Wait almost over!

[ccbpka]

I just wanted to share our experience in case it helps any others – we finally received our documents back after applying on the 5th of April. So relieved as the agonising wait has been one of the most stressful things I've ever encountered!

My timeline:
From: Fiancee Visa (yep, not able to work this entire time!!)
Applied for FLRM: 5th April
Ack letter dated: 18th April
Biometric letter received (dated 24th April) & submitted: 27th April
MP forwarded letter from hospital on our behalf: ~29th August
Documents returned: 14th September
BRP: Still waiting

We first contacted our MP after about 4 months had passed to see if she could help us in any way as I desperately wanted to visit my grandmother (her health was deteriorating). Our MP forwarded our e-mail request along to their Liaison Unit in Croydon and we received a reply from the HO about a week later. It basically said unless there is documentary evidence showing that there are sufficient compassionate grounds to expedite your case, you need to continue waiting. Unfortunately, my grandmother ended up in hospital and we had the hospital provide a letter expressing the urgency of the situation. Our MP forwarded this along and about 2 weeks later we received our documents back and a letter stating that my BRP will soon follow (thank goodness!!).

The day before our documents were returned my husband phoned the HO to see what was happening and the woman on the other line was absolutely no help (know you've heard this before). He was on hold for 40 minutes before getting through and once he did the woman couldn't even tell us if our letter from hospital had been received. (Lesson learned: don't waste your time calling, even after 6 months, unless you want to request your sponsor's passport back, that seems to speed things up for some people.) She did however say the quickest way to communicate with them was via our MP as they have their own liaison unit.

It's horrible that we've all had to go through this but thank goodness for this thread – it seems to be the only way anyone gets any information! Best of luck to everyone.