Spousal Visa Application - Pakistan

Hi Asif121,

Congratulations on your wifes visa. Any chance you can give a list of the sort of documents you submitted as i think this will be very useful to other members who might be applying for a visa. Thanks.

RM786 wrote:Hi Asif121,

Congratulations on your wifes visa. Any chance you can give a list of the sort of documents you submitted as i think this will be very useful to other members who might be applying for a visa. Thanks.

Sorry for late reply, heres a breakdown of my supporting docs,

Nikaah-Nama - Both english an urdu an copies certified

Property Letters
Which show i own my house with upto date letter from my mortgage company confirming i hold a mortgage an that im not in any arrears and what my current payments are
Title deeds for property - Electronic downloads from the net, thats how they come now so easily available through ur local solicitor or online for a about £5

Home Inspection report -
Required to show no overcrowding will occur
this was a difficult one as local councils used to be able to do this but now dont bother, so u just need a competant lawyer or estate agent to come an carry out measurements of all rooms excluding Spam, this has to be done properly as there is a certain template an measurements in square feet which need to be worked out that give ur house a certain number of units, which determines how many people can live in ur property according to the housing overcrowding act, I can give the template if any requires it, which is very very useful for those who wish to show that ur spouse will be living at home with the family or parents etc, should cost you no more than £40

Payslips - last 4 months
Letter from employer comfirming my full time employment, confirming my salary an monthly income, this was done by the accountant

Bank Statements - last 3 months showing current account balance with about £5000 in account, that has been in there for over 3-4 months, also showing my monthly wages coming in there an mortgage payments which come out of there, so it all ties up with my employment an mortgage
*** MAKE SURE***
get your bank statements stamped from ur branch just before ur application is to be submitted an also u can request a full print out last 3-4 months from your branch manager showing current dates which also require upto date stamped on each page, also request a covering letter from ur manager confirming that the statements are upto date an genuine

Photocopies of my parents passport - Showing each main page confirming thier identities an more importantly showing the dates that they travelled to pakistan, which show stamped entries at lahore airport an exit stamps to prove that they came an arranged the marriage etc
These photocopies need be to certified as genuine copies by a solicitor who must sign an stamp every page that u intend to show as a photocopy

My passport photocopies - Once again showing my travel dates of when i came an left, which prove i was here at the time of the wedding/nikaah etc, each copied page certified as a true copy of the original by solicitor
You can also include here travel tickets, or proofs of tickets etc such as plane boarding passes, credit card payments for travel etc
Very important note here, if any of u are actually in pakistan at the time of submitting ur spouses apllication then be sure to mention this in your application form an provide photocopy of ur passport pages showing ur entry stamps at the airport

I also included proof of my intended travel as i was going to visit my wife just after she was going submit the application which shows that i was going to be joining an visiting her again in the very near future, in my case it was just a few days after submission of the application, so i showed my booked airline tickets, invoice from travel agent an debit card reciepts, an PIA travel itenerary showing my booking.

Evidence of contact -
this is very important these days as many visas are being refused due to lack of this evidence and calling cards are being highly rejected as contact evidence, so be sure to try an use a dedicated phone for inetrnational calls
I printed out all emails between me an my wife for like over 4 months,
Telephone bills, t- mobile bills with highlighting all the calls made to her mobile an house phone.
The best advice for this i can give is, to take out a Lebara pay as u go sim card from any shop, its the best thing for making international calls to pakistan, use a cheap crap fone, the calls are really good, the price is also good better than wasted minutes on calling cards which u cant prove u called certain numbers, with lebara register online, an u can printout all ur call history but this history is only uptodate for last few weeks and u will have to keep printing every few weeks or so, so all u do is call customer service an request a call history for last 3-6 months, it takes a few days an they send it to u, u can also ask for a covering letter confirming the requested call history information, an this looks much more professional as it has ur name an address on thier company letter headed paper.

Photos - i sent around 60 original photos with also mini printouts on A4 sheets which show about 40 small thumbnail pics, various photos of mum an dad prior to engagement, engagement pics, wedding pics, ceremony photos, post wedding photos after wedding etc, basically just a range of photos that show everything from start to end of the wedding.

i did send CDs containing all the photos and also a full rubbish DVD of the whole events etc, but dont bother with cds or dvds, as they simply wont accept them an wont even let them through security at the Visa centres when you go to submit ur application, they ask you to remove them at security before u even get inside, an trust me u dont want to get caught inside with them either as there is no way of sneaking them back into ur application, my wife told me some girl got caught doing that inside and they really treated her like shit inside the visa centre.

I also sent original envelopes from letters sent an recieved between my wife an I from pakistan, such as birthday cards an eid cards etc

Another really good thing to do is to attach a another sheet of paper to the original application form at the end, as there are certain questions on the form which u can elaborate on by simply writing on the form see additional information sheet, on this sheet just simply mark a star* with the relevant question number on the form an go on to explain in detail some of the questions, such as how u met, an how or if ur wedding was arranged, when u last saw each other or if an when you might be seeing each other again, or any other information that u wud like to include for them to read when considering ur application, but do remember this has to be wriiten as if it is coming from the applicant so here u can include or explain anything that u may think wud help ur application.

Please PM me if any requires any further info or questions etc, an good luck with all ur applications, may allah grant u all with the succes of being with ur husbands/wives soon.

does anyone have any experience with going to Istanbul or Dubai for a holiday with a pakistani passport? I take it a visa is required...

Well done Asif. You and your family have thought over and planned everything very carefully.

I doubt whether you will have any problem in getting your wife a visa,

It is a pity some of the other people here dont do the same, as it will save them a lot of hassle later on.

All docs seem fine,I wont bother sending your parents spassport and the bracelet bit.I think it will be overkill.

Remember they only look at your application once and then make a decison, so if you have all the neccesary docs there,it should cause no problem.

Let us know how you get on.

Congratulation Asif. My prediction did come true. Well done

Hi a qustion for Batley khan, i am submiting a rental agreement for rent i receive from my property i own along projected income statement from the accountant who will be submitting my tax return online in the next few weeks. I intend to send the paper work off this week. Do i need to add any other documents along with the tenancy agreement and projected accounts for spousal visa ( i know what other paper work i need am just concerned about any other docs to submit with the rental agreement). Forexample would i need a letter from the tax office stating that i had notified them about my rental income or would the projected accounts be sufficient along with a leter from my accountant ? Would be appreciated if you could advise me ?

Yes if you can provide proof to back up what your accountant has stated, it would certainly be helpful ( Copy of tennancy agreement and letter froim Inland Revenue stating you have declared this income) because some people dont bother to declare this income unfortunately

batleykhan wrote:

Well done Asif. You and your family have thought over and planned everything very carefully.

I doubt whether you will have any problem in getting your wife a visa,

It is a pity some of the other people here dont do the same, as it will save them a lot of hassle later on.

All docs seem fine,I wont bother sending your parents spassport and the bracelet bit.I think it will be overkill.

Remember they only look at your application once and then make a decison, so if you have all the neccesary docs there,it should cause no problem.

Let us know how you get on.

Congratulation Asif. My prediction did come true. Well done

Thank you, an yes u were right, i guess i was also lucky enough to have a top immigration lawyer in the UK as a friend an a lot of his free advice was very handy, as u rightly mentioned some of the stuff can be overkill just like he mentioned too, but i guess its better to be safe an cover all areas without worrying if u have missed something out,
the best advice i think is just careful planning 3-4 months before ur application an prepare ur case in such a way as the burden of proof falls upon u to show them all ur details an circumstances, but as im sure ur aware it can be quite hit an miss as some ECO's can be very shrewd an i have seen some refusals based upon stupid little mistakes.

Im jus glad its all over as when we got the phone call unexpectedly so early i was just so worried that it came back so quick, less than 7 weeks, an yet there are still people on here who have been waiting many months before me, but i think those are just cases which got caught up in the backlog, an things are definitely moving a lot faster for many people now,
the main thing as u said is many people just dont plan ahead, all it requires is careful well prepared planning a few months before u submit ur application.
Im just loving the weather here an looking forward to a great start to the new year with my wife, an cant wait to bring her back with me now, its a huge relief an so much pressure once u get the visa as then u can move forward an finally make some solid plans, i just hope it all works for everyone else on here too.
The forums here have been a great help to me which is why im still coming back to help anyone else from our experience, as many people jus disappear after success an forget al those who are still going through those worrying times.

was794 wrote:does anyone have any experience with going to Istanbul or Dubai for a holiday with a pakistani passport? I take it a visa is required...

Yes its very easy, im going thru same process for my wife as im in pakistan an we are stoppin in dubai before we fly back to London, if ur british passport holder its no problem as u get ur visa when u land, for example if its for ur wife who has pakistani passport then she will require a visa to go dubai or whichever country, i have friends in London who also have offices in Lahore who are sorting my wifes visa for dubai, bear in mind for the dubai visa she will only get a 14 day visa an it takes 8-10 days for u to get it, u simply need copies of ur nikkahnama, 2 passport size photos, copy of ur british passport an both ur Nadra ID cards copies, fee is about 8000 - 10000 rupees, very easy an straightforward to get if u have good agents in pakistan or if ur in uk an need to go from there its very simple too, just remember for dubai its only 14 day visa on pakistani passport an 3 months for british passport holders so only apply 8-10 days before u wish to travel for the paksitani passport holder. pm me if u need any further help

Asif121,

looks like im going have to take a trip down to London to visit the embassy -

ahhhh having a British passport is a luxury !!! lol

was794 wrote:Asif121,

looks like im going have to take a trip down to London to visit the embassy -

ahhhh having a British passport is a luxury !!! lol

Nah trust me u dont need to take a trip all the way to london to apply for a visa on pakistani passport

depending on where u want to go dubai? istanbul? or wherever im sure ur local reputable travel agent will sort it all out for u, im assuming this is for ur mrs right ? if u have any problems just PM me an ill give u my mates number he works in a travel agency in oxford street he will be able to give u some advice, he sorts all our stuff like visas etc, i mean ive never had to go anywhere we have always just handed him our passports and hes done a lot of stuff for family on pakistani passports etc

was794 wrote:Asif121,

looks like im going have to take a trip down to London to visit the embassy -

ahhhh having a British passport is a luxury !!! lol

Hi guys i am looking at Honeymoon packages as well. Do you mind telling me how much ur package is costing?

As Dubai is my prefered destination, with a posibble 5 star hotel on jumeriah beach.

asif121 - thanks for your help. Im going to chat to a trave agent i know local to me, i phoned the Turkish embassy and the chap on the phone stated a face to face interview has to take place in order to get a tourist visa..!! so looks like i will be taking a "mini" holiday in London before going on a proper holiday!! im sure my wife will not say no to a few days shopping in London and doing the other London things!!

Bazzy - hows thing going for you lad? not going dubai gonna go turkey - Istanbul is a excellent place to visit loads of places to go... Ive heard Maldives is a good spot for newly weds and they issue VISA's for all passports on arrival including Pakistani passports!!

Bazzy - maldives is the place lad - just been checking it out online - a bit more expensive than Dubai but its the closest thing to paradise you will find on earth - halal food aswell which is a bonus.
Im debating between Turkish pizza n donner or chillin in peace in the Maldives !!

sorry to go of topic...

was794 wrote:Bazzy - maldives is the place lad - just been checking it out online - a bit more expensive than Dubai but its the closest thing to paradise you will find on earth - halal food aswell which is a bonus.
Im debating between Turkish pizza n donner or chillin in peace in the Maldives !!

sorry to go of topic...

Hi Was,

I think we need a new forum for " after you get ur visa, where to go on a honeymoon"

Things are going well thanks, I have been to dubai so i know the places, i have been told go to malaysia
to many choices lol

Boys enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Difficult times ahead to come to this country

My husband still hasnt recivd his passport...............please please tell me what i should do......im close to breaking down, applied 22nd June, MP told us that the visas been issued since 6th Oct......I;m just fed up and soooo upset......someone please help me out

Visa refused for following reason

My settlement visa has been refused for the following reason

"I not that you were in pakistan on 24th june 2009 and while you have provided a marriage certificate this document is not evidence of a valid marriage under the pakistan Muslim family ordinance 1961. For your marriage to be valid it must be registered with the union council where you married. You have not provided a Nikah Nama or any evidence that your marriage has been registered.

I am therefore not satisified that you are married to a person present and settled in the united kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement and refuse your application under paragraph 281 section (i) if the immigration rules"

However i did submit a Nikah Nama which was certified and attested and also translated in english and attested. Why did they refuse ?? I didnt the MFLO 1961 was extended to pakistan ? And therefore having the nikha namah attested by the mufti and or the (kutchery) was sufficient ?

Sahdi,

Hi sorry to hear they are taking so long but please just try and have bit more patience ive been waiting for a little while now aswell. Applied for wifes visa 2nd june. Refused 5 weeks later. Straight away filed an appeal. Now its been four months and still no answer, although my MP has said they have prepared the case now and will be dealt with soon. try contacting your MP. send a polite email to ukhub they should reply as they do normally reply to me. Thanks

Visa refused for following reason

My settlement visa has been refused for the following reason

"I not that you were in pakistan on 24th june 2009 and while you have provided a marriage certificate this document is not evidence of a valid marriage under the pakistan Muslim family ordinance 1961. For your marriage to be valid it must be registered with the union council where you married. You have not provided a Nikah Nama or any evidence that your marriage has been registered.

I am therefore not satisified that you are married to a person present and settled in the united kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement and refuse your application under paragraph 281 section (i) if the immigration rules"

However i did submit a Nikah Nama which was certified and attested and also translated in english and attested. Why did they refuse ?? I didnt the MFLO 1961 was extended to pakistan ? And therefore having the nikha namah attested by the mufti and or the (kutchery) was sufficient ?

The nikkah nammah that you submitted, was it issued by an official of the local union council?. The original nikkah nammah should be in Urdu( with a certified english translation accompanying it).

On it should be yours signature, your wifes signature, the signature of the witnesses, the signature of the Alim who carried out the nikkah, along with signature of the UC official

If it does not have the Union Council seal/stamp,then its not valid and therefore the ECO was right to refuse you.

batleykhan wrote:

Visa refused for following reason

My settlement visa has been refused for the following reason

"I not that you were in pakistan on 24th june 2009 and while you have provided a marriage certificate this document is not evidence of a valid marriage under the pakistan Muslim family ordinance 1961. For your marriage to be valid it must be registered with the union council where you married. You have not provided a Nikah Nama or any evidence that your marriage has been registered.

I am therefore not satisified that you are married to a person present and settled in the united kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement and refuse your application under paragraph 281 section (i) if the immigration rules"

However i did submit a Nikah Nama which was certified and attested and also translated in english and attested. Why did they refuse ?? I didnt the MFLO 1961 was extended to pakistan ? And therefore having the nikha namah attested by the mufti and or the (kutchery) was sufficient ?

The nikkah nammah that you submitted, was it issued by an official of the local union council?. The original nikkah nammah should be in Urdu( with a certified english translation accompanying it).

On it should be yours signature, your wifes signature, the signature of the witnesses, the signature of the Alim who carried out the nikkah, along with signature of the UC official

If it does not have the Union Council seal/stamp,then its not valid and therefore the ECO was right to refuse you.

Hi Batley Khan,

Thankyou very much for your prompt reply. I submitted a Nika Namah that was issued by a mufti in azad kashmir. The Nikah Namah was ir urdu along with a certified english transaltion.

However from my research i have found out that the MFLO act 1961 is not extended to AJK. So union councils do not stamp the nikah namas there, as they don't need to. The Muftis are designated this role. So as result the ECO has refused for the incorrect reason please advise ?

thanks

RM786 wrote:Sahdi,

Hi sorry to hear they are taking so long but please just try and have bit more patience ive been waiting for a little while now aswell. Applied for wifes visa 2nd june. Refused 5 weeks later. Straight away filed an appeal. Now its been four months and still no answer, although my MP has said they have prepared the case now and will be dealt with soon. try contacting your MP. send a polite email to ukhub they should reply as they do normally reply to me. Thanks

No point appealing its a long drawn out process, the only real benefit is that u save ur application fee but personally an in most cases its not worth the time an headache, although u will most likely win an appeal in front of judge as ive been through the same thing for my uncles visa, but the time process is just simply not worth it, u shud have just re applied straight away an corrected watever it was that they refused u on in ur new application, they are obliged to look at it again if u can show evidence of wat u missed out last time, each new application has to be looked at again properly,

appeal process is waste of time, as the timeframe is guaranteed as the following
once u have appealed, guaranteed minimum 6 month wait for a date before it comes to court in front of a judge, 95% chance the appeal is allowed in ur favour if u prepare the case as most cases whikst i was there at court were taking no longer than 3 mins in an out lol, an about 15 before my uncles one and all were accepted,
once u have the decision in ur favour, takes another month or so for them to contact the applicant in pakistan to come an resubmit their passport, once u have done that it can then take anything upto 5 months for them to call u again to pick up ur papers with the stamped visa on it, put it this way my uncles appeal was allowed in jan early this year that was after a 6 month wait for the court date he resubmitted passport on 7 april an only just got it back a few weeks with the 5 year visa.
This is not just a one off if u look in the right section on the forums here u will see many people going through the same process, as its a minimum 6 month wait before u even get court date,

u are way better off just re-applying which wud take no longer than 4-5 months worst case as recently since august a lot of new applications are being dealt with from start to finish within 2 months

i wish u all the best

RM786 wrote:Sahdi,

Hi sorry to hear they are taking so long but please just try and have bit more patience ive been waiting for a little while now aswell. Applied for wifes visa 2nd june. Refused 5 weeks later. Straight away filed an appeal. Now its been four months and still no answer, although my MP has said they have prepared the case now and will be dealt with soon. try contacting your MP. send a polite email to ukhub they should reply as they do normally reply to me. Thanks

Quite simply, the nikkahnama has to be registered with the local union council, otherwise its like sweets for kids for the ECO's at the embassy to refuse u, they dont need any bigger or better excuse, the union council registered nikkahnama is like thier expected an required standards now just like u can only have the TB medical done at their specified IOM clinics,
u shud have 2 copies one in urdu an one in english both certified an stamped by the molvi who read ur nikkah an clearly regsistered with the union council to where he is attatched to, all in all 4 copies as the girls side get a set of one in urdu an one in an english an the same for the guys, but for the application u only need to send 1 original urdu an 1 original english one, obviously both photocopied an certified as for ur copy set of ur whole application.

ukusman wrote: Hi Batley Khan,

Thankyou very much for your prompt reply. I submitted a Nika Namah that was issued by a mufti in azad kashmir. The Nikah Namah was ir urdu along with a certified english transaltion.

However from my research i have found out that the MFLO act 1961 is not extended to AJK. So union councils do not stamp the nikah namas there, as they don't need to. The Muftis are designated this role. So as result the ECO has refused for the incorrect reason please advise ?

thanks

U cud try and write to the ECO directly an ask for simple review again after explaining ur research, if it holds up u never know as he does have the ability to overturn his original decision if u ask for review an if its done within a quick time frame, but u may not want to waste the time an lose out on ur 28 days for ur right to appeal, im not sure but i have read on the forums where in certain cases decisions have been reviewed an accepted after contacting the ECO directly, although i wud not be able to advise u on how this process works or wat the timeframe is so im sorry about that, all i know that there is such a process, maybe u can try that ?

Hi Batley Khan,

Thankyou very much for your prompt reply. I submitted a Nika Namah that was issued by a mufti in azad kashmir. The Nikah Namah was ir urdu along with a certified english transaltion.

However from my research i have found out that the MFLO act 1961 is not extended to AJK. So union councils do not stamp the nikah namas there, as they don't need to. The Muftis are designated this role. So as result the ECO has refused for the incorrect reason please advise ?

thanks

If the nikkah nammah was not signed and registered with the Union Council, the BHC would not accept it and therefore to them your marrige is not valid and they are right to refuse you.

Whilst the type of nikkah nammah that you carried out maybe generally accepted in Pakistan, I am afraid for visa purposes they are not good enough as the BHC will only accept nikkah carried out in accordance with above legislation and officially registered with the local UC.

I am afraid this is bad news for you and your spouse. It will mean that you will have to go back to AJK, carry out the nikkah again, register it with UC and then make fresh application for your spouse and start all over again

Islamically wise your marriage is ok and valid but not for visa purposes unfortunately.

Sorry to just add to my last post, that if you dont have the finance or time to get to Pakistan to do what I have suggested, you can apply for a fiancee visa for your "wife".

As the ECO does not accept your marriage as being valid, there is nothing to stop you doing above and if you are succesful you can then register your marriage here in the UK officially and in accordance with UK laws.

The requirements for fiancee visa are basically the same as spouse. same documents and evidence required

hi b92753

you initially said the visa was refused, you then said that after your MP spoke to BHC the reviewed the application and granted the visa,

what is going on?