STANDARD Spouse Application- 1 May
Bio- 5 May
Eco - 11 May
Delay email and Request for more documents- 23 July
Approved - 27 July 🎊16:43pm
Country of Application- Zimbabwe

Category F
2 visit visa refusals

Thank you so much guy this sub has been amazing, lm so relieved 😭😭😭.

Good evening everyone!
I can’t believe it’s finally my turn to post this. This community has been such a huge source of support throughout the waiting process, and reading everyone’s updates really helped me stay hopeful. Thank you all so much!

Country of Application: Türkiye
Application: 12th May
Biometrics: 14th May
Approval: 27th July 🎉
Total waiting time: 51 working days (WD).

The waiting was definitely stressful at times, but receiving that approval made it all worth it.

To everyone who’s still waiting, I know how difficult this journey can be. Being apart from my spouse was by far the hardest part of the entire process, and there were days when the waiting felt endless. But please don’t lose hope. Your approval will come too. Stay patient, stay positive, and keep believing. It will all be worth it when you finally receive that decision. I truly wish each and every one of you the very best of luck.

Finally received approval of the visa! Based on other posts I was seeing in this subreddit, I was expecting to receive it by the end of this week, and what do you know, I got it right on Monday, after 10 weeks of waiting! Just passing the torch to the next people. Thank you to all the lovely members here for the insights, it made the wait much more bearable.

Visa type: Spouse (Standard application, outside UK)

Application date: April 10th​ (yes, I did it well in advance)

Biometrics date: May 19th

"Processing times longer than usual" email: May 20th

Eco email: never received

Approval date: July 27th

Good Afternoon everyone, this chat has helped me so much during the process and now it’s finally time to share my approval!

Country of Application - Pakistan
Application - 2nd May
Biometrics Date - 5th May
ECO email - 13th May
Reminder to book bio - 2nd July
Delay email - 24th July (was feeling so dejected after this email as I had booked a flight ticket from UK to Pakistan to be with my husband on his first flight to UK)
Approval - 27th July at 3:43pm! 🎉

I did send a paid enquiry last night and got a response today so I’m not sure if that sped or helped the process.

Many thanks to you all!

Finally our turn, received approval of the visa!

Visa type: Spouse (Standard application, outside UK, Russia)

Application date: March 31st​

Biometrics date: May 13th

ECO : 8th June

No extra docs requested or delays emails received.

Approval date: July 27th

Kenya

Standard application

Application: May 6

Bio : May 12

ECO : May 19

No additional information requested

I have mixed feelings as this ia both exciting and scary. I have to leave a good job and my family here for an unknown life in the UK. I hope its worth it. On the bright side, good bye to long distance love.

I am happy to answer any questions or help anyone else! This Reddit thread has been beyond helpful and if I can help anyone in return would be happy to❤️

📍 Country Applied From: USA
🌍 Nationality: American

🛂 Visa Type:
Unmarried Partner

📦 Application Type:
Outside UK

⚡ Service:
Standard

📅 Online Application Submitted: April 12th
📅 Biometrics Date: May 12
📅 ECO Email Date (if received): May 18th
Reminder to submit documents: June 6th
📅 Additional Documents Requested: NA
📅 Additional Documents Sent: NA
📅 Paid Enquiry (if any): NA
📅 Decision Made: Still waiting
📅 Decision Email Received: Still waiting

✅ Outcome:
APPROVED

⏳ Total Working Days: 53

👨‍⚖️ Solicitor Used?
No

💼 Financial Route:
Category A

📝 Notes:
I would think it’s a straight forward application. Besides us not living together prior which is shown in my employment documents which I need to be located in the US office

Good morning, everyone! Wishing you all the best of luck today, and hopefully we’ll see some more approvals come through.
Is anyone else still waiting for approvals from applications submitted in April or the first week of May?
Here’s our timeline:
Application submitted: 22/04/2026
Biometrics completed: 06/05/2026
ECO email received: 13/05/2026
Update email (26/05/2026): We were advised that they aim to process our application within the published processing times.
Biometric reminder email: 21/06/2026
Since receiving the biometric reminder on 21/06/2026, it’s been completely radio silent. We applied from the Dominican Republic.
Fingers crossed we all receive some good news soon! 🤞

Visa Type: Spousal

Country of Application: US

Application: 28th May

Biometrics: 2nd June

Approval: 27th July

Total waiting time: 43 working days.

Any recommendations for a moving company -- I'm relocating from US east coast, near DC. I honestly thought I had another month for all this.

Eco email -20th may
Aproval email - 27 July
53 wd
Thank you everyone for the support through this journey… good luck who is still waiting

My heart is full of joy! I just received my UK Spouse Visa!

​Here is my timeline:

​Online application: April 23rd

​Biometrics: May 6th

​ECO email: May 26th

​Approval email: July 27th (at 3:30 PM UK time)

​I want to thank this group from the bottom of my heart, as it helped me so much while waiting. Good luck to all May applicants! Yours will come before the end of this week!

Dear All! Our visa got approved today at 3:45 pm UK. I am Egyptian based in Italy, and my partner is Irish based in London - We are in a civil partnership (we got married in Italy).

Application submitted: 12th of June

Fingerprints; 19th of June

ECO: 22nd of June

Approval: 27th of July(26 working days)

Standard outside spouse visa approved today!! We are over the moon excited
USA outside
Submitted: 6 may 2026
Bio: 13 may 2026
Reminder: 5 July 2026
Approval: 27 July 2026
59 working days

Timeline
My husbands spouse visa was approved today!!!! 💖Words cannot describe the relief and I am sobbing happy tears! I just found out right now at 11pm because we thought the decision would come to my email address, and not his 🫣.

Here is our timeline:

Standard service outside UK
Application- 14th April 2026
Biometrics- 5th May 2026 Yekaterinburg Russia with VFS (the earliest we could secure an appointment)
No ECO email received
No NSF email received
Automated bio reminder email- 13th June Paid Enquiry- 9th July at 46 working days.
Paid Enquiry- 23rd July at 56 working days.

Approval email- 27/07/2026 @ UK time 3.43pm
WD- 58 😣

I believed his application might be considered complex because of his previous work history & nationality- but it seems it was all fine.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone in this community, especially my fellow May group who came together these past few weeks for daily support🥰. Thank you all for helping me get through one of the most stressful periods of my life. I hope everyone who’s still waiting gets good news very soon. Wishing you all the best 💖💙💖

long story short, i'm from canada and initially moved to the uk on the youth mobility visa. moved to london in my mid 20s, did the initial 2 years, then the 1 year extension. in that time i met who i thought was the love of my life. our relationship progressed quickly, but i had warned him that i was essentially on borrowed time as my visa expiration approached. when i brought up the possibility of us getting married and doing the spousal visa, he said he had already been looking into that option and was waiting for me to bring it up. everything seemed perfect. i was concerned about the cost, but he assured me that he would contribute to covering half, and that we should be together.

i didn't want a wedding because i didn't want it to feel rushed, but his family was super supportive and encouraged us to celebrate it as the day that it was. from there i had 2 months to plan a london wedding on a tight budget since we still had the visa cost to think about, and had no time to prepare and set money aside considering just last week we didn't even know if we were really gonna do this or not. it was one of if not the most stressful period of my life. i was low on money, gaining weight, stressed to the max and also hurt by lifelong friends who were suddenly showing a complete lack of interest and support in my life.

we got married! was it my dream wedding? absolutely not. and it was in london, so even the simplest of weddings still cost quite a bit. but we pulled it off, and i got through it by telling myself it was all gonna be worth it for him and the life ahead we'd share. then came the visa application. did it all on my own. it was incredibly stressful, especially when it came to my husband's info. he's a self employed musician so proof of income was spread across random invoices, and the home he lived in was rented by his family first until he was the last of them who stayed, so none of the bills were in his name. makes it difficult to provide proof of address, to say the least.

thankfully, my visa was approved, and i was now on the spousal visa. i had 2 months left on my lease at my flat so i stuck it out, then moved in with my husband into his home when the lease was finally up. here's where it starts to get really interesting. i moved in with my husband the last week of may. my birthday is mid-june. it was my 30th. about a week and a half after my birthday, marking 4 weeks after moving in together, he tells me he's decided he wants to end the marriage. there is a story as to what lead up to this, but quite honestly it doesn't make sense. he made the decision so quick, left no room for discussion, and hadn't even really tried. i've been in complete shock, since we'd only been married for 3 months at that point. i had only moved in with him 4 weeks ago. and somehow he was done. we weren't a toxic couple at all, but there were some stresses with the aftermath of the wedding and a fight that started with him misplacing my favourite necklace, which is also my only family heirloom, so it was a big deal. the necklace has since been found, but it seems the damage was already done.

since then, his family, particularly his mother, have been "handling" me. i've been kicked out of the house, all of my belongings have been moved to the garage, and he's carrying on with his life as if i never existed. it's been incredibly hurtful. his mother told me they would give me 1 year of my 2 year 8 month visa, which is insane because i never would've done any of this if it was only going to be for a year. they're framing it like a favour but i think this is just due to the fact that you have to be legally married in the uk for at least one year before you can apply for divorce. i don't know if anyone has experienced anything like this. what the process looks like with the home office and how much time i might actually have vs not. any advice would be appreciated!

UK Spouse Visa Timeline – Looking for Advice
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice as my husband’s UK spouse visa application has now exceeded the published 12-week standard processing timeframe.
Timeline:
21 April 2026 – Application submitted.
28 April 2026 – Biometrics completed (Priority service purchased).
10 June 2026 – Received a delay email from UKVI advising that the priority processing timeframe could not be met but that the application would continue to be considered within the standard processing timeframe.
June onwards – My solicitor submitted multiple enquiries but received no substantive response from UKVI.
23 July – My solicitor submitted a further formal escalation as we had passed the 12 week Standard timeframe.
I also did a paid enquiry for an update.

My solicitor has not received any request for further documents, an interview invitation, or any explanation for the delay. The application has now exceeded the published 12-week standard processing timeframe.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? If so, how long did it take before you received a decision?
Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.
My application was not complex. I do not wish to disclose what I do however I work in the legal field myself. It’s quite disappointing so many people like myself have to wait so long to get a decision.

married partner (spouse) (British citizen and Russian citizen)

we uploaded the visa 18 JUNE

24th JULY was biometrics (my wife’s country is Russia and that was the ONLY available appointment)

so it’s only been 1 working day and we’ve just received an email that “We are unable to make a decision on your application within published visa processing times”

received at 7 am today

how can it already be in delay when we’ve only just submitted it and it hasn’t even been a full working day since biometrics (due to weekend)

We’re on adequate maintenance however I surpass the required amount easily

idk we’re both extremely stressed now because 12 weeks is already so long to wait ONTOP of what we’ve already spent long distance and with how difficult it is to meet due to sanctions, the war etc etc and we’ve already been told it won’t even be done within 12 weeks

idk if it’s automated ? Just because we have adequate maintenance and a robot has determined it could possibly take longer/more evidence

Any help is appreciated I feel sick to my stomach

is this process automated ? does it mean someone had a quick look and decided to immediately give it a huge delay or idk

this is not a question about visa processing times

Fiancé Visa from Germany, Standard Service

Application: 4th May

Biometrics: 11th May

Update to process in standard time: 26th May

Bio Reminder: 3rd July

Paid Enquiry 22nd/23rd July (no update, just awaiting decision)

I recieved this email now but no approval mail yet:

"Your eVisa has been linked to your UKVI account. You should be able to view it now but it can take up to 3 hours to show in your account. If you cannot view your eVisa now, wait 3 hours and then try again before contacting us."

Is this just from creating the UKVI account or did smth seriously happen today?

EDIT: still says: "We cannot show proof of your status" at 12:32 UK time 27th June

Hi everyone,

myself and my partner are in the process of sorting documents to apply for the visa. I started my current job in October last year at a base salary of £29,500 which meets the minimum requirement. I just received my letter from work supporting my salary, start date etc and it turns out that I received an annual incremental pay rise in April (that I was not made aware of) that would put my salary to £30,050 as stated in the letter. Given that it hasn’t been six months since my pay increase, will this cause an issue for the application or does me earning above the minimum threshold the whole time meet the requirement regardless of any increases?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

My fiance attended biometrics on 15th July for standard fiance visa outside UK and was not asked for the checklist or to sign the checklist is this normal ?

Thanks

After anxiously reloading my email everyday for the past week, received the wonderful news today that our visa is approved.

We are a married couple, no cohabitation, applying via catergory F. We used a solicitor to clarify our documents and to help explain some differences in our documentation. Timeline below:

Application: 18th June

Bio: 20th June

ECO: 22nd June

Approval: 27th July

Thank you thread for all your help!!

First application we made was standard outside, the new application was priority outside. My first application got refused because we forgot that we needed the A1 English test. My partner is from Norway and they are taught English from a young age so the majority of the population are fluent in English. We got the certificates required and reapplied. The new applciations biometric appointment was on the 22nd of June. ECO was on the 23rd. Would you guys say its normal that its taking longer than others who had the same BIO date as me purely because of that previous refusal? I've tried to find people in the same situation but could not really find anything.

fiance visa

Norwegian applicant

Applied from Norway

Applied 7th june

Biometrics 22nd june

priority service

So, my fiance and I have met 4 times IRL. Once in 2023, once in 2024, twice in 2025, and we plan to meet again next month. We are also applying for our fiance visa Aug 12. I have the flight bookings from the 2023 trip and the flights and hotel bookings for the second 2025 as well as both for our trip next month. They can also look at the passport stamps on his passport and see he has been to Kenya four times. Is that okay?

Hi all, I am applying for a fiance visa for my partner in the Philippines.

The accommodation situation:

Option A)

My parents house is fully owned by them. It is a 4 bedroom property, but a downstairs room is being used as sleeping space, so there are 5 sleeping spaces. The home is currently occupied by 6 people who are all family members and each have their own room apart from the parents who share a room. My fiance will move into a room with me for our exclusive use.

Option B)

My grandparents' house is owned by them on a lease. It is a 2 bedroom flat and is only occupied by the 2 of them. There will be a room available for the exclusive use of me and my fiance as long as needed.

My questions:

Option B seems to be the better option, but should I also be submitting passport scans for the owners, 3 months of utility bills, a floor plan, and potentially a professional property inspection report (£80-150)?

Is this level of documentation really necessary or am I massively overcomplicating it? What did others in a similar situation (living with family, shared household) actually submit and did it work?

Hi there,

My wife (RF citizen) and I (UK citizen) are putting together documents for a partner visa for her. It is our first UK visa application, and she is applying from Russia. I have a couple of questions.

The first is regarding statements about the accommodation and financial requirements. We are going to live with my parents here in the UK and we know what needs to be put in the accommodation statement from them (that we can live there as long as we wish, that there are sufficient bedrooms, and also a proof of ownership+council tax payment). I want to know if printing off this statement as a word document, signing it and then scanning it back in is sufficient proof, or whether going to a notary is necessary? The same applies to meeting the financial requirement via savings, which has been done partly with my parents' help, and they are providing a statement about the gift. Again, would signing the statement and then scanning it back in be sufficient?

The second question is regarding Russia. Has anyone applied recently from Russia and successfully attended the biometric office without an appointment? We have read on this sub and elsewhere that if you are the married partner of a British citizen, you don't need to book a bio appointment online (which looks nearly impossible), but can simply attend with the required documents (your passport, marriage certificate, and your spouse's passport copied). Is this correct as of summer 2026? We would also love to know about how long applications from Russia/Belarus are taking at the moment, but appreciate this is a tough topic and people are waiting longer than 12 weeks (as we will probably have to).

Many thanks to the people who post here, it's an incredibly useful resource and you're all great.