# UK spouse visa supporting documents



## pjandrachel (Mar 12, 2013)

Hi all

I am new to this forum so hope this comes out OK!
Anyway I have a few of questions to ask! I am a UK citizen and my husband is a US Citizen. We are currently in the process of putting together our supporting documents! The poat on the website that states that if we dont send all the documents correctly the first time they can refuse the visa scares me a bit! Anyway am hoping someone could advise us -

1 - As the UK citizen I earn over the required income amount to support my husband. My husband claims social security in the USA and this will continue when he is in the UK and we dont intend for him to seek employment as i can support him. I have seen from reading this forum that many people are sending documents relating to the applicants financial income and employability. Is it essential to send anything relating to the applicants income or employability if the sponsors income is more than enough to support the sponsor? Obviously we will file any taxes that he is required to do. 

2 - When should we apply? The website says up to 3 months before he intends to travel. Does this mean if he wanted to travel on august 1st we would have to apply after May 1st or before May 1st? Is it so they have 3 months to process?

3 - We are supposed to send originals and copies! Is this of everything? I understand for birth certificates, wage slips etc but I dont want to send original cards from each other, or copies of the letters that I have saved. I have photocopies of boarding passes to show we have met but do I have to send the originals? If so the application would be huge!!

This is a copy of our contents page - any feedback would be appreciated 

1.	Signed and Dated Printout of My Online Visa Application Form 
2.	My Valid Passport
3.	2 Recent Passport-Sized Photographs	
4.	My Stamped Biometric Appointment Receipt 
5.	Letter of introduction (from me the applicant) 
6.	Letter of support (from my spouse the sponsor) 
7.	A photocopy of sponsors biographical page of passport 
8.	A copy of my intended flight itinerary 
9.	Birth Certificates of Both myself and my wife 
10.	Copies of divorce documents for my previous marriages 
11.	Evidence of our Marriage including our marriage certificate 
12.	Documents regarding my spouse/sponsors financial income 
Previous 6 months of wage slips 
Letter from employer 
Bank statements corresponding to the wage slips 
Most recent P60 
A copy of my spouses current employment contract 
13.	Accommodation in The UK Letter from my spouses mother who will provide initial accommodation 
14.	Evidence that my wife and I have met in person arranged in chronological order 
15.	Proof that Our Relationship is Genuine and Subsisting Evidence of financial co-mingling 
Evidence showing other people are aware of our marriage Affidavits from friends and family who know us as a genuine partnership Examples of how we communicate when we are apart


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

1. Do not include anything about your partner's income or financial situation.

2. If you want to travel on August 1, apply after May 1. (With priority it takes about 15 days to process. Without priority, it can take months.)

3. Send the original cards. I got everything back, including the copies. The size of the application doesn't matter. Mine was about seven inches tall. 

Regarding number one on your list, make sure you fill out Appendix 2.

Otherwise, looks good.


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## pjandrachel (Mar 12, 2013)

Another question! I am getting together documents and have already overfiled a ringbinder! Is it ok to use a larger lever arch file?


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## cc9 (Oct 29, 2012)

They might make you remove all your documents from the file anyway and just ask you to stack them neatly in a pile


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

I agree with CC9. Don't use a binder. It will get thrown away and it slows down the process.


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## pjandrachel (Mar 12, 2013)

So should i secure the pile of documents with string or treasury tags?


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

I used rubber bands to bind the big things that belonged together, such as the year of Skype logs, year of phone records. But I left the overall bundle unbound. You can use string if you want - that's what Joppa usually recommends.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

You don't need that much skype/FB Chat/email.... just furnish a random selection from across the length of your relationship... ie... definitely some from the beginning and then every 3-5 months after that. The point here is to show that you've been in communication, but they don't need to see every single time you've spoken. I'd say for Skype and email, don't send in more than 10 pages double sided print.

Use string or elastics and paperclips if you feel the need to bind your package, but don't send 3 ring binder or use plastic sleeves for each page in your application... just make sure that everything is in a tidy stack. The ECO has to remove each page from the sleeve before they can look at it, so you are only making more work for them, and when you get your stuff back, don't be surprised if it's just been stuffed into the return packet in no particular order... this is especially true if you do send a binder/plastic sleeves.

Good luck to you!


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## pjandrachel (Mar 12, 2013)

if it could take months to process without priority is it too much to expect the visa by aug 1st?


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

Nobody can give you a definitive answer about the length of time your application will take but I will say if you intend to travel on August 1, don't apply until the middle or end of May. Your travel date has to be within three months of your application.

For current processing times, see UK Border Agency news and updates. It says eight weeks right now is the average for non-priority.


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## VisaVivs (Mar 26, 2013)

For the Skype chats/phone logs, emails, and other communications, are you just supposed to copy and paste it into a Word doc to print out, take screen shots, or use some other method of printing? Should everything be printed double sided, or one page per sheet of paper? And do you need to make multiple copies of these documents, since they aren't technically "original" being from a virtual or mobile source?

Also, when organizing all your documents to send, should the "originals" and "copies" be separated into two different piles? Or one on top of the other? (ie: original marriage certificate w/copy directly below it; original financial paperwork w/copies below it; printed photos w/copies below; etc...) Is there anything you don't need copies for?

Thanks for any help in advance!


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## MacUK (Jul 3, 2012)

We just took screenshots with Alt+Print Screen and copied them in a Word document. We used 1 sheet of paper for 1 screenshot. No copies needed for Skype, e-mails, Facebook logs.

Put every copy behind the original document, organize them in this order:
Application Forms
Letters of introduction/sponsorship
Passports
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificates
Financial Requirement Documents
Accommodation 
Relationship evidence (pictures, travel tickets, skype, e-mail, wedding cards/invitations etc...)
Make sure you have copies of every original document, they will check if the originals correspond with the copies, and then they will return the originals to you.


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## VisaVivs (Mar 26, 2013)

MacUK said:


> We just took screenshots with Alt+Print Screen and copied them in a Word document. We used 1 sheet of paper for 1 screenshot. No copies needed for Skype, e-mails, Facebook logs.
> 
> Put every copy behind the original document, organize them in this order:
> Application Forms
> ...


Thanks MacUK! Do you know if travel tickets have to be original (ie: the actual boarding pass), or is a printed itinerary acceptable? My partner and I have traveled extensively together, but I didn't save most of my original tickets/receipts as I didn't realize I'd need them in the future! (kicking myself now!)


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## MacUK (Jul 3, 2012)

If you have any left, it would be a good idea to include them. 
Otherwise, E-tickets should be okay, printed from your e-mail or your on line account with that airline if you purchased them on line.


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## OrganisedChaos (Mar 26, 2013)

VisaVivs said:


> Thanks MacUK! Do you know if travel tickets have to be original (ie: the actual boarding pass), or is a printed itinerary acceptable? My partner and I have traveled extensively together, but I didn't save most of my original tickets/receipts as I didn't realize I'd need them in the future! (kicking myself now!)


I know the feeling! There's so much we didn't keep or remember to 'record' that could have been used as evidence, but just explain that in your letter. With all the hassle of flying and everything involved, the last thing I remember is to tuck my used ticket away for the future. 

All this to demonstrate that the relationship is authentic, but I sure as heck wouldn't think to do all of this if we weren't preparing for a visa.
If it wasn't such a headache it would be almost funny.


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## MacUK (Jul 3, 2012)

I actually contemplated on including our daughter's vaccination chart ....otherwise, when my husband came to visit I would take the actual tickets from the boarding pass, he always throws them away. As he does his booking on line, he was able to download every e -ticket from his account with the airline, so we submitted those along with some actual boarding passes.


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## VisaVivs (Mar 26, 2013)

OrganisedChaos said:


> I know the feeling! There's so much we didn't keep or remember to 'record' that could have been used as evidence, but just explain that in your letter. With all the hassle of flying and everything involved, the last thing I remember is to tuck my used ticket away for the future.
> 
> All this to demonstrate that the relationship is authentic, but I sure as heck wouldn't think to do all of this if we weren't preparing for a visa.
> *If it wasn't such a headache it would be almost funny*.


Tell me about it! Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry! I think the fact the we're willing to go through all of this in the first place should be evidence enough of a genuine relationship! 

My partner is a bit of a pack-rat, so he's saved almost everything, receipt wise (I knew there was a reason I didn't make him throw out all that "clutter"!). Hopefully that, mixed with any pictures or online receipts I can find will suffice.


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## Sel (Mar 17, 2013)

Can I ask, if you have two jobs to cover the financial requirement? for example, a job from Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm and a night job on weekends from around 3.30pm - 10pm saturday - sunday and with the same employers for 6 months would I be able to apply for application and show proof for 6 months or would I have to wait 12 months? before applying


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Sel said:


> Can I ask, if you have two jobs to cover the financial requirement? for example, a job from Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm and a night job on weekends from around 3.30pm - 10pm saturday - sunday and with the same employers for 6 months would I be able to apply for application and show proof for 6 months or would I have to wait 12 months? before applying


I would say yes, as the stipulation is with the same employer for 6 months, and not the number of jobs you hold with them. Though I also think the two jobs need to be in the same field/division. So for example, you can't presumably apply under Cat A if you work as receptionist Monday to Friday but you also do weekend cleaning job for them, though it doesn't actually say so in the rules.


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