Sheffield Visa Section - EEA FAMILY PERMIT

[Enka2018]

Hi Edwinlobo2907

Congratulations and best wishes for future..
Pray for us all who's waiting for the decesion.
All we can do is wait and pray....

[drasl123]

Dear all ,

FINALLY. ..The agonising wait is over !!!
My wife got the EEA FP today
Relief !!!
We never ģot any email from UKVI that the application has been processed and a decision has been made. Instead Iit was a standard email from VFS Global.
Furthermore. ..We never attached any photos nor our call / chat history. Just the basic documents and our wedding registration from UK.

My friend who works in the Home office ( Projects ) had clearly indicated that it is due to the political climate that the applications are slowly processed and that is their way of slowing down the entry of immigrants.

For example : the processing times for Malaysia are a mere 15 days but they made it 60 working days ( 12 weeks ) hence they were successful in literally denying 3 more applications during the same time frame.
It's a horrible journey with frustrating times and with agonising emotional trauma but there is NOTHING one can do to speed up an application.
I wish you all good luck with your applications and keep the faith.

Congratulations. Wish you best of luck for future

[TalitaZ]

Hi TalitaZ,

I applied for EEA FP in VFS Manila last August 10. I received the 'not straightforward' email last August 30. I noticed that you escalated your application 4 days after the 'not straightforward email'. How do I "escalate"?

TIA

Hi all,

I wanted to share my good news, my husband received his EEA FP last Thursday!
It took around 7 weeks, so I can't even imagine what it must feel like at 60-90 days!
I am Dutch, he is Indian and we applied from Dusseldorf, this is our timeline:

June 27 - applied in Dusseldorf
July 14 - 'not straightforward' email
July 18 - case escalated
August 14 - received email from Decision Making office in reply to escalation
August 15 - decision made email
August 17 - passport returned with EEA FP

We contacted UKVI every few days and escalated our case several times as my husband's Schengen Visa expired on August 1st so he was stuck in Netherlands illegally. My MP and Solvit also contacted them and on August 14 I finally received an email with regards to the escalation, basically saying they could not give us a timeframe but they would forward the info to the clearance officer team. Apparently that did help as the decision was made the same day. I think we were 'lucky' that his current Visa had expired to speed things up.
He now has a 17 day overstay on his Schengen Visa but the immigration officer at Amsterdam airport was very nice and did not put it in the computer system and he was not fined.

I hope you all get good news soon. You are in my thoughts!
Talita

Hi Polly,

You can call them to escalate. I called them the moment I receive the 'not straightforward' email because my husband's Schengen visa would expire on August 1st so he needed his passport back. They emailed me 2 days later with some more questions, asking reason for escalation etc. and it was escalated the next day. I did call or email them almost daily though. Once escalated they need to respond within 15 working days. Don't ask them to escalate again before the 15 days are over or your escalation goes back into the queue and time just starts again from day 1. It's really annoying.

Details to contact them are here:

https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside- ... uk/english

Telephone: 00 44 203 481 1736
Monday to Friday, 24 hours
Calls cost £1.37 per minute on top of your standard network charges.

By email
Email UK Visas and Immigration. (see link on the website)
Emails enquiries cost £5.48. You won’t be charged for any follow-up emails about the same enquiry.

Good luck!
Talita

[Daniel1206]

Hello,

I am currently in this mess now. I applied since June 14 and till date, i have not been contacted unless their first email saying my application was not straight forward.

I have provided them with document requested and i do not know why it has to take 3 months, in just few days, it will be over 3 months, isn't this unusual?

I need help and i really want to go home to my wife.. she has almost exhausted her annual leave coming to Spain to see me...

[TalitaZ]

Hello,

I am currently in this mess now. I applied since June 14 and till date, i have not been contacted unless their first email saying my application was not straight forward.

I have provided them with document requested and i do not know why it has to take 3 months, in just few days, it will be over 3 months, isn't this unusual?

I need help and i really want to go home to my wife.. she has almost exhausted her annual leave coming to Spain to see me...

It seems they have a backlog of applications and many people have reported these delays. They are actually breaking EU laws by doing this. You wife should contact her local MP to write to the home office, I did it too. My MP said he had several cases like ours of EEA FB delays. It's crazy.

[Daniel1206]

Thank you for your prompt response.

We have emailed the office of the MP as you suggested hoping they would call me for an appointment in order to meet with him.

My wife also emailed home office requesting for an escalation as suggested by someone else and they responded saying my husband application has been escalated.

It is a shame that they held the application for 3 months for no cogent reason, it shows they do not have regard for the law of the country as they claimed.

TalitaZ,please let us know if you have a suggestion to reach the MP faster that we are applying currently. Have a lovely day.

[sidkapure]

Hi Guys I had the answer from UKVI via MP which is below. I want to know is if our Article 8 rights violated?
Mostly for people who are waiting for more than five months like me. I couldn't get my passport from them, no real answers, the waiting times are surpassed and also not updated since May. This Visa was supposed to be done in priority but not done.
I feel our human rights are violated. See below the reply I got and please give some suggestion.

"We advise applicants not to book any travel prior to receiving the decision of their application. The onus is on the applicant to organise and understand their own immigration status, when entering the UK for visits or residence. The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) has considered whether the particular circumstances set out constitute exceptional circumstances which, consistent with the right to respect for private and family life contained in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, might warrant expedition. The ECO is satisfied that there is no basis for such a claim and has confirmed that the application will be considered in strict date order. "

[byronwilliams1185]

Hi Guys I had the answer from UKVI via MP which is below. I want to know is if our Article 8 rights violated?
Mostly for people who are waiting for more than five months like me. I couldn't get my passport from them, no real answers, the waiting times are surpassed and also not updated since May. This Visa was supposed to be done in priority but not done.
I feel our human rights are violated. See below the reply I got and please give some suggestion.

"We advise applicants not to book any travel prior to receiving the decision of their application. The onus is on the applicant to organise and understand their own immigration status, when entering the UK for visits or residence. The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) has considered whether the particular circumstances set out constitute exceptional circumstances which, consistent with the right to respect for private and family life contained in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, might warrant expedition. The ECO is satisfied that there is no basis for such a claim and has confirmed that the application will be considered in strict date order. "

Hello Sid,

I am waiting for nearly 6 months now. I asked for escalation last month and waited for 15 working days and since there was no decision made, contacted again by sending mail. They replied that application is sent for escalation to relevant department. So the 15 days I waited before was just nonsense. They even mentioned that processing will take some time and they cannot provide how long it will take (6 month is a long time still they need time).

I am going to call them today and ask for status.

Sid, Since the Eco has mentioned that they will consider it in strict order, I guess they will make a decision this week. Why don't you call them again.

Let us know any new updates from your side.

Regards,
Byron

[sidkapure]

Thanks for your reply Byron.

I don't want to make calls because it frustrates me a lot when I hear a person there who has no idea what I am talking about and I know that he is lying to me about escalation and that it is just under process or you will just have to wait.

I have called them 5 to 6 times before and they sound clueless, it angers me so I don't want to call them. I might send an email next week to see whats going on again I see this as no different.

I sent a desperate email to MP again asking him to do something about it. Also reached out to Solvit via my partner. They asked her to send our passport copy. SOLVIT seems quicker to respond than MPs and UKVI.

It is terrible what is happening. I am taking it to ombudsman for sure. I've done it before so I know what to do.

Good Luck to you all.

Sid.

[drasl123]

Thanks for your reply Byron.

I don't want to make calls because it frustrates me a lot when I hear a person there who has no idea what I am talking about and I know that he is lying to me about escalation and that it is just under process or you will just have to wait.

I have called them 5 to 6 times before and they sound clueless, it angers me so I don't want to call them. I might send an email next week to see whats going on again I see this as no different.

I sent a desperate email to MP again asking him to do something about it. Also reached out to Solvit via my partner. They asked her to send our passport copy. SOLVIT seems quicker to respond than MPs and UKVI.

It is terrible what is happening. I am taking it to ombudsman for sure. I've done it before so I know what to do.

Good Luck to you all.

Sid.

Hi Guys
It's been 118 working day since I'm waiting for their reply.
Called on Friday they told my application is still "AWAITING A DECISION"
It's been almost 4 month since they're replying the same.
It's beyond my understanding why are they taking so long.
The idea of taking them to Ombudsman is good.
Let see in next 2 days when whole 120 days time period will over.
Waiting is really terrible.

[Enka2018]

Hi sidkapure,

My husband also waiting from past 5 months. Tried everything but nothing worked, mp solvit Ukvi all same useless reply. Don't know why they want to hold our passports forever. I even wrote to ombudsman. Any idea how does it work and how long they take to respond.

[sidkapure]

Hi Enka,

You just go to the Ombudsman website and fill up the form and email it to your MP saying I would like to take my problems with UKVI to Ombudsman.

They review it and then take your case further. It takes loads of time though so our problem which is about waiting is not really solved. But it might kick it to UKVI looking at your case.

It took me 1.5 years for them to pay me the compensation for rejecting my visa in 2013.

Good Luck

Sid.

[Enka2018]

Hi Sid,

Thank you. I have already complained it's been 1 month. But the thing is we want application to be processed quickly since 5 month totally breaking eu law. So basically it means nothing can be helpful to fast the application process.

[sidkapure]

Hi Enka,

Yes Ombudsman won't really help to process quickly but you know as soon as you get the visa hopefully soon now cos its already been 5 months, Make a list of your losses, emotional Trauma, stress, loss of income and all and drop an email to Complaints Home office section or freedom of request, ask them the reason why it took 5 months and a detail report of what investigations you did since you applied.

They probably won't give you hence take it to ombudsman for compensation because home office didn't give you enough reasons for delaying so much.

This is what I am doing. I did the Complaints and Freedom of Request and they replied back to me saying they are not telling me why its taking so long so I have the evidence of them not been open about it.

So meanwhile waiting and suffering this wait, start working on a plan to get compensate by them as soon as you get the visa. This is how I think. UKVI are habitual to make applicants suffer. They have long history to do that and less than 10% even appeal on rejections and ask for compensation. I've done it twice thats what my sources are.

We are suffering yes, but we need to think about getting UKVI paying us compensation for that. Cos we don't have control on the timing of application now as its clear no govt. organisation are there to help.

Hopefully we get it soon. Meanwhile make a list of rules they didn't follow and your losses. And dates you contact them and print all the emails as evidence.

Cheers.

Sid

[Enka2018]

Hi sid thanks a lot.

Yes you are right they are not open to tell what they doing with the application already done 3 complains so I have that proof. Already told mp to complain to ombudsman. hopefully they give visa soon m worried since they refuses a lot of application of EEA family permit but surely will ask for compesatation after getting visa.

[Mdf74813]

Hello Guys,
I have applied from Bangladesh on 13th August 2017. On 28th August VFS called me to go back with documents again as the previous files were corrupted.
On the 5th Sept I received an email saying 'not straightforward '. I escalated on 8th Sept and recieved confirmation email.
Still waiting for a reply.

[europehelpme]

Hello,

Friends before thinking of Escalation, please check the processing time for your country and place from where you applied. If your working days are coming close to the mentioned processing time then you can call/ email to escalate (your wait period should be more than the mentioned processing time). If you had applied and in one month time you think of escalation then they will not entertain and you will waste your money.

If after escalation they have given you 15 days period then please contact after 15 days are over if you did not get any decision.

I am waiting for 115 days now and 15 days escaltion period will be over on 8th. I will send them an email first and then call them.

I pray for you all they you will get your visa soon. Please keep me too in your prayers.

All the best.

Regards,
Byron

Are these the processing times you are referring to?

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y

I thought this was a guide only.

Is there anything in the policy that provides a timeframe as to when a decision has to be made by or when an update is provided? Or are we effectively just suppoused to wait potentially in eternity to an answer is provided? I applied from sydney and I was told it would take 15 days to receive an answer.

I am asking this because I want to escalate but not sure how long to wait before doing so

Is there any timeframe relating to processing times or when an answer has to be provided?

Surely we shouldnt be expected to sit around in eternity to get a response? If they are going to reject that is fine but reject and provide reason why. It seems wrong that they can just dust things under the carpet.

[Willyboy]

Hello,

Friends before thinking of Escalation, please check the processing time for your country and place from where you applied. If your working days are coming close to the mentioned processing time then you can call/ email to escalate (your wait period should be more than the mentioned processing time). If you had applied and in one month time you think of escalation then they will not entertain and you will waste your money.

If after escalation they have given you 15 days period then please contact after 15 days are over if you did not get any decision.

I am waiting for 115 days now and 15 days escaltion period will be over on 8th. I will send them an email first and then call them.

I pray for you all they you will get your visa soon. Please keep me too in your prayers.

All the best.

Regards,
Byron

Are these the processing times you are referring to?

https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y

I thought this was a guide only.

Is there anything in the policy that provides a timeframe as to when a decision has to be made by or when an update is provided? Or are we effectively just suppoused to wait potentially in eternity to an answer is provided? I applied from sydney and I was told it would take 15 days to receive an answer.

I am asking this because I want to escalate but not sure how long to wait before doing so

Is there any timeframe relating to processing times or when an answer has to be provided?

Surely we shouldnt be expected to sit around in eternity to get a response? If they are going to reject that is fine but reject and provide reason why. It seems wrong that they can just dust things under the carpet.

In my case, and a few days before receiving the infamous "not straightforward" mail, I received an initial mail in which they say: "Please note that UKVI aims to complete all Visit Visa applications within 15 working days and all Settlement Visa applications within 12 weeks of the application date".

Therefore I believe the standard target is 15 days no matter where you apply from, although some countries have longer waiting times (you can check that on the UK government's website).

In my case, I called on the morning of day sixteen and they offered to escalate, which means they should answer within a further 15 working days. That will be tomorrow for me and guess what? Can't see it arriving today...

[TalitaZ]

Hi Guys I had the answer from UKVI via MP which is below. I want to know is if our Article 8 rights violated?
Mostly for people who are waiting for more than five months like me. I couldn't get my passport from them, no real answers, the waiting times are surpassed and also not updated since May. This Visa was supposed to be done in priority but not done.
I feel our human rights are violated. See below the reply I got and please give some suggestion.

"We advise applicants not to book any travel prior to receiving the decision of their application. The onus is on the applicant to organise and understand their own immigration status, when entering the UK for visits or residence. The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) has considered whether the particular circumstances set out constitute exceptional circumstances which, consistent with the right to respect for private and family life contained in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, might warrant expedition. The ECO is satisfied that there is no basis for such a claim and has confirmed that the application will be considered in strict date order. "

Hi - It feels like they are just trying to defend themselves and use the excuse that they can decide whether something is 'not straightforward' or 'exceptional circumstances', which both are vague terms they can hide behind.

The law stated that a delay longer than 4 weeks is not acceptable - I have quoted this a few times in my emails to UKVI (Solvit actually confirmed the below law and that the processing time line was not acceptable) - see below what I wrote them:

Receiving this permit for my husband is my right as an EU citizen, it is supposed to take max 3 weeks, which we were told at the application centre and the information supplied on the UKVI website (98% in 15 working days).
And most importantly, UKVI is breaching EU Law as according to Directive 2004/38/EC and (3. EUN2.3 Guidance):

Priority must be given to applications for EEA family permits.
2.2.1. Entry visas
As provided in Article 5(2), Member States may require third country family members moving with or joining an EU citizen to whom the Directive applies to have an entry visa.
Such family members have not only the right to enter the territory of the Member State but also the right to obtain an entry visa. This distinguishes them from other third country nationals, who have no such right.
Third country family members should be issued as soon as possible and on the basis of an
accelerated procedure with a free of charge short-term entry visa. By analogy with Article 23 of the Visa Code19, the Commission considers that delays of more than four weeks are not reasonable.

Given that our application must be resolved on an accelerated basis, the 5 weeks taken to process the application thus far appears to be marginally excessively long.
In the light of the provisions under article 5 directive 2004/38, the excessive delay in processing our application is not compliant with the above cited Directive, article 5.

[agnieszka1509]

Hi guys,

The more I read this thread the more frustrated I feel.
As many of you, me and my husband are in similar situation. He applied from Rabat/Morocco on 5th f June 2017 and the only information we received from them was "not straightforward" email on 28th of June 2017.

On the day of application gov website said processing times for Rabat are 90 working days max, but to our surprise they have changed it recently to 60 working days. I can only hope they started moving forward with processing all applications.
We escalated our case on Monday I do hope it will help.

Stay patient,

Agnieszka

[TalitaZ]

Hi Agnieszka,

We received the EEA FP after 2 months, so don't give up!
It will come!

Wishing you all the best,
Talita

[drasl123]

Hi Guys,

120 Working days has passed. Still no reply.
every option has tried but in vain.
Literally Don't know what to do
I really don't know how long will they take more
This Visa process is on everyone's nerve now.

[Enka2018]

Hi Drasl123

Same here almost 120 working days for my husband's application. Tried all options of complains and escalation nothing worked. Don't know what kind of immigration is this that can take 6 months for entry visa...

[Esperan24]

Dear Enka, Where did u apply from. I had applied from Mumbai North it's been for 82 days. Last month I had escalated my case I got a reply saying I have to wait 90 working days in order to get decision. Hopefully I should hear something.q

Hi Drasl123

Same here almost 120 working days for my husband's application. Tried all options of complains and escalation nothing worked. Don't know what kind of immigration is this that can take 6 months for entry visa...

[Enka2018]

Hi esperan 25.
My husband applied from delhi. This escalation also doesn't seem to work since they have list of excuses.