Yes, it seems so! When Myrna called at the Phil-Axa building to present her application and its supporting paperwork, the VFS clerkess duly checked over everything, thanked her and, pointing to where the biometric fingerprinting would be done, added: "Ma'am, you should be made aware that a Settlement Visa normally takes around 3 months to process ... but no SPOUSAL visa [is] ever refused

without very good reason!" I specifically remember those being the EXACT words the woman used. As to the amount of time taken to assemble the necessary documents, submit them and await the outcome, I believe there's very little difference [if indeed any] between the two.
In the event, we were, I suppose, a good deal luckier than most, as Myrna's visa was approved after just four and a half weeks.
Again ... yes. In Myrna's case, it took 21 WORKING days. However, the waiting period can ... and does ... vary from person to person according to circumstances.
But it's easily obtained, as Sophie's experience clearly illustrates.
