movingtolakes

Hi Everyone,

Below is a list of documents i have for my wife's first spouse visa renewal (FLR). I'd really appreciate any suggestions on what is or isn't needed, any further items I'm missing and just a general consensus. I also have a few questions listed below the checklist, if anyone could help with these that would be fantastic too.

She arrived in the UK on 29 August 2018 on a spouse visa and her BRP expires 13 May 2021

Thanks so much - RB

PRIMARY DOCS

• declarations from both of us
• sponsor's supporting letter
• Applicant's current passport.
• Applicant’s BRP (front and back scanned and combined onto one page)
• scan of applicants 30 day entrance clearance visa
• Sponsor's passport, the same she used to enter with back in 2018
• Children
  • 2 birth certificates' (born in USA, dual citizens)
  • 2 Children's current UK passports
  • 2 Children's US passports (one of them has expired and we can't renew because of covid, should I include that expired one?)

COHABITATION

have put in bold what i propose to actually use, I also have joint bank statements which could plug gaps

22 March 2021 - Electricity Bill (JOINT)
01 March 2021 - Electricity Bill (JOINT)
15 March 2021 --- Council Tax Bill (JOINT)
16 February 2021 --- Water Bill (JOINT)
23 February 2021 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
19 February 2021 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
25 January 2021 --- Water Bill (JOINT)
15 January 2021 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
23 November 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
18 November 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT )
20 October 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT )
21 September 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
05 September 2020 --- Water Bill (JOINT)
06 August 2020 --- Electricity Bill (JOINT)
21 July 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
28 May 2020 - Electricity Bill (JOINT)
22 April 2020 - Electricty Bill (JOINT)
13 March 2020 --- Council Tax Bill (JOINT)
21 February 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
12 February 2020 --- Water Bill (JOINT)
22 January 2020 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
02 September 2019 - Electricty Bill (JOINT)
04 August 2019 --- Council Tax Bill (JOINT)
30 July 2019 --- Water Bill (JOINT)
04 July 2019 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
04 April 2019 --- Electricty Bill (JOINT)
01 March 2019 --- Council Tax Bill (JOINT)
03 January 2019 --- Electricity Bill (JOINT)
24 December 2018 --- Electricty meter reading request letter (JOINT)
19 November 2018 --- Electricity tarrif selection letter (JOINT)

FINANCIAL DOCS (applying on savings, same bank account and money in it as initial approved visa from 2018)

• Last 8 months original bank statements (JOINT) with > 62,500 in it
• April statement still to be added when arrives
• Declaration of source of savings

RELATIONSHIP

• Original Marriage Certificate ( we were married in USA)
• 1 annotated page containing 6 photos of us and family together since we moved here in 2018 - plan on referencing this in 'any other reasons you want to stay in UK' section

ACCOMODATION

• March 2021 --- Official copy of land registry document - We just bought a home (JOINT)
• March 2021 --- Property inspection report with room sizes etc (I included one of these for first visa) (JOINT)
• March 2021 --- Latest council tax statement (Also used in cohabitation section assume this is ok to use same thing twice?)
• January 2021 --- Solicitors purchase completion letter regarding home purchase, with all closing costs etc listed (JOINT)
• January 2021 --- Mortgage conclusion letter from bank - shows mortgage amount, first payment due, term etc (JOINT) - I don't get monthly mortgage statements
• November 2020 --- Home insurance policy for home we ended up closing on in January 2021 (JOINT)
• October 2020 --- Mortgage Offer letter and terms (JOINT)

English Language Requirement

• N/A she is except due to being from a former commonwealth (Trinidad and Tobago)

Questions

1: What is the start date of your current visa or leave to remain? - Is this the BRP issue date, or the date she arrived in the UK and had the 30 day visa in the passport stamped?

2: What type of visa, leave to enter or remain or other permission do you have to be in the UK? Is this settlement, or family? (She is on a spouse visa)

3: We have 2 kids with dual nationality UK and USA - do i really need to scan both their UK and USA passports in full? My sons USA one has expired, no chance to renew it (has to be in person) in these covid times, so should i just scan the expired one for him?

4: What is the file size limit for Stopia Steria uploads, I've seen several quoted online

5: Can i use for example a council tax bill for evidence in 2 categories? (cohab and accommodation) if so i assume i upload one copy to each section?

6: Any tips on what to name these pdf files before i upload them?

7: my latest cohabitation evidence is recent but by the time i submit application it may not be, is there a time limit on cohabitation evidence like there is on financial documents?

8: Which exact time period do i have to cover for the evidence of cohabitation if my wife came here on 29th August 2018 and her visa expires on 13th May?

9: I have a couple of tennancy agreements from when we were renting before we purchased a home, i have enough cohabitation documents, should i use these tennancy things anywhere? I think they were digitally signed

​​​​​​​

SanDiegogirl

You don't need the docs for the children.... they are not applying.
You only need 6 months of bank statements

1. BRP date
2. Family
3. No
5. Yes
7. No
8. 2.5 years (initial visa)
9. You need to show co-habitation for 2.5 years so whatver is necessary.

mavaas11

Hi SanDiegoGirl, I thought cohabitation was for the last 2 years. 6 joint or 12 individually. How come you're saying its 2.5 years

SanDiegogirl

Oh, because some say its for 2.5 years and others 2 years - I've just covered the maximum time.

BritInParis

It’s a minimum of two years.

SanDiegogirl

movingtolakes

Thankyou, one further query i have since I've been scanning stuff. I've scanned all my council tax bills in pdf, pdfs looks good on my PC, but when you come to physically print them on paper you have to make sure you set the print to 'fit page' and not to print at actual size or it chops the date off the top.
Does anyone know if the visa processing team just look at the pdf's on their computer, or print them out, and would they know how to print pdf's to avoid it chopping the date off in my example? I am clearly overthinking this..........

movingtolakes

Hi, does anyone know what's best to put for this question please?- When did you start living together in a relationship?

I plan on putting June 2014 when my now wife moved in with me after our honeymoon, does this sound ok?

Cheers

Policy reader

I don't think you even need of printing them because these can straight be uploaded onto the UKVCAS website provided are in acceptable format such as pdf, jpg. Moreover, unless you haven't bought their document checking service you wont be asked the original documents despite would be instructed that in appointment confirmation email. Because as per few experiences, all they do is just glancing through the passport and the BRP card to confirm the identity.

Policy reader

I think the only person who can correctly answer that question is only you. However, as an opinion, try to make that identical to what you had replied previously (previous application.

mentalist

Are you saying we have to buy their Document Checking Service in order to scan documents? Last time we sent all the documents by post. Has this changed since 2018? Incidentally, can somebody show the gov website link for spouse visa renewal ( been here 5 yrs now) as I find it so confusing.

BritInParis

You can scan and upload your documents yourself at home for free or get UKVCAS to do it for you when you attend your biometrics appointment. The latter may attract an additional fee depending on the service you have selected.

https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/additional-services/detail

mentalist

That particular link makes reference to a BRP appointment. We didn't attend a physical appointment when extending our FLR in 2018 so is this a new thing or do they simply mean the biometrics taken at the local post office?

BritInParis

The applicant will need to book and attend a biometrics appointment after submitting their online application. Typically this will be at a UKVCAS centre. You’ll be able to see what options are available once you have paid for your application.

mentalist

Yet more bloody travelling! They certainly try and make things difficult.