thedtjs

Hi all.

So my wife and I are applying online for her visa this weekend.

Might be a silly question, but I have all our documents together on my laptop here in the UK which we put together just before she went back to the US. She doesn't have a pc or laptop where she is so I thought I'd apply for it here.

Where it says 'apply from ourside the UK', does it matter if I'm technically applying for it in the UK even though its on her behalf being out of the UK?

Thanks!

SanDiegogirl

She needs to make the application from wherever she lives.
The system will then provide info as to where she goes (locally) for her Biometrics appointment. It will also ask for visa costs/IHS surcharge in local currency.

Katerina1

No it doesn’t matter , you will just have to say that you are applying out of USA in the form.

This is where your wife will be attending her biometric appointment.

thedtjs

Hi.

Thanks for the reply. We submitted it successfully so we are now waiting for her biometrics appointment. We are uploading our documents through VFS Global.

Question, do we need to fill in the form 'Appendix 2 VAF4A'? The information on gov.uk says

"Form VAF4A is for people in North Korea only.If you are coming to the UK from abroad to visit, work, study or join a family member or partner, you must apply online."
"Use the appendix 2 (financial requirement form) to tell us how you meet the financial requirement when you are applying to join a partner, child or other family member who is settled in the UK. You must complete this form as well as making your application online."

On the form itself it says "YOU SHOULD COMPLETE THIS FORM IF YOU WISH TO COME TO THE UK AS:
• The spouse or civil partner of someone settled in the UK
• The child of a parent who is applying for entry clearance as a partner or the child who is applying to join their parent who is already in
the UK and has been granted limited leave as partner granted under the Immigration Rules in force on 09 July 2012; or
• The fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of someone settled in the UK; or
• The unmarried or same sex partner of someone settled in the UK; or
• The Post Flight family member (spouse or civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner) of someone
with limited leave to enter or remain in the UK as refugee or is the beneficiary of humanitarian protection; or
• The Post Flight family member (spouse or civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner or child) of
someone with limited leave to enter or remain in the UK as a refugee or is the beneficiary of humanitarian protection.

It seems that there is contradicting information here. I am a British citizen, since birth. Neither my wife and I are North Korean. She is a US citizen.

This may be a silly question and maybe I'm reading it wrong, but I don't want to fill in the wrong form or upload unnecessary documents!

Thanks very much

Gullible

Hello, I hope your application is going well. We are just getting our paperwork together for upload.. Did you send a letter of invitation as the host? It doesn't mention that on the checkist but it does when you go to the upload page. Can you help with this? I am British my husband American. Thanks.

thedtjs

Hi there. Sorry for the late reply.

We submitted all our paper work online and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. As I am the sponsor, I did write one full A4 page of my intent to sponsor my wife. I wrote around 5 or 6 paragraphs giving a brief description of how we met along with our intent to live in the UK. I also wrote about my earnings and also broke down the evidence submitted (photos, trips taken, plane tickets, wedding invoices etc). I thought it would paint a better picture since the entry clearence officer doesn't know us. I headed it with my address and hand signed it before uploading it.

We received an email saying that it is now at the decision making centre so now we just have to wait. Its been nearly a month now so fingers crossed!

Have you submitted anything yet?

I did find that there were a couple of things that it mentions to upload but I think some of them are generic for other visa types. It certainly wouldn't hurt and like I said, I think it would paint a better picture for the person going through it.

Also for our photos, we chose around 60 photos all with descriptions and dates. We started with our wedding photos first and then chronological order after that. A few selfies and then photos with family and friends and some holiday photos.

I still couldn't find any info on wether to fill in the Appendix form. Some places said to do it and some places said it wasn't necessary. We filled it in and uploaded it anyway. We just thought if they don't need it they won't bother with it.

Gullible

Hi Yes,

We have uploaded our documents and also had an email saying it is now with the decision making centre.
We didnt send one single photo. We just sent what was asked of us in the checklist.

Good luck

SanDiegogirl

You've got quite an interesting marriage/immigration history as per your earlier notes; married sine 2002, but lived apart since 2016 due to you returning to the UK and undertaking a long distance relationship since then.

A few photographs showing a continuing relationship during that time would have been beneficial.

Gullible

"Interesting" I suppose that might be a way to describe it but I think it depends on your perception of a relationship. We did what we had to do for our family and our finances. We are ready to retire and reap the rewards of our sacrifices. We didn't send any photographic evidence even though we have loads because it wasn't asked for. If immigration cannot see we have a long term genuine marriage due to our joint ownership of properties, financial integration and longevity then I am not sure what else we could do...

Gullible

Hello again,
Have you heard anything from immigration yet?

thedtjs

Hi there,

No, we haven't heard anything yet. I'm not expecting to hear anything til about February - March kind of time, maybe later.

How about you?

Gullible

No, nothing yet.

As usual, information is conflicting. I have seen it state that it takes 12 weeks and in other places that it takes 24.

If 12 weeks is correct that date for us will be the 29th December. We put "december" in as our preferred travel date.

What criteria are you going on if you are expecting some thing Feb march?

Good luck.

thedtjs

We're going off the 24 week mark plus a little extra time as it is a government department which I don't really have a lot of faith in anyway. The 12 week aim was before the Ukrainian refugee crisis which meant the home office extended visa process times to around 24 weeks. I would aim for 24+ weeks as stated on the UK Gov website and ignore anywhere it says 12 as these are old processing times.

Good luck to you as well.

thedtjs

Hi there.

Just thought I'd let you know, we actually heard back about my wife's immigration and it was successful. It seems processing times have improved.

Have you heard anything yet?

Paparpaul

Congratulations!! I submitted mine Aug. 22 so hopefully I’ll hear back shortly.