₦airaland Forum

ronvlaar:
Good morning house, passport was picked up yesterday and it was refused.
I'll post their reason later with my TL

Sorry. It is well.

Iyike101:
Good day. I am ibrahim and i wish to travel to the uk to live and work with my girlfriend. I must confess i am very ignorant of the requirements needed for spouse to get a visa based on fact that we not yet married .

Is your girlfriend in the uk already? Is she studying working or a citizen? If she is in Nigeria and both of you want to move to the uk to work and then get married, I don’t think this is the right thread for you. If she is studying, you might be able to apply (if it’s a PhD only), if she is working, you might be able to apply but you won’t be able to work for 6 months. If she is a citizen, you will be able to apply but won’t work for 6 months. The visa application you will be applying for is the fiancé visa to allow you get married to her within the 6 months you will be granted entry in the uk. However the chances of a successful fiancé visa is low. I’ll advise you to marry her then apply.

foxyvisa:
Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! The Lord has graduated another student from the school of nairaland.
I was here weeks/months ago, heartbroken about the court verdict in Nigeria on local government issued marriage certificate. I asked the house on their opinions and @justwise advised I push ahead with the application.
A big thank you to the house, everyone who contributed years ago to date. @justwise thank you so much. To all new and waiting students, study the manuals and do your best to submit as much documents as you can.

Type of Application: Settlement wife (Priority)
Online application submitted: 31st October
Biometric: 9th November
Email confirmation of support documents received: NONE
Decision made: 7th December
Collection email: 7th December
Courier delivery: 8 December
Picked up: 8th December

It took exactly 1month from my biometric. We are super excited as newly weds (last year) that have been separate since the wedding and hubby returned to UK.
If you can afford PRIORITY please do. It saves time and sleepless nights.
Time to go warm up hubby from the extreme cold in UK.

Lmao at the last part. Very big Congrats to you

yow17:
Please did anyone submit in Abuja recently? Are they scanning supporting documents because it says so on TLS Abuja website.

https://uk.tlscontact.com/ng/ABV/index.php

Please can someone confirm.

They didn’t scan my docs. But they said that scanning will change from 5th December, however, I don’t think they scan for settlement visa, but you can take your docs, just in case.

yow17:
Hello house,

Please does the 2 weeks to send supporting documents ply to both standard and priority?

My documents will get to my sponsor tonight to send all tomorrow.

However, I received the email from UKVI that they have received my application and must ensure my sponsor has sent all documents. And if not received they will make a decision.

No reference to the 2 weeks for sending all documents in.

Is this okay/normal?

Thanks

It’s 2 weeks from your biometrics (priority and Standard) so relax. Just ensure it gets to your spouse on time so they can send it out immediately too.

mzapplication:
It's ridiculous really. 3 whole months. I am hoping a work trip does not come up during this period for me.

My dear, I am missing out on my own work trip, I just want to cry but God dey Cos I get to see hubby

ronvlaar:
Finally, a decision has been made. A mail popped in this morning, tho mail to pick up my passport is yet to come in but that one no concern me as I'll be on my way to Lagos first thing tomorrow morning..

Documents returned since yesterday morning too..

Yaay! I already know it’s good news! Congrats

Hi guys, really grateful for being so helpful during my application process. Now me and my spouse are playing the waiting game. I’ll keep my timeline here for now:

I put date to travel for 12 February 2018
Standard Application (got refused a US visa once)
Application submitted: 1 Dec
Documents sent to spouse: 2 Dec
Biometric: 4th Dec
Document sent to Sheffield: 6th Dec
Documents received at Sheffield: 7th Dec

So waiting game. God willing I will be back with good news.

I don’t think it’s fair that they have to keep our passport for months- what about frequent fliers? They can always tell applicants to submit their passports a month before the decision is about to be made, or so. Sha, I complained about this in my feedback to TLS, hopefully they upgrade their services to consider people like us.

GodandVal:
God has done it!!! This God is too much. Just picked up my passport and the entry clearance/visa in there *dancing******

After everything he has done it for me and He will do for those waiting as well. Below is my timeline:

Type of application: Settlement(wife) but I put in Settlement marriage(mistake)- Priority
Application Submitted: 28 September 2017
Biometrics: October 4, 2017
Sent for Decision : October 4, 2017
Application received by UK Immigration: October 5, 2017
Supporting Documents sent to Sheffield: October 10, 2017
After coming across this topic on Nairaland, I realized the mistake I made in my application by choosing Settlement-marriage instead of Settlement-Wife and it was already too late for another application.
Wrote them a letter explaining the error and asking them for the IHS link : October 24,2017
Surprisingly got a an email requesting for payment for the IHS : November 22, 2017 (I leaped for joy)
Decision made email : December 1, 2017
Collection Email: December 4, 2017
Picked up : Today, Dec 5, 2017

Thank you to everyone that shared their experiences and everyone in the house. So excited!!!!


Baba God, Thank You.

P.s. I thought paying for Priority would mean faster process but all the same I’m happy.

Congrats dear.

mamarazi1:
Wish us all the best with our applications.

I really appreciate. I’m sure we will be hearing good news from your end in the next 6 weeks.

mamarazi1:
Thank you... U know how they always changing things.
Fingers crossed!

Hey, hope you’re great. I just had my biometrics today. Your partner literally needs just the international passport and the front page of the application form. He should take a photocopy of his datapage and the appointment confirmation mail (print out)- just to be able to enter. It’s simple and easy.

mamarazi1:
Is ur biometric on the 5th?

4th love.

mamarazi1:
Thank you... U know how they always changing things.
Fingers crossed!

I might be submitting that same day, but the Abuja branch. So I’m in the same boat as your husband- just in different areas.

mamarazi1:
Guys please I am in a dilemma here... We submitted my husband's application online yesterday, all payments sorted, we applied for Priority Settlement. His biometric is 5th Dec at Ikeja. The appointment confirmation email we received states he should bring printed online application, payments confirmation and supporting documents on the day of appointment. The worry is that I have all of the supporting documents with me in UK and I plan to send them directly to Sheffield from within UK. I don't know if they will turn him back at Visa application center for not going with the supporting documents. I have been worried thinking about this. Help!!!

Relax. A few kind people have said that all he needs is his passport and the front page of his application. So relax

Lexusgs430:
Private nature? Kindly share some or all of such private convos..........

bestbian:
My people, God has done it for me and my family. I am a tier 4 student, got my visa but my husband and daughter were refused visa.
We put in for administrative review and today my husband just got a message to bring his passport and our daughters passport that the decision has been overturned. They are ready to give them visa now. I am so excited. Thanks to God and all here for encouragement.

Please I want to confirm if he has to go along with our 2 years old daughter to Immigration office in Ikeja for the passport submission? he can go alone to submit the passports? Please anyone has an idea. We need help on that please.

Its urgent for us. Thanks and God bless you all.

Congrats dear. Wish I could help but I don’t know. However big congrats.

teejay231:
Of course he did lol :-) Thanks. Just from personal experience and reading the experience of others. I didn't know anything when I submitted for spouse visa but luckily I had a good lawyer. I only discovered this forum and some others afterwards and really could have saved the lawyer fees. Best of luck with yours and I am 100% certain it will be okay as long you have followed all the instructions in this forum. God bless.

I really appreciate boss

godman100:
I was worried I didn’t send any WhatsApp chats between my wife and I so I spoke to a friend who’s an immigration lawyer and he told me that UKVI don’t consider WhatsApp chats as legitimate evidence of a relationship because names and messages can easily be altered. He also said no caseworker will spend time reviewing several hundred pages of chats when they’re working to tight deadlines and pretty much bin such documents when received. Not sure if this is 100% the case but just letting everyone know what I was told.

He advised photos are much better so long as you can also provide supporting documents evidencing the location and timing of the photos, e.g. taking a photo at Madame Tussaud’s with entry tickets showing the date taken and also passport stamps or flight tickets which prove both parties were in the country at the time. It’s the equivalent of marriage photos taken - the marriage certificate and passport stamps or flight tickets would be considered as supporting evidence of the date the photos were taken.

I thought this too. I saw a notice that they didn’t want to see people’s conversation on some website- I can’t remember which- but since everyone here send in their convos and 90% get in, I’ve decided to send in mine. But thanks for your input.

Deola101:
Thanks for your input. About the pictures, we actually have loads of those. Just not so much in terms of communication btw 2014 and 15 coz of change of phones, etc and we weren't big on social media that much then. But we'll be sure to do some more ransacking, hopefully we'd get something. Thanks much!

I think if you just explain the missing phone in your applicant letter, everything will be fine. I lost my phone too December 2016, and met my hubby in May 2016, So everything before December is gone, plus photos (Cos he is allergic to using his own phone for photos- luckily, I had some in my snapchat). Just complie what you have and explain the missing ones.

Lexusgs430:
Wise woman ...... She had all the evidences to nail you, incase you pulled the plug ......

teejay231:
Some people do that. They put the photos on a word document and include some description beside it. We simply put our in different envelopes labelled "Wedding Photos", "Time in Nigeria" and so on. From what I understand, ECOs have 15 to 20 minutes to spend on each application, so your application has to tell them everything in one go. Not sure if you included a letter of introduction/ cover letter previously. If you didn't, you need to. In the letter, you explain how you met your partner, when you proposed, when you got married, how often do you see each other, if not often why not and your intention to be together as a family. DON'T over elaborate

You and Lexus know a lot o! God bless you so much for your help. I’m really grateful. And no, he proposed, I didn’t!

teejay231:
I believe communication logs are more important than photos to the ECOs. If they have more photos sure they can send otherwise there are lot of other ways to prove the relationship is genuine such as travel stamps, flight tickets, letters from family members and friends, wedding invitation cards and so on. I met my wife in the UK but during my application for spouse visa, my lawyer only submitted wedding photos and photos from her time in Nigeria ignoring all our photos in the UK. I was worried but we had communication logs of over 500 pages plus a few other evidence. Maybe I was just lucky.

Wow. Nice. Did you print out all 500 pages and submitted to them? Mine is almost 3500 pages, it would be insane to print all these out. Insane! So I screenshotted the word document showing the number of pages that our chat is, then attached the 15 page screenshots (6 shots per page). Do I still print out the chats though?

teejay231:
I know people who sent just 20 photos without even wedding photos and still got approved. Sometimes it's all about the ECO. As long as the photos were taken over a time period and not same day. It is advised to send about 5 pages per month for communication logs. The WhatsApp email and print is far better than screenshots and print.

Thanks for the advice. Do we have to put the dates that the photos were taken?

FOSBAS1:
hmm, I Guess as much. is Re-applying the better option here?

To be honest, I think it’s a better option. Sorry for your refusal, but prepare everything and fire them back well. Send them plenty photos and all, they must be really grumpy Cos it’s almost Holiday season. You will be triumphant in your second application. Amen

Lexusgs430:
No pictures ? No communication logs ? No kissy kissy emails ? No outpouring of affection through whatsapp ? No dirty chats via BBM?

I am sorry, I am sure this is a serious issue, but the “outpouring of affection through whatsapp” statement is really funny.

mzapplication:
And so the waiting game begins...

Biometrics 22st Nov
Posted all docs to sponsor same day
Received confirmation of biometrics from UKVI 23rd
Sponsor posted all docs to Sheffield 24th Nov

Please who is my "birthday" in this matter let us hold hands

Hi. It seems your documents got to your partner in two days. Please what service provider is this? DHL? Was it priority mail service? I need the fastest one possible. Thanks

MreSBee:
Your first NI is yours forever.... even if you go back to the UK after a century... you can still use it lol

That’s awesome. Mine is very easy to cram so this is good news. Thanks a lot

teejay231:
The only documents you need for accommodation proof during a spouse visa application are letter from landlord/tenancy agreement and property inspection letter if shared housing or land registry documents if it's a personal property. Utility bills and council tax letters are only required in the next stage FLR and final ILR as proof of cohabitation. If you want to include you can go ahead but not relevant.

Thank you very much.

[quote author =Lexusgs430 post=62672626]You need to start paying 40% tithe to our parish ..........[/quote] small matter, let me kuku pay all my salary now

Isommex:
@lexus o tight ju but God perfect it and @mamalicious i was shocked and suprise wen i realised home office returned my document back at 7 weeks without priority service. @mamalicious hubby put date to travel for 23rd December.
Standard Application
Application submitted: 28th sep
Biometric: 4th Oct
Document sent to Sheffield: 9th Oct
Document returned back to me in my uk address: 22nd Nov
Email sent passport ready for collection: 22nd Nov 3:40pm
Passport collected with visa valid from 19th Nov and mind u we put travel date as 23rd Dec.
Na me dey sing oluwa etobi etobi oooo etobi.
Thanks everyone on this forum. Every other people waiting we hear Good news ijn. Wow still shock so so so quick.

Wow less than two months. Please touch me let me tap your grace. Congrats

ewebiodun:
Thanks a lot. Please when u say try my luck,do u mean reapplying or contesting the ban or according to someone, inciting article 8?

You see Lexusgs430 says that a spousal visa overrides a ban. That’s a good story. So just apply and be truthful like he said and pray too. Everything will work out well hopefully.