# Fiancée Visa Cover Letter....



## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Handwritten or typewritten?

I can/am willing to do either... I have clear, legible cursive handwriting or could do Kindergarten style printing.

Thoughts?


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> Handwritten or typewritten?
> 
> I can/am willing to do either... I have clear, legible cursive handwriting or could do Kindergarten style printing.
> 
> Thoughts?


Typewritten, single spaced on both sides (if needed) of one sheet of A4. Naturally you will sign it, but type the body of the letter in as concise a manner as is possible.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

We typed ours, but printed out and signed them by hand.


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

2farapart said:


> We typed ours, but printed out and signed them by hand.


That's what we did too. I don't think the UKBA smiles and does the happy dance when they see a handwritten one, to be honest. I think they want to read through it quickly, match the signature on the app to the one on the letter, and move on quickly to the next doc.

WCCG, I have a feeling you have beautiful, easily read handwriting. But the ECO is so used to not being able to decipher the less-than-able penmanship that they will probably have an automatic 'OH NOES!' moment if yours is handwritten.

In my office we always groaned at handwrittens, and moved those to the bottom of the pile for 'sometime after lunch'. Erm, not that the UKBA would ever do something like that...


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

AnAmericanInScotland said:


> That's what we did too. I don't think the UKBA smiles and does the happy dance when they see a handwritten one, to be honest. I think they want to read through it quickly, match the signature on the app to the one on the letter, and move on quickly to the next doc.
> 
> WCCG, I have a feeling you have beautiful, easily read handwriting. But the ECO is so used to not being able to decipher the less-than-able penmanship that they will probably have an automatic 'OH NOES!' moment if yours is handwritten.
> 
> In my office we always groaned at handwrittens, and moved those to the bottom of the pile for 'sometime after lunch'. Erm, not that the UKBA would ever do something like that...


O.k.... I figured as much.  

I can well imagine what the ECO's have to look at. W*rking in Pharmacy, I've seen some pretty _bad_ handwriting in my day.

Typewritten it is and shall be, and no more than one single spaced, double sided sheet of 8½"x11" white paper... while this size is the norm in North America and the only size I have at home at the minute, if A4 is mandatory then I _can_ provide everything on A4 (I know of a place in the Metro Vancouver area that has A4 readily available).


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> O.k.... I figured as much.
> 
> I can well imagine what the ECO's have to look at. W*rking in Pharmacy, I've seen some pretty _bad_ handwriting in my day.
> 
> Typewritten it is and shall be, and no more than one single spaced, double sided sheet of 8½"x11" white paper... while this size is the norm in North America and the only size I have at home at the minute, if A4 is mandatory then I _can_ provide everything on A4 (I know of a place in the Metro Vancouver area that has A4 readily available).


I'm gonna tell you a little secret-when I was over in 2010 I noted that paper in the UK is (shocker) different size from the stuff in the US. I asked my then fiance and he said 'oh yes, that's A4'.

So when I was in the US prepping for the application and supporting documents I notice the UKBA site specified A4, and I thought uh oh...I dragged out to three office supply stores looking for A4 paper. 

I found it. 

I bought it. 

I used it. I got my visa.

It was sssssssspecial paper:rofl:

And it was exactly the same size as all the other copier paper I've ever bought in the US. 

But it was specified on the package I ended up buying in the US (at WallyWorld) as A4. 

It was sssssssspecial paper:rofl:


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

AnAmericanInScotland said:


> I'm gonna tell you a little secret-when I was over in 2010 I noted that paper in the UK is (shocker) different size from the stuff in the US. I asked my then fiance and he said 'oh yes, that's A4'.
> 
> So when I was in the US prepping for the application and supporting documents I notice the UKBA site specified A4, and I thought uh oh...I dragged out to three office supply stores looking for A4 paper.
> 
> ...


But I don't get it... when I've tried to print off the Visa Application on North American "Letter" size paper, it cuts off a bit at the top and the bottom. Heck, even the sales invoice from the jeweler has been cut off at the bottom when I've tried to photocopy it for the application.

Also, when I Googled "Is A4 the same as 'Letter'," this is what I get, which shows that A4 is slightly longer and thinner than "Letter" size paper.

Heck, even the braille bookshop I buy from (here in Vancouver) sells "Letter" *and* A4 sized slates for their customers to use.

So very confusing to the confused... 

There's a Japanese style Dollar Store in Vancouver that sells stationery (notebooks, binders, paper etc) from Japan and it would appear that A4 is the standard size in Japan as well as in the UK, so I'm sure that if I have a look around Daiso (the store in question), I can find A4 paper and load up my printer(s) (w*rk and home).


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

A4 is 8.3 inches x 11.7 inches, in contrast to US Letter which is 8.5 x 11. While photocopies of supporting evidence can be in US Letter, you should print out your application in A4, as it's formatted to fit A4 exactly. Most printers have a setting for A4.

A4 may be stocked by some office suppliers or they can order one. Mail order house can often supply from stock. Or if your UK sponsor is flying over, get them to put a ream into their luggage. Some stores may be able to trim larger paper sizes to A4 but it's not recommended, as it may jam your printer.


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

I did have to set the printer at A4 to get the app and other things to print out correctly. 

When I tried to 'square the edges', though, the papers I'd brought from the UK printed on paper my husband bought in the UK were longer than the ones I printed on A4 paper that I bought in the US, it worried me a bit that there was a difference in sizes of what I was submitting.

But again, I did set the printer in the US to A4, and everything printed out properly onto the paper bought in the US labelled as A4.

I put the US bought A4 against US bought bog-standard copier paper and there really was no difference in size width or length. I tried not to think about that part, lol, as I felt at that point I had far more important things to worry over.

I will say this, though-had I been able to find the real A4, I would have used it in a heartbeat.


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