Case Processing times for applications in the Philippines

Hi everyone! 

I just wanna ask if those applications forwarded to UDI usually receives the result/decision after 9 months or more? Are there any cases that it doesn't really need to reach 9 months? Anybody who knows about it or have experienced?

Hi co-applicants and future applicants!

I have made a new thread regarding Family Reunification Application (2015)
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 70#2849110

This is for those who applied for Spouse or Fiance visa, most especially to those who submitted their application this year 2015.

Let's share our stories and experiences on that thread and also the update and the result of our application. Hope to hear from you there. Thank you! 😊

hi shelly.

the embassy told me that currently, the waiting time for family immigration cases had been extended to 13 months... but you can get an approval earlier or longer than this.. it really depends on the individual cases.. and UDI follows a queue, first-come-first-serve basis.. however,  i have not read anyone who can attest to an earlier decision, usually later than the processing time  but lets wait if anyone else can share..

btw,  have u received any other UDI emails aside from the monthly update? as far as i know,  when u receive an email from UDI that says

"Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to finalize your application"

that means ur already in front of the queue and ur case is the one currently being processed...

you can read stephy's share here: UDI monthly emails

Omg! 9 months is already way too long to wait and now they extended it to 13 months?!  that's really dissapointing, why on earth do they have to take that long before coming up a decision, don't they know that it's hard to have the family away for that long period of time? 

I have not receive any update yet from UDI, i will be expecting that they will send me one by Sept. 17, since that's 1 month from the date i submitted my application. My husband sent them an email and they just replied that they acknowledged and received our application and that our case is on queue. They have not answered anything as to why our case being forwarded to UDI. How about you pheebz, any update on your application?

Hi Shella, Maybe because of your age when you got married. Thats the reason why they forwarded it to UDI and some other grounds... I got married this year only Jun 2015 and I was 27 and Husband was 39.

Yes that's what i was thinking also, but i have read in udi website that they only take time in deciding on the application if the spouse from norway got married at the of 25 and below, so i'm a lil confused that they will also consider my age

You were married when you was 23 year old therefore you are one of those applicant.

hi Shelly..

for my case,  embassy is still waiting for UDI/politi for a "vandelsattest"... our case had been on that stage since july nothing until now, not an approval nor an email from UDI.. im on my 12th week of waiting since i submitted my application..  yea,  this waiting sucks...

Smh.    No sense of urgency whatsoever, well maybe they are happy to keep us waiting.

Hi everybody
It's not bout the AGE that's why there's a ground.It really takes more months to decide before we get the result. like me, I have 2 kids now to a Norwegian man and we are married but I need to wait for 9 months or more because I got some email that I have interview from the police before the 9 mons. result maybe I wait for more months....
So it's not easy to wait

I got my visa granted for 3 days only.

Hi. I read that if you are called for an interview, it may take up to 18 monthes to get the result.

hi joy.

i think the age being talked about is for the embassy to consider the case "simple" or not... simple cases get faster results coz the embassy decides for it, while those considered as "not simple" is usually forwarded to UDI... i think for ur case,  since u submitted ur application for residence permit in norway,  this doesnt apply to u.. coz if the politi u submitted ur application doesnt have the power to make decisions for first-time residence permit application, then its automatically forwarded to UDI... which we all know,  follows the standard case processing times.. its different for us who submitted in the embassy here in the Philippines, coz we have a chance to get faster results if not forwarded to UDI..

to all,

please remember that we really don't have a list of criterias that classify a case "simple", the embassy is not giving that information... it was just an assumption that if one of the "grounds for suspicion of marriage of convenience" provided in the UDI circular is present in ur case,  then it might be the reason why your case is forwarded to UDI.. if there is no doubt for a marriage of convenience, then it will be classified as a "simple" case and ur lucky to get a result within a month...

i really hope this thread i started isnt causing any confusion to any of you... please try to read my first post on page 1 on why i started this topic.. .

hi everyone

i tried to find her post took me a while... this is the source i was talking about, as one reason why the case cant be decided by the embassy and had to be forwarded to UDI..

sam_hf wrote:

Hey I submitted my D visa last week and I received the rejection a day after. Despite that, it wasn't a total waste of time because we found out why our Family Reunification application was sent to the UDI in the first place. Turns out, when the Norwegian spouse enters into a marriage before the age of 25, he has to be interviewed by the UDI in Norway as part of the application process.

We felt bad about the rejection but at least now we have some sort of "closure".

Did you go through with your entry D visa application?

original post here.

if a case will be subjected for an interview, then it usually is forwarded to UDI... country of citizenship and age are some reasons mentioned in the UDI site: Who is summoned for an interview? - UDI.no

here's another applicant with the same assumption, tho she isnt a filipina... she applied for fiancee visa Dec 2013.. her fiancé was called for an interview October 2014... she got approved March 2015... :

racheluganda wrote:

Mrs . Haugan wrote:

Pole sana Rachel, you are in my prayers. ..I really wonder what their reason is to keep you waiting this much, or are you Muslim?

No am not a Muslim,maybe it's because of my age ,am 23

original post here

i also had talked to some other family immigration applicants who had complied with all the requirements but were still forwarded to UDI, they cant think of anything else other than their age of below 25 and wanting to get married/already married to a Norwegian..

finally got my good news.!! my daughter's and my visa got approved yesterday.. after 2 months and 24 days since submission at VFS manila... we were granted a Schengen visa type D (entry visa), valid for 30days within a period of 6 months from issuance..

thank you for all the prayers and well wishes..

Wow! Congratz Pheebz!!!

Welcome to Norway haha

When you will be leave to Norway? I hope we can we travel together haha...

Congrats!!! Pheebz
Im happy for u

Wow! Congrats pheebz! That is a good news indeed. 

What do you mean by within a period of 6 months from issuance? Meaning you can still stay here in the Philippines not exceeding 6 months until you go to Norway?

Congrats pheebz

You know how happy and excited i am for you and your daughter :*

Hope to see you around

thanks girls

yes shelly. the residence permit is valid for one year but we are issued an "entry visa" for entry to norway.. its valid for 30days after entry, but validity is for 6 months to give u flexibility on when to leave...

for my case,  my entry visa is valid from sept 2015 to mar 2016... but its only valid for 30 days after you enter the schengen area.. we must report to the politi within 7 days after arrival to norway to get the residence card...

thanks stephy and thanks for all the help as well u were my "guide" when i was beginning my immigration path.. i really hope we get to meet in person one day you're definitely one of our stops if ever we tour north of norway

Congrats pheebz...

Likewise i have learned a lot from you too

Congratsss Pheebz, finally! 

Congrats Pheebz😊😊😊.
I'm so happy for you.

Ahh ok. Thanks for that pheebz!    Finally you will be able to reunite with your love one soon. I wonder where in norway will you live? Hope to meet you guys in norway someday, you and steph are really informative and i learned a lot from both of you!

thanks anne,  joy

yes shelly.. my daughter and i are excited to be back to Norway,  and this time not just as tourists.. my husband is so looking forward to it too... we live in vestfold area... 

WOW!!!!

Congrats Pheebz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  . So happy for you

I believe I will be able to pass by your place * fingers crossed * never know

Congratulations Pheebz

I will be in Norway again for the nnth time in March 2016..together with my son. Hope to meet you. Btw, we usually stay in Fredrikstad area when in Norway.

Hi...just ask what if i been living in norway 5 years ago?..

For now no one can exactly tell where they base the processing time.

Living in Norway before may help in verifying some info about you but it is not an assurance tjat you will receive fast result.

Currently the clue that we have is after submitting your application at vfs as long as you have not received any email stating that udinhas received your application,it means that the embassy will decide for your case and so you have a greater chance of receiving your result within 5 days to 2 months.

But if unfortunately you received an email from udi saying something like "we have received your application and it is now waiting to be processed......" it means you might wait 9 months and above.

I hope this answers your question

Hei,I just read this conversation and I know some of you here is still waiting for your apps..
I am in norway now and married last July 11,2015. I just wanna share how my apps going the time when I apply for fiance visa.
I apply last Feb. 25,2015 and the embassy approved it last March 19,2015.. I only wait for 23 days since I submitted my papers..
And also Before I apply for fiance visa I been here for tourist visa once last year.😊
I only know about tourist visa and fiance visa if you want to ask something about it just feel free to ask me😊 Im willing to help..

Goodluck everyone😊👍

hi lynde.

thank you for sharing ur waiting time experience.   if u don't mind,  can u answer below set of questions? u may have answered some of them, but please try to answer the other questions which may help others know if they can relate to your case.. (and i also wanna post these set of questions since this thread is already on page 3 hehe )

pheebz0501 wrote:

- what family immigration visa did u apply for? (spouse or fiancee)
- how long have you been waiting since u submitted your documents? or for those who got an approval, how long was the waiting time for you?
- have you received any emails (either from the embassy or UDI)? if yes,  after how many weeks since application did you receive these emails?
- where did u submit ur applications? VFS manila or Cebu?
- have you been to norway before? how many times and for how long?

Hello pheebz0501

I apply for fiance visa and only wait for exactly 23 days since I submitted my papers.
Feb.28,2015 when my husband 3rd visit in the philippines and that time i already have submitted my fiance visa application last feb.25,2015..
After 2 weeks I ask my husband to call the embassy if "hows my apps going on" because I didnt recieved any email from them..because the plan is I will go with him when hes going back to norway.. So he call the embassy and it takes almost 2 hours when they answer the phone😰.. They just say that i just need to wait 1 week more before i recieved the result and Yes after 1 week i recieved an email and text message saying that my fiance visa is granted,March 19,2015 when i recieved the email and text message from them...but cant go with my husband that time when he go back to norway because i need to get CFO first.. And yeah... I submitted my apps in VFS manila.. I been in norway only once last year for a tourist visa from July 30 to October 27,2014..😀

Hei, I also applied for family immigration. I've send my papers in the politi gere in Norway. But until now they are not processing it yet. It's been 13 months now since they received my application. So, I think the procesding times are not really the same even if you're applying the same case

Hello ace26

Have you been married here in norway??