JulianMelissa

Melissa is correct, the issue has been expedited. I guess Dear Old Blighty still has a bit of pull with the colonies after all, hmm?

You're not going to like this, and perhaps others may profess indignation while at the same time knowing in their heart that it's true, but 'standing in line' is for suckers.
Do you think Bill Gates stands in 'line'? Do you think Warren Buffet, George W. Bush, Richard Branson, or Donald Trump were ever content to simply stand in 'line?' No. They are successful precisely because they do not stand in 'line.' Standing in 'line' is for people who don't think very highly of themselves. If you're standing in 'line' and not working out how to either push that 'line' faster or move yourself through that 'line' faster, or bypass that 'line' altogether, then you're never going to get anywhere in life. Or worse, you're going to let some faceless civil servant decide that your immediate future will consist on putting your life on hold while he picks his nose and surfs porn. 'Fair'? Oh do go on. There's nothing fair about anything, and if you think your state department are prioritizing cases based on how long you've queued, you're fooling yourself.
Go on, condemn me now, but please do remember this the next time you speed up just a bit to get in front of somebody else on the road. Or you push the trolley just a bit faster so you can jump in front of somebody at the checkout. Or the next time you tell that little white lie at the office to make yourself look just a bit better to the boss. It's human nature and you're a liar if you say you don't do it. So go on keeping that stiff upper lip and waiting patiently, but don't kid yourself that you're being noble. You're just being a sucker.
Oh look at the time. Ta for now.

You're not going to like this, and perhaps others may profess indignation while at the same time knowing in their heart that it's true, but 'standing in line' is for suckers.
Do you think Bill Gates stands in 'line'? Do you think Warren Buffet, George W. Bush, Richard Branson, or Donald Trump were ever content to simply stand in 'line?' No. They are successful precisely because they do not stand in 'line.' Standing in 'line' is for people who don't think very highly of themselves. If you're standing in 'line' and not working out how to either push that 'line' faster or move yourself through that 'line' faster, or bypass that 'line' altogether, then you're never going to get anywhere in life. Or worse, you're going to let some faceless civil servant decide that your immediate future will consist on putting your life on hold while he picks his nose and surfs porn. 'Fair'? Oh do go on. There's nothing fair about anything, and if you think your state department are prioritizing cases based on how long you've queued, you're fooling yourself.
Go on, condemn me now, but please do remember this the next time you speed up just a bit to get in front of somebody else on the road. Or you push the trolley just a bit faster so you can jump in front of somebody at the checkout. Or the next time you tell that little white lie at the office to make yourself look just a bit better to the boss. It's human nature and you're a liar if you say you don't do it. So go on keeping that stiff upper lip and waiting patiently, but don't kid yourself that you're being noble. You're just being a sucker.
Oh look at the time. Ta for now.

You're not going to like this, and perhaps others may profess indignation while at the same time knowing in their heart that it's true, but 'standing in line' is for suckers.
Do you think Bill Gates stands in 'line'? Do you think Warren Buffet, George W. Bush, Richard Branson, or Donald Trump were ever content to simply stand in 'line?' No. They are successful precisely because they do not stand in 'line.' Standing in 'line' is for people who don't think very highly of themselves. If you're standing in 'line' and not working out how to either push that 'line' faster or move yourself through that 'line' faster, or bypass that 'line' altogether, then you're never going to get anywhere in life. Or worse, you're going to let some faceless civil servant decide that your immediate future will consist on putting your life on hold while he picks his nose and surfs porn. 'Fair'? Oh do go on. There's nothing fair about anything, and if you think your state department are prioritizing cases based on how long you've queued, you're fooling yourself.
Go on, condemn me now, but please do remember this the next time you speed up just a bit to get in front of somebody else on the road. Or you push the trolley just a bit faster so you can jump in front of somebody at the checkout. Or the next time you tell that little white lie at the office to make yourself look just a bit better to the boss. It's human nature and you're a liar if you say you don't do it. So go on keeping that stiff upper lip and waiting patiently, but don't kid yourself that you're being noble. You're just being a sucker.
Oh look at the time. Ta for now.

The processing time may be 'standard,' but if the queue time at your local Asda were 2 hours, it wouldn't matter if this were the 'standard' queue time or not, you wouldn't shop there now would you?
I'm not asking anybody to allow me to jump the queue, I'm asking the layabouts at DOS to do their job in a timely manner. Perhaps if more British officials were ringing them up, the queues would move faster. And as for MPs having better things to do, well I think a phone call for a loyal Tory constituent will hardly derail the Empire.

I usually find a good single malt works better than luck, but thank you.

It really is stinking ridiculous that we can't even get a basic answer from the embassy. There's no question that they've set a date, it would be the height of incompetency not to have at least that bit sorted by now. The civil servants manning the phones obviously just cannot be bothered to put down their cheet-o's and magazines long enough to type a few bits of information into the comptuer to give us an answer. Honestly, this has gone on long enough. I may just ring my MP in the morning to get things moving.

I usually find a good single malt works better than luck, but thank you.

It's not about jurisdiction, dear. It's about knowing people and getting things done.

It really is stinking ridiculous that we can't even get a basic answer from the embassy. There's no question that they've set a date, it would be the height of incompetency not to have at least that bit sorted by now. The civil servants manning the phones obviously just cannot be bothered to put down their cheet-o's and magazines long enough to type a few bits of information into the comptuer to give us an answer. Honestly, this has gone on long enough. I may just ring my MP in the morning to get things moving.

Bloody hell, why drag my name into all this? I have never wished another couple ill. Melissa and I have struggled through more than most here, and I have never said such a thing. I'll accept your apology now.

What I see are a bunch of blokes who know the natural order of things. They also seem to know a trouble-maker when they see one.

What I see are a bunch of blokes who know the natural order of things. They also seem to know a trouble-maker when they see one.

What I see are a bunch of blokes who know the natural order of things. They also seem to know a trouble-maker when they see one.

What I see are a bunch of blokes who know the natural order of things. They also seem to know a trouble-maker when they see one.

Why? Because you're being called on the same pot-stirring here that you're known for in the UK room? I'm just here to enjoy and encourage public discourse.

Thank you for the link Tracy. It is, however, over 4 years old. I was looking for some more recent information.

So we're to know which questions are serious and which are inane before we ask them then? Oh I see, yes thank you so very much, that makes SO much sense. We should know the answer to the question BEFORE we ask, thereby knowing if we should ask the question or not in the first place. Is that the sort of logic they're teaching at American universities these days?
Well then do pay attention please.
That's rich, coming from one of the self-appointed internet police. I'm snobbish because I expect answers on an internet forum designed to give answers, rather than put-downs and mocking behavior. I think you'd do well to listen to Rob and Jill, who suggested earlier that if you have nothing positive to add then just move along.

Well let's see now. Had the question just been answered, this thread would be exactly 2 posts long. 3 if Melissa remembered to post a 'thank you.' But because the self-appointed internet police must have their say, it goes on and on. So what is more 'tidy,' a 'frequent' question that is asked and answered, or the inanity of the internet police lecturing us all on how a question must be asked properly and to their satisfaction? You Americans are always on about your personal freedoms and whatnot, so I say let freedom ring: serve the internet police their redundancy notices so the rest of us can get on with our lives.

Yes of course. Because all Brits are in fact extras from a Dickens novel and go about taking swords from watery tarts whilst wearing bowlers and referring to everyone they see as 'govnah.'
Americans.

Oh come on now. She's not asking for you to file the bloody documents for her, she just wanted to know what some silly USCIS term was. I'll grant you that Melissa's a bit prone to leaping before looking, but what's the harm in a quick question? It could have been answered in a single answer, and now we've stretched it out to over 10 posts with the whole 'he-said she-said' bit. If everybody just clicked search then there'd be nothing to search on would there?

Well let's see now. Had the question just been answered, this thread would be exactly 2 posts long. 3 if Melissa remembered to post a 'thank you.' But because the self-appointed internet police must have their say, it goes on and on. So what is more 'tidy,' a 'frequent' question that is asked and answered, or the inanity of the internet police lecturing us all on how a question must be asked properly and to their satisfaction? You Americans are always on about your personal freedoms and whatnot, so I say let freedom ring: serve the internet police their redundancy notices so the rest of us can get on with our lives.

Oh, do forgive us Jules, for not making the minutiae of this excruciating process the backbone of our very existence; some of us do have lives you know.

Oh come on now. She's not asking for you to file the bloody documents for her, she just wanted to know what some silly USCIS term was. I'll grant you that Melissa's a bit prone to leaping before looking, but what's the harm in a quick question? It could have been answered in a single answer, and now we've stretched it out to over 10 posts with the whole 'he-said she-said' bit. If everybody just clicked search then there'd be nothing to search on would there?

Oh the money thing again. How very original. A reminder that you, Jules, were the first one to bring up 'my money,' not me. And as I understand it, this blog is a community where those who have gone before help those who are just now going through it. So please, try to be helpful or at least refrain from answering if you're just here to taunt.