Sponsors identification / passport

[Moonandstar]

My wife is applying for a spousal visa in Pakistan and one of the documents she needs to submit with her application is evidence of her sponsors identity.
Is this simply a photocopy of my passport?
Does this need to be a colour photocopy and of the entire passport including the covers or just the photo and details page of the passport?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

[menwall]

I wondered this myself a while back, but after reading similar questions it would seem that a photocopy of the photo page of your passport will suffice.

You could also take a photocopy of your driving license and/or birth certificate for good measure to be on the safe side. You can also get them certified as a true copy if you want to be EXTRA safe (http://www.postoffice.co.uk/document-ce ... on-service for example) but this is not necessary and won't be ground for rejection.

If you think about it, posting your passport to her could be risky and you may need it while her application is being decided. If you go to Pakistan to give it to her, then you can't travel back as the UKBA will have your passport!

Regarding color or black in white; I doubt it would matter, I'm sure black and white is perfectly acceptable as long as your photo and passport number etc are clearly readable on it.

[Moonandstar]

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

[Casa]

You shouldn't send your passport but you will need to submit a legally certified copy. An uncertified copy will not be accepted.

[menwall]

Hi Casa; this raises an interesting point. On a different site, one of their well-established members states that

"Basically, every document must be original. The only document that can be a photocopy is your UK husband's passport (they have electronic access to details)" and he goes on to say that it doesn't need to be certified due to them having the details of the sponsor on their database as its a UK passport. All they would require is the photo page with the passport number from a decent photocopy...

I wonder if anyone else can chip in; have applications been rejected in the past for not providing certified copies of the sponsors passport page? On the other hand, have applications been accepted without having provided the copy as legally certified?

[Moonandstar]

I just checked the post office link. I think I will get it certified by them as it only costs £7.15 and its better to be safe then sorry.

[menwall]

Considering the price, it is probably the best idea to do so and I will be doing the same.

I just think it's unbelievably trivial to have to have to send them a certified copy of your passport when they would have access to such details anyway. But when it comes to how expensive the whole visa process is, its not the time to stand on principal (or common sense)!