Fiancé Visa – Confused About GWF vs VAF Reference Numbers (Applied from Shenzhen)
Hi all, I submitted a UK fiancé visa application (Priority)for my partner in Shenzhen China bio on 24/04/2026 and got the usual confirmation with a GWF number (GWF123456789). On 1 May, we received an email from the ECO/UKVI but the reference number in that email was different (VAF123456). Since then, I haven’t been able to track the application using the VFS system — it only accepts the GWF number, and the VAF number doesn’t work anywhere. Does anyone know if this is normal? Has anyone else had the ECO email come with a different reference number? From what I’ve read, the GWF is the main tracking number, while VAF is an internal reference used by the decision‑making centre, so it might be normal — but I’d love to hear from people who’ve been through this recently.