# UK Fiance visa - request for more documents



## avan (May 7, 2013)

Hi All!
I am a Canadian and applied for a fiancé visa to the UK. My timeline is below and we use the service via NY. 

Our application made it to NY and I receive an email stating it had arrived. We then received an email requesting more documents outing my sponsors bank statements. We were given 7 days to send in the statements or our application will be reviewed without them. 

We got the bank statements to NY in 4 days and the package was signed for upon delivery. However, we haven't heard anything from yet. 

Does anyone have any experience about how long it takes for them to review the requested documents? In other words, do we go to the bottom of the pile and not looked at again for a while, or after 7 days the application is reviewed again but now with the additional documents?

Anyone who has gone through this and their time line would be appreciated, as I'm hoping to receive my visa in the next week or two to be able to move at the end of this month. Thanks!!

Application completed online: April 6th
Biometrics Appointment : April 11th
Application Received in NY: April 12th
Request for more documents: April 30th
Extra documents reached NY: May 3rd


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

It's possible you won't hear anything. I had a request for my travel dates and two days later the visa showed up in the mail with no warning at all. 

Sit tight.


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Thanks Amy - my fingers are crossed very hard! Hoping it doesn't go to the bottom of the pile and we don't hear for 6 weeks. Thanks for your post


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

That's unlikely.


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## mehemlynn (Nov 16, 2011)

It does seem like the tend is that when documents are requested and received, they finish reviewing the case fairly quickly. Often some sort of response seems to show up within two weeks.

M


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

mehemlynn said:


> It does seem like the tend is that when documents are requested and received, they finish reviewing the case fairly quickly. Often some sort of response seems to show up within two weeks.
> 
> M


Thanks M, that's very promising. Hoping to hear this week or next. 

Also, do you (or anyone) have any insight regarding their likelihood of them denying it from this point on? Meaning if they have only asked for these documents and nothing more, and we supply those documents, then it is likely to get approved? 

I know you cant say for sure, (as this is assuming the documents we sent are correct and approved) but they wouldn't request financial documents then deny you because of accommodation/proof of relationship, etc?

We are hoping that if that is all they need, then that means everything else is fine? Assuming they wont waste ours and their time and request these documents then fail us on something else.


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## mehemlynn (Nov 16, 2011)

Generally, it appears, from previous posts, to be a good sign; but as you know it is never good to assume too much with immigration services.


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

Well, they won't ask for more docs if they're going to reject you for something else. So in general - knowing nothing about your situation - I think it's probably a good thing, provided the documents are correct and satisfactory.


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

@ Avan...I'm in the exact same boat as you. Here is my timeline:

April 3: Overnight shipped Application Packet to UKBA office in NY
April 4: received confirmation of receipt of Application
April 19: received an email that Application received at Sheffield UK processing centre
April 25: received email stating there was a "minor omission" in regards to evidence. requested that we scan or mail in the following documents by May 10:
1)sponsors pay slips for Jan, Feb, Mar
2)bank statements for Jan, Feb, Mar confirming these payments
3)documentary confirmation of sponsors ownership of property (Land Registry)

May 4: emailed the requested documents
May 8: sent an email asking for confirmation of receipt of the documents

****So now i am constantly checking my email and honestly don't know what to expect. from what i've gathered online it sounds like if they request more documents there is a good chance it will be approved, but i'm not getting my hopes up. Until i see that email or have the approved visa in my hand i wont be able to breathe easy! I feel like my life is in limbo


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

wotsiak1106 said:


> @ Avan...I'm in the exact same boat as you. Here is my timeline:
> 
> April 3: Overnight shipped Application Packet to UKBA office in NY
> April 4: received confirmation of receipt of Application
> ...


Oh, I 100% understand!! I am checking my emails every 3 minutes!! Like you said, from what I have gathered, if they requested documents and you provide what they are looking for, it is unlikely they will reject you on something else. 

I am praying the documents we sent were correct and they look at the visa soon. My theory is if that if they gave you May 10th as a deadline, then they will probably only look at the application again on May 10th. When it flags up its your deadline, and they see you have sent in the documents, they will approve it. Its unlikely they will look at it before that date. That's my theory anyway! 

It seems as though both our deadlines are today! Let me know if you hear anything! Good luck!!!!!


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

well it's past 5:00pm England time and I haven't received anything. Guess I can lay off refreshing my inbox til Monday morning (audible sigh)
Any news on your end? what part of England is your fiance from? What's your "plan A"? Sorry for all the questions I'm just thrilled to finally find someone who is in the same predicament as we are (except diff countries)


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Another day gone eh? My application is in New York, so I have a few more hours left of refreshing my inbox! No news yet. 

Have you applied for a fiancé visa or a spouse visa? Assuming you didn't pay for the 'quicker' service via NY? We did the fiancé route and paid for the quicker service in NY. 
Our 'plan A', if all works out, is below:

June - move to UK on fiancé visa
June/July - start collecting all needed docs for spouse visa (house shared lease, shared bank accounts, etc)
August - marry at city hall, my parents are flying in and we are doing a little ceremony with the idea of doing a big white wedding once all visas confirmed. 
September - apply for spouse visa 
- hoping to do the in person appointment
- I know I cant work until spouse visa approved but very thankful my spouse can support me.
January - spouse visa approved? Not sure if that is a bit optimistic but Im hoping we get the spouse visa by then and I can start looking for work by January 2014.....

He lives in Sussex, close to Brighton. Where about is your fiancé from? What's your plan?


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

Sounds like a solid timeline! i applied for the Fiancee Visa. Our plan A is:
-receive fiance visa
-fly out there by end of May
-we'll be staying with his parents in Sutton Coldfield until we move after the ceremony
-we have our marriage appt booked in Lichfield for June 15(which of course we'll change if the visa delays past may)
-GET MARRIED!
-he has leave from work the last week of June til last week of July, during which we'll be getting our own place in Plymouth
-August: apply for FLR in person
-Sep: have FLR, apply for work! 
..we're going to be having the typical white wedding with ALL our friends and fam in a couple years. We're not big "wedding" people but we have two moms who will be very unhappy if we don't have a wedding party, haha

I hope we both get some good news this upcoming week! bon chance! and fingers and toes crossed!
xoxo


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Sounds like you have a great timeline as well. Let me know if you have any news this week! Praying that the request for new documents hasn't delayed our application by too many weeks - I hear 2-4 weeks delay and you should get an answer...

I can see from your timeline that you booked a marriage appt. How were you able to do that with you still in the US. We tried to book it but it said both people had to be present to make the booking. How did you get around that?

Also, I didn't realize that it was possible to apply for work as early as September! If all goes to plan, I though it was a few weeks/month after your in person appointment for the FLR to get your visa/national insurance number, etc ready to be able to apply for work. Can you apply for work right after the in person FLR appointment? Do they give you everything right on the spot? Or do they take your passport to process the visa, etc. I know this is far in advance but thought I'd ask anyway! Thanks!

Fingers crossed for good news this week!!!


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

avan said:


> Sounds like you have a great timeline as well. Let me know if you have any news this week! Praying that the request for new documents hasn't delayed our application by too many weeks - I hear 2-4 weeks delay and you should get an answer...
> 
> I can see from your timeline that you booked a marriage appt. How were you able to do that with you still in the US. We tried to book it but it said both people had to be present to make the booking. How did you get around that?
> 
> ...


MARRIAGE APPT--> This was big crisis when we were applying for the visa and luckily we were able to contact the register office and have them email us the official form which confirmed our ceremony. my future in-laws did a lot of leg work for us...in FEB, i was here in the US and my fiance was in Afghanistan, so his dad actually went and booked our "intent to marry" appointment at a designated office in Birmingham (not all registration offices handle US-->UK marriages so you have to find one that does). This "intent to marry" appointment can't be done until i am in the country for at least 2 weeks, so he picked 26APR, assuming i'd be there. My fiance got back to the UK at the end of FEB and physically went in to the Lichfield Registration Office and booked our MARRIAGE CEREMONY for 15JUNE. They checked in the computer and saw that we had, in fact, booked an "intent to marry" appt, so they were able to confirm our date of marriage. 
So when it came time to submit evidence of our intent to marry we supplied receipt of ring, engagement party pics, and an official looking notice of our 15JUNE marriage ceremony in Lichfield. Once we realized that the "intent to marry" appt. was fast approaching and i still hadnt received my visa, we simply called and cancelled the appt. Once i have the visa, my fiance will then go back to the office to schedule our first appointment (the "intent to marry") for 14 days after i arrive in the country. 

FLR(M)-->you may be right, i think i've gotten ahead of myself in thinking the approval of the FLR(M) will be speedier than the fiance visa. We are definitely doing the priority/in person application


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

It's 7 days after arriving in UK, i.e. on the 8th day. So if you arrive on a Tuesday, you can give notice on the Wednesday of the following week.


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

@Joppa oh really? nice, that's even better then, thanks for the info


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

"You can only use a register office if you have lived in the registration district for at least the past 7 days."
It must be full 7 days, so the date of arrival doesn't count. You need proof of where you are living (staying), such a letter from the householder. In case of foreign nationals who must go to a designated register office, you don't have to live in a particular registration district but anywhere in England or Wales.
The notice of intended marriage must be displayed by registrar for at least 14 days, so your marriage can only take place from Day 15 onwards for 3 months.


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

ah, so technically, our marriage ceremony won't be able to take place until 22 days after i arrive in the UK on my fiance visa? tell me if i'm wrong on this proposed timeline:

6/1 arrive in UK on visa
(wait 7 days)
6/9 intent to marry appointment
(wait 14 days)
6/24 marriage ceremony


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You are correct. Whether you can have your ceremony on 24th June depends on whether you have booked it or not. You should allow more time, like at least 30 days, to allow for any hiccups or delays.


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

wotsiak1106 - any news yet?? I am praying to receive some sort of notification this week. Have you heard anything yet?


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

hey avan, no news for me either. I stop hoping to hear anything after 10am here in California...perhaps we'll both get an email by Friday. Patience is a virtue


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Thanks wotsiak1106! My fingers are crossed we hear something soon. I need to give 2 weeks notice at work so would love to hear by this Friday so I can fly out in the beginning of June! Let me know if you hear anything cause I feel like we are on similar timelines. Good luck!


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Visa Received!!!!! YAY!!!!


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

wotsiak1106 - any news from your end yet??


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

avan said:


> Visa Received!!!!! YAY!!!!


That's awesome! What did your email say? 
I emailed them on Wednesday asking for confirmation that they had received my documents, I used a new email address given to me by another user. Had an email back yesterday morning saying they never received my documents! Thankfully they said to email them back b/c my application was still in limbo and a decision hasn't been made yet. I am so frustrated because I did what my case officer said to do which was 'Reply' to his email with the scanned additional evidence.


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

I am so sorry!!! That is horrible!! And that is unbelievable and so frustrating! Thank goodness they let you re-send them but crazy they didn't give you the correct email!?!? Hopefully you will hear very soon. Well done for contacting them as well! Credit to you! Have they confirmed they received the second email with the documents?? 

I'm so sorry I'm sitting here bragging away about my visa when youre having such a rough time!!! The email I received is very short and said: "Your UK visa has been issued". Gave me a link to a survey to complete and then my World Bridge centre here in Toronto called me to say my passport had arrived. I can pick it up on Tuesday next week (Monday is a holiday here in Canada). 

Good luck - hopefully once they received your email they will look at your application and you will hear early next week. Does that give you enough time to travel by June 1st?? My fingers are crossed for you!! Keep in touch.


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

avan said:


> I am so sorry!!! That is horrible!! And that is unbelievable and so frustrating! Thank goodness they let you re-send them but crazy they didn't give you the correct email!?!? Hopefully you will hear very soon. Well done for contacting them as well! Credit to you! Have they confirmed they received the second email with the documents??
> 
> I'm so sorry I'm sitting here bragging away about my visa when youre having such a rough time!!! The email I received is very short and said: "Your UK visa has been issued". Gave me a link to a survey to complete and then my World Bridge centre here in Toronto called me to say my passport had arrived. I can pick it up on Tuesday next week (Monday is a holiday here in Canada).
> 
> Good luck - hopefully once they received your email they will look at your application and you will hear early next week. Does that give you enough time to travel by June 1st?? My fingers are crossed for you!! Keep in touch.


Yea after i sent the documents again they confirmed within 2 hours, saying my additional evidence will be placed with my application to be looked over by my case officer. With all the different people saying it's not unusual to not get a confirmation of receipt i just assumed i was one those who wouldn't hear anything. I'm glad i took the bull the by the horns and asked another user what email they used when they got a reply saying their documents had arrived. What frustrates me the most is that they didn't even email me on the 10th (which was the deadline for me to get the documents in by). If i hadn't taken the initiative i feel they would've just sent me a rejection email...Such a confusing and frustrating system! grrr! 

Well all said and done, i'm hoping i'll get a big "YES" on my visa by the middle or end of next week...I am SO so happy for you, now you can book your plane ticket and actually enjoy the waiting until you're in the UK!


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

Yes, Im thrilled and we are going to try start booking everything. Hoping to be in UK by mid-June at the latest. Im sure you will as well!

But I completely agree, it is a horrible system. Some people do get a notification when documents received, but some don't (like myself - we never got an email to say our extra documents were received and mine got approved) so its hard to know if your documents got there or not! And extremely frustrating they didn't supply you with the correct email. 

100% due to you taking the initiative, like you said. Well done!! I'm sure it'll be quick now. I think the Sheffield office is quick once its received the additional documents. I'm sure itll be a big fat YES very soon. They we will both be in the UK and have celebratory pub lunches with our Englishmen


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## wotsiak1106 (Oct 6, 2012)

avan said:


> Yes, Im thrilled and we are going to try start booking everything. Hoping to be in UK by mid-June at the latest. Im sure you will as well!
> 
> But I completely agree, it is a horrible system. Some people do get a notification when documents received, but some don't (like myself - we never got an email to say our extra documents were received and mine got approved) so its hard to know if your documents got there or not! And extremely frustrating they didn't supply you with the correct email.
> 
> 100% due to you taking the initiative, like you said. Well done!! I'm sure it'll be quick now. I think the Sheffield office is quick once its received the additional documents. I'm sure itll be a big fat YES very soon. They we will both be in the UK and have celebratory pub lunches with our Englishmen


Had two emails waiting for me when i woke up this morning. The first was and an apology that they had given me the wrong email by mistake, and stating that my "visa has been issued." (squeeal!) The second was the standard email saying "a decision has been made"/had my UPS tracking #.

Just goes to show being a tad pushy and checking up on the UKBA Sheffield office pays off...at least in my case. I was so worried because my fiance's annual pay was a few thousand pounds OVER the minimum 18,600, but over the course of the last 6 months his monthly payslips roller coasted because he was on tour in Afghanistan. We had applied under Cat A when we should have applied under Cat B. I only realized this weeks after sending everything off so a small part of me was bricking it that we had made that error. I don't know if our case officer just saw the simple error of checking the wrong Category and decided it wasn't worth rejecting us..either way...i'm elated and can't wait to see the Visa on Friday!!! 

Did you get yours yet?


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## Water Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

*Congratulations!*



wotsiak1106 said:


> Had two emails waiting for me when i woke up this morning. The first was and an apology that they had given me the wrong email by mistake, and stating that my "visa has been issued." (squeeal!) The second was the standard email saying "a decision has been made"/had my UPS tracking #.
> 
> Just goes to show being a tad pushy and checking up on the UKBA Sheffield office pays off...at least in my case. I was so worried because my fiance's annual pay was a few thousand pounds OVER the minimum 18,600, but over the course of the last 6 months his monthly payslips roller coasted because he was on tour in Afghanistan. We had applied under Cat A when we should have applied under Cat B. I only realized this weeks after sending everything off so a small part of me was bricking it that we had made that error. I don't know if our case officer just saw the simple error of checking the wrong Category and decided it wasn't worth rejecting us..either way...i'm elated and can't wait to see the Visa on Friday!!!
> 
> Did you get yours yet?


Now your life can begin. Hooray for you both. Best wishes and safe travels!!
Laurel
:clap2:lane::clap2:


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## avan (May 7, 2013)

wotsiak1106 said:


> Had two emails waiting for me when i woke up this morning. The first was and an apology that they had given me the wrong email by mistake, and stating that my "visa has been issued." (squeeal!) The second was the standard email saying "a decision has been made"/had my UPS tracking #.
> 
> Just goes to show being a tad pushy and checking up on the UKBA Sheffield office pays off...at least in my case. I was so worried because my fiance's annual pay was a few thousand pounds OVER the minimum 18,600, but over the course of the last 6 months his monthly payslips roller coasted because he was on tour in Afghanistan. We had applied under Cat A when we should have applied under Cat B. I only realized this weeks after sending everything off so a small part of me was bricking it that we had made that error. I don't know if our case officer just saw the simple error of checking the wrong Category and decided it wasn't worth rejecting us..either way...i'm elated and can't wait to see the Visa on Friday!!!
> 
> Did you get yours yet?



CONGRATS!!!!!!!! That's fantastic!!! You must be thrilled!!! Fabulous news!!!

Well done again on taking the initiative and nice of them to apologize about giving the wrong email. Horrible mistake on their part. And like you said, the officer probably saw your mistake and put it in the right category. Phew!! Well done! Best outcome possible 

Yes, I got my passport back and the shiny new visa is in it! I am in the process of wrapping up my job and looking to book a flight for June 10th. When are you planning on moving? I remember you saying you had your marriage appointment on the 15th?

Exciting stuff! Congrats again. I plan on enjoying my first week or so in the UK and then focus on the spouse visa. I need a little break! Hopefully we can help each other out with the spouse visa stress as well. Nice to have someone in the same boat. 

Congrats again!! Off to the UK we go!!


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