Miele:


Hey,

Yeah I was shocked when I got the letter from home office within 2 weeks as I was panicking that I might be called for an interview seeing how I gave notice with a new BRP at the time.

Yeah I do have a valid BRP till next year so that should keep me going till I’m able to switch (hopefully). I’m just waiting for my partners 6 months payslip and we will make the application. The wedding isn’t until March and I’ve read that I can put in my application anytime after the wedding as long as I’ve got all my documents.

Thanks for the link - we meet the requirements for the overcrowding act. Since the house is owned by my uncle, can I include his proof of mortgage amongst the property inspection report?

Also I’ll be making my application first week of April, can I get the letter now or does it have to be less than 28 days at the time of the application. I think I read somewhere that all documents must not be more than 28 days at the time of the application.

I’ve made an excel spreadsheet of all the documents I need to get, been on gov.uk and read this thread from beginning to end but I’m still worried that I’m missing something lol

Thanks for your time and breaking things down for me, I kindly appreciate.

Have a good day

Hey,

I hope you are good.

You read it right, you can submit your online application once you have the marriage certificate and other supporting documents. Honestly keeping the documents (Eg: Pay slips, Letter from employer, Bank statement, Utility bills, property inspection report, etc) within the 28 days gives you a kind of peace of mind that you have made the necessary efforts.

For the mortgage documents you mentioned, it will go a long way to contribute to what convinces the ECO that you two are going to live in the place you are providing its document.

If you still feel that you are missing something, rewind back to see what others who got the spouse visa on first application did and maybe you can use it to compare with your excel spreadsheet.
Check out the following pages and see if it helps but bear in mind that every application is just as unique as yours: Pages 428, 446 and 457.
You may find something's irrelevant, so filter accordingly.

As for the property inspection report, if you are going to go for it, just check out : https://mclarenenvironmentalservices.co.uk and give them a call. The guy just drove to our place checked the building, measured just our room and printed 2 copies of the report for us. The service was sleek and fast for £120. Your location can affect the price, I guess.

Good morning.

Lexusgs430:



I am never knowingly undersold ................ I love mouthfuls.... Have you seen my weight ............

From this reply, he is the sponsor ?

Hi Lexusgs430,

I hope you have been well?

Thank you for being here always to help.

Miele:


Thank you Chrysbees

I hope you are okay

This was more than helpful.

Yes I have given notice of marriage - received a letter from the home office after 14 days of giving notice and it stated they weren’t going to investigate. I used the same letter in booking a marriage date at my local council.

My partners mum is in the UK but will be on cruise at the time of our wedding. He is estranged from his dad so there’s no need asking him to come because he won’t. The wedding is only going to be me, partner, my cousin and one of our friends and they are both standing in for us as witnesses.

I live with my uncle who will be writing a letter of support for both of us so surely that counts as something]?

We are going to be staying in his house for a short while so he will be writing us a letter alongside other documents that will show proof of accommodation.

Thanks for the information - I won’t be mentioning the absence of family.

Hello Miele,

I'm good, thank you.

It was really good reading that HO didn't go on with the interview. ( You, sure, must have a minimum of 15 months in your current BRP as anything less than 6 months raises an eyebrow and they will start delaying and dragging the process until you have less time to continue with the registry wedding in the UK.)

As you two will be staying in your uncle's place, you should make sure that you have the UK overcrowding policy not against your plans. Check this out when you have a minute to spare : https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/68/part/X/crossheading/definition-of-overcrowding
Although, your uncle will be supporting you guys with accommodation documents and letter, you may, as well, invest in House Inspection Report from a certified agent who will state specifically the conditions of the house and room both of you will be staying. (It shouldn't be more than £150, depending on the part of UK you are staying)

Do keep warm and have a good day.

Miele:
Hello house,

First of all, everyone here is doing an amazing job and I’ve learnt a lot since reading this page.

I’ve got a question, my partner and I are doing a registry wedding this March and my family members can’t make it. The only people that will be in attendance are just the two witnesses required for the registry wedding.

Now my question is, can I submit just wedding pictures of my partner and I without no one else in attendance? Do I need to explain the reason why we didn’t have guests and enough wedding pictures in the cover letter?

This might be a silly question but I’m not using any legal representation so I’m trying to make sure I cross all the dots.

Thanks in advance

Hello Miele,

I hope you are doing great both with Uni stuffs and the weather.

What you are going to read from me is just based on an experience I think you can replicate.

I will answer your questions but will ask you few things to help you understand better/ cut off any myopic view of the situation.

1. That you and your partner are going to do the registry wedding in the UK come March 2020 means that:
a. you must have booked an appointment with your council of resident for Notice of foreign national marriage,
b. have probably gone for the Home Office Marriage interview for partnership investigation decision (Section 50 of the immigration act 2014). This interview can be a way to sweep you two off balance, so prepare all your documents as if you are submitting your application in the interview.
c. have waited for up to 70 days for response from Home Office (HO) for the approval of the wedding to take place in the UK. (But given that you returned to the UK ending of November 2019, if I'm right, you have not spent up to 70 days in the UK and that may imply that you have not sorted out everything with the HO or registry office yet.)
d. have heard from the registry office that your wedding can go on as planned.

2. If 1 (above) has YES as answers for 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d, you can submit the group registry wedding pictures with the 2 witnesses. Since you have 2 years history together, backup your relationship with the other pictures where friends are present and not just both of you in the whole album.
You MUST not mention the absence of any of the family members (parents) in the cover letter as it will raise too much dust for you.

3. Another thing you may consider is the number of valid months you have in the UK.
If you have gone through 1 (above) successfully, you wouldn't have a lot to bother yourself with than a valid visa that can take you through the period after going for your spouse visa biometric capture.

My little questions:
a. Are your partner's parents in the UK?
b. If they are in the UK, have you tried to understand why they may not be attending the registry wedding?
c. Is any of your two witnesses going to come from your partner's family?


I hope you and anyone in this situation finds this helpful.

chukxy:
@Justwise, Lexusgs430, Chrysbees
For Appendix 2 V4F4A form. Is it part of the form to be uploaded online with other required documents or does she have to submit it at visa application centre in Nigeria by herself.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Hi Chukxy,

I can tell you guys are getting ready to count your 30 or 60 working days after biometric capture.
If you guys have access to the E-Dossier for uploading the supporting documents, please scan and upload the Appendix 2 of VAF4A.
In my case, I completed the form in my system and printed it before submitting to Sheffield.
I will also like you to note that during the time of my application, the E-Dossier has not been introduced for uploading supporting documents, so we submitted all our supporting documents to UKVI Sheffield office via Post.

When she goes for her biometric capture, the main thing the TLScontact staff will really need from her is her Passport and to see proof of all corresponding payments.

Good luck to you guys and keep us updated on the most recent visa processes.

@Kinpelz,

The letter from her employer can be addressed to "To whom it may concern" as that was what we used in our application.

If you have read through most of the pages (at least the previous 30 pages, which I think you should have done by now), you must have heard frequent contributors and successful applicants telling others to get all the documents ready before submitting the online application.

This is inline with the UKVI requirements that all supporting documents must be dated before the date of the online application submission but shouldn't be more than 28 days old. This includes: Bank statements, Letter from employer, Utility bills, Council tax letter, sponsor's supporting letter and any government issued documents you wish to add to your supporting documents.

In your case, you may scale through but it's better to be on the safe side.

Good luck!

@Kinpelz,

I will like to answer your question but cannot quote you because of the phone number in your post. Once someone quotes your question, your phone number will remain open to all in the internet for life even if you modify the original post.
Can you please remove the phone number as it may simply attract scammers and spammers to you. I think any one with a response to your question will drop it here as always.

However, it's just my opinion and you are not forced to adhere to it.

Hi @Sweetwise,
Hi everyone,

I hope we all have been well.
I'm sorry this response is coming very very late but also guess it will benefit the new applicants.
According to https://www.gov.uk/UK-family-visa , the spouse visa fee as I write this is £1523.
According to https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-much-pay , IHS fee is £400 per year.
So if you will be applying today, you are hoping to stay in the UK for like 29 - 30 months before renewing your visa, you should be paying £1200.
Then, according to TLScontact ( https://pos.tlscontact.com/los_en/added-value-services ), the fee for Priority visa service (Settlement) is £573.

Please bear in mind that when making any of these payment, you will be seeing the equivalent in US Dollars and your bank will probably charge you for the exchange service during the payment.

Most importantly, visit the application website to reconfirmed all these details as information are always updated in short notice.

I hope this helps someone to get prepared.

Sweetwise:

Congrats to you and your wife. Please what is the actual spouse visa fee, NHS surcharge and how much extra did you pay for priority? I see contrasting things each time i check. Thanks.

Congrats bro.

I'm happy for you.

profemebee:
Hello beautiful people,

VISAAAAAAAAAA GRANTED!!!!!!

Timeline

Country applying from: Nigeria
Visa Processing Office Location: Sheffield, UK
Type of visa applied for: Spouse Settlement (Non-Priority)

13th May 2019 - Online Application Submitted
20th May 2019 - Biometrics Taken
30th May 2019 - Sponsor's Documents couriered to UKVI, Sheffield
15th Aug 2019 - Collection Email received from TLScontact 11:18am
9th Aug 2019 - Date Visa was Issued
15th Aug 2019 - Passport & Visa Collected at 12.34pm as i cudn't breathe..


One of the scariest moments in my life definitely....

I loveee u all... from Lexus to justwise to MamaEEE to fridpalor to Dee282 to chrysbees to kaysus to kenttoday to Veacon to Deept....

i'm grateful my special peopleeeeeeeee...

Phewww..

Bless the others waiting.. just read thru each page and u will be fine... no lawyers involved at all..

Warm Regards.

At this point I will like to thank some kind fellows whom from their timeline I have drew courage while counting the working days.

@Wiggle, Timeline date: 11/03/2019
@Ogborrr, Timeline date: 24/03/2019
@Veacon, Timeline date: 28/03/2019
@evanda, Timeline date: 01/04/2019
@kenttoday, Timeline date: 06/04/2019
@pleasehelpme2, Timeline date: 26/04/2019
@kaysus, Timeline date: 17/07/2019

These people's timeline helped me and my wife to hold tight to the benefits of priority service. I can't thank you all enough for sharing your unique experiences.

@Lexusgs430, @justwise, @minnienellie and lots of other jolly good fellas that have relentlessly supported everyone here, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH.

profemebee:
thanks for the info..

please can you explain a bit more on the last line regarding update on supporting docs from TLS?

@profemebee,
According to the update from TLScontact website, UKVI will not be accepting supporting documents sent by applicants to the Sheffield office from the 31st of July 2019. Applicants will have to
1. scan and send their supporting documents by themselves,
or
2. scan it at the VAC during biometrics appointment for a fee,
or
3. send it to TLScontact scanning hub at London where it will be scanned for a standard or priority service fee.

Full info can be read from TLScontact website, please.
https://static.tlscontact.com/media/global/ww/uk/settlement_visa_applications_-_new_additional_process.pdf

Dee282:
Congratulations. What website did you use for the application please? Visa4uk? Or the new website?

@Dee282,
I used visa4uk.
But I will suggest that you use the new site especially if you will like to use priority service.

chrysbees:
Greetings All!
Please join me and thank the Lord almighty!
Below is my timeline

Online Application submitted – 9th of June 2019
Priority/ Non-priority – Priority
Biometric – 13th June 2019
Supporting document sent by my wife – 19th June 2019
Document received and signed via royal mail special delivery – 20th June 2019
Email stating “Application currently being prepared for consideration” – 25th June 2019
Wife contacted UKVI to enquire about visa status and was told decision has been made – 22 July 2019
Email stating “Application assessed” - 22nd July 2019
Email stating “Passport ready for collection” - 22nd July 2019
Passport collected with visa approved – 22nd July 2019

Goodluck to everyone still waiting for decision as well as others that are preparing to apply

For future applicants that may be interested.
Below are the supporting documents submitted by my wife.

From Applicant

Applicant Online visa application form
Applicants birth certificate
Applicant UK academic degree certificate
Marriage certificate
TB Test certificate

From Sponsor

Sponsors Supporting letter
Appendix 2 VAF4A Form
Sponsorship Undertaking form
Exported Whatsapp chats
Screenshots of Whatsapp call logs
Screenshot of Phone calls & SMS
Photograph of sponsor and applicant
Exchanged anniversary and birthday cards
Sponsors copy of data page of British and Nigerian passport
Sponsors print out of flight ticket to Nigeria
Sponsors copy of stamped pages on Nigerian passport
Sponsors 6 months bank statement
Sponsors 6 months payslips
Sponsors P60
Sponsors letter from employer
Sponsors tenancy agreement (6 months Assured shorthold tenancy which includes all utility bills, including council tax, gas & electricity etc)
Letter from property agency
Property Inspection report letter ( As sponsor lives in a five bedroom shared house)
Sponsors 2017/2018 tax summary letter (For prove of address as sponsors has no council tax letter or utility bills)
Pre-paid envelope for return of supporting documents.

Although I strongly advice that you visit TLS website for the update on supporting documents from 31st of July 2019

Greetings All!
Please join me and thank the Lord almighty!
Below is my timeline

Online Application submitted – 9th of June 2019
Priority/ Non-priority – Priority
Biometric – 13th June 2019
Supporting document sent by my wife – 19th June 2019
Document received and signed via royal mail special delivery – 20th June 2019
Email stating “Application currently being prepared for consideration” – 25th June 2019
Wife contacted UKVI to enquire about visa status and was told decision has been made – 22 July 2019
Email stating “Application assessed” - 22nd July 2019
Email stating “Passport ready for collection” - 22nd July 2019
Passport collected with visa approved – 22nd July 2019

Goodluck to everyone still waiting for decision as well as others that are preparing to apply

kaysus:



Was looking for a way to pay for priority all that time as tls did not register my account from where you'd usually access extra services. I later learnt from them at the vac that it was because I applied through the old visa4uk website. They gave me their UK bank account details and I had to cancel that appointment and choose to walk-in at a later date as i wanted to pay for the priority. Not just me, there are others here that had the same issue.

@kaysus,
Thanks for bringing up the discussion about payment for Priority Service.
We had the same challenge of paying for the priority service as we also used visa4uk to apply.

We got the TLScontact HSBC UK account after sending an email to them requesting for how to make the payment for Priority Service and they also told us via the email that it will take 3 working days for the payment to clear.

But here was what we faced and how we got through it.
After submitting the form online, we realised that we can't register or pay for AVS through TLScontact so we started exploring other alternatives.

1. Making the payment at VAC Ikeja, but they told us that they don't receive the priority service payment there.
2. Transferring from my Barclays Account to the TLS HSBC UK account but was getting error on the mobile banking app.
3. Transferring from my Halifax Account to the TLS HSBC UK account and was informed that the HSBC account cannot receive FAST PAYMENT.
4. Sent someone to walk into the HSBC BANK and make the payment but the transaction wasn't successful. The HSBC BANK staff told the person that the transaction cannot go through.

Then I started my mini research. Googled "FAST PAYMENT" and learnt so much. I
started searching for BANKS that offer FAST PAYMENT and saw so many, HSBC UK inclusive.
Upon continuous reading, I stumbled upon www.fasterpayments.org.uk/consumers/sort-code-checker .
Through the site I entered the HSBC BANK sort code for the account I was suppose to pay the money into and there I learnt that truly, I can't send FAST PAYMENT into such BUSINESS ACCOUNT.

5. I started discussing the option of using BACS credit/ debit payments or CHAPS payment with my spouse and we went the CHAPS payment route.

OUR REASON FOR CHOOSING CHAPS PAYMENT.
BACS payment will take 3 days to clear and we really don't want to waste much time before the biometrics having submitted the online application.

CHAPS payment will require an extra £15-£30 for it to clear same day the payment was made through Barclays Online platform so we went with it. We only paid extra £25 for the CHAPS payment, printed the transaction details and used Flexi appointment to do the biometrics the next day.

I hope this will help someone.

kaysus:
Greetings all,
Been a silent follower for the last 4/5 months and I have to say the information I gathered on here was immense. Thanks to @lexusgs430, justwise and co. God bless U all. Here's my time line for anyone interested..
Application submitted: 14th May, 2019 @tls Ikeja
Priority/non-priority: Priority
Biometrics: 6th June, 2019
Email stating " application transferred to UKVI: 6th June, 2019
Email stating "application currently being prepared for consideration": 19th June, 2019
Email stating "application assessed": 16th July, 2019
Email stating "passport ready for collection": 16th July, 2019
Passport collected with visa: 17th July, 2019
(Vignette: 18 July - 17 August)

Altogether 29 working days from biometrics despite my initial fears about few minor errors. What a journey it's been!

Goodluck to everyone still expecting good news.

Congrats to you and have an awesome trip.

Kenttoday:
Timeline

Priority -Settlement husband (applied on 16th Feb)

Biometrics 26th Feb

Supporting documents sent by myself from the UK on the 28th Feb via royal mail
Signed for 1March

We have recvd your application, awaiting ECO email - 6 March

Decision made email from UKVI - 4 April

Pick up passport email from TLS - 5 April

Visa granted


To God be the glory!

I so much appreciate this forum, I discovered this group when we were getting ready to submit and was considering a lawyer but then discovered we were not ready so we waited till we got everything sorted. Hubby had to do the right English test and TB test and I had to move house to meet the accommodation requirements

@Johnath,

You can also see @kenttoday's timeline.
Is it not beautiful?
I admired the work she and the husband put into getting it at one touch.
You too can add to the great number of people that have replicated such successful timeline.

NB: All I have done here is a suggestion and will never replace what the UKVI will ask of you, please.

Johnath:
Hello guys, i honestly must thank everyone here for sharing there experience and helping the newbies to overcome the challenges ahead...

Also i am so glad to be here and following this page!

My Question; i will by God's grace be marrying my fiancé sometime in October this year, we intend to use an immigration lawyer from the UK to help guide us through the visa application.

What can we be doing now before marriage as regard to the visa applications? Should we start the processing before wedding date or wait til after the wedding?
Also can we do the application ourselves and succeed without using the immigration lawyers?

@justwise @lexusgs430 pls help out

Thanks

Kenttoday:
Happy Friday all.

We are about to submit the application and I wanted you to check the details to be sure we have put all necessary supporting documents for assuming we submit application on the 15th Feb

Applicant's
IEITS A1
TB test
Nigeria passport page
Two sized passport photo
Cover letter from applicant




Sponsor
Tenancy agreement for studio apartment (To start on the 12th Feb..I hope its ok?)

Letter from estate agent that husband can move in provided he has completed an immigration check

Letter from estate agent that I have just moved to property and contract is 6 months

Cover letter from me explaining that I have now moved from parent home

Council tax

7 month pay slip (most recent 25 Jan, I hope its okay and within 28 days)

Employment contract

Letter from employer

7 months current bank statements

Letter from bank to say this is my bank statements (bank said they cant stamp, is that okay please?)

Cover letter from sponsor



Proof of relationship
Whatzapp call chat history
Whatzapp call history
Marriage certificate
Pictures
World remit receipts
Support letter from friends and families
Hotel receipts
Other receipts
Wedding IV
Wedding program
Wedding website


To add
IHS
Priority receipt for application(if we do)
Completed application form
VAF...
Sponsorship undertaking


Please is anything missing ??

@Johnath,

I don't know how useful you may find this but we found it useful when we were putting our documents together.
@Kenttoday dropped it on 08/Feb/2019.
If you and your fiancee can get all or most of the documents, and they are within the 28 days rule, the only thing you can do is to believe God and get busy while you wait after biometric.

NB: All I have done here is a suggestion and will never replace what the UKVI will ask of you, please.

sarahska:


You don't need ielts, don't waste your money. Just add your Uni cert. Remember to write why you were denied, like in complete documentation bla bla bla. Try and get more pictures.

@sarahska,
I noticed that you got your visa in Sept 2015 and it's almost 4 years now.

When you advice that one shouldn't waste money on getting IELTS, is this information based on your 2015 experience or current UKVI English language requirements which is IELTS or UK-NARIC for certificates coming from outside the UK?

Lexusgs430:


Ensure other aspects are on point.... Not forgetting the '28 day rule'.....

Yeah, we triple checked our documents several days and was within the 28 days rule.

profemebee:
i have this exact issue..

i still checked my photocopies of what i submitted in May..

dont want to worry over it... the only thing is that the nickname is also the email address i even used to register for UKGov... so i guess they will notice..

did u submit screenshots too?

@Lexus thanks for confirming

@profemebee, the screenshots I added to the supporting documents that we submitted was from our Whatsapp voice/ video calls and
normal phone calls. I didn't screenshot the whatsapp chats as the voluminous exported chat log served us well.

You mentioned submitting in May, was it standard or priority?

Lexusgs430:



Should not be a major issue........... If other aspects of your documentations are perfect....... Nothing to worry about...........

Thank you for your prompt response @Lexusgs430.
It's good to know that it's not a major issue.

Hi everyone,

Please I need advice or clarification on the following from anyone that has been in this situation.

In the supporting documents we submitted to Sheffield over 3 weeks ago, we have just realised that the name on our Whatsapp chat logs which was exported by my wife had one of her name as can be seen on her official documents but my name as a pet name for example shortened the name from "Obinna" to "Obim" as saved on her contact.

Both of us has also used our pet names on birthday and anniversary cards that we exchanged. Please would this have an impact in the decision making as we forgot to clarify this in our support letter?

Thanks in advance as I await your responses.
@Lexusgs430, @justwise and others please assist me with this.

reemix123:
Is it ok to use WhatsApp screen shot as communication? How many months is ok

In my opinion, I think you will be better off if you export the whatsapp chat history and arrange it in any online Doc app/ Ms Word before printing.

As for the whatsapp call history (either voice or video calls), you can't export it at the moment, so you will have to screenshot each of them, copy it to (say, Google Doc/ Ms Word) and arrange them well before printing. I think the image below can help you.

As for how many months will be okay, my whatsapp chat history was 435 pages covering a duration of 18 months communication and I printed it front and back making it like 217 pages, while the screenshots was able to fit into 52 pages with 6 screenshots in a page.

You also have to bear in mind that whatsapp will not keep all your video or voice call history as they have a maximum call history the app can keep at a time.

I hope this helps.

robonski15:
Pix of the constructed double decker spawning vat...

Oga Robonski, this double deck spawning vat takes me back to the old school boarding school double bonk. So CatFish don join human get double bonk. Lol!
I'm proud of the great works you are unleashing.
May unlimited success be your story now and always.