# Russian Fiance to UK Visa help please :(



## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Good evening

If anyone could kindly provide some guidance to me and my Russian fiancé it would be massively appreciated!!

My Fiancé is Russian. I am British, born in England. We have a son born in Russia. I am the father.

I have been in a relationship with my fiancé since March 2012.

Our son holds a Russian and British passport, so he can now travel and live in the UK without a visa.

We are in the process of preparing for my fiancé to apply for a visa to move to the UK to marry and for her to settle here permanently.

We understand this is known as a fiancé visa, but also known as a settlement visa? 
Is that correct?

I have prepared supporting documents. Please could you tell me if we are missing anything?

My original British passport with my Russian visas inside
My original British birth certificate
My contract of employment (employed with current employer for 2 1/2 years)
A letter from my employer confirming my basic current salary of £24,000 per year, since April 2014
A council tax letter addressed to me in my current English home
My tenancy agreement (contract)
My rented house information (room sizes etc)
Six months of most recent bank statements
Six months of most recent pay slips
Around 10 photos at different times of me with my fiancé and our son
Screen shots of Skype, Email, Facebook and Russian Facebook (vk.com) conversations

A cover letter signed by me stating my permanent employment, salary, address, that I will support fiancé financially and house her with me, where/ how we met, that we are engaged to marry and intend to in the UK

Our sons original Russian birth certificate naming us as the parents
Our sons original Russian and British passports

Certified english translation of our sons Russian birth certificate and passport into english (with cover letter from professional translator)

My fiancé's original Russian passport (the international one)
My fiancé's original Russian birth certificate
Certified english translation of fiancé's Russian birth certificate and passport into english (with cover letter from professional translator)
English language test certificate (passed) - she took the test in Moscow for fiancé visa level, In November 2014
Local Russian marriage register document stating my fiancé is not married (we will get this translated and certified)
Medical test document from registered doctor in Moscow (she has not done this yet)

Are we missing anything?

I am renting a two bedroom house, since November 2014, in preparation for their arrival, do I need a letter from my landlord? The house is rented through an agency.

We are unsure whether having a 18 month old son who holds a UK and Russian passport, will speed up/ help my fiancé's application, since it is strong evidence of our relationship together?

Please any help, tips, guidance would be gratefully received.

Thank you


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You don't need birth certificates. You need a letter of permission from your landlord. Having a child will not influence the application. You don't need a document saying she's not married. You don't need a medical test. 

The letter of employment must include:


(i) the person's employment and gross annual salary;
(ii) the length of their employment;
(iii) the period over which they have been or were paid the level of salary relied upon in the application; and
(iv) the type of employment (permanent, fixed-term contract or agency).

2 passport photos.

An itinerary of when she wants to travel.

She should write acletter of introduction.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Hello nyclon, thank you for replying.

We were informed last year by a UK solicitor that because she was pregnant it would support her visa application. we assumed this would still apply now our son has been born.

Ok so no birth certificates, not even our sons, showing our relationship as parents?

I will ask the landlord for a letter.

My contract of employment and employer letter meets the requirements in your message.

Ok so we should print flight times for maybe mid March, as a proposed route/ date to travel to the UK?

So we need a letter from both myself, as the sponser and a letter of introduction, in English, written by my fiance.

Again, we were told it is a requirement for a document confirming she is not married and a medical test.

Is there a website with a recent breakdown of the supporting document requirements?

We feel very lost, but think we have enough not to need to pay for assistance.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Unfortunately, we have many members who have received bad or inaccurate advice from solicitors. 

There is no such requirement for a medical test or to prove she's not married. If she was previously married she would need her divorce decree. If not, nothing is needed to prove she's free to marry. 

There is no definitive list of documents because every case is different - for example different financial categories require different documents, if you rent you need different documents than if you own - and you need to decide which documents best support your case. 

All documents need to be original and make a set of copies of everything. 

If you have been working long enough to have a P60 you should include it.

Most important you need show that you intend to marry. You need to book a provisional date with the register and include receipts for anything wedding related like dress, rings, photographer, pub lunch, flowers, etc. remember from 2 March the notice period will be 28 days.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Thank you again for your guidance which I fed back to my fiancé.

We heard that if there is a document missing they will reject the application, rather than allow time for us to provide it. In this case we are going to go ahead and submit as many relevant supporting documents as we think possible.

Can you book a provisional date without your partner being in the UK? I will call my local marriage registry tomorrow. Thank you


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi, we submitted our online application for my partners fiance visa, last night.

She has her appointment on Monday and has received all the supporting documents from me.

Could I ask. I read that I (sponsor and British fiance) did not need to include my British birth certificate (copy or original). I hope this is correct since I did not send this to her. She will include her own original + translated Russian birth certificate. 

My partner has asked me to scan my birth certificate to her and is now getting worried that I made a mistake not including it.

Please could someone confirm that I did the right thing and do not need to include my original or a certified copy of my British birth certificate as supporting documents?

Thanks


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

You need a TB test ceryificate taken at the designated medical centre in Moscow - your application will be refused without it.

Appointments can be made by phone very quickly and you get the test result and ceryificate whilst you are there but you need to state that it's for your Fiance bisa and have a photo too.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes she did this medical test today, in Moscow, ahead of her appointment at the visa office on Monday. 
The issue is just whether I should have provided my birth certificate, or not?
I have just sent a scanned colour copy of my birth certificate to her via email. I think its unlikely they will need it and a scanned copy probably isn't enough anyway, but it puts her mind at rest to know we at least have it.

all the other required supporting documents are in her possession


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You don't need your birth certificate as you presumably are submitting your passport copy.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi, yes she has my original current passport with all my Russian visa's inside (shes taking a photocopy too).

There was no option to submit a visa application for a 'fiance visa' on the UK government website. We made a settlement (marriage) visa application. hope that was correct.

Also in the application itself, within the 'sponsor' section, it asked the sponsors relationship to the applicant, in a drop down multi-choice box. All the options were family members (aunt, uncle etc), no husband or fiance options. We selected 'friend' and then wrote notes in the 'additional notes' section at the end of the application to state the sponsor is me, her fiance.... 

We're a little worried we went wrong somewhere; however we fully meet the criteria and lots of evidence of our relationship, which has been going strong since 2012. :fingerscrossed:

On another note, my local council registry office, in England, wouldn't let me pre book our appointments until my fiance has her visa. In this case we could not include this as evidence, but the registry office was kind enough to issue a standard letter stating that within law they cannot book this until the visa is issued. :confused2:


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

UPDATE TO ABOVE POST:

Hi, yes she has my original current passport with all my Russian visa's inside (she's taking a photocopy too).

There was no option to submit a visa application for a 'fiance visa' on the UK government website. We made a settlement (marriage) visa application. hope that was correct.

Also in the application itself, within the 'sponsor' section, it asked the sponsors relationship to the applicant, in a drop down multi-choice box. All the options were family members (aunt, uncle etc), colleague or friend, no husband or fiance options. We selected 'friend' and then wrote notes in the 'additional notes' section at the end of the application to state the sponsor is me, her fiance.... 

We're a little worried we went wrong somewhere; however we fully meet the criteria and lots of evidence of our relationship, which has been going strong since 2012. :fingerscrossed:

On another note, my local council registry office, in England, wouldn't let me pre book our appointments until my fiance has her visa. In this case we could not include this as evidence, but the registry office was kind enough to issue a standard letter stating that within law they cannot book this until the visa is issued. :confused2:

Our supporting documents include:

Dated photos of us together between 2012-present (plus some with our son, born 2013).
My 2014 P60
My six months bank statements
My six months payslips
Letter from my work (basic salary above £24,000) since April 2014
My contract of employment (since July 2013)
Letter written and signed by me confirming all information, intent to marry, earnings, job, that we have a son together, housing etc)
Two bedroom house tenant agreement (contract)
Document from the housing agency with photos and technical information of the house
Signed letter from landlord confirming house is rented to me only, and happy for my fiance (named) and son to move in
My original current passport with all Russian visas
scanned copy of my birth certificate
copies of text messages 2012-2015
copies of facebook messages 2012-2015
copies of emails 2012
copies of Russian facebook messages 2012-2015
copies of skype calls and messages 2012-2015
(the above copies were random messages about six months apart)
Our sons British and Russian passport
Our sons Russian birth certificate
partners original Russian birth certificate
partners original Russian and international passport (plus copies of previous passport since the Russian government took the old one when issuing the new one)
certified translations and copies of above Russian documents
partners certificate of English language test, passed in November 2014 (for this type of visa)
partners medical test document (completed today in Moscow)
letter from partners local Russian registry office confirming she is not married
original engagement ring invoices and receipt (from November 2012)
emails from wedding planner, wedding dress, wedding photographers with quotes etc
printed invoices for the wedding rings we intend to purchase
email and letter from my local council register office stating we cannot pre-book appointment to marry without this visa
partners passport size photos for visa
printed completed visa application
printed visa centre (Moscow) booking confirmation
printed flight information (itinerary) for end of March 2015 intended flights from partners city to Moscow and then onwards to London
printed copies of hotel/ flight bookings from my previous trips to Russia and one or two original boarding passes I kept
original council tax letter from my house in England
partners letter of introduction
photocopies of everything above

Hopefully thats enough. Its about 1kg of documents!!


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You included all the things we told you were unncessary like birth certificates and letter saying she's free to marry and don't seem to have any evidence that you intend to marry. You need to book a provisional wedding date at a designated register office: 


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-register-offices-in-england-and-wales

You also have no receiepts for deposits for wedding related items. Email queries aren't solid evidence.


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

Oh dear. They cant let you give notce but they can let you book a provisional date or you could have booked a room elsewhere or sonewhere for the dinner/party etc. You must have started making arrangements. 

This part needs more attention by UKVI as it catches lots out.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

hi I called and email local register office and wanted to book, they told me no without her visa and gave us a letter


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

nyclon said:


> You included all the things we told you were unncessary like birth certificates and letter saying she's free to marry and don't seem to have any evidence that you intend to marry. You need to book a provisional wedding date at a designated register office:
> 
> 
> https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-register-offices-in-england-and-wales
> ...


Hi, we included these since this was the advice my fiance received in Russia. I'm not saying you are wrong; however my fiance wanted to include it just in case.

I've just spoken to the local council register office again since we're now more worried. They again stated they cannot book appointments for us since my fiance is not within the UK... if we can't do this we can't book a date for photos, venue, clothes hire.... its all a stupid catch 22 we feel we are in.. do we book all these and lose the deposits since we have no idea when we can register.. we have two working days until the appointment in Moscow, I could book the suit hire and photographer and forward my fiance the confirmation....?


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

Probably due to how/what you asked to book. Booking a space/slot to get married is not the same as booking the actual wedding and giving notice, where you both need to be resident. 

They need evidence you have started to make the arrangements, bought rings, a dress, booked a hall etc.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Is your local register on the designated register list? The point of a fiancé is that you intend to get married in the UK and you need to show that you have made plans with receipts for deposits for normal wedding things. You don't have to plan anything elaborate but you have to show that you have made some sort of effort to arrange a wedding.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Yes they are... Brighton & hove. I can do this. I can buy rings now, online and forward the e-receipts to her for her to print, I can also book my suit hire and forward this to her. Just we might lose out with deposits if the wedding date is not set due to the register office not letting us book with them


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## yumxmiie (Dec 24, 2014)

Lucas .. did your fiance submit your 2 passport photos? From what I understand, they aren't needed when submitting in Moscow but I wanted to double check. 

And as for the TB test, she got the results that same day? 

Thanks in advance! I will be submitting in a few weeks and still have a few questions myself.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

My suit hire appointment has been set for 9am tomorrow, so I'll have the deposit receipt to send, H Samuel has agreed I can order rings and change them within 30 days, so I'll do that tonight and send email receipt to my fiance. Also a wedding venue will call me back in the morning or later today to confirm a reception meal booking. I'll also put a deposit on a photographer tomorrow and send their confirmation. Hopefully that will help! phew!!!!


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Lucas7920 said:


> My suit hire appointment has been set for 9am tomorrow, so I'll have the deposit receipt to send, H Samuel has agreed I can order rings and change them within 30 days, so I'll do that tonight and send email receipt to my fiance. Also a wedding venue will call me back in the morning or later today to confirm a reception meal booking. I'll also put a deposit on a photographer tomorrow and send their confirmation. Hopefully that will help! phew!!!!


All good, but the most important thing is booking a provisional date with the register.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

nyclon said:


> All good, but the most important thing is booking a provisional date with the register.


Thats the one thing I could not do. Here is the body of the formal letter the Brighton & hove Register sent me, to pass on with suppoting documents:

*Re: Provisional marriage booking

Further to your enquiry, I am writing to inform you until your fiancé has been issued with the required marriage/fiancé visa that we are unable to provisionally book a date for you and your fiancé to go through the legal preliminaries required for your marriage, and we are also unable to provisionally book a date and time for your ceremony.

Once they have been granted this visa, and you can confirm the date when they will be entering the UK, we will be more than happy to help you.

Should you run into any problems regarding this, would you please show this letter to the British Consul where she is making his application, in order that they can be reminded of section 13.9 of the diplomatic procedures act.

‘Evidence of marriage/civil partnership arrangements in itself, a booking at a Registry Office or church is not proof that a marriage/civil partnership will take place. The law relating to marriage/civil partnership in England and Wales does not allow for any arrangements to be made with a Registrar until the foreign national has arrived in the UK.’

I wish you both the best of luck and look forward to making an appointment with you once the visa has been granted.

Best regards
*

I have included this letter and their covering email for my partner when she attends her appointment.


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## TruleighZak (May 29, 2014)

Hi Lucas,

If you get a list of the designated registry offices in England and Wale then some of them will allow you to book a provisional date, for a fee - Blackburn with Darwin did for us. This was all done the same day and they emailed me a copy of the receipt.

That said, ECOs and ECMs have been told by the Home Office that only "Tentative arrangements towards getting married" is all that is required so I don't think you need receipts for rings or the likes but I did include an email correspondence with a provisional booking for photographer. I also got a restaurant booking too with an email in BOTH our names ever though we did not go in the end.

Don't spend money unnecessarily, email communications that show you have made some attempt at marriage is all that is needed. Btw we applied from Moscow too - I can't recommend the private service enough as you avoid all the queues. It took 7 weeks for us to get the good news.

Good luck..


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

TruleighZak said:


> Hi Lucas,
> 
> If you get a list of the designated registry offices in England and Wale then some of them will allow you to book a provisional date, for a fee - Blackburn with Darwin did for us. This was all done the same day and they emailed me a copy of the receipt.
> 
> ...


Thank you. This is reassuring to hear. I didn't want to book so many things without my fiance here. I want us to visit wedding locations together, like a normal couple. Same with the rings.

Anyways, I have purchased two rings online tonight, from a high street chain, which can be changed within 30 days of their delivery. Suit hire booking tomorrow.

I'll take your advice and book a 20 person table somewhere, rather than a full wedding reception and risk losing the deposit. 

I will call around register offices tomorrow, until one says yes. :fingerscrossed:

This is a very stressful process. So much mixed information out there, you just have to pick what you think is right and pray a little. Glad you got your visa ok, there's still hope for us


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Make sure you call those on the designated register list.


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## salix (Apr 27, 2014)

We booked a provisional date in Beaconsfield, Buckingshire with no problem whatsoever. It was done over the phone and the email confirmation was sent during the phone call. I think you only needed to make a 50 pound deposit on the booking and you had the right to move the date within the next year or two and possibly offices.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

Thanks guys. I'll try to call the offices on the designated register list, starting with the nearest ones.


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## Lucas7920 (Feb 11, 2015)

yumxmiie said:


> Lucas .. did your fiance submit your 2 passport photos? From what I understand, they aren't needed when submitting in Moscow but I wanted to double check.
> 
> And as for the TB test, she got the results that same day?
> 
> Thanks in advance! I will be submitting in a few weeks and still have a few questions myself.


Hi, sorry for missing your post. She didn't submit my passport photos, this has not been asked of us as far as we can see. 

Yes she received the medical results (document) the same day.

I managed to book us the appointment with a marriage register (from the list of designated register offices) !!!!!! :first:
This was not easy and involved calls to multiple register offices and waiting for call backs.

We also chose a possible wedding date for July, booked my suit hire, rings, a table at a restaurant and a wedding reception. All of these were kind enough to confirm via email, addressed to both myself and fiance (minus my suit hire). Fiance will print all invoices and cover emails to take to her visa appointment on Monday :fingerscrossed:

I think we now have enough to relax and hope visa is granted


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## csbixler (Sep 12, 2011)

nyclon said:


> You don't need birth certificates. You need a letter of permission from your landlord. Having a child will not influence the application. You don't need a document saying she's not married. You don't need a medical test.
> 
> The letter of employment must include:
> 
> ...


I suggest you look on the Home Office website. My wife and I are in the same situation she is a UK Citizen and I am her non EU Spouse. My first VISA (one of three required before you get Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) required a Home Office Form 76 pages plus supporting documentation. The package was a few inches thick. This VISA cost about £1000 and lasts for 33 months. The second VISA requires submission of the same package and another £1000. Since April 2015 the UK Government has added a £200 per year NHS fee on top of this. The last VISA (after 5 years) for ILR cost another £1500. Keep in mind if you were not a UK Citizen none of this is required you simple pay I think around £50 and get an EEA Family Permit for 5 years after that your spouse can apply for ILR or citizenship. Good Luck and keep your patience!


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

This post is 6 months old. It's always a good idea to check the date and read through the whole thread. Your reply doesn't really have anything to do with the thread.


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