ruri

Hello everyone,

Now that we've finally received our daughter's British passport, we are ready to move on and apply for the spouse visa for myself. We have a full month of Feb to prepare all the documents and we will be making the application (priority service) at the beginning of March. But first of all, I'd like to thank all the members of BE who helped us a lot with great information regarding the child first British passport application from overseas. I still can't believe how fast the process went considering that our countersignatory was a Malaysian too.

I would be very grateful if anyone can advice us with our document check list for the spouse visa application as below:

Applicant's Documents
-completed application form
-payment receipt
-cover letter
-current passport
-previous passports
-passport photo x2
-TB Test
-English Test
-Biometric

Sponsor's Documents
-completed sponsor form
-cover letter
-passport (colour copy of bio data page?)

Financial Evidence
-Letter from employer
-contract letter
-most recent payslips x6
-most recent bank statements x6
-P60

Evidence of accommodation
-Tenancy agreement
-Council tax statements x 1?
-Property inspection report
-Utility bills x 1?
-Letter from landlord

Relationship Evidence
-Marriage certificate & certified translation
-Copy of passport stamps
-Skype call logs x 5 A4 sheets
-Annotated photos x 15
-child's birth certificate & certified translation
-Letters/cards (Christmas/Birthday/emails)
-previous flight tickets?

I really feel like I'm missing a lot here. No words can explain how worried and nervous I am knowing that all the fees and expenses are non refundable and that's a lot for us to lose. My husband will be coming over to Malaysia to assist me with the application and to avoid the complication with the 28 days rule.

So, many many many thanks for all the help we will receive from members here in advance.

Ruri

michali

Appendix 2? Otherwise looks good to me. I hope others will check too. I am sure you know all documents must be originals unless certified. And of course, a copy of all documents in a separate pile. Keep a copy of the application form and appendix 2 for yourself. Not sure you really need birthday cards etc to each other.

ruri

Oh damn, thank you! I've completely missed that. It's so hard to think clear and do things properly with my 2 year old daughter begging for attention every time I'm trying to do something.

Yes, I'm aware that everything has to be original unless certified and must be photocopied too. I'm also really not sure about birthday or Christmas cards but that was my husband's suggestion. We have been together for 10 years with a child now, so covering all those years under the relationship evidence is a bit crazy, but I wouldn't risk the chance by not doing this properly.

Thanks so much for your reply!

SanDiegogirl

Leave out the Christmas and Birthday cards. They just create more clutter.

Sponsor's passport - no need to send passport itself - full copy will suffice.

Appendix 2 very important.

ruri

Alright I will take the cards out of the list and have added the Appendix 2. For the sponsor's passport, when you said full copy, do you mean by copy of all pages or just the bio data page? Thank you so much.

SanDiegogirl

The guidance notes say bio page I think, but some people have sent the whole thing.

michali

For FLRM, you definitely have to copy every page of the sponsors passport but, as far as I know, only the bio page is needed for spousal visa. If in doubt, send a copy if every page!

ruri

I'm guessing it will be safer to send a copy of every page.

spouse of scouse

I copied each page of my husband sponsor's passport, it helped with proving the relationship as all the stamps corresponded with those in my passport.

Good pick up from michali re Appendix2 - when I submitted my application the processing people told me it was by far the most important document (the money)

ruri

Thank you for your reply. I will definitely do the same but unfortunately it's his new passport as he has just recently renewed it. I guess we will have to work on his previous passport too for the relationship evidence of course. Did you have to copy it in black and white or colour? And also did you have to get it certified?

I apologize if I'm asking too many question but I have another I'm now slowly filling out the online form and I'm quite confused as to what answer I need to put for the question of "how long do you intend to stay in the UK?" Should I put 2 and half years, or maybe permanent?

Another one is the question under details of where we would stay in the UK. It's asking of a name of the person/hotel just above the address detail. So, if it's a rented house by my husband, should I put his name or the landlord's name in the box?

Quite terrible that I completely missed the appendix 2! money, money, money!

nabeeha

Looks very thorough! Good luck x

nabeeha

How many p60s did you include?

ruri

In fact, I'm not sure and havent thought of it. I shall ask my husband about this and it would be very good too if someone can share their experience with us here.

nabeeha

Ok cool thanks

michali

Don't worry about asking questions here. That is what we are here for! And we all needed help when applying for our visas.

To the question how long do you intend to stay, we put 'permanently' but then qualified it in the area for extra information by saying something like 'depending of course, on the granting of further visas'. Some however suggest you should put two and a half years, the length of the visa. I don't think it really matters.

I cannot recall having to put a name or hotel for accommodation. Maybe they have changed it allowing for the fact that some applicants will not have a permanent place to live on arrival. Especially as landlords now sometimes do not give permission in advance for a migrant spouse to live in their property until the visa has been granted. I would just put the address of the property and you should include a tenancy agreement that your husband has with the landlord along with a letter from the landlord giving you permission to live there when you get your visa. A utility or council tax bill should also be included. If you are sharing with anyone else you should get an inspection report. Now others who have applied more recently may be able to advise better on this issue. Not sure whose name should go in the box, your husbands or the landlord's.