Spouse visa-Online application help please

[seagul]

Hi forum experts,

First of all sorry if I am posting muliple posts. I am not sure if I can't post or I am getting blocked from posting here? Please CR001 kindly let me know.

Questions are here. I would be happy to hear from anyone in this forum about your experience and advices going through spouse visa application.

1)Accomodation:

a)
I have just found a 1 bedroom flat,exclusively for myself and my furture wife who will be applying for spouse visa just after September.When I spoke to the housing agency,they said,they will be happy to provide no obligation letter but not from the landlord.Is that acceptable?

b)
I heard from experts here,that I don't need a flat inspection report.However just to add a bit of extra value to the application,I would like to get one through council or surveyors.
1 double bed room size(14'4x 10'4 equal to 4.39m x3.2m) and living room (19'1 x 9'10 equal to 5.8m x 3.0m).
Do you think this bedroom size is acceptable?

1 Bedroom flat exclusively in use for couple is sufficient and there is no need of any inspection report. If agency is letting it to you & agreeing to let your partner to live after visa than there is no further permission need from the actual landlord.

2)Paylslips

a)I have a fixed income over £18600.However working in NHS,I was asked many times to do overtime on weekends.If you look at my payslips,there will be additional lines about overtime pay.I have been working for this employer since January this year and it's a permanent contract.Will I have to choose this one when I fill online application.

Category A: With current employer for 6 months or more – person residing in the UK
The lowest salary without any overtime was £1910.

I am confused because I read other posts where moderators said,if it's overtime you have to choose non salaried employment,Cat A.

Please kindly advice me with appropriate answers. Many thanks in advance.

Your fixed wages will come under salaried person route whereas any overtime will be calculated under non-salaried route where the average of last 6 months will be taken and than add that figure to annual fixed wages to get the total annual income.

[bigben1982]

Dear Seagul,

Apologies for taking time to reply to your message. Thanks a lot for responding to my last query.

Here are my salary details,

January-Basic pay=2318.23,Overtime =0&NHS pension=215.60

When joining this new trust I was automatically enrolled into pension scheme.
I opt out of pension scheme in February so no pension deductions and also I got the NHS refund in March.

February-Basic pay=2395.50,Overtime=297.69 and NHS pension=0

March-Basic pay=2395.50,Overtime=319.75&NHS pension refund=215.60

April-Basic pay=2395.50,Overtime=558.65

May-Basic pay=2395.50,no overtime.This is how my payslip should look like if there is no overtime and no pension contributions.

Would you still advice me to mention about overtime in Cat A non salaried employment earning with the same employer for more than 6 months?

I don't know how the financial questions are written on the online application.

Please kindly let me know.Thanks.

[bigben1982]

Hi Seagul/other forum experts,

Could you please reply to my last message?

All I would like to know,if I am earning enough to meet financial requirement on Cat A salaried employment with the same employer for more than 6 months excluding overtime pay,would you still advice me to add overtime pay in Cat A,non salaried employment?

Also,other question is,I will be applying for Spouse visa in September.Can I start online application without submitting and keep saving it.I would like to start earlier,just incase if I get struck with any question,I may get some assistance here regards to filling the online application.

Please kindly let me know.

[bigben1982]

Anyone would like to reply to my last questions???

[bigben1982]

Hi forum experts,

Thank you for all your support since I joined this forum.

I am currently filling up online spouse visa application to bring my wife from abroad. I am holding ILR.

I am struggling to understand few question. Please kindly support me.

1)Category selection I have chosen was,Settlement-Settlement-Wife.Am I right?

2))Date of planned arrival in UK? What should I write here?

3))How long do you intend to stay in UK? My answer was permanent settlement. Am I wrong with this answer? What should I write?

4)Can I use my e-mail ID throughout the application instead of her e-mail ID?

5)Can I use my phone no for secondary contact no?

6)Under Family details-Spouse/Partner section,do I have to put my details or my Mrs?Does your spouse / partner currently live with you?Reply was no then address details,Please enter details of their permanent residential address and contact details. You must enter at least one contact phone number-Do I have to put my UK address?In this same section,they ask about Father and Mother's details?Is this suppose to be my Mrs's parents details?

7)Under Sponsor's section,there is a question,when did they arrive in UK?,do I have put the date I entered for the first time(Oct 2007) on a student visa?The reason I am asking this question,my 10 years long term residency started when I came to UK for the first time on a visiting visa in 2007 May and then I left UK and got back in Oct 2007.So I got ILR based on long term residency using May 2007 as my first entry.Please kindly advice me which day I should use it?

8)Under employment section,she needs to enter her details or my employment details?She works as a teacher in a public school so which one she should chose government (central or local) or public or civil administration? Also she didn't mention her occupation in the passport. Is this going to be an issue?

9)Finally please kindly advice me about the timeline.I have got employers letter stamped,signed and dated yesterday.Received last payslip couple of days back.Today going to print bank statements from the bank and will get it stamped and signed.Halifax said they can't print last 6 months at once but they can print first 3 months today and last 3 months tomorrow.I am not sure about 28 days time limit.Please advice me.Hopefully,I will book an appointment for my Mrs in the next few weeks.How many days I will have to send the documents to Sheffield?Is that time period starts from the date of online submission/biometric submission?

[Londoner007]

1. Yes
2. Id your applying priority probably put around 6 week after application date, or 12 weeks for non priority. This doesn't mean they will enter exactly on those dates so put and doesn't really matter much.
3. 33 months, settlement or permanent or something like that
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. The applicants details (wife your) including address in their country and phone numbers
7. Whenever you first arrived in UK
8. The sponsors (you) employment details
9. Financial documents cannot be dates older than 28 days from the date of online application submission. Bio-metrics date doesn't matter for the 28 days rule. Once Bio metrics done, depending on which country your applying from it is usually 10 working days to send documents for priority application, and 20 working days for non priority applications.

[bigben1982]

Thanks a lot. Much appreciate your assistance.

I am still confused about few sections.

Employment:
Question is,have you ever worked for any of the following organisations: Armed Forces (including National Service) Government (Central or Local) Judiciary Media Public or Civil Administration Security (including police and private security companies)?

It does specifically asks about the applicant's employment details not sponsor's(mine).Could you please clarify this point?

Family details:
Under spouse/partner does she needs to enter sponsor's details?

Under parents and children's details section,sponsor's details or applicant's details?

Bank statements:

I went to Halifax yesterday.They have ordered original bank statements for the period 11/2017 until 24/08/2018.Staff down there managed to print the bank statements(black and white copies) for the period 24/08/2018 until yesterday and stamped all statements(clearly stamp shows where it was printed and when it was printed)however he refused to sign each statements saying they can't do it. Am I in trouble sending stamped copies without sign?

Please kindly advice me.

[Londoner007]

1. Its a No if you haven't worked for any of these organizations
2. She puts her father mother etc their details
3. If the statements are stamped with the Branch stamp then that is fine. You do not need bank statements to be signed

[bigben1982]

Hi Londoner007,

Thanks a lot again.

Really sorry to ask you this again.

Are you 100% sure in the employment section she needs to enter sponsor's employment details?The reason I am asking,all the questions ask "Your ....."not your sponsor's.

Is there any guidelines I can read about filling online spouse application?

1 more thing,
say if the bank statements are 26 days old by the time you do biometrics submission.In that case,when we send the documents to Sheffield,it will more than 28 days old right?Is that ok?

Please kindly advice me.

[Londoner007]

If the applicant isnt working and you are relying only on the sponsors income then no need to write anything there.

28 day rule only applies up to the date you have submitted the online application. Doesn't matter when the biometrics was taken.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... -Notes.pdf

Above may help you get an idea

[bigben1982]

Hi Londoner007,
Thanks again.

1) Applicant currently works as a teacher.Therefore,she entered her details on the employment section.However she is not going to use her salary towards meeting financial requirement.Therefore at the end of the online application,in the additional information,she clearly mentions that she is submitting this application purely based only on sponsor's income.Therefore,she is not going to submit any of her employment documents as supporting documents.Is this going to cause any issues?

2) I have got employer's letter and paylsips from my hospital(NHS).Payslips and employer letter are prepared,signed,dated and stamped by HR admin.Is this acceptable?Should I have to get these documents signed,dated and stamped from senior HR people?

3)28 days for bank statement rule.The stamped copy bank statements for the period 24/08/2018 until 27/09/2018 show the last transaction on 27/09/2018.Does that mean 28 days start from the last transaction date?Other original bank statements are yet to arrive via post.
Please kindly advice me.

[Londoner007]

1 - fine
2 - fine, make sure employer letter states the payslips are genuine if they have been printed from online
3 - Depends on the date of your payslip that you are relying on and compare it with application date making sure it is not older than 28 days old. For example Application date is 30 July, payslip and bank statement documents cannot be older 28 days to this date. Reason for this is they want to see the documents are current. That's why its best to as soon as you get last payslip and bank statement to apply and submit straightaway,

[bigben1982]

Hi Londoner007,
Thanks again .

1) I am going to submit my Mrs visa application online tomorrow.
Last payslip dates to 26/09/2018.
Last transaction on the bank statement is 27/09/2018.
I am ok submitting tomorrow right?

2)Few questions about Appendix 2.

2a)I am filling up by hand in capital and small letters.The form I am using is called Appendix 2(VAF 4A August 2018).Is this the correct form?

2b)About my salary.I am currently working for NHS.I was earning £28K from Februray 2018 up until new pay agreement was accepted in July 2018.Then the employer equally matched up my previous pay to new pay which was £29K.

Here comes the confusion.
I am selecting income from salaried employment in the UK,category A.
Question 3.11,I put my current pay of £29K.
Question 3.12,has your sponsor been in employment with the same employer and earning the amount,as detailed in 3.11 above,continuously for 6 months prior to the date of application(Category A).My answer was yes.Right next to the box I wrote a note asking them to have a look part 5 where I explained about old salary,new salary and how it was matched proving that's why I answered yes.

Is this acceptable?

c)Monthly salary was varied sometimes due to overtime work.However,I am earning more than the threshold therefore I didn't add that bit towards my annual salary.Am I doing anything wrong here?

Sorry for the long post.Please kindly advice me.

[Londoner007]

1 - Fine. You still have up until around 25 Oct before 28 day rule hits
2A - Keep to block capitals
2B - You are relying upon 28k as you havent been paid 6 months worth of new salary yet. Make sure employer letter mentions pay rise of July.
3C - no need to mention as you are on salaried income.

[bigben1982]

Thanks Londoner007 for your support throughout my application.

Going back to your 1st answer,does that mean homeoffice should receive biometrics information,all the supporting documents by 25 October?

There is a bit of confusion on your 2B answer aswell.Current salary I should put 29K right?I have received the letter from HR confirming that I got paid 28K annually since I joined in January until July and then since July 29K annually after new NHS pay agreement.

Is this information enough?
Please kindly advice me when you get some time.

[Londoner007]

28k. If you put 29k they will use lowest of last 6 payslips and if its less than 29k your application will fail.

[bigben1982]

Hi Londoner007,

Thanks a lot.

My netpay for the last 6 months are,

April 2290.89
May 1910.68
June 1930.57
July 1935.29
August 2026.52
September 1935.29

Would you still advice me to use 28K instead of 29K?Are they not asking about my current salary?

[CR001]

Spouse visa is based on gross pay, the amount before any deductions, not net pay.

[Londoner007]

They are asking about your current salary you are relying on. You are not relying on 29k as you haven't been paid that for a period of at least 6 months.

As advised include employer letter to confirm a recent wage rise to 29k.

[bigben1982]

Hi Londoner 007 and CR001,

Thanks again.

My salary information in details,

April 2018 to up until end of July 2018 £28746/year

April Basic pay £2395.50 and overtime £558.65

May Basic pay £2395.50

June Basic pay £2395.50 and course travel expenses claim £19.70

New pay from July £29177/year

July Basic pay £2431.42

August Basic pay £2431.42,course expenses claim £18.00 and Basic pay arrears £107.76

September Basic pay £2431.42

I have already received the employer letter from HR confirming salary increments.

Please kindly advice me know which figure is my salary I should enter for the question,income from salaried employment in the UK,category A?I am really confused with this calculation,Sorry it may sounds silly but I would like to get all your advice please.

[bigben1982]

Any experts there to answer my last post please?

One more thing about bank statement.

I have received Halifax bank statements today via post.All bank statements arrived via many mails.Would it be advisable to remove unnecessary pages such as first pages explaning about other statements coming via another mail and statements opening closing information?These pages look like going to cause unnecessary confusion.If I remove these pages,transactions are in proper order and easy to read.Please kindly advice me.

[seagul]

Any experts there to answer my last post please?

One more thing about bank statement.

I have received Halifax bank statements today via post.All bank statements arrived via many mails.Would it be advisable to remove unnecessary pages such as first pages explaning about other statements coming via another mail and statements opening closing information?These pages look like going to cause unnecessary confusion.If I remove these pages,transactions are in proper order and easy to read.Please kindly advice me.

Its good idea to remove unnecessary pages but they contain home address while the pages with transaction doesn't contain home address.

[bigben1982]

You are absolutely right Seagul.Later I thought about it.Thanks a lot for the reply.

I have just noticed,one of the bank statement showing incorrect opening balance date.Halifax is going to send me another copy for May period.Its going to be another week wait.

Just a bit of confusion.

Latest statements via post showing 25/09 as printed date.
Statement I received in May showing 25/05 as printed date.
Today I got the stamped statement from the bank for the last 3 months up until yesterday.
My bank statements will be covering February 2018-06/10/2018.

February statement is included because it includes April aswell.

Question is,which date homeoffice will reference to 28 days limit?Statement printed days or last transaction date?

[bigben1982]

Any forum experts out there willing to reply for my last update and salary query please?

[seagul]

You are absolutely right Seagul.Later I thought about it.Thanks a lot for the reply.
Question is,which date homeoffice will reference to 28 days limit?Statement printed days or last transaction date?

In my view whichever date is later. But highly make sure that bank statements at least cover 6 months if applying under category A.