# Applying for a spouse visa from Russia



## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

handed in all my visa application documents to the visa centre in Moscow last week (Teleperformance) so want to share my experience in case somebody finds it useful.

- they only asked for the originals and 1 photocopy of each original that i wanted to get back, they did not need the copies of the photographs. ( i expected they'd need 2 copies of each supporting document).

- the documents for a spouse visa are not sent over to Sheffield but are reviewed in Moscow.

- the visa centre guy who took my documents did not have a checklist of what documents are required for a spouse visa, and even forgot to ask for a TB certificate. So make sure you know what you need to bring.

Can update this thread when i hear about the outcome... the UK is currently delaying visas in Russia (tourist visas take more than a month to get).


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

It's always been one copy per document.
No, Moscow is a decision-making hub for settlement.
True, staff at VAC don't have a clue.


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## hardan12 (Jan 7, 2014)

Hi ,

Has anyone heard back from centre or embassy with regards to settlement , this is our second application , we applied for this april 6th,Visa processing times are not updated .We dont know if to wait or if i should book a ticket to go and visit.

Anyone have any idea how long its currently taking, i also can state that the centre are useless


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## hardan12 (Jan 7, 2014)

when did you apply for settlement visa


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

hardan12 said:


> when did you apply for settlement visa


the 5th of May. so will probably hear back by the end of June...


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## hardan12 (Jan 7, 2014)

Hi ,

We applied 11th of april, still not heard.I emailed the embassy 2 weeks ago and they advised the application was awaiting assesment.

Just hoping all these tourist visa delays dont affect settlement ones, also the processing times havent been updated since march !!! u apply moscow ?


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

hardan12,
the same with mine. i emailed them thru gov.uk and they said they'd received my application and it hasnt been assessed yet. i'll update this post if i hear anything back, please do the same? They assess our applications in moscow as Joppa said whilst tourist visas are sent over to Sheffield.
am harassing Brit Emb Moscow now about how to apply for a baby's passport cos i may sooner to give birth than to get this visa! literally ;o.


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## hardan12 (Jan 7, 2014)

settlement visas dont leave moscow


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## Wildhoney (Oct 5, 2013)

Did you receive the visa yet?


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## hardan12 (Jan 7, 2014)

*Hii*

Hi, no no news yet .

Anyone else ?


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

nope. 
all i was told by email is that the visa processing times for Russia takes 12-24 weeks and mine is still being assessed by an ECO.


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

Bloody well hope it's not 24 weeks - that's a joke.

Girl at Visa centre in Moscow stated that it could take anywhere up to 3 months but I believe Hardan's was 5 weeks first time?

Please keep this updated as mine went in after your two 

Thanks...


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

'For hardan's girlfriend its been 11 weeks and its been 7 weeks for me. 
u can try to contact them thru ukvi-faq online form, email moscowvisaenquiries at fco.gov.uk (get standard answers that ur app still assessed by a visa officer) and contact a local MP thru ur British partner. Contacting MP helps in the long run- lots of people complained about passport delays from overseas and the HO introduced 'emergency travel documents' in june.


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## vahidr (Jul 1, 2014)

bluetail14 said:


> 'For hardan's girlfriend its been 11 weeks and its been 7 weeks for me.
> u can try to contact them thru ukvi-faq online form, email moscowvisaenquiries at fco.gov.uk (get standard answers that ur app still assessed by a visa officer) and contact a local MP thru ur British partner. Contacting MP helps in the long run- lots of people complained about passport delays from overseas and the HO introduced 'emergency travel documents' in june.



Hi Bluetail,

Any update on your application or Hardan's? Our's has only been 4 weeks and I just want to get an idea of how long the process is taking for everybody.

Cheers


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

no news yet about mine. For hardan's girlfriend, the British Embassy asked to provide more documents. So plan for more than 3 months.


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## Wildhoney (Oct 5, 2013)

Which additional documents did they request from Hardan?


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

vahidr said:


> Hi Bluetail,
> 
> Any update on your application or Hardan's? Our's has only been 4 weeks and I just want to get an idea of how long the process is taking for everybody.
> 
> Cheers


It's been 5 weeks for us - it's looking like about 12 to 13 weeks to get an answer.


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## KCambs (Mar 11, 2014)

My wife submitted her documents on the 20th June to Teleperformance.

I had no confirmation of UKVI having received my supporting documents. I e-mailed them from my work e-mail (I work in UK Government) asking for an update because for all I know all of my potentially sensitive employment details could have been lying in a pile in the arse-end of Moscow.

I got a very quick reply direct from the Moscow Consulate saying they had my application, and reassured me that the backlog from the VFS to Teleperformance changeover had been cleared and they are currently operating within target standards - 95% Settlements processed within 60 *working* days (12 weeks).

The student and summer visa rush will be coming to an end shortly, so things can only improve. They have processed 6500 visas since mid-May so they are busy people .

EDIT: Also note, they process settlements for nearly all of Russia in Moscow. The other visa centres in Rostov and Novosibirsk all send settlement visas to Moscow.


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

Wildhoney said:


> Which additional documents did they request from Hardan?


Wildhoney, they can request additional docs relating to your specific case. I cannot comment for hardan, it was a hard copy of something. What matters is that it is good they contact you to request additional docs rather than refusing your application straight away. (usually it is a document missing in a sequence or one in a wrong format).


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

KCambs, if perhaps you could pm me which email address did you use to contact them? was it [email protected] or something different. thank you in advance


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## KCambs (Mar 11, 2014)

bluetail14 said:


> KCambs, if perhaps you could pm me which email address did you use to contact them? was it [email protected] or something different. thank you in advance


I used "[email protected]".

My wife was at the metro station near Teleperformance office this morning so popped in. They advised her they usually get passports back in batches on Fridays.


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

an update.

On Monday July 14th received the following email from the British Embassy:

Your application has been completed by UK Visas & Immigration in Moscow. Please allow at least 2 days for return of passports to Moscow
and more time for return to other locations.
This is an automated email - do not reply.


followed on tuesday by an email from teleperformance that i can collect my documents. 

the process has taken 2 months 1 week from my application date.

i can say that in Moscow the processing time on average varies between 2 and 3 months (the embassy statistics is 95% of all settlement applications are processed within 3 months) according to the spouse applicants i met in another online group.

they're processing April and May applications at the moment.


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

bluetail14 said:


> an update.
> 
> On Monday July 14th received the following email from the British Embassy:
> 
> ...


Best of luck, I hope ours is as quick from Moscow. Let us all know! It's such a scary time...


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## bluetail14 (Jan 21, 2014)

yea, a visa was granted.

In retrospect, i cannot say my application was perfect - realised that whilst re-reading the comments here on the forum after handing mine in. they could have asked us for additional documents (which lengthens the process by about 2 weeks according to some people). 

- my husbands work documents including his employment letter were all copies stamped and signed by the HR department. i was telling him off for that (the letter must be an original!) but he said thats what they'd given him even that he'd asked for originals. the only original in there was a hand-written note on a headed paper from a certain member of HR staff saying if any enquiries regarding my husband employment details please contact her. perhaps the ECO let us off on this one because my husbands employer is a big UK university so they thought these documents could not be fraudulent...

- i forgot to date and sign the photos, they were in a plain A4 file. as i see it now, they should have been stapled to an A4 sheet, dated and signed. I signed the copies but the visa centre guy taking my documents did not take my copies.

- there wasnt the relationship evidence for the 1st month of our relationship. we were not talking on facebook then, and i found it hard to print off my O2 bill... could have asked my husband to print off his Orange bill instead, but it did not occur to me then.


We were trying to expedite my application by writing to the British Embassy in Moscow and my husband's contacting his MP... In response, he received a letter by post telling that the decision on my visa could be expected at the end of July. However, I received the email its ready this Monday, two weeks earlier!!!
This makes me think the various people out there dealing with your application questions who do not communicate with each other - it is all down to the ECO (visa officer) reviewing your application. 

Please note that the tracking system on the TelePerformance website still does not work. mine still says 'your application is to be assessed by a visa officer'. So if you want to know if you can collect your documents from TP after you've received an email from the British embassy, email [email protected]. They replied to me the next day.


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## Hertsfem (Jun 19, 2013)

Congrats Bluetail..

Any news on the passport?


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

TODAY THE EMAIL HAS ARRIVED

It has taken exactly 7 weeks for our Fiance Settlement VISA application to be processed - far quicker than I thought it would. I don't envisage many problems but one never knows.

It's going to be a long weekend waiting for Monday's collection. I hope this gives everyone hope that theirs will be processed soon too.


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## vahidr (Jul 1, 2014)

Hi everyone,

Congrats Bluetail.

My wife collected her passport today and she got the visa.. WWOOOOHHHOOO 

The process took exactly 6 weeks. We didn't receive any email nor was there any update on the "application progress" page of the TP site (it still shows 3 green circles followed by 7 or 8 red ones). We only found out by checking the long list of numbers on the relevant section of the site.

Good luck everyone.

Cheers!


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## KCambs (Mar 11, 2014)

vahidr said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Congrats Bluetail.
> 
> ...


Nice one mate, sounds like you applied a week or two before me so maybe I should get my wife to start packing her bags? :fingerscrossed:


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