# UK Spouse Visa checklist



## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Hello everyone

I'm in the process of compiling a list of documents in order to prepare submitting my wife's spouse visa. My wife is an Iraqi citizen, however she lives in Oman and we're applying for the visa from Muscat. I was wondering if someone could have a look at my list and double check, see if anything is missing, or if there are extra things I don't need. Also for particular items in the list I've put some questions, which hopefully someone will be able to clarify.

*A. Application*
-Letter of introduction
-Original Iraqi passport (photocopy needed?)
-Original Omanian ID card (photocopy needed?)
-2x passport sized photos
-Printed online Visa4UK application
-Appendix 2 form (category A)
-English test results (Life Skills A1)

*B. Sponsor*
-Sponsorship letter
-Sponsorship declaration (Does it need to be stamped?)
-Passport photocopy

*C. Financial*
-Employment letter from employer
-Letter of confirmation from employer accountant
-P60 (current year)
-6 months payslips (paid weekly)
-6 months bank statements
Is an employment contract mandatory for this section? Or would the letter from the employer and his accountant suffice?

*D. Accommodation*
For this section, I've bought a house and I am just still waiting for the mortgage application to complete. What documents would I need to provide once I officially own the house? Are utility bills or council tax bills very important? Because I would have JUST moved in the house and won't have any bills at the time we'll be applying.

*F. Relationship*
-Attested marriage certificate in Arabic along with attested translation in English
-Marriage photos (Reasonable amount?)
-Photos of us together in Oman (Reasonable amount?)
-Air tickets of me travelling to Oman
-WhatsApp screenshots (Reasonable amount?)


I would also like to ask you how should we organize the documents. Do we submit two piles, one for originals and one for photocopies? Also what is the best way to hold the piles, punching them and hold them by a treasury tag? Also should we put a white paper with the title of each section in front of it?

Finally, if anyone knows anything else I should know about applying from Oman I would appreciate any details

Apologies for the large number of question, just want to make sure we don't miss anything.

Thanks in advance for your help


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## secretlobster (Mar 2, 2015)

It's safest to make photocopies of al documents, including passports. 

A sponsorship form (if you need one) doesn't need to be stamped, as the information is verified by the sponsor him- or herself.

The letter from the employer should state all relevant details about the sponsor's employment history and current status; if you do have a contract, then you should certainly include it.

For accommodation, include evidence of the mortgage and sale of the house. Get a certified copy of the deed. I really think you should wait to apply until you have a month of utility bills or a tax statement. Otherwise you are proving that you own the house, but not that you're currently living there. Consider getting a property inspection as well. In any case, you'll need it if there are others besides you and your spouse living there.

10-15 photos are reasonable. Maybe 15-20 including wedding photos, but no more than 20 total. They should show a variety of locations. It's not valuable to submit 15 different photos from the same day, for example.

Keep all communication logs to no more than 15 pages or so, in total.

Yes, submit two piles of originals and photocopies. You don't need sections, but a table of contents would be fine to illustrate exactly which documents you are submitting, in order, so they know what to look for. They should just be two simple piles of documents tied with string (something I learned here).


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

secretlobster said:


> It's safest to make photocopies of al documents, including passports.
> 
> A sponsorship form (if you need one) doesn't need to be stamped, as the information is verified by the sponsor him- or herself.
> 
> ...


It's just that we really need to submit our application as soon as possible, so waiting a month for a utility bill or council tax is just delaying us too much. I mean is it vital to provide such bills? Is there a big possibility that they'll refuse the application if I don't provide them? I'm just thinking if I'm proving that I own the house, then clearly I can (and will) live in it. Also my bank statements will be in the address of the house.

Also according to this document the accommodation details can include things such as utility bills, but doesn't necessarily have to. So I guess my question here is the likehood of them refusing the application without me providing such bills.

Thanks


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Also when you say "documents tied with string", do you mean something like the following:









If yes, should both piles be put in one of these?


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You don't need the Oman id card.

You need to have suitable accommodation lined up before she can apply so you'll need to have your mortgage sorted. You should provide the deed or a land registry document which is available online for £3. If you have just moved into the property you may be able to just explain that but a council tax or other utility bill would be helpful to prove that you actually live there as well as own the property.

10-15 photos max.

1-2 log pages of communication for every 6 months of so. 10-15 pages max.

Copies of everything.

Make a stack of originals and a stack of copies in the same order. Just make it logical like all financial together, all accommodation together, all relationship together. No dividers, sleeves, table of contents (they know what they are looking for and at), tabs or clips needed.

Literally tie each stack with string or ribbon.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> You don't need the Oman id card.
> 
> You need to have suitable accommodation lined up before she can apply so you'll need to have your mortgage sorted. You should provide the deed or a land registry document which is available online for £3. If you have just moved into the property you may be able to just explain that but a council tax or other utility bill would be helpful to prove that you actually live there as well as own the property.
> 
> ...


Thank you.

In regards to the Oman card, I thought they need a proof of residence in the country someone applies from. She has two years residency in Oman (expires end of next year), so I thought we need to show that she is a current resident.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> You don't need the Oman id card.
> 
> You need to have suitable accommodation lined up before she can apply so you'll need to have your mortgage sorted. You should provide the deed or a land registry document which is available online for £3. If you have just moved into the property you may be able to just explain that but a council tax or other utility bill would be helpful to prove that you actually live there as well as own the property.
> 
> ...


Also when you say "copies of everything", does that mean literally a copy of every document in the application? So copies of my payslips, bank statements, photos, letters etc? I mean do I even need a photocopy of the appendix 2 and online application along with the actual ones?


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## secretlobster (Mar 2, 2015)

The reality is, we do not work for UKVI and a lot of the opinions you get here about which documents to include are based on personal experience or observation of trends. We have seen visa applications rejected because the ECO was not satisfied about the state and legitimacy of accommodations. I know you don't want to wait another month, but is it worth risking a failed application and having to start over if your documentation is found to be inadequate? That will ultimately be much more costly and time-consuming. It's up to you which documents you can/will provide and how much risk you're willing to take, but there is a real possibility of your application being refused if you do not provide more than bank statements and the deed to the house. 

It's not obvious that owning a house means that you live there. Many people own property which they do not themselves occupy. I am well familiar with the supporting documents to which you refer, but a lot of detail is missing with regard to how much evidence realistically needs to be provided to be considered adequate by a human being who is given a lot of leeway to exercise his or her own judgment of your individual case.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Ali Alamiri said:


> Also when you say "copies of everything", does that mean literally a copy of every document in the application? So copies of my payslips, bank statements, photos, letters etc? I mean do I even need a photocopy of the appendix 2 and online application along with the actual ones?


You don't need to copy the online application or Appendix 2 but yes, you should provide a copy of everything else.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

secretlobster said:


> The reality is, we do not work for UKVI and a lot of the opinions you get here about which documents to include are based on personal experience or observation of trends. We have seen visa applications rejected because the ECO was not satisfied about the state and legitimacy of accommodations. I know you don't want to wait another month, but is it worth risking a failed application and having to start over if your documentation is found to be inadequate? That will ultimately be much more costly and time-consuming. It's up to you which documents you can/will provide and how much risk you're willing to take, but there is a real possibility of your application being refused if you do not provide more than bank statements and the deed to the house.
> 
> It's not obvious that owning a house means that you live there. Many people own property which they do not themselves occupy. I am well familiar with the supporting documents to which you refer, but a lot of detail is missing with regard to how much evidence realistically needs to be provided to be considered adequate by a human being who is given a lot of leeway to exercise his or her own judgment of your individual case.


Thanks for your reply.

I guess that brings me to another question (sorry if it's odd). Is there a quick way to get a utility bill or council tax bill once I move to the house? As in would I be able to for example get one within a week by calling the electricity supplier for instance and ask them to provide me with one?


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> You don't need to copy the online application or Appendix 2 but yes, you should provide a copy of everything else.


Thank you for the clarification.

Sorry to bring it up again, but do you still think we don't need to provide the Oman ID in light of my reply to your comment.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Ali Alamiri said:


> Thank you for the clarification.
> 
> Sorry to bring it up again, but do you still think we don't need to provide the Oman ID in light of my reply to your comment.


Does she have a visa in her passport? If so, than that is probably the proof that they are looking for. If not, then it should probably be included.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> Does she have a visa in her passport? If so, than that is probably the proof that they are looking for. If not, then it should probably be included.


Yes then in this case we should include it as the visa is not on her passport.

Thanks for your replies and help, much appreciated.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

I think you should be able to get a utility company or Council to send you something immediately. We had very little to show accommodation as we did not live here but our land registry document showed we had owned it for years and I found one or two other documents referring to our ownership. We included our permanent residence certificate of the Bahamas as it was not my husband's home country. We also included copies of everything except for the application form and Appendix 2 (but remember to keep copies of those two documents for yourself.)


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Whatshouldwedo said:


> I think you should be able to get a utility company or Council to send you something immediately. We had very little to show accommodation as we did not live here but our land registry document showed we had owned it for years and I found one or two other documents referring to our ownership. We included our permanent residence certificate of the Bahamas as it was not my husband's home country. We also included copies of everything except for the application form and Appendix 2 (but remember to keep copies of those two documents for yourself.)


Thanks for your reply. Yes I think I will just ask a utility company or the council to provide me with something, and hopefully it won't take long.

Thanks again.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Hello again.

Sorry to bring this thread up again, but I've got a question in mind and was hoping someone can give me some advice.

I was wondering if instead of a utility bill I supply my registration letter with the utility company (which I should be able to get pretty quickly), would that suffice as a proof I'm living in the address specified? I could additionally put a note to the ECO that I've just moved to the house and still haven't got a payable utility bill, but I do provide evidence of me being registered with a utility company. Do you think this is adequate enough?

Thanks in advance


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Just wanted to bring up this thread again as I've got a couple of questions (instead of creating a new thread).

My first question is in regards to the relationship photos. The photos I'm providing are of us together, and additionally photos from our engagement party. We haven't done a wedding ceremony yet, as we plan to do it in the UK (we are in civil marriage though, the wedding is just still to come). Do I need to explicitly note that in the application somewhere? Would I need to note on the photos that they're from our engagement, and tell them we'll do the wedding in the UK? I'm thinking since I'm providing the marriage certificate, photos of us together and engagement photos then I won't need to let them know our wedding will be in the UK, but just wanted to make sure from you guys.

My second question is about the whatsapp/facebook screenshots. I'm planning to have screenshots across a year from both whatsapp and facebook. However, our conversations are entirely in Arabic. Would that be of any issue? Also how many screenshots per A4 do you recommend?

Thanks again.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Sorry to keep bringing the thread up, but hoping if someone has got some advice to my questions.

Thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Photos should have captions describing the occasions. No need to elaborate about wedding celebrations, though you may add a line in your introductory letter. Just headers needed for social media, not contents.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Joppa said:


> Photos should have captions describing the occasions. No need to elaborate about wedding celebrations, though you may add a line in your introductory letter. Just headers needed for social media, not contents.


Sorry can you elaborate what you mean by social media headers? 
Also in terms of the photos, should I submit original ones (printed) where available, or just photocopies of all photos only?

Thanks


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Photos should be printed on photo paper. Attach them to sheets of A4 with brief descriptions above or below.

You only need log pages for texts, emails etc. not actual content. So, just something like the date, time, who it's from/sent to, subject line. Or some combination of those.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> Photos should be printed on photo paper. Attach them to sheets of A4 with brief descriptions above or below.
> 
> You only need log pages for texts, emails etc. not actual content. So, just something like the date, time, who it's from/sent to, subject line. Or some combination of those.


I'm just trying to fully picture the whole whatsapp/facebook logs, as I still am not too sure I get how I will do it. So basically I have a year period covered by our whatsapp conversations. So are you just basically saying I write a paper with for example a table of logs that includes date, sender/receiver, subject? I just don't feel that is going to allow me to produce around 10 A4 pages of communication logs, as I could just have a table in one page with entries across one year. I feel I'm missing something, as I can't see how for example I can produce lets say around 10 pages of communication with just dates etc. The only thing I can think of is having weekly entries in the log, not sure if that is what is expected. Wouldn't a log page for each month of the year, with a date at top and a screenshot underneath provide better evidence? 

Apologies if I don't seem to grab the idea too quickly.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

In addition to the query above, I've got a couple of questions about accommodation.

Since my mortgage and moving to my house is going to take a bit longer than expected, I decided to move to a property owned by my family and apply the application with this property. I actually have two options, I could move to a property owned by my sister and I will be the only one living there. The other option is to move to a property owned by my father, however it is rented by my mother, who lives in it along with my two sisters. I wanted to make sure I have the right list of documents in case I chose either property. The following is what I have in mind for each property, and is hoping if someone can double check them:

(Property owned by sister)
-Letter from my sister saying the property is available for me and my spouse
-Utility bill
-Pictures of property
-Inspection report

(Property owned by father)
-Letter from father saying we can move in
-Letter signed by mother and my two sisters saying same as above
-Tenancy agreement in my mother's name
-Inspection report
-Utility bill

In terms of my second option, does the utility bill have to be in my name, or is it fine to have in my mother's name?

Is there anything missing from either list?

Thanks in advance for all the great help.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

Ali Alamiri said:


> In addition to the query above, I've got a couple of questions about accommodation.
> 
> Since my mortgage and moving to my house is going to take a bit longer than expected, I decided to move to a property owned by my family and apply the application with this property. I actually have two options, I could move to a property owned by my sister and I will be the only one living there. The other option is to move to a property owned by my father, however it is rented by my mother, who lives in it along with my two sisters. I wanted to make sure I have the right list of documents in case I chose either property. The following is what I have in mind for each property, and is hoping if someone can double check them:
> 
> ...


Hoping to get some advice regarding at least this question.

Thanks


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## manel (Jul 20, 2014)

If you intend to submit your conversations which are in Arabic you should translate them as I have seen someone was refused because the conversations were not translated into English as it is shown in the image below ,just do it to be in the safe side .


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

manel said:


> If you intend to submit your conversations which are in Arabic you should translate them as I have seen someone was refused because the conversations were not translated into English as it is shown in the image below ,just do it to be in the safe side .


Thanks for your reply.

Do they have to be translated by a registered translator, or can I just include my own translation of them?

Also instead of actual content or screenshots of our whatsapp conversations (which I need to translate), would it be safer/acceptable to submit a few pages of logs which show weekly dates across 6 months of our conversations? For example like the following:
01/01/2015
07/01/2015
etc ...

I'm just trying to choose the safest and most acceptable way to submit our communication evidence. I'm just not too sure if submitting only logs with dates like the example I gave will satisfy them. On the other hand submitting screenshots only shows content in Arabic, and I'm not sure if it's acceptable to provide my own translation, or if it needs to be translated by some kind of registered translator.

Hope someone can shed more light on this.

Thank you


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## manel (Jul 20, 2014)

They don't want to see everyday conversation but at Least one page evey month is acceptable ,I have seen some people translated their conversations themselves but I don't know if they are acceptable or no as the UKVI stated that the documents that are not in English or welsh should be translated by an official translator .


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

manel said:


> They don't want to see everyday conversation but at Least one page evey month is acceptable ,I have seen some people translated their conversations themselves but I don't know if they are acceptable or no as the UKVI stated that the documents that are not in English or welsh should be translated by an official translator .


Thanks for your help. I think it would be quite ridiculous if we need to translate our very informal conversation by an official translator. It makes sense for official documents, but not for conversation between two people. Add to that our dialect that we speak in, which even an Arabic translator may not understand.


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## KHP (Oct 25, 2012)

We didn't translate any of our emails. We just printed out a log of emails exchanged between us for the duration of our relationship. I very much doubt they will want to read through your personal conversations they just want to see how often you've been in contact.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

KHP said:


> We didn't translate any of our emails. We just printed out a log of emails exchanged between us for the duration of our relationship. I very much doubt they will want to read through your personal conversations they just want to see how often you've been in contact.


Thanks for your reply.

Can I please ask you to maybe give me an example of how your logs looked like? Because that is the most thing I'm not sure about and I really want to get it right.

Thanks


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

WhatsApp communication section

01/01/2015 - Sender: me Receiver: spouse - Subject: discussing wedding dress

07/01/2015 - Sender: me Receiver: spouse - Subject: general talk
etc...

Something like this should be fine. You should show that you have kept in consistent contact. Depending on how long you have been separated 1-2 log pages every 6 months or so. So for example 1 Whatsapp log page from February 2014, 1 Facebook log page from August 2014, 1 text log page from January 2015, 1 Whatsapp log page from June 2015.


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## 738137 (Dec 12, 2014)

nyclon said:


> WhatsApp communication section
> 
> 01/01/2015 - Sender: me Receiver: spouse - Subject: discussing wedding dress
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot for your help, appreciate it.


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