If you apply today, when will you hear back?
UKVI publishes one current processing time per route — different for applications made outside and inside the UK — and sells two faster lanes. Pick your route and we'll put a date on it.
Gov.uk processing times: outside-UK page updated 2026-09-09, inside-UK page updated 2026-09-09 · rebuilt daily.
How this wait has moved — and where it's heading
The chart follows your route above.
The dashed line is nothing smarter than the recent trend continued in a straight line for six months; the shaded band is how far off that same method was when we replayed it on this series' own past. UKVI revises these figures with demand — read it as a direction, not a promise.
Reconstructed from archived gov.uk publications since 2023. Flat stretches are real: UKVI often holds a published time for months.
Current published processing times
Straight from gov.uk — "based on the current volume of visa applications", measured in UK working weeks from biometrics to decision.
| Route | Applying outside the UK | Applying inside the UK |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Visitor | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Student | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Child Student | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Skilled Worker | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Health and Care Worker | 3 weeks | 3 weeks |
| Global Talent | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Graduate | — | 8 weeks |
| High Potential Individual (HPI) | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Youth Mobility Scheme | 3 weeks | — |
| UK Ancestry | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Innovator Founder | 3 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Partner or spouse | 12 weeks | 8 weeks (12 months* private-life route) |
| Parent | 12 weeks | 12 months* |
| Child | 12 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Settlement (indefinite leave to remain) | — | 6 months |
| Citizenship (naturalisation) | — | 6 months |
Settlement and citizenship figures are the "usually within 6 months" standards from their gov.uk application pages (as of 2026-07-10); all other rows are live from the processing-times pages.
Planning further ahead?
Timelines to settlement are a different question from processing times — see our ILR & citizenship timeline tool for the 5-year (and 10-year) roads, and check your job offer against the Skilled Worker requirements first.
How we predict — and what we won't pretend to know
Published times, not promises
UKVI's figures reflect "the current volume of applications" and shift without notice; complex cases (interviews, document verification, past refusals) routinely take longer. We show the official wording verbatim.
Priority lanes have small print
Where offered, priority usually gives a decision within 5 working days (30 working days for settlement, citizenship, and family applications from outside the UK); super priority usually by the end of the next working day after your appointment or ID-app upload (2 working days if that falls on a weekend or bank holiday). Super priority is not available for citizenship. Which services you can buy depends on the route, how you prove your identity and, outside the UK, your visa application centre.
Real outcomes, coming
As MaybeCitizen users track real UK applications, anonymized decision-time percentiles will appear alongside the official figures — never replacing them, and only once enough cases exist to protect privacy.
Applying for real?
The MaybeCitizen workspace — evidence vault, checklists, forms, AI review and tracking — is live for Canadian applications today. UK applications aren't supported in the workspace yet; this tool and the other UK tools stay free and up to date.
Get started with a Canadian application →