Accommodation UK spouse visa
Mar 3rd 2019, 11:41 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 89
Accommodation UK spouse visa
Hello,
I am a British national currently overseas wanting to sponsor my spouse and two kids for uk settlement visa.
I am having trouble arranging for accommodation requirements of visa and would REALLY appreciate guidance in this regard.
I have spoken to my family/friends but they are reluctant to provide property deeds copies and property inspection reports to avoid hassle. So I am left with the private renting option.
The issue is that I have not really decided where exactly we will be residing so I don't want to enter into any sort of tenancy agreement at this stage that would bound me. My solicitor advised to get a statement from any landlord as well as his ID, ownership doc and inspection report. But I don't think any estate agent/landlord would provide these docs without tenancy. Please guide on what to do... I am stuck at this stage. All other formalities are complete.
I am a British national currently overseas wanting to sponsor my spouse and two kids for uk settlement visa.
I am having trouble arranging for accommodation requirements of visa and would REALLY appreciate guidance in this regard.
I have spoken to my family/friends but they are reluctant to provide property deeds copies and property inspection reports to avoid hassle. So I am left with the private renting option.
The issue is that I have not really decided where exactly we will be residing so I don't want to enter into any sort of tenancy agreement at this stage that would bound me. My solicitor advised to get a statement from any landlord as well as his ID, ownership doc and inspection report. But I don't think any estate agent/landlord would provide these docs without tenancy. Please guide on what to do... I am stuck at this stage. All other formalities are complete.
Mar 3rd 2019, 12:26 pm
#2
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Joined: Dec 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 120
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
In short, to get unstuck, you need to decide where to live. There’s really no way around it. You need to have solid proof of where you and your wife will stay, and you can’t get that without....well, making a desicion about where you’ll stay! If you really don’t like the area, you can always move. In the meantime, you’ll need a tenancy agreement and a letter from your landlord assuring the home office that your wife will be put on the agreement when she has obtained a valid visa (it’s illegal for a landlord to put someone on a tenancy agreement if they cannot prove that they have the right to reside legally in the UK). There may be other docs needed, like a housing report to prove that there is enough room for you and your wife in the house or flat, too.
Mar 3rd 2019, 12:35 pm
#3
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Joined: Dec 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 120
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
On a related note, I’m pretty sure that what your solicitor is advising you to do amounts to fraud. Pretending to have a place to stay in lieu of a real place to stay is a fraudulent action, and if discovered, I’m fairly sure your wife’s chances of obtaining a visa now or in the future would be reduced.
Mar 3rd 2019, 12:38 pm
#4
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
Friends' reluctance I can understand, but family? It sounds like you need a heart-to-heart with your (closest) family member(s) who own a property that meets the living accommodation requirements - tell them you have zero interest in moving in with them, but that it is an administrative hurdle to you getting a visa for your wife. ..... Otherwise you're potentially looking at having to pay for a lease on a property for a number of months before you are able to return to the UK to live in it.
Mar 3rd 2019, 12:45 pm
#5
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
On a related note, I’m pretty sure that what your solicitor is advising you to do amounts to fraud. Pretending to have a place to stay in lieu of a real place to stay is a fraudulent action, and if discovered, I’m fairly sure your wife’s chances of obtaining a visa now or in the future would be reduced.
Mar 3rd 2019, 2:05 pm
#6
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Joined: Dec 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 120
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
I don't think it's fraud so long as the landlord has a vacant unit available, but if he rents it out in the meantime, you might have a point. If a landlord owns a block of flats, with a history of 1-3 units going vacant each month, then I think it would be acceptable, and not fraudulent, to document an agreement with the landlord that he will have a unit available for you on x (future) date, but not one specific unit.
Maybe I’m overthinking things! I may also have assumed the wrong thing after reading the OP’s initial post? Still, he and his wife do need to have somewhere to go when they get here. Your idea about a heart to heart might be just the ticket, really. Seems safest.
Mar 3rd 2019, 3:17 pm
#7
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
Sure, but there would have to be a genuine intention of living there, no? It sounded for the OP’s initial message that his lawyer had told him to just get a letter from “any landlord” to fulfil the accommodation requirement. If the HO called the landlord, that landlord would have to confirm that a genuine intent to live in the rental unit existed.
Maybe I’m overthinking it .....
Mar 3rd 2019, 3:22 pm
#8
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 120
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
I think you are over thinking it. The purpose of the requirement is that you have somewhere to live, not that you actually ever live there. .... I bet many people meet the requirement by using a family member's home, but on arrival stay in a hotel, or airbnb, until they have rented somewhere. Remember that the requirement is only to have somewhere to live, and (sometimes), a job (instead of savings), but you can meet the two requirements with a job offer in Cornwall and living accommodation in the Shetland Isles!
Best of luck, OP! This is such high-stakes stuff, isn't it, and we'll all feel better once we have that vignette in hand. 😊
Mar 3rd 2019, 10:57 pm
#9
Concierge
Joined: Jan 2013
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 21,139
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
Hello,
I am a British national currently overseas wanting to sponsor my spouse and two kids for uk settlement visa.
I am having trouble arranging for accommodation requirements of visa and would REALLY appreciate guidance in this regard.
I have spoken to my family/friends but they are reluctant to provide property deeds copies and property inspection reports to avoid hassle. So I am left with the private renting option.
The issue is that I have not really decided where exactly we will be residing so I don't want to enter into any sort of tenancy agreement at this stage that would bound me. My solicitor advised to get a statement from any landlord as well as his ID, ownership doc and inspection report. But I don't think any estate agent/landlord would provide these docs without tenancy. Please guide on what to do... I am stuck at this stage. All other formalities are complete.
I am a British national currently overseas wanting to sponsor my spouse and two kids for uk settlement visa.
I am having trouble arranging for accommodation requirements of visa and would REALLY appreciate guidance in this regard.
I have spoken to my family/friends but they are reluctant to provide property deeds copies and property inspection reports to avoid hassle. So I am left with the private renting option.
The issue is that I have not really decided where exactly we will be residing so I don't want to enter into any sort of tenancy agreement at this stage that would bound me. My solicitor advised to get a statement from any landlord as well as his ID, ownership doc and inspection report. But I don't think any estate agent/landlord would provide these docs without tenancy. Please guide on what to do... I am stuck at this stage. All other formalities are complete.
Others in your situation have rented short term/holiday accommodation through websites such as Airbnb - use Google to find many similar websites. You have to have somewhere to live when you all arrive in the UK, not just to meet the accommodation requirement of the visa, but simply because you just need somewhere to live!
Mar 3rd 2019, 11:44 pm
#10
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,194
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
Find a three month Airbnb rental in an area you are considering. Problem solved.
Mar 5th 2019, 2:36 am
#11
Just Joined
Joined: Dec 2017
Location: Kansas, USA
Posts: 25
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
BiP,
Nice, simple and direct!
Nice, simple and direct!
Mar 5th 2019, 10:46 am
#13
Concierge
Joined: Jan 2013
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 21,139
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
Well that's me told 
Mar 5th 2019, 1:57 pm
#15
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,194
Re: Accommodation UK spouse visa
I concur but if the family are being reluctant then it’s not something I would entertain if it could put my application at risk.