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Firstly, I know that there's a website by the UKVI to check the processing times (though lately it has been super glitchy on me). So the website states that for short term (6 month) visit visa applications from my country (Singapore - I'm not a citizen of Singapore) 99% are processed within 15 days. However that is for the preceding month (i.e. October).

I submitted my application in November and I understand that it might take longer seeing that it's the holiday period so there will be a higher volume of applications. However, today marks the 13th working day and I sent in an inquiry from UKVI's online inquiry. The lady replied that "I have tracked the status and found it is yet to be assessed by an Entry Clearance Officer (ECO)".

So obviously it would not be processed by the 15th working day.

Whilst I know that individual applications vary etc., in your opinion, what is the rough timeline that an ECO would take to process the application, 1, 2, 3 days?

This is so that I can plan my next steps accordingly seeing that I have another visa appointment for another embassy following this.

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  • The time an ECO spends on a given application is a heavily monitored activity with preset limits that are regularly checked against the ECO's performance, the last time I looked it was about 4 minutes. But it's preceded by all the background work by the assistants (which can be substantial). Seasonal factors are not an issue because they know the cycles and bring in floaters. If they are taking longer, there's naught to be done about it other than just brass it out.
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:20
  • Adding 'application-status' tag
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:21
  • oh wow that's really informative @GayotFow I wouldn't have thought it was 4 minutes ! Still hoping that i'll get it by the 15th working day though. But thanks for the prompt & helpful reply! :) much appreciated !
    – priceless32
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:23
  • I will check later today and see if it's changed. But if it's changed it will only be an itty bitty bit, like 3 minutes 45 seconds. or something in that range.
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:26
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    No, an ECO will never spend more than about 3 or 4 minutes max. We pay those guys to stay busy! You are experiencing a condition 'post-submission anxiety', it takes lots of forms but usually a fixation on some irrelevant detail in their app. So stay cool and hopefully get some great answers.
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:47

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I thought I'd add as an answer - a follow-up to my own query. Firstly, thanks a million to Gayot Fow & the other members of this community for answering all the queries promptly and being a huge help :)

For those who are applying for UK Visit Visa (6 month), my visa was processed on the 15th working day & I received an email from VFS (the visa application centre) the next day that it was ready for collection.

Also, I understand that some people will freak out on receiving the "decision made" emails from the embassy and try to decode it. FWIW, in my case, I received NO email whatsoever from the British embassy in Manila. The only email I received was from the Visa Application Centre stating that my passport was received.

My opinion: There are 2 services for tourist visa - one is the Visa4UK, the other is the new service from the visas & immigration link. I used the latter, those who received an email from the embassy stating a decision had been made - might have used the Visa4UK.

TL;dr don't freak out or read too much into the standard emails (or lack of).

Once again thank you to this community for the prompt replies :) I hope whoever in future is looking for queries for processing time will find this useful.

** The UKVI has a processing time tracker to find out a rough gauge - they tend to meet the shown dates so you can use it**

P.S. let me know if this should be added onto my original question ? :) thanks

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