alyssa_chromy

Hi all, I need help! My husband's tax statements haven't come in and my visa needs to be turned into the UK by next Wednesday. Is there any alternative to tax statements? He's called them twice over the last month and they keep telling him they're on their way. But I can't really wait much longer. I already know I'll have to ship this visa over night, but I need his part of the visa before I do so.

Can I ship the statements later?? I don't mind my visa being on hold for a short time while they wait for them. Suggestions???

ruri

Hi how are you doing?

If you mean the p60 slip then it depends on what category you are applying under. My husband and I applied under category A (employed) and we couldn't supply his recent p60 due to his starting date with the company and also the date of our application. He just wrote an explanation of why he hasnt had it in his covering letter and we got the visa OK.

Good luck

omario2016

Hi Ruri and everyone else,
It has been really helpful reading all your messages.
I have a particular question in regards to accommodation but also many more questions as I think my case is a bit special. I would be very happy to get some help from your guys on my first question but super happy if I get feedback for the rest too.

Accommodation:
Can accommodation be AirBnB? for instance for a month and thereafter something more permanent? I am currently based abroad with my work and have been away from the UK for almost 6 years but going back to the UK during those 6 years every now and then. I haven't been renting a place for myself but have been using a friends address for my posts and also to stay during the times I was in the UK during that 6 years. (never more than two months at a time). This is why I don't have my place and no tenancy agreement, bills etc.

My case:
I am using 'savings' option to meet the financial requirements. The appendix 2 form seems very complicated, do I need to put all my assignments with my organisation for the last 6 years? Do I qualify as someone who is 'settled' in the UK? Do I need to rent an accommodation or AirBnB will be enough to begin with? Can I even rent an accommodation in the UK while I am abroad?

My wife and I both live together at the moment but my work will be done here in couple of months and therefore we would like to move to the UK.

Any tips, feedback will be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,

orange108

hello omario,

accommodation in the UK - temporary accommodation is fine. you have to include a statement re your future accommodation plans. as you mentioned, you only intend to stay at AirBnB for a month and then find a rental flat/house to stay with your spouse. this is no different for some cases i've read in various forums where they initially stayed with family members/friends and/or hotel for a few weeks then moved to a rental accommodation with their spouse. you have to ask the owner/agent of the AirBnB for a confirmation of your length of stay (in lieu of 'title of deed' had you owned a place in the UK or rental contract), and that the place has enough rooms to accommodate you and your spouse, and of course, receipt for full payment.

renting whilst overseas may be tricky but you can certainly try calling agents local to your intended place, or you can ask a friend/family member to find one for you.

re being 'settled' - if you were born in the UK, even though you've been away, you will still be considered as 'settled'. my husband/sponsor had been living overseas for 12+ yrs when he sponsored me.

your employment history - i included my husband's employment history (in bullet points) although we also went thru the 'savings' pathway. although not specifically requested, i included this to show my husband's "employability" - to show home office that he is skilled and has various experiences, so the possibility of depending on government benefits is nil.

hope that helps. good luck to you and your wife!

orange108

re being 'settled' - if you were born in the UK, even though you've been away, you will still be considered as 'settled'. my husband/sponsor had been living overseas for 12+ yrs when he sponsored me.

"if you were born in the UK" - what i mean is, if you acquired UK citz by birth. anyhow, if you are a naturalised UK citz, that is also considered as 'settled'.

'settled' in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 -- british citz or ILR.
they use this term 'settled' to distinguish british citz/ILR/PR from EU nationals basically. for example, EU nationals cannot be considered 'settled' until they achieve their permanent residency per EU requirements.

omario2016

Hello orange108,
Thank you very much for your reply. That really helps.

Re accommodation, I have been speaking to a friend too and he said he has a room in his house which he can rent to me and my wife which also increases our options but I think if go that way, I would have to provide proof of address i.e. letter from local authorities, tenancy agreement etc. I think AirBnB would be a better option as it is less hassle.

One more question: If we are thinking to apply for my wife's visa in a weeks time, when should the accommodation be rented from? I know that the visa process takes up to 3 months so that means around mid November. Can the accommodation date start from then or does it have to be earlier? if yes, how early?

any feedback would be great.
Many thanks,

DernierVirage

@omario2016: no disrespect intended, but applying in a week's time sounds impossible, given what you mention so far about your preparations. The application, at least in my experience, demands a huge amount of preparation and time. My advice is to fix the application timing after you have planned the content of your application. For what it's worth, our application took about 4 months to prepare, with about 10 days more or less full time work before we submitted the papers. Our situation was not that complex, but things take time and you must be sure to give it your best shot.

orange108

hello omario2016,

if you have a friend that is offering to rent a room temporarily and it is not a very formal sort of rental arrangement, he can provide a letter stating so, and including the rental amount that you have agreed, intended length of stay, etc. if you have kept a UK bank account, you can move your address to your friend's address as early as you want, and all other docs that are deemed useful for the home office. that way, you already have proof of address. please note that home office accepts 'online bank statements' only if they are duly stamped by the bank.

i agree with DernierVirage, you need to allocate ample time to prepare. the financial requirement seems simple and straightforward - but make sure that you follow all the specified details for the required documents. my husband and i initially underestimated the time needed to prepare the traceability of our savings. please make sure that all your savings documents tie up and evidence based; for example, if the savings are from salary earnings, you can include all employment contracts stating the salary, copies of payslips, etc.

good luck!

omario2016

thank you very much for pointing that out and please don't feel as if I take it the wrong way. in fact, this is great help that I am receiving from you and others here.

since you have been in Dhaka , you would know already the difficulties such as obtaining original documents such as bank statement. can i ask you how can I get original bank statements here in dhaka since I understand that online prints of the statement will not be accepted? what if i attach my contract and payslips with the printed bank statement? at least that way the will see that I have been getting paid?

or if i have to provide original bank statements, do i need to call my bank and order statements ? thank you in advance for your help!

omario2016

hello orange:
thank you for your kind and helpful reply: here is my comments and more questions which i also asked others here:

I am currently living in Dhaka, Bangladesh (where we will launch my wife's visa application from). It is difficult such to obtain original documents such as bank statement. can i ask you how can I get original bank statements here in dhaka since I understand that online prints of the statement will not be accepted? what if i attach my contract and payslips with the printed bank statement? at least that way the will see that I have been getting paid?

or if i have to provide original bank statements, do i need to call my bank and order statements ? thank you in advance for your help!

p.s. and i totally get that we will need plenty of time to prepare and be ready to launch the application. I guess my estimate of us having to live here until November may stretch until December or so.

DernierVirage

I didn't live in Dhaka, only went there frequently on business, but I can imagine the problems you are facing. I was living in Beijing at the time, but the bank statements that we used from from HSBC in Hong Kong, who stamped versions that they printed out themselves.

spouse of scouse

I applied from Australia, I printed my online bank statements out and had the bank authorize them, they were accepted.

If you are able to access your bank there, you'll need to print out the last 6 months of statements, take them to the bank, and get each page stamped with the bank's stamp. I got each page signed as well.

orange108

hi omario2016,

sorry, i don't know where to get original bank statements in dhaka. i've never been to dhaka. i did my application from australia.

in relation to bank statements, 'spouse of scouse' answered you correctly - print out the last 6 months of bank statements and have each page stamped by the bank/s which issued the statements. that is sufficient. they can be stamped by any branch, not necessarily the same branch where the account was opened. my "stamped" bank statements were from 3 different countries and they were all accepted.

omario2016

thank you all for you kind replies. unfortunately none my banks (or other international banks for that matter) have branches here in Dhaka, Bangladesh so I feel kind of stuck. I did provide bank statements printed online for my wife's VISTOR visa application in india and they were accepted. I am thinking of doing the same here and attach a cover letter from my work (international organisation) mentioning my salary and employment history.

you think that is a bad idea as it might be rejected?

I just can't think of any other solution.

DernierVirage

I don't have any direct experience of visitor visas, but a spouse visa is on the face of it a much more significant application, so if I were in your shoes I wouldn't take any risks.

As part of the preparations for my wife's application, I made two round trips from Beijing to Hong Kong (where the bank was) and one from Beijing to Scotland....ONLY to deal with paperwork for the supporting documents! To be honest, I think you have to be prepared to jump through these hoops to make an application as water tight as possible.

Best of luck.