Perhaps a bit of a misleading title, but it's rare that I resist alliteration. I just received a phone call--literally just; I got off the phone less than 5 minutes ago--from someone (I missed her name; sorry, nice lady!) dealing with my application. Sorta. They're currently dealing with settlement applications from March, and mine is from April.
It's frustrating to me, I can't deny, that my application isn't done with and sorted, and my/our various documents aren't back in our possession. It has been nearly 3 months since I sent the application in. My previous application (marriage/civil partner visa) took exactly 3 weeks from when I posted it to the LA Consulate to when it was back in my hands. Both places have stated 6 month waiting times, so that there's a huge difference in turnaround time is annoying. But on the other hand, I have no idea what they're dealing with. It may be that there are 10 people in the whole of the UK who are dealing with all the applications. It may be that the applications are vetted extra-closely (you choose your reason for that, but settlement is just shy of citizenship and often leads to it, so choosing who stays permanently does have some real ramifications), so it takes longer. There are many different and valid reasons as to why the process takes so long, but it's frustrating nevertheless.*
But the woman was very nice in that she called me, because I didn't expect or need to be contacted, and in fact, I had told them not to worry about it, that I was just writing to inform them of my travel plans. So it was very nice of her (and possibly made for a nice break in her job, though I always hated calling people, so who knows what she thought about calling me), and I found out that a) she thought my application would be done before September and b) what to do if it's not (write/call 28 days before I need my crap back and something will be worked out**).
So we'll see. They have all my crap, since I went in a few weeks ago to have my biometrics taken (again). Now it's just a waiting game. Since waiting games are the kind of game I hate the most, this is not fun, but at least she was very friendly and polite. Not that I've met many nasty UKBA/Home Office people, though some of the passport/border patrol guards were a bit douchy in that they were either condescending or rather shirty about my entering the UK on a tourist visa, but when you're waiting and waiting and worried and waiting (and your last attempted contact with UKBA was an email that still hasn't been replied to 6 months on) any bit of friendliness feels hopeful and nice.
Getting married was supposed to solve most of Adam's and my problems, namely the problem of trying to physically be together, not 6000 miles and 8 timezones apart. How naive it was to believe that once we got married, this would be over and done with shortly thereafter. Even after all this is sorted, we'll eventually move back to the US, which means going through all this crap again to sort out a green card for Adam. Goody.
I really don't want to have to contact UKBA again. Crossed fingers they get to my application in the next month and it goes on and off the desk in less than a day, and back to me by the end of August.
*It's also stupidly expensive.
**I notice she didn't say if I would have to pay the fee for having my application expedited or not. I chose not to ask and am simply hoping for the best. The fee is outrageous, doubly so given the outrageousness of the base fee. If I thought the people who actually process the applications saw any of the money I wouldn't mind so much, but you know damn well the woman I talked to probably hasn't gotten a raise in the last 3 years, let alone a bonus.
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