Settlement visa return of passport?

[mberthau]

I have been looking in a number of places for an answer to this question and am at a loss.

I am an American living in Germany and applied for a spousal settlement visa with the UK in June. Because my previous (non-settlement) visas with the UK were decided on fairly quickly, I made the mistake of thinking this one would be too. My job has now just ended in Germany and I am still waiting for a decision to be made, but am without a passport so I can travel neither to my spouse in the UK (on a visitors visa) nor my family back in the US.

I was wondering if there was a way to have my passport returned to me while my visa was being decided on, and if so would this cause me to forfeit my visa application (meaning I would have to apply again)? And if this was possible, would it then be possible to travel to the UK on a visitors visa while my settlement visa is being considered?


Thank you for your help.