I don't have a valid one any longer?
Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will definitely look into it.

I am not too sure about the documents: if I were you I would speak to a solicitor.

The issue with your expired visa should be an issue because if you prove you are an extended family member of an EU national, exercising treaty rights in the UK, your current visa status becomes irrelevant - the hard part is proving you are an extended family member, i.e. in a durable relationship.

I would keep the pressure on with UKBA and wait for the COA - if it has been 6 months then you should be getting a response soon. And if after that you get married, then your EEA2 application will become more powerful as you will not longer need to prove you are in durable relationship as you will be already married.

So wait a little longer and the COA should come!

Please have a look at the remedial orders proposal submitted to the House of Lords and House of Commons. It provides a useful background on the case, and some very interesting up to date statistics on cases submitted, refused, in progress and also removal orders as a result of CoA applications (pages 33-36):

http://www.statewatch.org/news/2010/nov ... report.pdf

Also some additional evidence of the conversation/discussions happening on this matter:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/join ... idence.pdf