Fiancée Visa application process

[Davi]

Hi all,

My fiancée and I are trying to put together everything we need for an application for her to come back to the UK so we can marry, so we are using the family visa for fiancée route.

A bit of background - she came here on a 6 month visa, we originally planned to then go to South America together for a while together, but a situation arose so we applied for FLR (o) on the basis of discretion outside of immigration law. That took 6 months to get an answer, but it was rejected so now she's been told to go home and apply from there.

We are getting so much conflicting information from UKVI that our heads are spinning so I've been reading on here, but still confused on some bits. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of everything needed, and in what format? I've just been told by UKVI that she has to take MY passport back to Guyana with her as they will only accept an original submitted with the application?!!!

For the financial aspect, I will be submitting savings account information only, as I'm self employed. Do I need to complete the sponsorship form for the fiancee visa as it mentions "over 6 months", but the fiancee visa is up to 6 months...

[CR001]

We are getting so much conflicting information from UKVI that our heads are spinning so I've been reading on here, but still confused on some bits. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of everything needed, and in what format? I've just been told by UKVI that she has to take MY passport back to Guyana with her as they will only accept an original submitted with the application?!!! A certified copy of your passport is sufficient.

For the financial aspect, I will be submitting savings account information only, as I'm self employed. Do I need to complete the sponsorship form for the fiancee visa as it mentions "over 6 months", but the fiancee visa is up to 6 months...No, the sponsorship form is not required. If you are relying on savings only, do you have at least £62,500 held in an accessible account for a minimum of 6 months?

What I can think of at this moment, you need to provide :

Evidence of accommodation
Evidence of wedding plans/bookings, etc.
She needs English A1 if not from an exempt country
Proof of relationship

[Casa]

Hi all,

My fiancée and I are trying to put together everything we need for an application for her to come back to the UK so we can marry, so we are using the family visa for fiancée route.

A bit of background - she came here on a 6 month visa, we originally planned to then go to South America together for a while together, but a situation arose so we applied for FLR (o) on the basis of discretion outside of immigration law. That took 6 months to get an answer, but it was rejected so now she's been told to go home and apply from there.

We are getting so much conflicting information from UKVI that our heads are spinning so I've been reading on here, but still confused on some bits. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of everything needed, and in what format? I've just been told by UKVI that she has to take MY passport back to Guyana with her as they will only accept an original submitted with the application?!!!

For the financial aspect, I will be submitting savings account information only, as I'm self employed. Do I need to complete the sponsorship form for the fiancee visa as it mentions "over 6 months", but the fiancee visa is up to 6 months...

Firstly, if the advice about your passport was given by the UKVI 'help line' ignore it. They frequently provide seriously flawed advice, often on the simplest of immigration issues. You can submit a legally certified copy.
You mention relying solely on savings. Are these a minimum of £62,500 and have they been held in an accessible account for at least 6 months?
You don't need to complete the sponsorship form.
Ensure you apply for a fiance visa and not the cheaper 'marriage visitor visa' which would require her to leave the UK after the wedding.
A fiance visa will grant an initial 6 month visa. After the wedding you will have to submit a FLR(M) visa for a 2.5 year spouse visa.
Visa fees:
Fiance £1195
FLR(M) £811 (postal)+ NHS surcharge of £500 or if submitted in person at a PSC £1311 + £500 NHS surcharge.
Bear in mind that a postal application may well take 3 months to process and your wife will be unable to work until the FLR(M) visa is granted.
An in-person PSC application for the premium fee is generally decided on the same day.
Unless your fiance has a degree taught in English or from an exempt country she will need A1 level English from an UKVI approved test/test provider.

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview

Edit: Beaten by CR001..but I wrote more.

[Davi]

Wow, quick replies, thank you so much!

That's excellent news on the copy, thank you both! Does 'legally certified' include done at the post office?

Savings are well in excess of £62,500, been there over a year, but split over more than one account (all instant access). Does it help to show the excess, or is it the case that if one account shows more than £62,500, it's job done, box ticked, and anything further is pointless? Only ask as one of the accounts is easy to prove, others not so easy for me to go and get certified info from quickly.

Not worried about her working or not, just don't want to be without her

Accommodation evidence... tricky one - the house I live in is in two parts, we occupy one part, my elderly parents the other. The house and all utilities are in their name. What do I need to do to prove this is where I live - I have bank statements, car insurance, mobile phone bills etc in my name.

She's got an IELTS A1, ironic as she speaks fluent English, but the polish chap that tested her wasn't fluent lol

Evidence of wedding plans / bookings... we are going to marry in the UK only for the 'official' bit - we are bringing plans forward for that, it's going to be simple, basic, registry office. Our 'ceremony' type thing that's flash wasn't going to be till the following year and at her families so not in the UK - will it count against us if it's a simple wedding here?

One other question - you mention the NHS surcharge, do we not have to do that for the Fiance visa as well?

[Casa]

Wow, quick replies, thank you so much!

That's excellent news on the copy, thank you both! Does 'legally certified' include done at the post office?

Savings are well in excess of £62,500, been there over a year, but split over more than one account (all instant access). Does it help to show the excess, or is it the case that if one account shows more than £62,500, it's job done, box ticked, and anything further is pointless? Only ask as one of the accounts is easy to prove, others not so easy for me to go and get certified info from quickly. The single account will be fine.

Not worried about her working or not, just don't want to be without her Lucky girl

Accommodation evidence... tricky one - the house I live in is in two parts, we occupy one part, my elderly parents the other. The house and all utilities are in their name. What do I need to do to prove this is where I live - I have bank statements, car insurance, mobile phone bills etc in my name. If the property is owned outright, a copy of the deeds. If on mortgage, a copy of the mortgage agreement. Letter from your parents agreeing to your wife joining you to live in the property. (I'm assuming it's not in your name). Proof of address seems fine.

She's got an IELTS A1, ironic as she speaks fluent English, but the polish chap that tested her wasn't fluent lol Sorted

Evidence of wedding plans / bookings... we are going to marry in the UK only for the 'official' bit - we are bringing plans forward for that, it's going to be simple, basic, registry office. Our 'ceremony' type thing that's flash wasn't going to be till the following year and at her families so not in the UK - will it count against us if it's a simple wedding here? Not at all.

One other question - you mention the NHS surcharge, do we not have to do that for the Fiance visa as well? Not required for fiance visa

[Davi]

Not worried about her working or not, just don't want to be without her Lucky girl
One other question - you mention the NHS surcharge, do we not have to do that for the Fiance visa as well? Not required for fiance visa

haha, she doesn't feel the same, she's not used to not working, she wants to earn her own money as soon as possible. Weird some people eh

Another thing the helpful UKVI 'help' line got wrong then, they told me it was required... marvellous! The more I find out the more I worry about other things they've told us!

Re the house deed, I have absolutely no clue where that might be. Is that something that there may be an alternative to?

[Casa]

UKVI 'unhelpful line'...this makes interesting reading:
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/immigra ... pectation/

If your parents property is mortgage free they would have the house deeds, or a copy can be obtained from the Land Registry.
https://www.gov.uk/get-information-abou ... s-of-deeds

[Davi]

will set about finding deed promptly! I assume certified copy needed? does the post office certification work okay for that?

Don't get me started on the UKVI unhelpful line... I wish I'd found this place sooner! The FLR(o) application we put in... the helpline told us that our situation was exactly what the 'outside immigration law' bit was there for, told us no problem, easy, told us what to submit too!

Officer at Croydon? 'you applied in completely the wrong way, this application was always going to be rejected, didn't have a chance'.

Marvellous.

Only upside is that the voldep officer has been amazing, told us she can see we are genuine and want to do things the right way, that we don't have to report just email with progress, told us we have 90 days to get her home before any ban would be put in place (but said earlier would look better so not to leave it till last minute, we're aiming to get her on the plane within 30-35 days once we've sorted her somewhere to stay etc)

[CR001]

Post Office certified is fine.

You can also buy a copy of the title register from the Land Registry for £3.

[Casa]

Also a ban doesn't apply for a settlement visa, even with an overstay. She would have to be found to have 'frustrated the Immigration Rules', deception, false papers etc.

[Davi]

Also a ban doesn't apply for a settlement visa, even with an overstay. She would have to be found to have 'frustrated the Immigration Rules', deception, false papers etc.

We have been told that it won't be a ban by someone else, but the officer in charge of her leaving has been adamant that she could be banned and advised she should leave within 30 days - it's got us so worried. Ideally she would stay here another 3 or 4 weeks so we can get some important stuff sorted but we are terrified it will count against the application

[Wanderer]

Also a ban doesn't apply for a settlement visa, even with an overstay. She would have to be found to have 'frustrated the Immigration Rules', deception, false papers etc.

We have been told that it won't be a ban by someone else, but the officer in charge of her leaving has been adamant that she could be banned and advised she should leave within 30 days - it's got us so worried. Ideally she would stay here another 3 or 4 weeks so we can get some important stuff sorted but we are terrified it will count against the application

If I were you I'd put her on the next flight, as an illegal she is liable to be detained and removed at anytime which can only complicate things.

It's not optional, she is breaking the law.

[Davi]

Also a ban doesn't apply for a settlement visa, even with an overstay. She would have to be found to have 'frustrated the Immigration Rules', deception, false papers etc.

We have been told that it won't be a ban by someone else, but the officer in charge of her leaving has been adamant that she could be banned and advised she should leave within 30 days - it's got us so worried. Ideally she would stay here another 3 or 4 weeks so we can get some important stuff sorted but we are terrified it will count against the application

If I were you I'd put her on the next flight, as an illegal she is liable to be detained and removed at anytime which can only complicate things.

It's not optional, she is breaking the law.

We've been told she won't be as we are working hard to get her out - it's not quite as simple as sticking her on a plane as she has nowhere to go, and they accept that so we have to sort her somewhere first.

[Davi]

Post Office certified is fine.

You can also buy a copy of the title register from the Land Registry for £3.

We're looking into it - the deeds for the property show the houses old name from 30+ years ago, has a different name now. Nothing simple

[Davi]

Just a quick one, it says in the list of things to provide, that things like letters, cards, evidence of things done together... do they all need to be originals, or for that sort of thing is it okay to just send photocopies? My Fiancé has pretty much emptied her 'memories' box into a pile, it's got everything from receipts to days out to cinema tickets, birthday / christmas cards etc. Bit worried we'll never get them back!

[Casa]

Copies should be fine. Only official documents/bank statements etc need to be original or legally certified.

[Davi]

Another question... evidence of wedding plans / bookings... we can't really book anywhere as we have no idea when the application will go through, I've just spoken to the registry office and they say they need specific dates and they don't provide any written evidence of bookings... what would you guys suggest? I've got a couple of quotes for photographers but that's it!

[CR001]

estimates and quotes should suffice to show the 'planning'.

[Davi]

estimates and quotes should suffice to show the 'planning'.

Thank you

[Davi]

Having ascertained that my Fiancée does have to have a TB certificate, just wondering... to minimise things she has to do after she leaves, is it possible to get a TB certificate anywhere in the UK? Can't see one on .gov website but then half the info I've had from people hasn't been on there either :/

[Davi]

Do you HAVE to provide previous wedding certificates? I have Decree Absolute to send, but the marriage certificate was retained by the court and they said it is retained and I'll need to get a solicitor to request it's release with good reason to get it back, and we don't have much time