# Should I use a Visa agency/service?



## twoLsmummy (Jul 7, 2010)

Hi everyone, 

I will be applying for a UK Settlement Visa soon and was just wondering if anyone has used an agency or some sort of service, lawyer, etc. to help with the application? Would it be worth it? Or has everyone had success just filing the paperwork on their own? I just don't want to mess up or miss anything vital. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

twoLsmummy said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I will be applying for a UK Settlement Visa soon and was just wondering if anyone has used an agency or some sort of service, lawyer, etc. to help with the application? Would it be worth it? Or has everyone had success just filing the paperwork on their own? I just don't want to mess up or miss anything vital. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!


Unless you have unusual situation which isn't adequately covered in visa application guide, most people are perfectly capable of putting together a successful application for settlement visa. The best thing to do is to prepare a draft application, and if you have a query or difficulty, ask here and we will do our best to help. As you are already spending over $1300, there is no need to fork out more for agents IMHO, who can do no more than any of us.


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## twoLsmummy (Jul 7, 2010)

Hi Joppa, thank you for the quick reply. I appreciate the feedback and hopefully, I will be able to figure it all out. This forum looks like it will be a great resource!


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## Lauren_999 (Jan 18, 2011)

I agree with Joppa, if you don't have unusual circumstances, you should be able to handle it no problem. 
When we first looked into the visa app process it seemed really convoluted and overwhelming, and we considered hiring a company or agent. I'm glad we didn't. Some want as much as $3,000 in addition to the regular visa fees and no one I called could give me a valid reason their services justified that amount. 
I also did a Google search for reviews on some of the agencies we found and the stories out there were pretty bad. Lost paperwork, poor communication, etc. I have been working on my settlement visa for five months, and I think you can find the answers to most any questions or clarifications online.
Hope that helps, and good luck!


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## tbonetedh (Jul 13, 2010)

*du pres*



twoLsmummy said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I will be applying for a UK Settlement Visa soon and was just wondering if anyone has used an agency or some sort of service, lawyer, etc. to help with the application? Would it be worth it? Or has everyone had success just filing the paperwork on their own? I just don't want to mess up or miss anything vital. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!




i am planning on using deprey consulting... we will send her all the paperwork filled out... she will charge 50 gdp for 30 minute phone consult - to go over the paperwork. Seems very reasonable and will give us some peace of mind about the process.

she appears very qualified, and was very personable and responsive to my initial inquiry.

UK Marriage Visa, Spouse Visa | UK Visas & Immigration | de Prey Consulting.

ted in yakima, soon to be in Milton Keynes...


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## twoLsmummy (Jul 7, 2010)

Lauren_999 said:


> I agree with Joppa, if you don't have unusual circumstances, you should be able to handle it no problem.
> When we first looked into the visa app process it seemed really convoluted and overwhelming, and we considered hiring a company or agent. I'm glad we didn't. Some want as much as $3,000 in addition to the regular visa fees and no one I called could give me a valid reason their services justified that amount.
> I also did a Google search for reviews on some of the agencies we found and the stories out there were pretty bad. Lost paperwork, poor communication, etc. I have been working on my settlement visa for five months, and I think you can find the answers to most any questions or clarifications online.
> Hope that helps, and good luck!



Thanks for the info Lauren, I really appreciate it. Five months seems like a long time to be working on your paperwork - have you had difficulties? I didn't think it would take that long, so maybe I do need to hire an agency after all. Hmm...


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## twoLsmummy (Jul 7, 2010)

tbonetedh said:


> i am planning on using deprey consulting... we will send her all the paperwork filled out... she will charge 50 gdp for 30 minute phone consult - to go over the paperwork. Seems very reasonable and will give us some peace of mind about the process.
> 
> she appears very qualified, and was very personable and responsive to my initial inquiry.
> 
> ted in yakima, soon to be in Milton Keynes...



Thanks Ted, I appreciate your input. I had actually looked at the Deprey Consulting website ages ago, but couldn't remember the name - thanks for jogging my memory! I appreciate the recommendation and may look into her services - seems pretty reasonable. I feel a bit overwhelmed just looking at the application and as you said, it would be nice to have some peace of mind about the process. Good luck with your move!


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## laurayang (May 27, 2011)

Lauren_999 said:


> I agree with Joppa, if you don't have unusual circumstances, you should be able to handle it no problem.
> When we first looked into the visa app process it seemed really convoluted and overwhelming, and we considered hiring a company or agent. I'm glad we didn't. Some want as much as $3,000 in addition to the regular visa fees and no one I called could give me a valid reason their services justified that amount.
> I also did a Google search for reviews on some of the agencies we found and the stories out there were pretty bad. Lost paperwork, poor communication, etc. I have been working on my settlement visa for five months, and I think you can find the answers to most any questions or clarifications online.
> Hope that helps, and good luck!


Hi Lauren, would it be possible to share the list of materials you will be using with me? I am applying one on the 14th, and I only give myself 11 days to put everything together. Is it too little time? Why is yours taking your 5 monthes? Laura


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## Lauren_999 (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi All,

Sorry, that does seem confusing, the five months statement. That's only because we started researching and gathering paperwork and making requests for official paperwork as soon as we got engaged (January), knowing we wouldn't be able to actually apply until after we were married (April). We are still waiting on paperwork from my husband's bank, so I have not yet sent my app.

Visa application does not need to take five months, but I have to say it is incredibly time consuming! (So Laura, I would say you definitely need more than 11 days, unless you already have most of the paperwork in hand. Especially since for many of the items, you're at the mercy of someone else's [a landlord, the bank] ability or even willingness to get them to you in a timely manner.) It doesn't help that my husband and I are not in the same country, so getting his stuff organized and notarized and sent over to me, so that I can get it assembled into a folder and ready to send, is a bit harder.

As for the documents I included, I have copy/pasted from a document I created to put in the application, a sort of Table of Contents (it pasted in wonky, and I can't fix the spacing, sorry about that). After searching and gathering and educating ourselves on what we _probably _needed to include (as you will read a million times, every situation is different and each application requires different kinds of materials), creating this first really helped me feel organized and better able to track it all down and check it off as I went.

So to put my supporting documents in perspective, I will explain my situation. I met my husband while we both on vacation in the States (he's British, I'm American). We kept up the relationship from overseas, and he visited me here in the US three times. I visited him in England once, to meet his family after we had become engaged. On his third visit to the US we were married. So one of our biggest concerns was that our dating relationship was rather short, and that we have never lived together in the same country. So we included lots of stuff to prove what they refer to as "Intervening Devotion." Of course another big concern was funds (as is everyone's), but we feel we have a good amount of savings to be ok on that one. But I do plan to work in the UK and contribute to the household, so I included supporting documents about my employability, including my resume, my last job contract, letters of rec, etc., and noted that I had already begun my job search to show that I was serious about getting employed as soon as possible. 

So, here goes: 

I. Sponsor Information
A. Sponsor’s Letter of Introduction
B. Notarized Copy of Passport Bio Page
C. Originals of Birth Certificate (short and long form)
D. Financial Info (in sealed envelope)
1. Bank statements 
2. P60 
3. Payslips 
E. Evidence of Accommodations
1. Letter from XXX verifying accommodations agreement
2. JXXX’s deeds to home
F. Employment Information
1. Letter of Employment from XYZ Co
2. Employment Contract from XYZ Co

II. Applicant Information
A. Applicant’s Letter of Introduction
B. Passport and two color passport-sized photos
C. Original Birth Certificate 
D. Biometrics Confirmation
E. Work History/Evidence of Employability
1. Resume
2. Most recent job contract 
3. Letters of recommendation from former/current employers
F. Financial History (in sealed envelope)
1. Bank statements 
2. 2010 Tax Forms (State and Federal)
3. Bank Letter / Verification of Deposits
G. Proposed flight itinerary to settle in England in July 2011

III. Applicant-Sponsor Relationship
A. Marriage
1. Original and Certified Copy of Marriage License
2. Wedding photos
3. Wedding invitations, save the date, cards from family, etc.

B. Intervening Devotion
1. Flight confirmations from visits 
2. Skype Video-Call log
3. Gmail e-mail log
4. Facebook messages Log
5. Handwritten letters and postcards
6. Photos from visits spent together

Hope that helps. If you have any questions about what something is or why I included it, don't hesitate to ask. Our approach is that we each wrote a letter explaining our situation (the Letter of Introduction) and intentions, then to "prove" the statements made in each letter, we included the appropriate documents. We included some stuff "just to be safe" and err on the side of including it and not needing it rather than needing it and leaving it out. It's organized in a 3-ring binder, in the same order as the Table of Contents, and separated into sections as labeled above. So even though it may be more info than we needed, it's well organized and everything should be easy to find -- I hope my ability to make the Entry Clearance Officer's job easy as possible bodes well for me


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## laurayang (May 27, 2011)

Lauren_999 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Sorry, that does seem confusing, the five months statement. That's only because we started researching and gathering paperwork and making requests for official paperwork as soon as we got engaged (January), knowing we wouldn't be able to actually apply until after we were married (April). We are still waiting on paperwork from my husband's bank, so I have not yet sent my app.
> 
> ...


Hi Lauren, thank you sooooooooooooooo much for the detailed reply. It will be very useful when I am putting everything together. The good thing is my husband and I are both in the UK right now, so I guess it makes it a bit easier to put things together. Good luck on your application!! And thank you again


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