Family Visit Visa Query

Hi All,

Me and My wife on ILR planning to bring in my parents from India for 4 months from June.
My parents have visited UK before 4 years and went back within 2 months. Last time I applied using an agent in India and everything was taken care by them.

Confusion I am with currently is , Online application and quries surrounding this.Please clarify on the following:
1) Can we use an agent now ?
2) If Online application is only way , Can I apply on behalf of my parents with their details ? (I am in UK ,just wondering any tracking is enabled ,to make people apply from outside UK only ?)
3) Can I give later date for start of the Visa ? Should I mention this in my sponsor letter ?
4) We live in a 2 bed Flat (with Me , Wife and 3 year old child) - Will this cause any issues on accomadation for my parents Visa ?
5) Flat Tenancy is extended Contract - Means Earlier it was Annual renowal and this year , Landlord just extend my existing contract , by writing in email(with in Landlord and myself), Which benefitted him avoiding paying for Agents huge fees. - Should I get a letter from Lanlord stating about my tenancy or OLD tenanancy agreement with landlord letter is required ?

Documents to Send:

(ONLY copies from me I beleive)

a) Copies of Mine and my wife's - Passport and ILR Card
b) 6 months Bank statements - Mine
c) Council Tax statement - I this required ? (Need to apply and wait so happy to avoid if its not mandatory)
d) 1 Utility bill ( Is this required ?)
e) Please let me know other documents whcih I need to send to India.

Can I send all scanned copies to my parents ? Or Online can I upload ?
Please clarify my questions
kind regards
Raj

1. if you wish you can use an agent
2. one needs to register onto the site and then can submit an application. you can register with your details and the complete the application for your parents. once you login, you'll find option either to submit your own application or applying for someone's behalf. there is no tracking involved. you can even use your credit/debit card to pay the visa fee.
3. yes you can request to issue visa start date upto 90 days in the future
4.5 - look fine to me

there is no online upload for documents. once submitted online the applicants need to visit nearest VFS office to submit the application (print out of the form submitted online), along with photographs, biometrics and supporting documents

Thank you very much for your help "ban.s" .

So what documents do I need to show my accomadation ? Landlord Letter ? or Old contract (Date is expired in this ,as it is extended contract using email agreement)
Or should I submit both ?

Please confirm on following, (DO I need to send (to parents) the originals or Scanned copies are sufficient ? ) - It was in the GOV site that , all Orginals and Copies for each to be submitted ?
Documents to Send:
a) Copies of Mine and my wife's - Passport and ILR Card
b) 6 months Bank statements - Mine
c) Council Tax statement - I this required ? (Need to apply and wait, so happy to avoid if its not mandatory)
d) Elec/Gas bill (utility) - Do I need this ?

Kind regards

Raj

I would get an updated contract first instead of relying on an expired out of date contract and email extension. If your landlord wants to avoid the agent fee, there are loads of free short let tenancy agreement available online - just use one of those.

I am not sure if I understand correctly what you meant by council tax statement - is it the council tax bill that you receive from the council every year or something else? If the former, then why do you need to apply and wait? if you pay council tax you should have one already. however a new one for 2014-15 will arrive shortly.

Utility bills are not required as such

Lastly people mentioned in this forum that all scanned documents from the sponsor worked fine though many choose to submit atleast the sponsorship letter original.