# Made a Mistake on Unmarried Visa Application



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi all,

I am a Scottish girl living in Aus and my partner is Australian - we are looking to move back to Scotland in October. We sent off his application last week for an unmarried partners visa (payment made on the 8th so just before the changes come into effect - luckily, because we didn't know anything about them and would struggle to meet them without time apart for me to job hunt at home).

My question is, I have realised we made a small mistake on the stated date of intention to travel to the UK, which my partner put as the 16th of October - 3 months and 1 week after the application date. This was just the rough date we had in our minds and he put that on the form not realising about the 3 month rule.

Is this a big enough mistake to affect our visa application? Of course we could leave Australia a week earlier, it was just an honest error in him not realising.

Not sure if I should try to do anything to rectify this.

Thanks, Jo.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Jojo1984 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am a Scottish girl living in Aus and my partner is Australian - we are looking to move back to Scotland in October. We sent off his application last week for an unmarried partners visa (payment made on the 8th so just before the changes come into effect - luckily, because we didn't know anything about them and would struggle to meet them without time apart for me to job hunt at home).
> 
> ...


No, it doesn't. All that's likely to happen is, when issued, your visa's 'valid from' date will be a week earlier than your projected travel date. I said 'likely' because sometimes UKBA seems to ignore your travel date and makes the visa valid from the date of issue. Great if you rather be in UK sooner, not so good if you genuinely can't travel till October and you may not stay in UK long enough on the current visa to apply for the next stage in 30 months' time, requiring expensive extension. If this happens, you can try to get the date changed on your visa, but UKBA doesn't always comply.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks Joppa.

I have just noticed on another forum as well that our bank statements, which came from online, might not be up to scratch. This is worrying me, I asked on the helpline and was told that as long as they showed all our account details on them they would be accepted. Now I see that these should have all been stamped and/or accompanied by a letter from the banks.

Argh, we spent so long putting all this together. 

Will there be any opportunity for us to rectify this?

Thanks, Jo.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Jojo1984 said:


> Thanks Joppa.
> 
> I have just noticed on another forum as well that our bank statements, which came from online, might not be up to scratch. This is worrying me, I asked on the helpline and was told that as long as they showed all our account details on them they would be accepted. Now I see that these should have all been stamped and/or accompanied by a letter from the banks.
> 
> ...


Yes, I'm afraid it is an issue and UKBA will probably disregard the bank statement in question. If you have other financial resources, such as savings, to meet the required maintenance, then it should be fine. There is no mechanism for submitting further documents or evidence after you've applied and sent off your documents. I suggest you sit tight and see what they say. Sometimes they contact you by email to ask you to submit correct evidence, so I suggest you get a proper bank statement or get another online statement stamped in readiness.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks Joppa, we'll get that stuff ready and hopefully if we have fallen short they will contact us for the correct information rather than just rejecting the application.

Thanks again for the advice, Jo.


----------



## LHoule (Jul 10, 2012)

My husband was asked to submit extra documents after he applied for his spouse visa. They gave us 7 days to do it. So there is a chance if they aren't happy they will give you a chance. Goodluck


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks LHoule, I just saw your original posts about your situation and that does give me some hope that they will give us a chance to send over the correct stuff if they are not 100% satisfied with what we have sent. I wish I had seen the stuff about the e-statements before we sent it off but what can you do.

How long did it take for you to hear back after sending off your documents? It's really nerve wracking isn't it.

Thanks, Jo.


----------



## LHoule (Jul 10, 2012)

I faxed the documents to New York ukba as soon as they opened on the Friday morning. About 5 hours later we got an email saying the visa had been issued.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks LHoule, how long was it after your original application before they came back and asked you for the additional documents if you don't mind me asking?


----------



## LHoule (Jul 10, 2012)

Its fine  it was on the third day.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Wow that was quick! Hopefully we will hear something from them soon then.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Jojo1984 said:


> Wow that was quick! Hopefully we will hear something from them soon then.


You may be less lucky. LHoule was applying in US and they have much shorter processing time, and they have the option of paying extra for priority, which you don't have. Australian applications are sent to Manila for processing, and they aren't the best for communicating and letting you know your application status, and the average wait seems to be around 4 to 6 weeks. Others with first-hand experience can fill in the details.


----------



## LHoule (Jul 10, 2012)

Yes i had heard that New York were one of the fastest. And we did pay for priority. I know its a frustrating wait but keep your chin up important sure it won't be too long before you hear something


----------



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

Hi Jo... We sent in our bank statements the same way - printed from online and not stamped or verified in any way. Like you, I realized shortly after sending off the packet that we had done it incorrectly. It made me incredibly tense or the duration of the wait. What we did was to get correct, stamped versions of the statements so that we had them on hand to send in immediately if necessary. As it turned out, they did not ask for them and the application went through just fine but having them ready and in hand helped my peace of mind and certainly would have helped our time frame if they had ended up asking for them.

Good luck!


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

shellybeans said:


> Hi Jo... We sent in our bank statements the same way - printed from online and not stamped or verified in any way. Like you, I realized shortly after sending off the packet that we had done it incorrectly. It made me incredibly tense or the duration of the wait. What we did was to get correct, stamped versions of the statements so that we had them on hand to send in immediately if necessary. As it turned out, they did not ask for them and the application went through just fine but having them ready and in hand helped my peace of mind and certainly would have helped our time frame if they had ended up asking for them.


Yes, but that depended on how crucial your unendorsed bank statement was in being approved for your visa. If it was a crucial piece of evidence, I doubt if it was acceptable and you would have been approved. So it depends on detailed circumstances.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi Shelly,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me as I have been worrying away about it! I understand that the individual details of each application are totally different so I won't assume that ours will be the same, but just to know that we are not the only ones to have made this mistake and that it doesn't always mean a negative outcome is a great help.

We are getting the correct copies ready in case they do ask for them so we have all bases covered, obviously my biggest concern is that they just send us a flat refusal of the visa rather than giving the opportunity for us to send the correct stuff but hopefully that won't be the case.

Thanks again for your positive reply Shelly and thanks Joppa for your advice.

Jo.


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi all, so Rich just recieved an email today reading:

Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the
Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should
allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa
Hub

Does this mean what we are thinking?? 

Thanks, Jo.


----------



## LHoule (Jul 10, 2012)

If it says that the visa has been dispatched then yes . Congratulations


----------



## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

It certainly seems so! The only occasion where it might not be so good (that I've read personally) is where multiple applications have been made (e.g. children) - the parent receives an email you received, which is on a later date followed by a "your application has been refused" (for a child). Horrible situation. 

Anyway, it looks like Manila has delivered in a timeframe beyond expectations (seems rare - most applications we see mentioned here take weeks and weeks) so congratulations!


----------



## Jojo1984 (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks all for your advice - we picked up Rich's passport complete with visa this morning and are delighted! Now just getting ready for moving to Scotland in October!


----------



## breaking waves (Aug 1, 2012)

Jojo1984 said:


> Thanks all for your advice - we picked up Rich's passport complete with visa this morning and are delighted! Now just getting ready for moving to Scotland in October!


Oh I hope ours come within the week too! We got that email Thursday, August 9, so it should get here Tues/Wed this week if that timeline serves me correctly. Just a bit worried about any delays since we have a flight booked to London this Sunday 19th. Surely 7 business days is plentiful?


----------

