dino66uk

Massive respect to all the mods on here who dedicate there time to help individuals with thier visa applications. you have helped me very much thus far :-).

I'm living in China with my wife and baby. We are applying for a UK Spouse visa. We will be meeting the financial requirements through Category D.

I spoke to my bank on the phone today and they explained to me that the only way I could get a bank letter is if I go into a branch in the UK. At this moment in time I am living in China so I cannot do that. Nor will they send it to my UK address.

What can I do ?

Is it a must that I get a letter from the bank confirming the balance etc ?


I have 2 current accounts at the same bank.

1st Account:- used for direct debits more frequent transactions.

2nd Account:- cat D Savings sitting in the bank. No direct debits or other transactions.

I understand that I would need to provide 6 months bank statements to provie the savings in Account 2. Would I also need to show 6 months worth of bank statements from Account 1? Or is the 6 months statements from account 2 sufficient?

Is it OK to use online printed copies ? Or should I get original copies from the bank ?

Thank you guys for taking the time to answer :-).

Pulaski

If you print "on-line" statements you need to take them to the bank and have the bank stamp them to confirm their authenticity.

spouse of scouse

You only need to provide the bank statements for the account that holds the savings you're relying on the meet Category D - i.e. your second account. They're not interested in any other accounts.

I think your bank's being a bit obstructive, there's nothing stopping them printing out and stamping your online statements and sending them to your address in China for you, or sending you all the required account details on bank letter head. I'm sorry, I don't know any way around the requirement to have your account details certified by the bank.

bobbyleo

I am in a similar position. They will not send anything to me here in the States so all my banking is online.

I am planning to make a special trip to the UK just to take my statements to the bank and get them stamped/signed, return to the US and submit the application within the 28 day period.

Its an expense that we can ill afford but I don't know of any other alternative.

Pulaski

It'd be cheaper to transfer the funds to the US and have them certified by your US bank (then move them back), but I don't know if moving your money between two accounts would irritate the visa processing people.

dino66uk

Thank you Spouse of Scouse! Rhymes well haha.

I was told that I would need to prove the source of my savings held for 6 months.

For example in May I transferred the funds from my account 1 to my account 2.

Would I need to show the statement from account 1 showing the transfer into account 2?

Or would the 6 months statements and a cover letter of declaration be sufficient?

Again. Thank you.

dino66uk

Hello Bobby,

I'm sure you've thought of this already.

Can you have the statements sent to your address in the UK and ask a family member or a friend to send them to you in the states by DHL?

bobbyleo

Dino.

I guess I could change my address to my UK home nearer the time and make a request that they send statements (signed and a letter) to my home and I can get someone to mail them out to me. It all needs to be accomplished within 28 days of the bank printing the statements though.
The bank could release my statements to a cosignatory but I was told I needed to accompany them to the bank to add them to the account.


With regards to transferring funds to a US bank. I tried doing that over a year ago. Made a large wire transfer of funds from my UK bank during a visit. However, the funds somehow got lost in cyberspace and never reached the destination. The online banking telephone contact kept diverting me to a call center overseas (India?) and they were absolutely no help at all.I was told I needed to go to a local bank to sort this out!! I spent hours on the telephone trying to resolve this. Eventualy, the funds were returned to my UK bank account. Because of that experience, I have been reluctant to make any large trans continental transfers as I have lost all faith in the bank.

Pulaski

Use xe.com, transferwise, or other on-line remitter, they give a better exchange rate, and don't charge wire fees - some can do "ACH" credits in the US avoiding the wire fee in the US. I used xe.com to transfer over the proceeds of the sale of my house in the UK.