General visitor visa

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:37 am

Hi,

I was looking at the guidance notes for the General Visitor visa form, where it states:

General Visitor/ Tourist:

Supporting letter(s) from your friend or sponsor in the UK
If you are visiting a friend you may wish to include a letter of invitation from them as well as their financial documents, as outlined in the finances and employment section above.
You should also consider supplying evidence of their immigration status in the UK, this could be copies of:
ïƒ˜ bio-data pages from their passports
ïƒ˜ valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
ïƒ˜ Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK

Can someone please tell me if the above can be FAXED across to the applicant, or must the ORIGINAL copies be sent to him/her by post?

Please confirm.

Thank you in advance.

Post by **Lucapooka** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:46 am

The invitation letter can be faxed (do they still have these?) but any bank statements would have to be original. Do you need financial assistance with this visit; it's only necessary to have this provision if the applicant lacks sufficient means of their own?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:11 am

Hi Lucapooka,

Thank you for your reply.

So the invitation letter can be faxed, that's great. Would you happen to know if the passport copy can also be faxed?

If the person applying for the general visitor visa can show they have sufficient funds, will the person sending the invitation letter and their passport copy still be required to send details about their finances as well?

I appreciate your help!

Post by **Lucapooka** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:31 pm

Mohammad24 wrote:Would you happen to know if the passport copy can also be faxed?

Why would you need to send a passport?

Mohammad24 wrote: If the person applying for the general visitor visa can show they have sufficient funds, will the person sending the invitation letter and their passport copy still be required to send details about their finances as well?

No.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:08 pm

Lucapooka wrote:
Mohammad24 wrote:Would you happen to know if the passport copy can also be faxed?
Why would you need to send a passport?

.

Oh, because it says:

You should also consider supplying evidence of their immigration status in the UK, this could be copies of:
ïƒ˜ bio-data pages from their passports
ïƒ˜ valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
ïƒ˜ Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK

If the passport and invitation letter can both be faxed, then that would be really convenient.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 4:41 am

Anybody?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:39 pm

Can someone confirm please?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:13 pm

In addition to my above unanswered question, I also wanted to know if the invitation letter (and passport?) can be scanned and sent to the person applying for the general visit visa by email?

And, does anybody have any templates that we can use in order to write an invitation letter?

Someone please help!

Thank you.

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:21 pm

1. Send photocopies or scanned ... same thing, isn't it? Except that the person who will be "printing" the documents will be different ... but that doesn't matter!!! Faxed documents also work ... provided they come out clear at the receipent's end.

2. Check the "sticky" topics.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:27 pm

Thank you for your reply!

Would you happen to know if my wife can write an invitation letter inviting someone to come to England on a visit visa, if she is currently out of the UK herself?

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:37 pm

Is the date on which your wife writes such a letter or the country she is in when she pens such a letter of any relevance? No.

That she will not be in UK when the visitor(s) she has sponsored visit(s) - can be a problem!

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:59 pm

Great, thank you for your help.

I had a look at the sticky for the sponsor letter...basically my wife intends to write a letter as a friend of the applicant, and the applicant will be showing their own income etc. Is this a problem? Does my wife have to show any income?

Can my wife just send a letter and her passport photocopy, without details of any finance? She has no problem buying the friend's ticket, or arranging accommodation, but she is unemployed at the moment, so won't be able to show a salary figure. Can she merely mention in the letter that she will be financing the applicants stay, without backing it up with evidence to show an income etc?

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:04 pm

Mohammad24 wrote:Can my wife just send a letter and her passport photocopy, without details of any finance?

Sure, when no financial assistance is not being offered by your wife.

If the sponsor will be accommodating the visitor in his/her home, then the sponsor may need to provide evidence of accommodation, e.g. - rent agreement, ownership documentation etc. Photocopies / scanned / faxed will do.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:20 pm

I appreciate all your help.

Should my wife mention that she will be paying for the flight and any expenses the visitor will incur during the visit? Or can she only mention this if she's able to show evidence of finance?

Also, are there any templates for invitation letters where it doesn't talk about all the financial details? The sticky one talks about finance etc.

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:28 pm

Simple! Re-draft the template to suit your needs.

Retain the bits for which sponsorship is being offered (.e.g - accommodation, maintenance) and throw away the rest.
Likewise, provide relevant documentary evidences to support the aspect of sponsorship being offered.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:44 pm

Hmm, that's the thing, providing the evidence that she will pay for the ticket and any expenses will be difficult as although she has some savings, it's not in her account, so she won't be able to use a bank statement to prove the finance element.

I'm just wondering whether it would be wise to mention the ticket and expenses if she can't show any evidence for it.

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:54 pm

1. Never lie in an immigration application. That holds goo for both the sponsor and the applicant.
2. If the sponsor cannot support the claims with documentary evidences, best that no such claims are made.
3. Can't the "friend" buy his/her own tickets and take care of travel expenses on his/her own, and provide evidences of "available funds" or "income" on her own - to cover travel costs?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:58 pm

Yep, lying isn't an option, and no one intended on doing that. :p

The applicant will be showing his finances and will be submitting his payslips and bank statements, but as a good will gesture, my wife would like to buy the ticket, so I suppose even if she does buy the ticket, she probably won't be able to put that down on the application, as she'll have no evidence of it.

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:12 pm

Goodwill and sponsorship for an immigration application are two different matters. Don't mix the two! Who ultimately pays for the ticket - you, your wife, friend, ABC, XYZ (as a goodwill gesture or otherwise) - is irrelevant. Goodwill works best at the back-end.

Concentrate on the aspect of "sponsorship" that your wife needs to provide and the evidence(s) the applicant will need to provide - to ensure that the application is successful.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:32 am

Yes, you're right. Thank you.

Do you happen to have any suggestions of how my wife can prove that she will pay for the ticket and expenses incurred by the visitor during the stay?

Could she for example arrange for her money to be transferred into her own account, and then request the bank to send out a statement, and then send that statement to the applicant? Or will that not be acceptable because they'd want more than just one statement?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:55 am

Or, what if my wife transfers an amount, let's say 1000 pound to the applicant for which they could buy their ticket etc, and that sum will appear on their bank statement when they submit their statements to the British embassy...so, could my wife mention in the letter that she sent 1000 pounds to support the applicant, the evidence for which can be seen in the applicants bank statement?:!:

ScopeD · Post by **ScopeD** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:12 pm

Mohammad24 wrote:Yes, you're right. Thank you.

Do you happen to have any suggestions of how my wife can prove that she will pay for the ticket and expenses incurred by the visitor during the stay?

Could she for example arrange for her money to be transferred into her own account, and then request the bank to send out a statement, and then send that statement to the applicant? Or will that not be acceptable because they'd want more than just one statement?

Pardon me if I misunderstood something, but why exactly does your wife need to prove that she is paying for the ticket??? Is it a requirement to show who pays or how the ticket is paid for? From what you said above, the visitor will provide their own bank statements, correct??? And all your wife is doing is to provide accommodation, right? If the visitor has a good financial statement, and if a relative/friend is providing them with accommodation, I am not seeing the need to further explain each and every detail of the trip expenses. Otherwise you might as well explain that they will pay for a boat ride along the Thames and you will only pay for the London day travel cards and a McDonalds meal, and the whole application becomes confusing. If I were in your position, I would stick to simplifying the application as much as possible. Here is what I would do:

*Sponsor letter from wifey to say she will provide accommodation to friend (rental agreement, bills, etc)
*Letter of invitation to the friend from wifey
*wifey's permission to stay in UK/passport stamps etc

I would then ask the friend to ensure that they provide their bank statements to go with their application to show they are financially able to look after themselves.

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:10 am

Thank you for you help.

Yes, the visitor will be submitting his bank statements. However, we are unsure of whether he's able to show that he has sufficient funds, and therefore, to be on the safe side, my wife wanted to show that she will be paying for the ticket etc.

Does anybody know how much one needs to show if he/she intends to come to the UK for a maximum of one month?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:46 am

Can somebody confirm how much an applicant should have in their account in order to be able to show that he/she can support themselves in the UK for a maximum of a month on a visitor's visa?

Thank you.

Post by **Lucapooka** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:04 am

No, it's not a tangible amount and depends on the cashflow and outgoing expenditure of the parties involved. The ECO will make an arbitrary decision. A person earning 1K per month with very few outgoings may qualify; a person earning 5K per month who regularly spends 5K per month and has a negative bank balance may not qualify.

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General visitor visa

General visitor visa