# PEO Appointments (for FLR(M))



## laurastew (Oct 15, 2012)

Hello! What a find this forum has been - finally a place to share and get at least some of the answers the UKBA is so hesitant to provide!

Just a question for those out there applying for FLR(M) or any other visa that can be done with a premium appointment. How are you getting appointments on the website? I've heard you can go on at 11:55pm and click right at midnight to have the best chance (unofficial advice) but the UKBA hotline told me that all appointments are posted between 5pm - 9am (not really that much help...) but so far nothing has shown up as I've been refreshing all night with various PEOs selected.

Any top tips on how to even just get any appointment anywhere?!?! I have 3 months until my Tier 5 YMS runs out but am already anxious about getting it in if I can't get an appointment!

Thanks!


----------



## laurastew (Oct 15, 2012)

*website down/error*



laurastew said:


> I've heard you can go on at 11:55pm and click right at midnight to have the best chance (unofficial advice) but the UKBA hotline told me that all appointments are posted between 5pm - 9am (not really that much help...) but so far nothing has shown up as I've been refreshing all night with various PEOs selected.
> Thanks!


Well... that went horribly.

Got on before midnight and had everything ready to go and had one page that seemed to be promising looking for an appointment as the clock turned to midnight. Then it just stalled and stalled and finally said ERROR. The 404 page came up with an error due to a technical problem. The official quote is "Sorry, an error has occurred while processing your request.We can not complete your appointment booking. This is due to a technical problem. Please try again later." So it doesn't even say No appointment availability!!!

From about 12:02 - 12:08 it was the same thing. Error, error, error. The only promising thing was I could see on the calendar of availability the extra date was added.

Then the whole website shut down and wouldn't load (I guess everyone else was trying too!) There were a few moments a page would load but when I'd try to book it would give me the same error message or the page wouldn't even load as the server was over capacity.

It's 12:16 now and the whole website is down again and hasn't even loaded for the past 4 minutes

12:18 and I just got in again but at the final page to book appointment it came up with the error message. Again.

12:19 website is down again

Frustrating as I haven't got a "No appointments available" message yet so I don't want to give up...

Anyway, I'll let you know if anything changes! Anyone else having a similar problem?


----------



## crlsnlopes (Jun 13, 2012)

laurastew said:


> Frustrating as I haven't got a "No appointments available" message yet so I don't want to give up...
> 
> Anyway, I'll let you know if anything changes! Anyone else having a similar problem?


That's quite common. I had the same problem when I was trying to get an appointment. You just have to be persistent, and keep refreshing the page. GL


----------



## acapriccio (Oct 15, 2012)

Hello! I had a massive panic after discovering this forum and reading about people's difficult experience in getting appointment. Have been on the appointment website all day with no availability. Went onto the website at midnight and it crashed too many times on firefox, Google chrome and IE. Almost going to cry and then suddenly it worked at 0026 and their were quite a few slots for different centres. So i guess just persist around midnight! 

One question though, if i wanted to try and find earlier dates and clicked 'reschedule', would i automatically forfeit my allocated appointment? Has anyone tried?


----------



## laurastew (Oct 15, 2012)

crlsnlopes said:


> That's quite common. I had the same problem when I was trying to get an appointment. You just have to be persistent, and keep refreshing the page. GL


I did keep trying, through about 200 page refreshes and re-logging in I finally got through to the available appointments at about 12:35 only to have the one I booked not be available after I had put my name and birthdate in!

At 12:48 I finally finally finally got through and booked an appointment in Liverpool at the end of November, the list of available appointments was still quite long so I assume there were still some available but I was so anxious to just get one I took the first my eyes saw!

Even though this was a pretty awful experience I still think it better than waiting months on end for a postal application. I also spoke to an immigration adviser who said the UKBA has promised to improve the booking process but no word has come out yet on how they will. 

Good luck to all!


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

laurastew said:


> I also spoke to an immigration adviser who said the UKBA has promised to improve the booking process but no word has come out yet on how they will.


A couple of weekends ago they are supposed to have improved the online booking site but it looks like problems are still there.


----------



## BailyBanksBiddle (Feb 8, 2012)

Joppa said:


> A couple of weekends ago they are supposed to have improved the online booking site but it looks like problems are still there.


I was able to book an ILR appointment finally; there were tonnes available and the site crashed a few times, but it finally came through!


----------



## SHEKHAR1 (Oct 17, 2012)

*Ruturn supoorting documents*

dear, i apply my I L R application in 22 oct 1912 by post and i recived letter from home about confermation 24. oct MY wife was not working that time becouse she was in hosptal .was only working that time now she looking for job and she nearly get job .nature job is marketing she have to go out of uk we both have indian passports I WENDERING WHEN HER PASSPORT WILL BACK, THERE IS ANY RULE ? about that.? my 2year visa was expair last 6 saptamber .if i need that our passports quik can we canvert that in priume service ( same day) and how much money i have to pay for that..i do,nt need my passport but she need due to job ..how much they will take time to ruturn that....


----------



## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

BailyBanksBiddle said:


> I was able to book an ILR appointment finally; there were tonnes available and the site crashed a few times, but it finally came through!


Hey, Baily! 

So glad to hear that you got in! :clap2: I was beginning to worry for you!

Good luck on your application... Ed and I are going up to Birmingham on the 6th.


----------



## BailyBanksBiddle (Feb 8, 2012)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> Hey, Baily!
> 
> So glad to hear that you got in! :clap2: I was beginning to worry for you!
> 
> Good luck on your application... Ed and I are going up to Birmingham on the 6th.


Thank you. My current visa expires on 29 November so I'm just sliding in, but I would have taken an booking even on the 29th itself if I had to. Best of luck to both of you.:eyebrows:


----------



## LukeB (Oct 20, 2012)

We're battling with this too- my wife needs a visa as her current one ends in January and is worried that the postal will take too long and she'll lose her job (we know that it's not supposed to happen, but we know it does).

We've just spent an hour and a half refreshing on two computers since midnight and nothing's doing between all the centres apart from Belfast between the 15th of November and the 21st of January. 

It skipped straight from "Technical Error" to "No Appointments". This forum seems to be the only thing that comes up on google about this, so I thought I'd add a post to let other people know that they probably aren't alone and that, no, it's not just your computer.

Fun fact- there's a lovely glaring error on the "No Appointments" page which I've only just noticed on the 300th refresh!



> If you have been unsuccessful in finding an avaliable appointment, please do not call our contact centres. They do not have any additional appointments avaliable to them.


What was that about having to meet an English requirement to get a visa????

Cheered us up on what has been "one of those days" in the life of someone trying to stay in a country with someone they love.


----------



## LukeB (Oct 20, 2012)

We've given up- after a week of trying we just booked through a solicitor. Cost was enormous- £1700 in total. But we are guaranteed an appointment now. I don't think this system is fair- it's like people buying tickets for a concert then selling them on ebay for twice the price. I can't believe the government allows it.

I e-mailed the Border Agency about the lack of appointments on the website and all they had to say was this-



> We confirm that the appointment booking system is currently available. However, the UK Border Agency is experiencing exceptional high demand for its appointments which means that some customers are unable to book the appointment they require.
> 
> The Agency is working hard to create more availability of appointments for its customers and new appointments are released daily depending on individual Public Enquiry Offices resources. Therefore, we suggest you continue checking regularly for the release of new appointments. If appointments are not available at your first choice of Public Enquiry Office you may have to try another Public Enquiry Office for appointment availability. Also note that at any given time other customers may cancel their appointments thus making those slots available again.
> 
> ...


It seems to me that the Conservative government has cut back so much that there isn't enough staff to deal with the appointments anymore, combined with there being more people wanting the premium appointments because they have made the law so nasty.

I feel really sorry for all of you trying to get these visas to stay in our country, we're so unwelcoming over here.


----------



## LukeB (Oct 20, 2012)

Unfortunately we booked it 2 days ago! Thanks for your offer for help though.


----------

