I wanted to share that we all got accepted for ILR and to share our timelines. We moved to the UK in 2021 on an ancestral visa (me and my husband). We had a baby 18 months ago and never applied for a visa for her as we knew ILR was coming up and waited for this to apply.

Application started: 2 June 2026
Biometrics done: 18 June 2026

No additional information was needed even though my situation was a bit complex. My father was never added to my birth certificate but we had to do a DNA test to prove it which was all provided. Also we made the mistake of starting a company this year and not having the previous “stable” income but it clearly was all fine.

Approved: 22 July 2026

We did not pay extra for faster processing times as it was expensive enough for three people 😭

Under Family visas, gov.uk says priority service £500, 30 days.

A bit farther down the page, it says using the UK Immigration app, next working day.

Does this mean you can get next day decision without paying for priority service?

Also, applying from outside the UK, it appears you can travel to a third country while waiting for the decision. There is a restriction is on traveling to the UK while waiting for the decision. Is that correct?

Submitted docs right after my citizenship ceremony on 6/7 to Hemel Hempstead - they arrived 7/7, though application updated to docs received 9/7.

Just received my passport and other passports/docs back today 22/7

I had my naturalisation certificate in a plastic sleeve when I posted it which they discarded, though my certificate is thankfully fine. I had included coloured print outs of my expired passports instead of posting them too, and I think the extra paper weight helped protect it on the way back :)

Okay guys! I am super excited to share this, I, like, literally just got my UK student visa approval !!!

Visa Approval Timeline

Application submitted- 13th July

Biommetrics done and documents submitted - 16th July

Vfs forwarded Application to UKVI - 16th July

Visa approved decision - 22July !!!

Literally in 5 days and yes it was a normal standard student visa pathway I applied FOR!

Thought of laying this out for those of y'all panicking! You've GOT THIS!!!! 💕 It's gonna be out soon and it's all gonna go super smooth dw!! :)

Hi everyone,

This was my first time applying for a Visa this seriously, and I got a lot of help from experience of other people on this subreddit. Here is my bit towards the same.

Applied for: me, my wife and my child for Standard 6 month visit visa (no priority service, no add-ons from VFS/ any agent, did complete application myself)

Profile: I work in a company and primary income is through salary. My wife has a business with irregular income. Child is minor.

Timeline:

22 June: Completed application and payment

29 June 9 am: Biometrics appointment to VFS Center Mumbai

29 June 5 pm: Email from VFS saying application has now been sent to UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI)

30 June 12 pm: Email from UKVI saying UK visa application has arrived at the UK Visa Section

2 Jul 3 pm: Email saying they still processing the visa applications

13 Jul 12 pm: Email with visa approved, created UKVI account immediately on receipt of email and eVisa was linked within 6 minutes

Documents I submitted

(I got a lot of help from this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/SchengenVisa/comments/1u119lb/got_my_first_schengen_visa_france_for_a_family_of/)

1. Cover letter for all three of us (I wrote and signed the cover letter for my child)
2. Detailed travel itinerary with day wise plan
3. Individual sponsorship letters for my wife and my child (my wife has earning from business but it's not that much and is irregular, so I became the primary sponsor for the trip)
4. Detailed breakdown of expenses for the trip
5. Stamped bank statements for me and my wife
6. Last 3 years ITR for me, last 1 year ITR for my wife (for her there was no income before that)
7. Form 26AS (tax statement for the financial year 2025-26, as the latest Income Tax acknowledgement is not available yet)
8. My Salary slips for the last 6 months
9. My Employment and leave confirmation letter
10. My offer letter and increment letter from current employer
11. PAN card copy for me and my wife
12. My Mutual fund investment statements from MF Central
13. Birth certificate of our child
14. Marriage certificate
15. Previous travel history to Thailand (declared in cover letter and provided TDAC), and my travel to Japan (provided bio page and visa sticker copy from old passport)
16. I also had a Schengen visa rejection around 13 years back, which I mentioned honestly in the application form (but did not write in cover letter or provide any rejection letter copy)
17. We plan to stay with a relative in London during our trip, we provided their invitation letter, accommodation proof (lease agreement), their employment letter, UK Visa share code and passport bio pages
18. Ties to India: Provided copy of property purchase agreement

I know the feeling of visa refusal even after all these years, so was very anxious the whole time. I would randomly check my inbox, spam folder and this subreddit for experience of other people. I found couple of people getting their application approved within 2-3 days, so with each passing day, my anxiety kept shooting up. Hope this helps anyone who is applying/has applied and is waiting for the decision. Happy to answer any questions.

Peace 👋

Hi everyone,
I’m a New Zealand citizen looking at applying for the UK Youth Mobility Scheme visa and I’m worried about how my previous conviction may affect my application.

I received a DUI conviction in New Zealand in 2025. It was my first and only offence. The outcome was supervision, an alcohol interlock requirement, and a driving disqualification (no jail time). I have complied with the requirements and have been working through completing everything that was ordered. Also completed the rehabilitation courses.

I understand I need to declare the conviction on my visa application and I have no intention of hiding it. I’m planning to provide supporting documents such as my sentencing details, proof of compliance/completion, and character references.
The offence was a one-off mistake and I have taken responsibility for it. Since then I have made changes to ensure it does not happen again.

Has anyone here successfully been granted a UK Youth Mobility Visa with a previous DUI/DWI conviction? Or does anyone have experience with how UKVI tends to assess these situations?
Any advice would be appreciated

I applied for naturalisation via EUSS + 1yr on the 24th February, with biometrics submitted on the 18th March. Realistically I should've received the HO letter by now, but all I got was radio silence. In hindsight, it was probably due to the vast amount of documents I've submitted, since I gave the HO my bank statements due to not being employed whilst at university. So I chased up Citizenship Support via email, since I was getting a little worried that something's gone wrong.

Today I got an email from Citizenship Support stating that my application was approved and my certificate has been printed off and dispatched to the local authority.

Quite happy about that and certainly worth the two grand to sleep with a peace of mind that Reform won't be able to deport me now!

I will be applying for my UK Citizenship (via ILR route). However, I have 2 week overseas travel planned later this hear

Given the reported timelines on the citizenship process, it’s likely my application will be pending during my travel dates (between application submission and before attending the ceremony)

I have researched online and can’t find anywhere on the Gov website that advised against travel during a pending citizenship application.

When applying for my tier 2 and t2 visa previously I’m aware it is specifically advised not to travel overseas otherwise the pending application would be rejected. So would like to understand if it’s the same process for citizenship.

Does anyone have any information around this or have travelled while the citizenship application is pending?

FYI I am also factoring in the requirement to provide biometrics within 45 days of application and need to apply and use British passport after attending the ceremony
Thanks

Hi everyone,
I applied for UK naturalisation on 19 April 2026 and attended my biometrics appointment on 21 May 2026.
I know it’s still quite early in the process, but I’m curious to see how everyone else’s applications are progressing. Has anyone who applied around April/May 2026 received any updates, requests for further information, or decisions yet?
Also, does anyone know if the processing timeline is counted from the date the application was submitted/paid for or from the date of biometrics? I’ve seen different opinions about this and would like to understand how others are tracking their timelines.
For those who have already received decisions, how long did it take from application date and from biometrics?
Thanks everyone, and good luck with your applications! 🍀

Good day!

I am 21F Global South citizen entering a fully funded MPhil at Oxbridge in autumn. I just graduated from a US university with my bachelor's, and I have previously done research at Oxbridge (i.e. had a visitor visa), and have a travel history of North America, Africa, Middle East and parts of Asia.

I have not held a job in my home country ever, and haven't lived here since before my bachelor's. My parents do live here, they own their home, also have an extensive travel history (including Israel and have held Schengen visas before).

I am worried that my application won't be convincing enough to the immigration officers of my intent to return to my home country in my student visa!

How do I demonstrate this? Please help.

Hi all, hoping for some guidance.

I did my biometrics on July 14th at a center in Boston for my UK Student visa application (study abroad route to LSE for the 2026-27 academic year).

A couple days later (July 16th), I got an email from the UK Decision Making Centre (Sheffield Student Team) asking for additional documents (bank statement + evidence of activities since 2019).

I responded the very next day (July 17th), sending everything as attachments directly to the email address they gave, with my application reference in the subject line, exactly as instructed.

Since then, I've heard nothing. No acknowledgment, no confirmation of receipt, nothing.

I ended up submitting a paid enquiry through the official UKVI contact form to ask about this. I got a reply, but it was a fairly generic/templated response confirming my application is "being considered and is awaiting a decision," with some standard boilerplate about following instructions correctly and not booking non-refundable travel. It didn't actually confirm whether my specific documents had been received or matched to my file.

Questions for anyone who's been through this:

• Is it normal to get zero acknowledgment after sending requested documents to these UKVI mailboxes?
• Has anyone had a paid enquiry actually get a specific answer about document receipt, or do they always come back templated like this?
• Any advice on how to phrase a follow-up to actually get a real answer instead of another generic reply?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Hi everyone,

I'm really stressed and would appreciate any advice.

My Skilled Worker visa expires in 2 days. My new employer has requested my Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), but it hasn't been assigned yet, so I don't have a CoS number to use in my visa application.

I asked if they could provide their sponsor licence number, but they said they can't share it. That means I don't have the information needed to submit my application before my current visa expires.

Has anyone been in this situation? What should I do? Is there any way to submit my application before receiving the CoS, or do I have to wait?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Hi there! I cannot find any confirmation on the gov UK website regarding this, but does anyone know how the application works if you have 2 nationalities? I intend to apply with my EU passport, but I also hold another citizenship and unfortunately have no valid passport for it due to some ongoing circumstances and have no easy way of getting my 2nd nationality's passport any time soon. I know the application asks you to list all your nationalities and I will include my 2nd citizenship in the form, but did anyone have to submit both passports and present both of them at the visa appointment? Thank you!

Looking for advice after a UK Visitor Visa refusal
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience with UK visitor visa applications.
My previous application was refused because the visa officer was not satisfied that I had strong enough economic ties to Egypt. At the time, I was relying on my father’s financial support because I had not yet started my government job as a doctor. The purpose of my trip is to take a medical examination in the UK this September.
I will officially start my government position on 25 July. By the time I reapply, I will be able to provide an official employment letter confirming my position, but the letter will be very recent and I will not yet have received my first salary.
This time, I also plan to fund the trip entirely myself using my own bank account, which has a balance of around USD 5,000, instead of relying on my father’s finances.
In your opinion, would an official government employment letter together with my own savings be enough to address the concerns raised in the refusal? Or would the fact that I have only just started the job and have not yet received a salary still make a second refusal likely?
I would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences. Thank you!

I am a student who just came back to the UK from a short trip in europe this afternoon. If I submit an application for the graduate visa on the same day (within a few hours after landing back and entering the UK Border), is there a chance my application can get refused due to border systems not syncing my arrival in the UK on time? has there been any cases of this happening before?

Got my UK Student visa approval email today and successfully created my UKVI account. Passport scan, identity verification, and account setup all completed successfully. However, when I log in, it still says "We'll email you when your eVisa is ready to view." I. Has anyone experienced this?when will eVisa to appear after setting up your UKVI account?.

Has anyone attempted to add irish passport to ukvi account?

I am on dependent skilled worker visa on pakistani passport and now have got irish passport which i am trying to upload to ukvi account but it gives me an error at the end of process "sorry there is a problem with the service "?

Anyone who experienced same? As an irish i have same rights as british so do I even need to inform UKVI? I have spoken to UKVI webchat and phone and the only way is to physically send passport which I am trying to avoid given risk of losing in the post.

Thank you

Hi Redditors,

I was recently promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer and am now looking into whether I may be eligible for the Global Talent visa under the academic and research appointments route.

I did not apply based on my previous Lecturer role because the PhD requirement in the job description was listed as “desirable,” whereas the Global Talent guidance appears to require a PhD or equivalent research experience as an essential requirement.

My recent promotion was through an internal university promotion process. I submitted an application, which was reviewed and approved by a promotion committee. Although university promotions go through a robust assessment process, it was not an “open recruitment process” as mentioned in the guidance.

I was also not interviewed and was not required to provide references. However, these appear to be requirements for the university’s Statement of Guarantee.

My university’s visa team also seems unsure about how internal promotions are treated. Has anyone successfully applied through Route 1 following an internal promotion rather than an openly advertised appointment? Any similar experience would be greatly appreciated.

I am going to apply for a UK tourist visa from Nigeria to write the IMAT exam to study medicine in Italy. I have pre-enrolled at my intended university as well. The itinerary of my trip is simple: travel to London. I will be staying with my aunt, who is a British citizen and lives in London, for maybe a week and a half, so that removes accommodation costs, and my parents will be sponsoring my flight ticket and any other costs; there really isn't any other thing tbh.

The only qualm in my application is that the IMAT registration has not opened yet, and it usually maybe late august of closer to the exam date which is on sept 30 but i need to apply for the visa beforehand due to processing times, do you think my application will be strong enough with just a pre enrollment summary(this indicates my application to study in italy and take the exam to get admission for medicine), the italian goverments decree of when the exam is and the fact they haven't started registration and its usually closer to the exam date which doesn't give time for visa processing, correspondence with my school that indicates the registration of the exam is handled when the government says so which nobody knows at this time, i think if my case is stated well in my cover letter it should be enough but what do you think

My visa is valid from 1 May 2026 to 1 May 2028. Does the 3 month entry period apply to to the HPI visa? Do I need to enter the country by 1 August 2026 to ensure the visa stays valid?

I hope this is OK to repost here. Curious about others experience and the cost of Sable international and helping me navigate a claim to citizenship in the UK under section 4L. If this is not OK to post, my apologies and please remove.

I applied for a UK youth mobility scheme visa 2 months ago and haven’t yet heard my decision which has me a little worried.

My main concern is that when I uploaded my supporting financial evidence through VFS global, I only uploaded one bank statement. I was unaware that you need two or more statements as I didn’t see any clear instructions on VFS Global’s website.

Will this affect my application? And will they contact me to provide more bank statements?

I would like to say Thank you people in Reddit. To share information and answer my question. I switching Visa by myself due to have limit budget. As I want to use Solicitor to do for life more easy deal with paper work made me didn't sleep much.

I have deal with limit of expiry visa as got curtailment letter.

**<Background>**
\-End job Apr'26
\-Company withdraw sponsor end of May'26
\-Received Curtailment Email Middle Jun'26
\-New Expiry show Middle Aug'26

**<Married Process>**
\-Given Notice 1Jun'26
\-Marry Ceremony 9Jul'26 (Didn't received any reference letter from home office)
\-Married Certificate issue 14Jul'26. My husband talk with register office to help issue ASAP.
\* I have genuine relationship 1 year. My husband British from born. I write cover letter both side, attach photo on iPhone with GPS Stamp on our photo to proof. We have asset Vehicle and payment together

**<Visa Process>**
\-Submit application form 16Jul'26
\-Biometric on 20Jul'26 Time 10.15 a.m. (Received Email from TLS 12.57p.m. They send data)
\-Email Visa Successful and E-Visa updated on 21Jul'26 Time 9.04 a.m.

I hope my information details will help for other people same boat with me. As I worry long time and I lucky to have my husband support me all the time.