# Barclays Bank - Unbelivable!!!!!!!



## djr18 (Apr 21, 2014)

Hi,

I am applying for a spouse visa using category F. 

I have come up against the most infuriating situation caused by Barclay Bank's total incompetence.

All I need are 12 months of previous statements (March 2013 - Feb 2014) that are printed on Barclay Bank's stationary. I do not have these since I signed up to online 'paperless' statements. 

So I went into the Branch to order these previous statements and confirmed with the assistant that what they would send me would be official statements on Barclay's stationary. However, what I received was what looked like photocopied online statements with a cover letter from Barclays. 

I thought that they must have made a mistake and so I phoned up customer services who apologized and told me that they would send me out non-photocopied official statements. I repeated my requirements (HO requirements) about 4 or 5 times and customer services confirmed to me quite a few time that the statements would be copies of the originals on Barclays stationary.  

Guess what... They arrived and were EXACTLY the same as before! 

So I turned to these forums and found out that obtaining previous statements from Barclays is not that easy. The advice seemed to be that I should take these photocopied black and white statements into the bank and get a member of staff to stamp and attest them. 

So I thought OK it is a bit of a trip and I do have about 45 pages but I can do that!!!

So I go to barclays and they refused to sign the statements quoting company policy thus leaving me in this limbo. My other Bank HSBC has been fine. 

So now my questions are, 

1. Can I use the statements that they sent me as they are. I have a covering letter on Barclay';s headed paper. However this is a general letter and does not refer to anything specific apart from my name. I have the black and white copies of their system's online printout. 

2. Has anyone been successful in getting 1 year's of statements attested by Barclays?

I know that you all understand how stressful the application for a spouse visa can be but shouldn't a UK bank be able to provide this type of information on official stationary?

David


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

They are acceptable for visa application purposes, with a covering letter, so don't panic.


----------



## Stumped (Jul 20, 2011)

I went through a huge rigmarole with my old PSW visa. I didn't work while an MA student in the UK, so I had to use statements from my US bank account. Of course, being environmentally conscious turned out to be a pain, as I had to order statements on bank-headed paper. I specifically requested color headed paper, and twice my bank sent black-and-white photocopies. I even talked to several people at the bank, and they said that was all they'd provide. So I ended up sending the black-and-white copies with my application. I received a phone call (!) from the person working on my application, telling me that if I didn't send color statements, my application would be unsuccessful. (This surprised me....I've never heard of the UKBA calling applicants.) In the end, in a panic, I made contact with a rep at my US bank, who figured out a way to express color headed statements to me, which I expressed to the UKBA. And my app was successful. But not without a huge headache.

(The color statments were simply the SAME statements as the photocopies, but with some blue and green at the top of the page. I guess I understand that the UKBA wants to be sure the statements aren't forged, but couldn't someone forge some color statements?)


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

But OP has a covering letter on bank's stationery, which is acceptable.


> 3.3.4. Bank statements must be on official bank stationery. Alternatively electronic bank statements can also be accepted for all bank accounts (the account itself does not have to be exclusively online) as long as they are either accompanied by* a letter from the bank on its headed stationery confirming that the documents are authentic* or which bear the official stamp of the issuing bank on every page.


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...3/Financial_Requirement_Guidance_20140324.pdf


----------



## Lorelli (Jan 6, 2012)

Barclays authenticated a statement for us in the past. The teller meticulously checked each row of my statement against his computer screen before stamping all two pages with 'this is a true and certified copy'. However, it's probably too big an undertaking to expect branch staff to do this for an entire year's worth of statements. 

It's standard policy rolled out across many banks, not incompetence. The onus is on visa applicants to plan ahead in good time and gather documentation in the required format to support their applications. 

We switched from paperless to paper statements in the run up to our application for this specific purpose. For the benefit of others reading this thread, I'd advise anyone else in a similar situation to do the same and avoid fruitless argument with the bank later on.


----------



## OrganisedChaos (Mar 26, 2013)

Lorelli said:


> We switched from paperless to paper statements in the run up to our application for this specific purpose. For the benefit of others reading this thread, I'd advise anyone else in a similar situation to do the same and avoid fruitless argument with the bank later on.


I absolutely agree! I converted to paper statements as soon as I knew we were on course to apply. Saves so much grief when you have a million other things to sort out AND more proof of accommodation lol.


----------



## Pultet (Sep 17, 2013)

I don't know why, but the barclay branch i go to, they're really helpful. I requested a 1 year bank statement and told them that i need it for the home office so they have to make sure there's barclya logo on it, when i received the bank statements i went to one of their branches and asked them to stamp it, they did without question and the lady even put her signature on it >.< maybe depends on the branch.


----------



## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

Went through the exact same thing as the OP with Barclays myself. In the end, I just ran out of time and had to send the statements I had. I was given the visa but to this day I do not know if the Barclays statements were accepted or was the money we had in our savings account which was properly stamped the thing that got us the visa. Pultet, I don't suppose there's any chance of you telling us the approximate post code of the branch you use?


----------

