Spouse visa documents

[desperado]

hi everyone,

I'm a british citizen and I'm getting married early june. I will be applying spouse visa for my wife a week after our wedding. She's indian citizen.

I have gathered the following documents:

1. VAF2 application form (but can't find guidance for filling the application form)
2. Guidance notes
3. last 12 months pay slip with P60 for the last two years
4. last 6 months bank statement
4. council tax last 3 years
5. water tax last 3 years
6. electricity bill last 1 year
7. my credit card statement for the last 6 months
8. original passport and my naturalisation certificate (orig & copy)
9. marriage certificate
10. already booked flight tickets

do i need to produce a letter from my employer?
do i need to produce birth certicate? I don't have my birth certificate, what do i do?

any other documents required? please let me know.

[maria pali]

try these as well - (some of it may be irrelevant but better to overkill):
1) Copy of sponsors passport/s - certified - include your visa and immigration stamps to proove you have been there. (if you happen to be applying in Mumbai - go to the High Court there - chamber 16 or 18 - can't remember which. A very nice woman who is a notary will certify photocopies of originals for only 50 rupees - what a bargain!)
2) a personal statement by the applicant - details of your relationship, how you met, your intention to stay together perminately etc
3) a personal statement of sponsor, similar, but stressing your ability to sponsor - you know, outlining your job and so on
4) Statements of saving accounts
5) I'm self employed so my evidence is different - maybe a copy of your contract of employment?? Don't know if that is neccesary - probably your pay checks are enough
6) CV of spouse - yours too, if you think it might help
7) Any certificates of education of your spouse
8 ) Offer of employment for your spouse - yes - impossible I know! ....and so therefore, copies of typical job ads of the kind your spouse might easily go for once in the UK
9) Can't remember what you said about your housing? but I Live in shared accomodation and so.. Copy of tenancy agreement (DO check the small print on the back for hidden clauses - they read them!!)
10) Letter from landlord saying it is ok for your spouse to live here
11) Letters from joint tenants, agreeing to the above
12 Letter from your council, staing that the accomodation is suitable . I got this free via my council
13) floor plan of the house
13) photos - photos general - photos of the wedding - paramount!
14) Letters you've sent each other, a selection of e mails, msn messages
15) If you have a honeymoon out there, then include hotel bills with both your names on
16) telephone bill statements
17) Letters of support from your families and friends.
There was more but I can't think off hand.
Think more rather than less.
At the Visa facilation Centre, we also found out your spouse needs to include 3 photos (they don't ask for this on the form!) and also a photocopy of their passport as well as the original (they don't ask for this either!!)
Which city are you applying in?

[desperado]

whoa! that's a lot of documents. do I need all those documents?

in the guidance notes, they didn't mention most of those. Do I have to take pictures of my flat and show it to them?

I'm leaving to india on friday and I don't have all these documents. I'm really worried now.

[John]

Desperado, let's put it this way, it is far better to have too much supporting evidence than not enough.

Your own list seemed particularly weak as regards proving that the accommodation test is passed. You must do something about that.

Birth certificate? Yes? You don't have one? You were born in the UK? If so do you now live reasonably close to where you were born? If so call in, in person, at the Register Office where your birth was registered and they will issue a birth certificate to you.

You leave on Friday .... you have left this rather late, haven't you!

[maria pali]

don't worry you left too late. Just put your application in when it is ready and NOT before. If it takes a few weeks to gather the information - so what?. You have your lifetime together. Better a few weeks now, to make a good application than many months or up to a year in some cases for an appeal. I cannot stress the importance of a good application. Get as much evidence as you can. Despite what the guidelines are, give more evidence than you think you need.
I married 3 months before we made our application so we could get together the evidence, but this was because I was newly self employed. Please don't rush.
It's terrible, I know! But do not apply before your file is wonderful. Ours was about 2 inches thick!! Some peoples are 5 inches thick - really!!

[desperado]

oh! oh! so my documents aren't enough then?

John, so what other documents can I produce to give my application that extra punch? please let me know.

maria, the reason i dont want to delay is...she just left a very good job in india for our wedding. she will be very upset if the visa process is delayed. so i'm trying my best to gather all required documents. what do you think about my revised document list? will it be ok?

here is how my revised document list looks like

Application Form:
=================
1. VAF2 application form (but can't find guidance for filling the application form)
2. Guidance notes

Proof of employment & finance:
==============================
1. Letter from employer
2. last 12 months pay slip
3. P60 Advice for the last two years
4. Bonus statement for the last three years
5. Salary review letter for the last four years
6. last 8 months bank statement with extra 4 months as backup, just in case they ask

Proof of accomodation:
======================
1. Tenancy contract
2. council tax last 3 years (It states it is a Grade A property. I do claim single occupancy discount though. Is that a problem?)
3. water tax last 3 years
4. electricity bill last 1 year

Proof of marriage:
==================
1. marriage certificate
2. honeymoon's trip air ticket/hotel receipts
3. Wedding photos & general holiday photo's

Proof of UK Residence:
======================
1. Attested Copy of british passport
2. Attested Copy of Naturalisation certificate (maybe will include original as well)

General Documents:
==================

1. Sponsor's letter stating how I met her, when we got engaged, our intention to start our life together,
buy property, also my ability to support her (my designation, annual salary etc)
2. Similar letter from applicant (what she's has been doing, her education, her prospect to work etc)
3. Original degree certificate of the applicant
4. CV of the applicant


Other document reasons:

5) Statements of saving accounts - don't have one

6) CV of spouse - yours too, if you think it might help - CV?? I haven't switched job in years. so dont have my cv. but do we really need cv???

8 ) Offer of employment for your spouse - yes - impossible I know! ....and so therefore, copies of typical job ads of the kind your spouse might easily go for once in the UK - really!!! do we need this???

9) Can't remember what you said about your housing? but I Live in shared accomodation and so.. Copy of tenancy agreement (DO check the small print on the back for hidden clauses - they read them!!) - can produce my tenancy agreement. but i have tenancy agreement for the first two years when I moved in. After that its a rolling contract. So no seperate contract.

10) Letter from landlord saying it is ok for your spouse to live here - I left it really late for that. I'm leaving on friday. Do I really need it

11) Letters from joint tenants, agreeing to the above - N/A

12 Letter from your council, staing that the accomodation is suitable . I got this free via my council - I could try this one.

13) floor plan of the house - Can't get one landlord wouldn't agree.

14) Letters you've sent each other, a selection of e mails, msn messages - Its confidential

16) telephone bill statements - really???

17) Letters of support from your families and friends. - really really???

[desperado]

I had a change of heart. I'm going to get letter of approval from my landlord that they are ok to allow my future wife to stay in the apartment because the contract says I shouldn't allow anyone to stay in my apartment without their written constent.

I can send them a self-addressed envelope, so they can send the letter to india. so no problems there for landlords approval letter.

any other documents required?

[John]

I read your message timed at 10:09pm and thought what was missing was the permission from landlord (or agent). And then your message timed at 10:35pm deals with exactly that.

The lack of floor plan? No matter, just do this. Prepare a sheet detailing the property including :-

• How many people will live in the place, assuming the visa granted? That is, how many adults? And how many children? And the ages of the children?
• Excluding any Spam, bathroom or toilet, how many rooms in the place exceed 50 square feet in area?

Your will live they solely with your wife? Just the two of you? Even if that is the case, don't assume that the ECO looking at the visa application will know that. For all he/she knows you live in a 3-bed semi already occupied by 15 other people! Show that is not the case!

If you have a digital camera, take a few pics of the place, just to give an idea what the place is like.

she just left a very good job in india for our wedding

Well hopefully everything will work out well, but you are making a big assumption! For us, back in 2001, my wife did not resign from her job as a Lecturer at a Government College in Thailand until the visa was in the passport! OK, that ended up meaning that after the honeymoon we were apart for about three weeks, while she worked out her notice at her job, but far better that than she was unemployed for .... well who would know how long?

Quite a risk there you are taking! Well certainly an assumption is being made.