# What's the Best Premium Service Centre?



## hightensionwire (Jun 23, 2014)

I've finally decided that I'm going to cough up the money and pay to go to a premium service centre to switch my visa, but does anyone on here have any experience with any of the service centres other than Croydon? A friend of mine told me that they'd always heard Croydon was a nightmare and that Birmingham was better, and that they always used Birmingham's centre, despite living in London. 
Now, I live in London, so obviously Croydon's the closest, but my fiance and I have both agreed that a trip to Birmingham isn't really a big deal if the whole ordeal is easier there.


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## OrganisedChaos (Mar 26, 2013)

I have read exactly the same as your friend stated; Birmingham being much better for PEO appointments. However, all the experiences I have read about applicants who attended the Croydon office recently have been positive. I think the trick is to book an early appointment.


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## topo morto (May 24, 2014)

My recent experience at Croydon (you've probably seen my thread) was as smooth as I could have hoped. I have read some bad accounts but most of them seem to be from a while back. Of course Birmingham may be even better!


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I have had experiences at both Solihull (Birmingham) in November 2012 (FLR(M)) and 19 days ago in Croydon (ILR). The waiting area at Croydon is like a gate in an airport departure lounge.... lots of seats, some tables and chairs and a coffee/snack bar in the middle. There are windows looking out onto the street and it's got decent cell reception. There is NO WIFI (so you'll have to use your own) and there are NO working electrical outlets in the waiting area, so if you're going to bring your laptop/iPad/tablet etc, make sure that they're fully charged before you arrive.

If you book in at Croydon (or any other site, for that matter), try to get an early-ish appointment... that way, if there's any computer problems, your application will have already been entered into the system and you have a better chance at getting a response that same day.

When my husband booked my appointment, he was able select from virtually the entire day's worth of slots... something in the back of my head told me to take the first one of the day (if available), so we did. We were the first Premium Appointment attendees to arrive, and so I was the first one of the day to be processed. It's a good thing that we took that first slot when we booked because about 45 minutes after my biometrics were taken, they announced that the Biometrics unit was having IT problems and that there would be delays.

We were offered the opportunity to leave and they would post my passport and supporting documents back through the mail, but since I didn't want to be unnecessarily parted from my passport, we elected to stay and wait a bit longer (husband had booked off of work to be with me, so we had no pressing plans to be anywhere at any particular time). Most people were fairly calm about having to wait (there were some mutterings, as is expected) but only one person that I saw started to shout... I felt like telling him to cool his jets because I'd been there longer than he had (he arrived about an hour after I did) and that yelling at the staff wasn't going to fix the problem any faster.

In the end, it took 6.5 hours from start to finish, but I got my approval. 


Anyway, good luck to you!


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## topo morto (May 24, 2014)

How's Birmingham inside? Is it easy to get to?


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## hightensionwire (Jun 23, 2014)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> I have had experiences at both Solihull (Birmingham) in November 2012 (FLR(M)) and 19 days ago in Croydon (ILR). The waiting area at Croydon is like a gate in an airport departure lounge.... lots of seats, some tables and chairs and a coffee/snack bar in the middle. There are windows looking out onto the street and it's got decent cell reception. There is NO WIFI (so you'll have to use your own) and there are NO working electrical outlets in the waiting area, so if you're going to bring your laptop/iPad/tablet etc, make sure that they're fully charged before you arrive.
> 
> If you book in at Croydon (or any other site, for that matter), try to get an early-ish appointment... that way, if there's any computer problems, your application will have already been entered into the system and you have a better chance at getting a response that same day.
> 
> ...


That doesn't sound too terrible.
I'm super anxious to work, so I think I'd rather sit through the 6.5 hours than leave and have it posted to me, which is obviously more of an option for me if I go to the Croydon centre, since I won't have to travel out of London to do it. 
I'll definitely try to get the earliest possible appointment (hopefully the first one!). I know that my spouse is planning to take the day off when we do it as well, so fingers crossed that things will move smoothly then.


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## hightensionwire (Jun 23, 2014)

You book an appointment with the premium centres on a different site than you apply from overseas, correct?


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## topo morto (May 24, 2014)

Yes - https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-service-centres/book-an-appointment


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## hightensionwire (Jun 23, 2014)

topo morto said:


> Yes - https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-service-centres/book-an-appointment


I thought so, just wanted to make sure, since I haven't used that site before. Thanks :]


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## hightensionwire (Jun 23, 2014)

I had my premium appointment at Croydon 8:20 am this past Friday. It was relatively painless. I didn't have to sit and wait long for any of the steps, although my application seemed to have been processed much more quickly than most of the others on the board ahead of mine. I was in and out in roughly an hour and a half, and received my Biometric Residence card in the mail today, two business days later. 
Bare in mind, I'm an American, so I'm exempt from a few of the requirements (IELTS, TB tests, ext), which likely made my application go much more swiftly.

We provided double copies of everything, down to the FLR (m) application, they said that it was good that we provided the copies and that it would make the process go much more quickly for us.


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

topo morto said:


> How's Birmingham inside? Is it easy to get to?


It's lovely, I wrote a post maybe a month or so ago about my experience in Birmingham. It's here http://www.expatforum.com/expats/br...hull-premium-center-experience-paperwork.html

And just to add, it's really on the outskirts of Birmingham, so even though it's probably best avoided at rush hour, at around 2:30 pm on Friday, there was no traffic jam whatsoever.


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