# proof of relationship / accommodation documentation for Spousal visa



## spiderrusty (May 3, 2012)

HI all,
Bare with me I have a few questions:

My husband is applying for a spousal visa, I am a dual Citizen US/UK. We got married in the US (where we still live) back in 2004 on my US passport. Will the UK recognise our marriage? 

We have 2 young children, what documentation will we need to send for proof of relationship, other than marriage license, photos? We own a house in the US, is mortgage statement, utility bills, phone records good to send?

We plan to rent when we move over, but until we get a place to let we will reside at my mothers. Is a letter form my mom sufficient or is there other documentation we need to provide as proof of free accommodation? 

We also will not have employment until we get over there and look for one. I am currently unemployed here in the States but my husband is full time employed. Will he need to provide proof of current income for the visa? I know he needs an up to date CV, should he print out possible jobs that he is qualified to apply for to prove his job prospects?

Sorry about the lengthy inquiry, many thanks for any advice you may have
best
Spiderrusty


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## JollyCynic (May 1, 2012)

spiderrusty said:


> HI all,
> Bare with me I have a few questions:
> 
> My husband is applying for a spousal visa, I am a dual Citizen US/UK. We got married in the US (where we still live) back in 2004 on my US passport. Will the UK recognise our marriage?


Yes, they'll recognize your marriage. Your US marriage certificate will be fine for anything you'd need a marriage certificate for in the UK. (For instance, for your name change on your UK passport.)



> We have 2 young children, what documentation will we need to send for proof of relationship, other than marriage license, photos? We own a house in the US, is mortgage statement, utility bills, phone records good to send?


Having two children together seems like a pretty good proof of relationship to me.  Marriage certificate, mortgage papers, utility bills, phone records, your kids' birth certificates and photos sounds pretty complete. Maybe joint bank accounts.



> We plan to rent when we move over, but until we get a place to let we will reside at my mothers. Is a letter form my mom sufficient or is there other documentation we need to provide as proof of free accommodation?


Your mother will need to supply an original mortgage statement, lease agreement with landlord permission, or a Proof of Title. Also, a description of the accommodation will be required, stating how many rooms (bedrooms, reception rooms, dining rooms, etc.) the house has, and who all lives there.



> We also will not have employment until we get over there and look for one. I am currently unemployed here in the States but my husband is full time employed. Will he need to provide proof of current income for the visa? I know he needs an up to date CV, should he print out possible jobs that he is qualified to apply for to prove his job prospects?


Three to six months of pay stubs, three to six months of original bank records, a letter from the bank on official letterhead stating the details of the accounts, and several job postings in his field and your desired area.


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## mehemlynn (Nov 16, 2011)

spiderrusty said:


> HI all,
> Bare with me I have a few questions:
> 
> My husband is applying for a spousal visa, I am a dual Citizen US/UK. We got married in the US (where we still live) back in 2004 on my US passport. Will the UK recognise our marriage?
> ...


Do the children have UK Citizenship? If so they would need to go to the UK on a British passport to move there. If not then you will need to get a visa for each of them as well. The reason I ask is that you say you have US/ UK Citizenship, so is your UK Citizenship by descent - if so your children would not be UK Citizens (If I understand the rules correctly, but the UK Citizenship rules are very complex).

Other than that your situation is similar to ours (live in the US, moving back to the UK; but we do still own our house there).

Sorry if you answered the Citizenship thing for the children on another board.

M


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## spiderrusty (May 3, 2012)

*thank you*

JollyCynic,
thank you for answering each of my questions!! I would be at a loss if it was not for this forum. 

spiderrusty



JollyCynic said:


> Yes, they'll recognize your marriage. Your US marriage certificate will be fine for anything you'd need a marriage certificate for in the UK. (For instance, for your name change on your UK passport.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## spiderrusty (May 3, 2012)

*Citizenship of children by descent*

mehemlynn,
My father is British, my mother American. I was born in England 1974, hence the dual citizenship. From my research I believe my children are citizens by descent. I have yet to get hold of a human being on the phone to verify this. I've called the NY Consulate and only get the automated system and it directs me to their website, I called the passport office and they refused to give me this information stating they can not clarify this I should contact Border Authority.
I unfortunately have let my UK passport expire, once I get that renewed (in 5-6 weeks) I can register the girls via online. Once they are approved I can them apply separetely for their passports. 
It is complicated.


mehemlynn said:


> Do the children have UK Citizenship? If so they would need to go to the UK on a British passport to move there. If not then you will need to get a visa for each of them as well. The reason I ask is that you say you have US/ UK Citizenship, so is your UK Citizenship by descent - if so your children would not be UK Citizens (If I understand the rules correctly, but the UK Citizenship rules are very complex).
> 
> Other than that your situation is similar to ours (live in the US, moving back to the UK; but we do still own our house there).
> 
> ...


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## mehemlynn (Nov 16, 2011)

spiderrusty said:


> mehemlynn,
> My father is British, my mother American. I was born in England 1974, hence the dual citizenship. From my research I believe my children are citizens by descent. I have yet to get hold of a human being on the phone to verify this. I've called the NY Consulate and only get the automated system and it directs me to their website, I called the passport office and they refused to give me this information stating they can not clarify this I should contact Border Authority.
> I unfortunately have let my UK passport expire, once I get that renewed (in 5-6 weeks) I can register the girls via online. Once they are approved I can them apply separetely for their passports.
> It is complicated.


If you were born in England, then they should be Citizens by Decent. You don't have to register the girls, you should be able to apply for the passport directly. There is a part of the passport application that says if the child was not registered, fill out British parent's information (proof of citizenship, at the time of the child's birth, we are using my husband's birth certificate and passport number). The biggest pain for us so far is getting the co-sign on the passport form. One less step is good, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Here is some info on applying for a child's first passport. The application form, fee and supporting documents for a child passport : Directgov - Travel and transport

M


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## BandJ (Apr 20, 2012)

Hi all

I'm putting together our Application support docs list and would appreciate advice on the proposed contents!


Our background in brief:

I'm a British guy married to a US girl. Both over 30. We've been online friends since late 2002, had our first phone call in Feb 2004 and in a committed relationship since Jan 2011 (after a false start mid-2009!)
We got engaged in March 2011 and married on Jun 1st 2011.

My proposed Supporting Documents:

Applicant:

- Passport + 2 passport photos (named on the back & in a sealed envelope)	
- Letter of introduction_ (how extensive/short does this need to be?)	_
- CV_ (and outline of job prospects in UK if possible)?_ 

Sponsor (me):
- Passport _(will a simple copy of the Biometric page be sufficient?)	_
- Birth certificate _(is this needed?)	_ 
- Support letter. 
- Bank statements (min 3 months up to application date)	
- Savings statement (showing availability of funds in March 2013)?
- Payslips (3-6 months) and P60? 
- CV?	
- Letter from landlord/letting agent agreeing to my wife residing at the property and confirming landlord foresees no need to end the tenancy.
- Original property rental agreement. 
- Utility bill (mobile phone/water/gas/electric etc).	
_- Spreadsheet showing full income/living costs (inc how much is spent on children)?_ 

Sponsor's Family:
- Support letter confirming Father's 3rd party sponsor support.
- Savings statement from Sponsor's Father covering any shortfall in support.
_I assume the ECO will a combination of Sponsor/3rd Party Sponsor here or we're in trouble!
_
Our Relationship:
- Wedding photos. 
- General evidence of relationship photos (inc photobooth)	
- Marriage certificate_ (and licence payment evidence?)	_ 
- Selection of Facebook/Livejournal messages 
- Evidence of travel (boarding cards etc) 
- communications with marriage organisers 
- phone/mobile itemised bills showing communications 


Anything I've missed or comments on the above gratefully received!


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Hi, will your husband have employment already set up in England when you come to apply?
You will need proof of a certain amount of regular income you will be earning or savings to support a family of four,as unemployment is quite high, and there is a lot of competition for jobs.


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

I got hung-up on the spreadsheet that mentions children-does your wife have children from a previous relationship? If yes, she's going to need to include court orders showing she has full custody and can remove the children from the US, and a letter from the children's father approving the move wouldn't hurt. 

I know you have other questions but as I wrote above, I got hung-up on the children thing.


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## BandJ (Apr 20, 2012)

Heh. No problem.. She has a 16yr old daughter who has lived with her father since she was 1yr old. We did discuss her moving, but our research showed that the differences in education didn't suit her so we didn't go as far as getting the father's written agreement. It'll just mean visitation flights for mum and daughter, but we expected that.

We decided on the UK over the US due to the combination of her losing her job and my having resident 15 and 17yr olds. 






AnAmericanInScotland said:


> I got hung-up on the spreadsheet that mentions children-does your wife have children from a previous relationship? If yes, she's going to need to include court orders showing she has full custody and can remove the children from the US, and a letter from the children's father approving the move wouldn't hurt.
> 
> I know you have other questions but as I wrote above, I got hung-up on the children thing.


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

BandJ said:


> Heh. No problem.. She has a 16yr old daughter who has lived with her father since she was 1yr old. We did discuss her moving, but our research showed that the differences in education didn't suit her so we didn't go as far as getting the father's written agreement. It'll just mean visitation flights for mum and daughter, but we expected that.
> 
> We decided on the UK over the US due to the combination of her losing her job and my having resident 15 and 17yr olds.


Ah, right, resident teens  

So, on to your other questions Her* letter of introduction* should be concise, outlining how you met, keep/kept in contact whilst apart, plans for your future together in the UK, and on one sheet of A4 (both sides OK but brief is better from what I've read); should correspond with yours but shouldn't be word-word copy.

A *copy of your passport bio pages* is what they are looking for-make sure you send two copies. 

I'm not sure about *the birth certificate* for you, we included my UKC husband's but I don't remember now if that was because they wanted it, or if it was in lieu of his passport (expired and lost in the loft somewhere back in the 90s, lol. We explained that in a separate explanatory note).

*P60*-I've seen people say yes, and I've seen people say no, we sent his; same re *CVs*, and with 3 OR 6 months on *pay slips and bank-savings statements *re quantity. On the bank statements, we sent six months if that helps you any, but I think 3 months is the minimum they want to see.

*Utility bills* we didn't send, I don't think you need them, or mobile bills either. I think you have a box to fill in on the form and that covers it. If I'm wrong someone will correct me!

*Relationship proof*, we didn't include the receipt for the wedding, the marriage license is prepaid

The rest looks right and sufficient to me, but I'm not the UKBA, and best of all, if I've steered you wrong or missed something, someone will be along shortly to help out

**Re the mobile bills-we DID send those because the bills were part of proving the way we kept in contact when he was in the UK and I was in the States.


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## JollyCynic (May 1, 2012)

BandJ said:


> - Letter of introduction_ (how extensive/short does this need to be?)	_


Evidently not very extensive. I forgot to include one entirely.


> - CV_ (and outline of job prospects in UK if possible)?_


Print-outs of job postings (including salary ranges) in your area in her field can be nice. We included about half a dozen. We also had a letter of recommendation and a soft job offer, but they weren't really necessary.


> - Passport _(will a simple copy of the Biometric page be sufficient?)	_
> - Birth certificate _(is this needed?)	_


From my Supporting Documents list from the UKBA: "a written invitation from your sponsor in the UK and original or certified copy of their British/EU passport or UK residence permit" ... The US has a bizarre requirement that every passport page be certified separately, though we've heard others just get the bio page certified and copied the rest. I don't know if the UK has the same bizarre requirement or not. We've always just included our originals to avoid either the expense of $6 per passport page or the stress of possibly having just the bio page notarized rejected.
As to your birth certificate (long form, I'm guessing), we didn't include it, but it's probably nice.


> _- Spreadsheet showing full income/living costs (inc how much is spent on children)?_


I should have thought about a spreadsheet. I thought I'd shot myself in the foot when I just added up ALL expenses, like it seemed to indicate. They only seem to care about rent. If I'd had the spreadsheet, it would have made it obvious how much was for rent. (The lease agreement had this on it, though, so maybe I didn't shoot my foot clean off.)



> _I assume the ECO will [accept] a combination of Sponsor/3rd Party Sponsor here or we're in trouble!
> _


Sponsor, third-party sponsored support, and an estimation of what the sponsored party can expect to bring in all can count. I believe, however, that allowing third-party sponsored support is on the table for being removed in the immigration rules that are anticipated next month. (No word on what actually will be in those new rules, but that was definitely discussed.) So if you need third-party sponsored support, get your app in quickly.


> - Marriage certificate_ (and licence payment evidence?)	_


More's better than less! (I didn't need it, but seriously, if you have it, send it.)


> Anything I've missed or comments on the above gratefully received!


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## BandJ (Apr 20, 2012)

This was my thinking too.
(On both topics!)






AnAmericanInScotland said:


> Ah, right, resident teens
> 
> **Re the mobile bills-we DID send those because the bills were part of proving the way we kept in contact when he was in the UK and I was in the States.


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