Fiance application

[wibbles]

Hi,I've posted before about my Australian girlfriend applying for a fiance visa. We're now about to begin the application and I've been getting all my things together to send to her. I just wanted to post a list of what I have put together to see if anyone has any suggestions of things I could add or if anyone has any opinions on it.

A brief history of our relationship. We met online in Febrary 2006 and chatted on MSN and the phone. We met up in Singapore in August. She wasn't working in Australia and her friend moved to Europe in October so she travelled over with them to be closer to me. She then visited me numerous times in October, November and December, staying with me each time. She then came over in January and stayed at my house until April. She has now gone back to Australia apply for the visa.


Copy of my passport.
Copy of my birth certificate.

A letter from my employer confirming I'm in full time employment.
Photocopies of last 6 Months of pay slips.
Photocopy of my P60

Photocopy of my tenancy agreement and inventory (this shows it's a 3 bedroom house). I have also got the landlord to add my fiance's name to the tenancy agreement, just as a named person at the property, in preparation for when she can come back.

Printouts of my last 6 months of bank statements.
Photocopies of my savings certificates.

Copy of form showing provisional booking for wedding at register office signed by the senior registrar.

Email showing booking of tickets to Singapore when we first met up.

Photos of us in Singapore.

Photo of my fiance with my mum.

Photos of myself and my fiance at christmas time and at gigs and things with our friends.


I can't see any reason they would refuse us. The above proves that we have met and proves that we can support ourselves and that we have somewhere to live.
I earn £23000 a year and have around £4000 in my current account and £25000 in savings certificates. My fiance also has savings of around £15000.

The only thing that worries me slightly is that we've no records of our phone conversations or MSN conversations. Will this be a problem?

I understand I have to get my passport and birth certificate certified by a solicitor. Is there anything else they need to certify?

Logically I keep thinking that we can prove we have met, can support ourselves and have somewhere to live so there's no reason they would refuse us but it still worries me. Silly things spring to mind like the fact that my fiance is 8 years older then me but surely age isn't an issue. I guess I just want a little reassurance.

Also, what are the chances of her being asked for an interview?

Thanks a lot to anyone who reads and replies.

[jjustyy]

No need to worry, you have everything in order there.

[John]

The only quibble I would have is ... why supply a copy of your birth certificate? Why not supply the real one? After all, worse case, it goes missing, you can easily get another one for just a few pounds.

In any case, we are talking about full birth certificate here? Naming your parents? Or are you just thinking of a short-form birth certificate that does not name your parents?

Passport? Go to any solicitor and get a certified copy of the name/pic page, and any other relevant page, for example, stamps into and out of Singapore, when the two of you met up.

After you have got your certified copy passport post it and your birth certificate to Australia using the International Signed For service.

[wibbles]

Cheers.

Sorry I wasn't clear, it's a copy of my birth certificate I obtained from the register office for £7. So it does name my parents and everything.

Do I not need to get anything else certified then such as the bank statements or pay slips?

I assume the lack of MSN convos or phone records won't be a problem then.

Thanks again.

[John]

Do I not need to get anything else certified then such as the bank statements or pay slips?

Those really do need to be originals, rather than copies.

Birth certificate, obviously a solicitor does not need to certify that as the local Registrar has already done that.

You will no doubt each be writing a letter in support of the application. One or both of you can mention the contacts you have had with each other. So I don't think you need worry about the lack of "MSN convos or phone records". Except I have to say, no record at all since she left the UK in April?

Printouts of my last 6 months of bank statements.

When you say "printouts" you mean what? Bank statements issued by your bank? Or printouts you have done from the internet? If printed by you, have you got the bank to certify them?

[Docterror]

The only thing that worries me slightly is that we've no records of our phone conversations or MSN conversations. Will this be a problem?

I don't know whether this information is of much help, but I know of an application for a settlement visa in which used up "cadavers" of pre-paid telephone cards were used to hint that they maintained touch with each other and that the cards were used as they were cheaper. Worth a shot as there doesn't seem to be anything to lose.

[wibbles]

Do I not need to get anything else certified then such as the bank statements or pay slips?

Those really do need to be originals, rather than copies.

Birth certificate, obviously a solicitor does not need to certify that as the local Registrar has already done that.

You will no doubt each be writing a letter in support of the application. One or both of you can mention the contacts you have had with each other. So I don't think you need worry about the lack of "MSN convos or phone records". Except I have to say, no record at all since she left the UK in April?

Printouts of my last 6 months of bank statements.

When you say "printouts" you mean what? Bank statements issued by your bank? Or printouts you have done from the internet? If printed by you, have you got the bank to certify them?

OK, I'll send the originals.

By printouts I do mean from the internet. I don't have statements posted to me as can do it all online. If I take these to the bank will they certify them, or will they be able to do me some official ones?

We will both be writing a letter with the details of our relationship, how we met etc. Only since last Tuesday have I had a BT landline so I could get BT to send me a list of calls from that I guess, however they're not to her number because I use Telediscount so it'll be to that number. There may be a few Skype records I could print but my MSN doesn't record the history I don't think.

[John]

If I take these to the bank will they certify them, or will they be able to do me some official ones?

You will need to contact the bank about that. One thing is certain .... just printouts from the internet, not certified, will not be acceptable at the BHC in Australia. After all .... and absolutely not thinking that YOU would do this .... all too easy to edit the document before you print it out.

Telephone calls ... have you got a broadband internet connection? If so seriously consider signing up at say www.voipdiscount.com ... and enjoy totally free calls to Australia ..... well nearly free ..... you just have to throw €10 .... say £6.50 ... into the account every 120 days and lots of calls to many destinations are free. Not only that, you can print out a list of the calls made .... call start time ... number called .... duration of call.

We use voipdiscount ... my wife phones her family back in Thailand ... also absolutely free (apart from that €10 bit).

[wibbles]

OK, well I went to the bank on my way home from work and asked them if they could print my statements off and they printed off 6 months of statements. To be honest there's not that much difference between these and the ones I printed from the internet. Maybe I should go back and ask them if they could write a short letter of confirmation that they are official statements and get someone to sign them or something?

Thanks for the info on the voipdiscount I'll look into that. It's a bit late for printing off call lists though as I'm hoping to send the stuff off next week. Every single night since she's been gone we've chatted on MSN but that doesn't keep a record. I will be able to get a list of my calls since 8th May from BT which will show I've called the Telediscount number a lot since I had the BT line. Would it not look a bit strange though just giving them a list from a week ago?

I hope if we just say in our letters that we've been in touch via MSN, text and phone since she left that it will be enough?

[jes2jes]

Every single night since she's been gone we've chatted on MSN but that doesn't keep a record

.

Are you sure about this? MSN and most of the chat engines on the internet do have an history folder embedded in your hard drive. Unless ofcourse when you were setting this up initially you opted not to keep the history folder or to clear it at specified time intervals. If you really accepted the default settings during the set up of MSN Messenger then surely, you would have the history folder tucked up someone on your system. Its a matter of knowing where to look. Start by doing a search on your hard drive(s) [depending on how many partisions you have on your PC] and search by criteria MSN/History/Chat etc. You would be surprised what will turn up and let your girlfriend also do the same from her end of the world.

[patrickmacgill]

When I applied for a fiance visa I found that the process is made so much easier if your partner is with you. I know it might be expensive for you/her to fly to the point of application, but trust me its worth it. My British partner came with me to the interview and it made the process so much smoother. There was no doubt about the validity of our relationship and therefore the officer didn't need to see any photos, proofs of communication or letters of support.