As I posted in the Stage 1 Waiting Times thread, both my applications had numerous edits.
I actually obsessively went through the entire thread dating back to when the thread started and noticed two trends - but bear in mind this is purely anecdotal and not based on any scientific data-gathering technique:
-
Clear approvals or rejections get through a few days, sometimes as quickly as a week or two weeks, after the submission. I reckon this is for clear-cut cases where theres no doubt the applicant qualifies (or does not qualify) for the visa. Usually it comes through a day or two after the final edit.
-
The more unusual scenario is when there are several edits, which can take for as long as a month or two months after the submission. They tend to be rejections or, in some situations, ambivalent cases that end up being approved. Maybe there’s an escalation path. Maybe they are taking their time to discuss. Or maybe they’re typing their substantive reasons for rejections. It is impossible to know.
I would consider myself as falling in between (1) and (2), since my second application had seven edits (even more than my initial application which was rejected), but it took a little over two weeks since my initial submission.
Again, this is not based on any validated information, and is pure conjecture. I’ve gone through all (yes, dating back to when that thread was first started!), so you don’t have to. I agree that it does not really provide any meaningful information, and the best you can do is carry on and try not to think about it as much as you can - after all, not much you can do about it. I well know that this is much harder than it sounds, but for those whose decisions are taking longer than two weeks - it truly can go either way, and there is nothing one can do but wait at this point.