ElenaAG

Hi all,
I've been floating around the forum as a guest for a few days hoping to get more information about the proof of relationship requirements. The spouse (UK citizen Male 28) and I (US national Female 25) haven't been together as long as many other couples on here. We met in 2015 while I was visiting England; I returned the following year to be with him for the allowed 6 months in 2016 and then we spent most of 2017 apart. He and I were married two weeks ago in what has been the culmination of a very emotional whirlwind these last few months. Now that we're married, he's in a hurry to get our application off the ground, however I'm worried our relationship evidence isn't enough.
We hardly have any pictures together from before we married (I've been
extremely camera shy due to weight gain and he's just plain shy) and to be honest, our relationship progressed very organically and we didn't feel that pictures and things would be super important at the time. Our primary means of communication has been WhatsApp in the 3 years since we met with a bit of Facebook messenger thrown in there once or twice. I have the ticket receipt from the trip I made to see his family in England last month and I hope to use that as evidence but it still doesn't seem like it's enough.
I'd be super grateful if anyone could shed some light on this topic.

What can be done when you have very few supporting documents??

SanDiegogirl

You present what you have, write a good letter detailing your relationship to date and keep fingers crossed that the ECO determines you have a genuine relationship.

If you were applying for an unmarried partner visa I would say, no chance, but you are married so your chances are much better.

Presume your husband can qualify under the financial and accommodation criteria.

ElenaAG

Yes, we're applying under Category A for the financial evidence. He earns over the amount plus he's been at his place of work for 3 years so no problems there. His parents are providing us with their land registry title document, council tax form and an inspection report from the council as well as a letter confirming that we can live there. It's literally just the relationship evidence that's got me in a panic.

What would you say constitutes a strong support letter??

SanDiegogirl

Provide a history of your relationship. How/where you met, under what circumstances, why you continued to see one another (keep it factual and not too 'gooey'. Where you married (did both families attend?)

Think an explanation of the long gap in 207 is called for.

An introductory letter is very subjective - but if you think you have some solid evidence of your genuine relationship, include it.

ElenaAG

The reason for the long gap in 2017 is fairly personal, so I don't know if it will be seen as 'too much information'?
Essentially, there was a massive family rift in which I was disowned (left the family house, no contact with parents, no further financial support etc.) and I spent many months just simply trying to adjust to my new circumstances. It took a big emotional toll.
As to why there was no contact, originally I'd planed to come over in Sept 2017, but without my family's financial support I wasn't able to do so.
I'm not sure how much of this I should explain, bearing in mind there's hardly any way to prove it aside from our whatsapp conversations.

To answer your earlier question, yes, some of my siblings attended the wedding, the ones I'm still close to. We were married in Nigeria, which is where I live. I guess it also explains why he doesn't intend to relocate here to live with me.

Thanks again for all your helpful advice btw! We both really appreciate it!