How to check the progress of your UK immigration application

The honest answer is that the UK does not provide a public, live "track my application" tool for most in-country visa, settlement and citizenship applications. There is no link that shows a real-time status bar. Instead, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) updates you by email during processing and sends your decision by email or post. What you can do is check the published waiting time for your application type on GOV.UK, keep your reference number safe, and watch your inbox (including spam). Below is exactly where to look and when it is worth chasing.

What you can actually check on GOV.UK

The service most people are looking for is the GOV.UK check your visa processing time tool. It does not show your personal status. Instead, it tells you the current expected waiting time for your type of application, so you know roughly when a decision should arrive. To use it you usually need the date you confirmed your identity — either with the 'UK Immigration: ID Check' app or at a visa application centre such as a UKVCAS or VFS Global appointment.

For a fuller breakdown by route, GOV.UK publishes visa decision waiting times for applications inside the UK. According to that guidance, you will usually get a decision within 6 months for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) and within 6 months for naturalisation. The guidance is clear: you do not need to contact UKVI within this time to ask for an update — they will get in touch if they need more information.

Note that the GOV.UK 'view and prove your immigration status' (eVisa) service is not a tracker for a pending application. It only shows status after you have already been granted leave, so it will not help while you are waiting for a decision.

Keep your reference number and watch your email

While you wait, the most useful thing you can do is keep your application reference safe — usually a GWF number (Global Web Form) or your UAN (Unique Application Number). You will need it for any contact with UKVI.

Updates from UKVI and from the biometrics provider (UKVCAS) arrive by email, so check regularly, including your spam and junk folders, and add official addresses to your safe-sender list. A common message is "your application is being processed" — this simply confirms it is in the queue. It is not a request for action and does not mean anything is wrong; it also does not mean a decision is imminent.

When and how to chase UKVI

You should only chase once your application has gone past the published service standard and you have not heard anything. Inside the timescale, the contact centre cannot tell you where your case sits.

To get in touch, use the official contact UK Visas and Immigration page. The online contact (email) form is free and UKVI aims to reply within 1 working day. There is also a telephone line, which is charged — from abroad you will pay international call rates, so the free online form is usually the better first step. Always quote your GWF or UAN reference.

If you are stuck well beyond the standard time, our step-by-step guides explain how to escalate properly: see how to chase and escalate a delayed ILR application past 6 months and what to do when your naturalisation application is delayed.

Can you get a faster decision?

For many routes you can pay for a faster service when you apply. According to GOV.UK's guidance on getting a faster decision, the priority service usually gives a decision within 5 working days and the super priority service usually gives a decision by the end of the next working day. These carry significant extra fees on top of the application cost, and the faster timescale only applies if your case is straightforward — if UKVI needs more checks, it can still take longer, and you usually will not get the fee back.

If you have already received an automated or coded acknowledgement to a status enquiry and are unsure what it means, see what a coded automated reply to a citizenship status enquiry means.