Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Jun 5th 2018, 10:39 pm
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1
Documents mailed to Sheffield or scanned by VFC? Sponsors documents must be original?
I am hopeful someone can clarify this for me as I am having a nightmare trying to find a concrete answer myself.
I (British sponser) and my partner (Chinese applicant) are planning to apply for an unmarried partners visa asap. Following our cohabitation period of 2 years+ in the UK she has recently returned to China from where she will submit the application.
1. It is unclear to us if after submitting the application online she is suppost to bring the full supporting document pack to the biomimetic center, or mail it to Sheffield. 2. If the documents are to be brought to the VFC biomimetic visa centre it is also nclear whether the supporting documents will be scanned at the the VFS center in china or physically forwarded to Sheffield. 3. Lastly, if the documents must be brought to the center in china is it nessesary for the sponser (my) documents to be original ? The applicants documents will certainly be original in any case.
it seems odd if I must mail my bank statements, rental agreement and the rest of the extensive document bundle to china, to be mailed directly back to England for approval?? If acceptable it would be easier for me to scan and sent to my partner who can print. Alternatively if sending directly to Sheffield she could mail me her original documents and I can add my documents before forwarding to Sheffield, but this would entail sending valuable non-replaceable documents (is degree certificate.) At our own risk. I am very confused after reading cinflicting info allover the net.
Many thanks for reading and any assistance would be extremely appreciated.
S
I (British sponser) and my partner (Chinese applicant) are planning to apply for an unmarried partners visa asap. Following our cohabitation period of 2 years+ in the UK she has recently returned to China from where she will submit the application.
1. It is unclear to us if after submitting the application online she is suppost to bring the full supporting document pack to the biomimetic center, or mail it to Sheffield. 2. If the documents are to be brought to the VFC biomimetic visa centre it is also nclear whether the supporting documents will be scanned at the the VFS center in china or physically forwarded to Sheffield. 3. Lastly, if the documents must be brought to the center in china is it nessesary for the sponser (my) documents to be original ? The applicants documents will certainly be original in any case.
it seems odd if I must mail my bank statements, rental agreement and the rest of the extensive document bundle to china, to be mailed directly back to England for approval?? If acceptable it would be easier for me to scan and sent to my partner who can print. Alternatively if sending directly to Sheffield she could mail me her original documents and I can add my documents before forwarding to Sheffield, but this would entail sending valuable non-replaceable documents (is degree certificate.) At our own risk. I am very confused after reading cinflicting info allover the net.
Many thanks for reading and any assistance would be extremely appreciated.
S
Last edited by ScotScot; Jun 5th 2018 at 10:49 pm.
Jun 6th 2018, 6:28 am
#2
Just Joined
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 22
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Hi ScotScot,
I've recently gone through this process myself. My partner is a Chinese citizen living close to Shanghai.
I used a UK solicitor to put our application together. What you'll find is that the vast, vast majority of documents you need to submit to the Home Office will be originating from yourself at the UK end.
On the Chinese side, we only had to provide an IELTS A1 Life Skills certificate, a UKVI tuberculosis certificate and the signed application form.
So, what we did was as follows:
1) I provided all the documents from my (sponsor) side to my solicitor directly.
2) The solicitor completed the online application and sent my partner the application form, biometrics appointment letter and payment receipts via e-Mail, which we printed out at the Chinese end.
3) We took the application form, appointment letter, payment receipts & my partner's passport to the Biometrics appointment at the UK VISA center in Shanghai - they kept my partner's passport.
4) An hour or so after the Biometrics was complete (took 3 hours even with Priority lounge), we met with a Fedex courier and sent the IELTS certificate, the TB Certificate and the signed application form to the UK solicitor. We also included a copy of my partner's passport photo page (make sure you have that for Biometrics - caught me offguard, but luckily I had a spare) which the VISA center had stamped.
5) Two days later, the Solicitor received the documents and combined with what I had previously provided and sent the whole bundle off to Sheffield.
Aside from photocopies of my passport, photocopies of key pages from my partner's passport and things like WeChat screenshots in support of our relationship, all documents we provided were originals.
Hope that helps,
Tim
I've recently gone through this process myself. My partner is a Chinese citizen living close to Shanghai.
I used a UK solicitor to put our application together. What you'll find is that the vast, vast majority of documents you need to submit to the Home Office will be originating from yourself at the UK end.
On the Chinese side, we only had to provide an IELTS A1 Life Skills certificate, a UKVI tuberculosis certificate and the signed application form.
So, what we did was as follows:
1) I provided all the documents from my (sponsor) side to my solicitor directly.
2) The solicitor completed the online application and sent my partner the application form, biometrics appointment letter and payment receipts via e-Mail, which we printed out at the Chinese end.
3) We took the application form, appointment letter, payment receipts & my partner's passport to the Biometrics appointment at the UK VISA center in Shanghai - they kept my partner's passport.
4) An hour or so after the Biometrics was complete (took 3 hours even with Priority lounge), we met with a Fedex courier and sent the IELTS certificate, the TB Certificate and the signed application form to the UK solicitor. We also included a copy of my partner's passport photo page (make sure you have that for Biometrics - caught me offguard, but luckily I had a spare) which the VISA center had stamped.
5) Two days later, the Solicitor received the documents and combined with what I had previously provided and sent the whole bundle off to Sheffield.
Aside from photocopies of my passport, photocopies of key pages from my partner's passport and things like WeChat screenshots in support of our relationship, all documents we provided were originals.
Hope that helps,
Tim
Jun 6th 2018, 8:41 am
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 74
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Hi ScotScot,
I've recently gone through this process myself. My partner is a Chinese citizen living close to Shanghai.
I used a UK solicitor to put our application together. What you'll find is that the vast, vast majority of documents you need to submit to the Home Office will be originating from yourself at the UK end.
On the Chinese side, we only had to provide an IELTS A1 Life Skills certificate, a UKVI tuberculosis certificate and the signed application form.
So, what we did was as follows:
1) I provided all the documents from my (sponsor) side to my solicitor directly.
2) The solicitor completed the online application and sent my partner the application form, biometrics appointment letter and payment receipts via e-Mail, which we printed out at the Chinese end.
3) We took the application form, appointment letter, payment receipts & my partner's passport to the Biometrics appointment at the UK VISA center in Shanghai - they kept my partner's passport.
4) An hour or so after the Biometrics was complete (took 3 hours even with Priority lounge), we met with a Fedex courier and sent the IELTS certificate, the TB Certificate and the signed application form to the UK solicitor. We also included a copy of my partner's passport photo page (make sure you have that for Biometrics - caught me offguard, but luckily I had a spare) which the VISA center had stamped.
5) Two days later, the Solicitor received the documents and combined with what I had previously provided and sent the whole bundle off to Sheffield.
Aside from photocopies of my passport, photocopies of key pages from my partner's passport and things like WeChat screenshots in support of our relationship, all documents we provided were originals.
Hope that helps,
Tim
I've recently gone through this process myself. My partner is a Chinese citizen living close to Shanghai.
I used a UK solicitor to put our application together. What you'll find is that the vast, vast majority of documents you need to submit to the Home Office will be originating from yourself at the UK end.
On the Chinese side, we only had to provide an IELTS A1 Life Skills certificate, a UKVI tuberculosis certificate and the signed application form.
So, what we did was as follows:
1) I provided all the documents from my (sponsor) side to my solicitor directly.
2) The solicitor completed the online application and sent my partner the application form, biometrics appointment letter and payment receipts via e-Mail, which we printed out at the Chinese end.
3) We took the application form, appointment letter, payment receipts & my partner's passport to the Biometrics appointment at the UK VISA center in Shanghai - they kept my partner's passport.
4) An hour or so after the Biometrics was complete (took 3 hours even with Priority lounge), we met with a Fedex courier and sent the IELTS certificate, the TB Certificate and the signed application form to the UK solicitor. We also included a copy of my partner's passport photo page (make sure you have that for Biometrics - caught me offguard, but luckily I had a spare) which the VISA center had stamped.
5) Two days later, the Solicitor received the documents and combined with what I had previously provided and sent the whole bundle off to Sheffield.
Aside from photocopies of my passport, photocopies of key pages from my partner's passport and things like WeChat screenshots in support of our relationship, all documents we provided were originals.
Hope that helps,
Tim
Jun 6th 2018, 9:13 am
#4
Just Joined
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 22
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Not yet, no - it’s only been 3 weeks since our materials were sent to Sheffield.
So we have a long wait left.
We’re hoping to get a decision by mid-August. Sadly, the Shanghai Visa Center does not offer a priority service for settlement applications, which I rather hoping for. But it is what it is.
So we have a long wait left.
We’re hoping to get a decision by mid-August. Sadly, the Shanghai Visa Center does not offer a priority service for settlement applications, which I rather hoping for. But it is what it is.
Last edited by TimCypher; Jun 6th 2018 at 9:35 am.
Jun 6th 2018, 3:38 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 74
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Not yet, no - it’s only been 3 weeks since our materials were sent to Sheffield.
So we have a long wait left.
We’re hoping to get a decision by mid-August. Sadly, the Shanghai Visa Center does not offer a priority service for settlement applications, which I rather hoping for. But it is what it is.
I have a question, my birth Cert seems to be a bit bigger than A4 size its somewhere between A3-A4. Do i have to make that into A4? and the original Cert is in bad shape, pretty old and have some tears. Will that be accepted ?
Jun 6th 2018, 4:40 pm
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 74
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
For your accommodation , do you need a report by house inspectors stating its suitable to live in if the applicant & sponsor are living with their parents?
Jun 7th 2018, 6:51 am
#7
Just Joined
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 22
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Hi Shaam,
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
Jun 7th 2018, 8:30 am
#8
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 74
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Hi Shaam,
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
thanks a lot Tim
we we plan to stay with a family member for a couple of months while we look for our own as we have enough $.
We we will go for the property inspection as well then.
Jun 7th 2018, 8:39 am
#9
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 74
Re: Sponsor's supporting documents must be original?
Hi Shaam,
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
We didn't submit any birth certificates as part of our application. My solicitor simply took cover-to-cover photocopies of my passport. If you do want to submit a birth certificate (which is optional) then I would sent the original. As long as it's legible, I'm sure that's fine.
Regarding meeting the accommodation requirement, I have my own property in the UK, so I supplied a land registry certificate and my most recent mortgage statement as evidence for this. I did also have a property inspection report done, but my solicitor advised that this was optional - it cost £70, so I figured it was worth doing if it helped prove the matter beyond doubt.
Hope that helps,
Tim
one more question, is there any requirement on whether the copies has to be color or black & white is also okay?
