**** COVID19 and UKVCAS Appointments **** (ONLY discuss here)

[ajitu92]

Thanks for the insight

Most welcome

@Ajitu92

Also, doing some more research after our last night’s discussion, I came across a couple cases where SET(LR) decisions were made before they completed 10 years lawful residence and they had problems.

Although the official guidance clearly says one can apply within the concession period, CW should follow and grant any applicant who qualifies 28 days before completing 10 years, but since all CW’s are different, I would tend to agree with your understanding.

For SET(LR), its best to submit biometrics only once you fulfil the 10 years lawful residence (even if you applied within the 28 days concession period), just to be EXTRA cautious for your 10 years at stake.

Note for readers: This EXTRA caution is not needed for any other routes, since SET(LR) specifically talks about 10 years lawful residence so do not apply this to yourself or get confused.

Thank you for following up on this and agreeing with my understanding. I always believe in "better safe than sorry", especially when talking about having built up 10 years already, waiting another 28 days before submitting biometrics (if applied on the first day of the concession period) is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

[ajitu92]

@Ameline @Ajitu92

Please correct me if my observation is wrong. I believe applicants who went for dual submissions on/after 21st Sep seems not to have worked and MAYBE pushed back in queue as per the date of biometrics submitted in-person?

As per UKVCAS:

Doing this means that your case may take longer as UKVI will have duplicate records

What does your statistics say??

To be honest, nothing in my stats seems to indicate so clearly. The pattern that I have definitely noticed though, is, most if not all applications take 4 weeks plus from the date of IDV only submission (for all ILR routes). But given that Set (LR) seems to take a lot longer anyway, it doesn't seem to have made much, if any difference regardless of cutoff date (i.e. 21st Sep). I invite @Ameline to correct/add to my statement from his/her perspective.

Atleast for SET(LR) I see applications being picked up in date order irrespective of when/how biometrics were submitted. For the last week or so July applicants have been receiving decisions. I hope all June applicants have received their decisions by now.
No August/September applicants have received decisions yet.
Also atleast two April/May applicants decisions are outstanding as they received an email stating their case was exceptionally complex
Fingers crossed

This is correct.
All Set (LR) applications are indeed being processed in date order, save a couple of outliers.
July applicants have actually been receiving decisions since the start of October and currently it is July end applicants receiving decisions. Nothing past that yet.
All June applicants (from this forum) have received their decisions and any still outstanding pre-July have received complex letters indeed.

[Toxic]

@toxic

dont tink they r actually going in any order. My application was submitted in april and still not heard bk from them.

Your 6 months are over today. Contact UKVI today and wait for a week. If you do not hear anything consider contacting your local MP.

I will do.
thanks

Just an update on my timeline.
I contacted home office after my 6 months and they said that they will update me in 10 working days.
a week later I contacted my local mp through email and they have escalated my application to the home office but mp advised that home office usually has a time frame of 20 to 25 working days to reply. So lets wait and see.

[poper]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

[damWills1984]

anyone here still planning on doing dual-submission?

[Dodiddone]

anyone here still planning on doing dual-submission?

Not sure if this is even possible even you want to. Some applicants reported last week that their appointments were cancelled by UKVCAS as they said they had already submitted IDV.

[kittycatkeeb]

anyone here still planning on doing dual-submission?

Not sure if this is even possible even you want to. Some applicants reported last week that their appointments were cancelled by UKVCAS as they said they had already submitted IDV.

Yeah you can't anymore. They specifically called it out and have been cancelling appts if you do.

https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/flash-message- ... geId=74833

[claraluh]

Hi all,

We have just submitted an application for SET (M) online and apparently the next step is to book a Biometrics appointment. The nearest date we can find is for 17th November. Is there a best time to book, where new dates/times become available? Are all the appointments paid for? I've read here about 'IDV' is it an online biometric appointment? Are they still sending us invitation for that or Do we just book the in-person appointment?

Thanks in advance.

[CULLINAN]

Hi all,

We have just submitted an application for SET (M) online and apparently the next step is to book a Biometrics appointment. The nearest date we can find is for 17th November. Is there a best time to book, where new dates/times become available? Are all the appointments paid for? I've read here about 'IDV' is it an online biometric appointment? Are they still sending us invitation for that or Do we just book the in-person appointment?

Thanks in advance.

You must book an appointment now. IDV is the past. Also, the best approach is to wait 1-2 days and monitor the booking system constantly throughout the day especially at 12 midnight GMT or 1am BST. Try different postcodes and locations. There are cancellations and you may end up finding an earlier one. However, if you fail to book any earlier within 1-2 days, just book the one available, its been reported that appointments are available after 3/4 weeks gap, note, once you book you can not view other availability so its best to monitor the system for 1-2 days first....
Free appointments are rare and only available in CORE centres.

[ajitu92]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg (105.9 KiB) Viewed 3164 times

[CULLINAN]

Well done for the stats.

[ajitu92]

Well done for the stats.

Thank you

[poper]

That was mindblowing ajitu92 <<claps>>
Add this to your CV. Did you use any tool?

[ajitu92]

That was mindblowing ajitu92 <<claps>>
Add this to your CV. Did you use any tool?

Thank you! I wish I could add it to my CV! Nope, no tools...just Excel!

[mesn]

Hi all,

We have just submitted an application for SET (M) online and apparently the next step is to book a Biometrics appointment. The nearest date we can find is for 17th November. Is there a best time to book, where new dates/times become available? Are all the appointments paid for? I've read here about 'IDV' is it an online biometric appointment? Are they still sending us invitation for that or Do we just book the in-person appointment?

Thanks in advance.

I myself have been looking for an appointment. At 1AM BST, they release 28th-day future slots. Cancellations happen throughout the date but rare. There is no trick other than keep checking every few hours and try your luck. I found one in 3 days and it was gone before I could book it [in less than half a min]. If you are ok to travel, New Castle has appointments starting 2Nov or around which I think is the earliest across all SPs. There are few more service points planned to be launched soon which will add to capacity.

[claraluh]

You must book an appointment now. IDV is the past. Also, the best approach is to wait 1-2 days and monitor the booking system constantly throughout the day especially at 12 midnight GMT or 1am BST. Try different postcodes and locations. There are cancellations and you may end up finding an earlier one. However, if you fail to book any earlier within 1-2 days, just book the one available, its been reported that appointments are available after 3/4 weeks gap, note, once you book you can not view other availability so its best to monitor the system for 1-2 days first....
Free appointments are rare and only available in CORE centres.

Ok the earliest we found was for 17th November, I tried a different postcode and found one for 28 but it was gone before I could book. I will keep checking today and try to book it by tomorrow. Thanks

[claraluh]

I myself have been looking for an appointment. At 1AM BST, they release 28th-day future slots. Cancellations happen throughout the date but rare. There is no trick other than keep checking every few hours and try your luck. I found one in 3 days and it was gone before I could book it [in less than half a min]. If you are ok to travel, New Castle has appointments starting 2Nov or around which I think is the earliest across all SPs. There are few more service points planned to be launched soon which will add to capacity.

We don’t mind traveling to New Castle, I will try again throughout the day, hopefully more slots will appear. Thanks

[Anotherhustler4vis]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg

Cool graph !

I might be a bit thick here but would you mind sharing how you work out time taken to clear June applications. When/which date is the 1st day of that total 16 days?

[ajitu92]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg

Cool graph !

I might be a bit thick here but would you mind sharing how you work out time taken to clear June applications. When/which date is the 1st day of that total 16 days?

Not at all! So again, based only on this forum (actual decisions might be out of this range - before and after) June decisions were dished out between 28/09 and 13/10. Apart from the one outlier who got the decision on 04/09.

[Anotherhustler4vis]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg

Cool graph !

I might be a bit thick here but would you mind sharing how you work out time taken to clear June applications. When/which date is the 1st day of that total 16 days?

Not at all! So again, based only on this forum (actual decisions might be out of this range - before and after) June decisions were dished out between 28/09 and 13/10. Apart from the one outlier who got the decision on 04/09.

Gotcha! Very clear now, thank you.

I gonna make a bold assumption here and say that most of us 10 year route applicants will start as a student and uni/school seems to start in September and everyone would have been issued an initial clearance in August and therefore minus 28days for qualifying period then July should be the most busiest month. If this is correct, we could see some decent improvement on this downward trend. That said, prospect of the 2nd lockdown could mix things up.

[ajitu92]

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg

Cool graph !

I might be a bit thick here but would you mind sharing how you work out time taken to clear June applications. When/which date is the 1st day of that total 16 days?

Not at all! So again, based only on this forum (actual decisions might be out of this range - before and after) June decisions were dished out between 28/09 and 13/10. Apart from the one outlier who got the decision on 04/09.

Gotcha! Very clear now, thank you.

I gonna make a bold assumption here and say that most of us 10 year route applicants will start as a student and uni/school seems to start in September and everyone would have been issued an initial clearance in August and therefore minus 28days for qualifying period then July should be the most busiest month. If this is correct, we could see some decent improvement on this downward trend. That said, prospect of the 2nd lockdown could mix things up.

I had a similar thought before, but all visas types are counted for Set (LR), though the proportion of students entering the country will indeed be higher around August/September (and those now qualifying for Set LR on the basis of first entry as a student. That being said, it must be noted that the qualifying date for Set (LR) is 28 days minus date of initial ENTRY and not the first visa issue date. Hopefully there continues to be a downward trend until it will eventually plateau.

[gyanp]

A more niche question to you.
How long did it take HO to clear out June applications?
It will be interesting to see this trend for July as well when HO move on to August applications.
This will tell us if HO are catching up or mainitaining the 3-4 months lag between application submission to decision

So a caveat with this answer is that the number of June Set (LR) applicants (10 applicants) who have posted on this forum is significantly less than July applicants who have done the same (33 applicants). So the data and subsequent interpretation will be skewed.

Now, that's out the way, so based on what has been posted on this forum for Set (LR):

• June applications: Average time to decision = 105.2 days. Time taken to clear June applications = 16 days. 1 outlier in the data = Applied on 27th June and received decision on 4th September, taking only 69 days.
• July applications (latest processed application applied on 27th July): Average time to decision = 90.2 days. Time taken to clear July applications = Pending. 2 outliers in the data, taking 67 days and 42 days (this one was escalated due to family medical emergency).

So there is marked downward trend even with the data skew, which I hope continues Handy graph of Set (LR) applications below for reference (includes all applications since March).

Set(LR) Decisions Graph.jpg

Its really great @ajitu92. It helps to decode how UKVI is processing LR cases. Well done!

[stonelove]

Hi all am pleased to say my application for ILR has been approved and this is my time line

Applied for ILR Route: Set (M)
Date application sent: 28 May 2020
Type of application: Standard
Payment completed: 28 May 2020
Documents uploaded to UKVCAS: 21/08/2020 at UKVACS Service Centre Sheffield
Email received for eligibility of IDV app use: July opted out
Biometric Submission: 21/08/2020 Sheffield
Decision Received: 21 OCT 2020
BRP Card Received: Waiting

Thanks to all the moderators with all the help, we are one big family and lets keep on going and have faith, I will still contribute to the best of my ability.

[poper]

Congrats @stonelove

[stonelove]

Congrats @stonelove

Thanks m8