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Royal Mail strike

Archived UK Tier 1 (General) points system forum. This route no longer exists.

Moderators: Casa, push, JAJ, ca.funke, Amber, zimba, vinny, Obie, EUsmileWEallsmile, batleykhan, meself2, geriatrix, John, ChetanOjha, archigabe, Administrator

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positivesolitude
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Royal Mail strike

Post by positivesolitude » Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:48 am

Heard there is going to be a royal mail strike .I bet this is going to affect the retun of our documents as well.will it affect recorded delivery as well?

meats
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Re: Royal Mail strike

Post by meats » Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:54 am

positivesolitude wrote:Heard there is going to be a royal mail strike .I bet this is going to affect the retun of our documents as well.will it affect recorded delivery as well?
It won't affect recorded delivery but everything else delivered by the Royal Mail will be affected.

aaj123
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Post by aaj123 » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:13 am

I have seen some memebers suggest that we should include a self addressed special delivery envelope in our application. However, last time I applied (got rejected but thats another story), I didn't include any envelope but still got all my documents returned by recorded delivery.

Whats the advantage of sending a self addressed envelope then? Is it really worth it?

InUkOnHsmp
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Post by InUkOnHsmp » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:34 am

Hi There,

positivesolitude: like meats said it shudnt affect recorded/special delivery
aaj123: There are couple of advantages of special delivery:

1) You can be assured you will get it delivered before 1pm, and can track it online.
2) I might be a shaky ground here, but I think the contents of special delivery are insured upto a certain amount, if they get lost. If you go to the post office to send something, they ask you if it is something valuable, and if it is they suggest you use special delivery.
3) You get peace of mind that you will get the fastest response, and in cases where it is close, it is better to get next day delivery rather than recorded delivery which might take longer.

Well I went with self-addressed special delivery mainly because of point 3. But it can be different for different people.

Of course all this is affected by when the HO post your documents back to you, if they hold it for long even special delivery wont help!
Challenges make life worth it!

ChetanOjha
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Post by ChetanOjha » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:34 am

aaj123 wrote:I have seen some memebers suggest that we should include a self addressed special delivery envelope in our application. However, last time I applied (got rejected but thats another story), I didn't include any envelope but still got all my documents returned by recorded delivery.

Whats the advantage of sending a self addressed envelope then? Is it really worth it?
Yes. It is really worth it. I forgot to include self-addressed envelope and HO sent my passport and other original documents by signed-delivery (which took 9 days to reach me). You can't image how stressful it was till i received documents. There was no tracking mechanism available to track such signed-deliveries unless HO report lost documents(which they only do after 30 days of despatch). Special Delivery package can atleast be tracked once with Roayl Mail but not signed deliveries.
Remeber, you are sending your original documents and passports without which you are nothing in this country. Would you take chance?

aaj123
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Post by aaj123 » Fri Oct 09, 2009 10:26 am

chetanojha wrote:
aaj123 wrote:I have seen some memebers suggest that we should include a self addressed special delivery envelope in our application. However, last time I applied (got rejected but thats another story), I didn't include any envelope but still got all my documents returned by recorded delivery.

Whats the advantage of sending a self addressed envelope then? Is it really worth it?
Yes. It is really worth it. I forgot to include self-addressed envelope and HO sent my passport and other original documents by signed-delivery (which took 9 days to reach me). You can't image how stressful it was till i received documents. There was no tracking mechanism available to track such signed-deliveries unless HO report lost documents(which they only do after 30 days of despatch). Special Delivery package can atleast be tracked once with Roayl Mail but not signed deliveries.
Remeber, you are sending your original documents and passports without which you are nothing in this country. Would you take chance?
Ok lets say I wish to include a self addressed special delivery envelope in my application. Now, there is no checkbox in the tier 1 application form itself that asks whether applicant is including such an envelope. So does the mere presence of the envelope in your application package indicate to the caseworker that he/she should use that envelope for returning documents back to the applicant?

Further, you said that the advantage of the special delivery self addressed envelope is that you will be able to track the delivery. How would you know when HO has actually dispatched your stuff? Did you mean that you will keep checking the tracking number daily and whenever it starts showing a delivery status, assume that HO has dispatched your stuff using the envelope you had provided?

~busybee~
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Post by ~busybee~ » Fri Oct 09, 2009 10:59 am

i sent my application yesterday but i forgot to include a self addressed Special delivery envelop! With the ongoing strike, i have a lot to worry about :( :(

ChetanOjha
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Post by ChetanOjha » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:35 am

aaj123 wrote: Ok lets say I wish to include a self addressed special delivery envelope in my application. Now, there is no checkbox in the tier 1 application form itself that asks whether applicant is including such an envelope. So does the mere presence of the envelope in your application package indicate to the caseworker that he/she should use that envelope for returning documents back to the applicant?

Further, you said that the advantage of the special delivery self addressed envelope is that you will be able to track the delivery. How would you know when HO has actually dispatched your stuff? Did you mean that you will keep checking the tracking number daily and whenever it starts showing a delivery status, assume that HO has dispatched your stuff using the envelope you had provided?
HO Application also doesn't mention cover letter but people do send it. Application also doesn't require you to present your application in eye-candy way, but people still do and is accepted by HO. The reason is to make sure their application is presented well and received properly. Other reason is you don;t loose your sleep over your application. And yes caseworker use the same envelope to send the application back to you as it also save cost to HO. You don't need to check it everyday unless you have trigger happy fingers :-) . Once HO confirms that you application has been sent to you, you can track the post on royal mail website. SD also means your package is insured in worst case. Generally you receive your package next day by SD which is decent time to wait unlike 5-7 days. It also saves you valuable time in case if your application is turned down and you have less time left to reapply for your visa.

I was affected by Strike. HO sent documents by signed delivery and there was strike for two days. When I contacted Royal Mail, i was told they will first clear backlogs of Special Deliveries etc. and then only will look inot other non-urgent posts. This made things more stressful for me. I also ran out of my existing leave to stay in UK while decision was pending with HO.

BUT it is your personal choice.

InUkOnHsmp
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Post by InUkOnHsmp » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:47 am

Very well put Chetan. Its basically a choice you make. But for 8-9 pounds, it is not a bad choice to go for some peace of mind.

Well my peace of mind has been pretty much shattered by the reported new Tier1 dependant form valid from 5th October, I posted my wife's dependant application yesterday (8th Oct) and used the old form.

Can members please advice what course of action I should take to make sure they dont reject her application on the basis of the old form? And if they what options would I have?

Looking forward to inputs.

Regards
Challenges make life worth it!

aaj123
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Post by aaj123 » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:49 am

chetanojha wrote:Once HO confirms that you application has been sent to you, you can track the post on royal mail website.
How does HO communicate that your application has been sent back?

ChetanOjha
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Post by ChetanOjha » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:52 am

aaj123 wrote:
chetanojha wrote:Once HO confirms that you application has been sent to you, you can track the post on royal mail website.
How does HO communicate that your application has been sent back?
They don't communicate once you submit the application and they deduct money from your account. It's you who want to know status of your application. ;-) If you want to know the status of your application you can call them. If decision is made by that time, they told you that decision is sent to you by post. If you don't call them...they simply send the decision to you.

ChetanOjha
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Post by ChetanOjha » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:55 am

InUkOnHsmp wrote:Very well put Chetan. Its basically a choice you make. But for 8-9 pounds, it is not a bad choice to go for some peace of mind.

Well my peace of mind has been pretty much shattered by the reported new Tier1 dependant form valid from 5th October, I posted my wife's dependant application yesterday (8th Oct) and used the old form.

Can members please advice what course of action I should take to make sure they dont reject her application on the basis of the old form? And if they what options would I have?

Looking forward to inputs.

Regards
If you have used old form, HO should send the application back to you asking you to submit using correct forms. That's how they used to do till sometime back. Not sure how they are treating such applications now. I would advice to write an email to HO explaining the situation. I am sure you will get reply.

aaj123
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Post by aaj123 » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:59 am

chetanojha wrote:
aaj123 wrote:
chetanojha wrote:Once HO confirms that you application has been sent to you, you can track the post on royal mail website.
How does HO communicate that your application has been sent back?
They don't communicate once you submit the application and they deduct money from your account. It's you who want to know status of your application. ;-) If you want to know the status of your application you can call them. If decision is made by that time, they told you that decision is sent to you by post. If you don't call them...they simply send the decision to you.
Hmmm. In that case, a special delivery envelope is a good way of checking the status of your app. If you do not find any status of the tracking number, it means your app is still being processed at HO. If its been dispatched, the tracking number will tell you so. 8)

tech
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Post by tech » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:28 pm

InUkOnHsmp No need to worry and lose sleep over new form. Please note old forms are valid up to 21 days from day the new form is avaialble.
Please Home office guidance below

"In line with paragraph 34I of the Immigration Rules, the previous versions of each of these forms will continue to be valid for applications made up to 21 days after 1 October 2009. However applicants should be aware that any application submitted during this period will be considered under the revised Immigration Rules regardless of what version of the application form they submit."

See the bottom of the page.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... uide-forms

Hope this helps.

rasinrdj
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Post by rasinrdj » Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:44 pm

Hi,
Good thread, I'll also be sending a self addressed royal mail special delivery envelope and request in the cover letter to return my documents in it.

Regards,
Rasin

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