Effective September 15th, 2010 the British Consulate General in Chicago, IL, USA will no longer process UK settlement visa applications. The British Consulate in New York, NY, USA will begin processing all settlement applications, including fiance(e), proposed civil partner, de facto (unmarried) partner, civil partnership or spousal visa applications for US citizens and permanent residents that were previously processed in Chicago.

The British Consulate in New York will have jurisdiction over the following States: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and US Virgin Islands.

If you are going to apply for a UK settlement visa, you may want to check your eligibility for expedited service. Effective June 16th, 2010, applicants based in the United States can use a priority service for an extra fee of USD$300 plus tax. Considering the fact that standard settlement applications are currently taking the British Consulate in New York at least six to eight weeks to process, paying the additional fee can certainly help reduce the inevitable stress and unnecessary delays in obtaining a UK fiance(e), partner or marriage visa. Priority applications are processed ahead of the standard settlement visa applications, with most applications being finalised within 15 days from the date of receipt by the UK Border Agency in the US. For more information please click here.