To be furious at British Immigration, though it gets me nowhere and I should just suck it up?

[IceLollyMolly]

My first post ever, though I have been lurking for a while. Please let me vent here; I have no where else to vent.

I am not British and neither is DH. We are both foreigners working in the UK on Tier 2 Skilled Worker visas. Been here for 3 years, and our visas expired in February. We both applied for priority renewals on February 1st, sponsored by our employers ( who also paid for the whopping priority fees). We were told we would get our renewed visas back in a week or 10 days. Our documents were in order. It's now been over 3 months, and we haven't got our visas.

Until we get our new BRPs, we cannot leave the country. In the meantime, DH's dad had a stroke in our home country in March. We could not visit. DH had a lad's holiday planned for May. He cannot go. We have an agent for this ( think Big 4 consultant) and she tried following up with Immigration. Got the response that our documents are in order but their IT systems have not been working. For over 3 months?

I feel terribly sorry for DH's dad and incredibly stuck. We were lucky that DH's sister was able to step in to help him. I also feel completely furious and trapped here. There is no word on when we might get the visas, so our summer travel plans are stymied too. Both our families are in another country and this brings back horrible memories of the pandemic when we could not visit.

I know that I just need to accept that this is how it is and suck it up. I am really tired though of the way things have more or less stopped functioning. I cannot wait until we get ILR ( still 2 years to go).

Aldergrove was a long time ago - hasn't been called that officially since 1983. You mean the International Airport, right?

I've only ever carried a full UK Driving Licence and not been turned back ANYWHERE in the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And I travel between GB and Northern Ireland every year.

Mainland GB residents do not require a passport to enter Northern Ireland at all - pre or post Brexit. Some airlines require passengers to carry some form of ID, so carrying something throughout the Common Travel Area is advised just in case. It's not a requirement though.

Common Travel Area = England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and the Republic of Ireland.

Something similar happened to me in the past right after Brexit. The delay in them issuing my ILR meant my visa was due to expire. Took them months to process for some reason. I know you said you had an agent chasing, but the only thing that got it going for me was to make the phone call myself, explaining the repercussions of the delay, begging for understanding and help as I needed to travel. Luckily I found someone competent (on my third try) and my ILR was released by midnight that day. Perhaps you can ring them yourself, its worth a try. If you have done so already, I urge you to try again as you might find someone who can get things done this time. Best of luck, hope it comes out soon!

Considering their current visa application has taken over 3 months that's a bit of a risk isn't it.

Those who have mentioned delays with issuing passports, not the case in general. Applied for my son's first adult passport as the strikes started in April, received it less than 3 weeks after paying.

@POTC your DS is just one example. On what basis do you generalise whilst denying the claims of others?

I am not even ‘generalising’, which I put in quotation marks because no one here has precisely defined it. I do say that to my personal knowledge, about half the expats I know currently dealing with visa and immigration issues are experiencing delays

I specifically didn't mention anything about visas, I was replying to those who said the passports are being delayed. 4 passports all back within a few weeks is what I'm basing it on, his was just the most recent one.

Four passports is four passports. Other people are presumably not lying. There has been at least one recent thread about delays in passport renewals for UK citizens although TBF I think this is getting a bit better.