khon_fused

This one did the trick for us.....

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Your full address

Date here

Re: Letter of Sponsorship - Miss Name Name

To Whom It May Concern:

Miss Name Name, a friend of good standing, intends to travel to the United Kingdom on Month-Day-Year for a period of approximately three weeks for the purposes of a holiday. During this time I will be providing Miss Name Name with accommodation at the above residential address (---address reiterated in brief---) of which I am sole tenant. Additionally I will be covering any costs of subsistence during her stay and as sponsor for the purposes of her visa application undertake to provide financial cover for any circumstances that arise during her holiday in the United Kingdom.

I have been in the continuous employ of Company Name since Month-Year where currently I hold the position of Job Title with an annual salary of £peanuts (pounds sterling).

Attached to this letter of sponsorship are copies of the following:

Latest available salary slips for a period of six months

Latest available bank statements for a period of six months

Identification page from my United Kingdom passport

Should you require any further information or evidence on my behalf in support of the application please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours truly

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Naturally you might wish to alter it a little

In terms of the 'advantages' of registering to pay NI, much as there's room for debate on just how 'advantageous' it is (or indeed not) it must be remembered that it's a legal obligation and certainly adds to legitimacy when dealing with other issues (eg: ILR, citizenship).

Other than that, I can add that for my wife it certainly was a simple enough process. Just 'phone up to make an appointment and go along with all the specified documents. The only concerns we had on the day were navigating our way through the small gauntlet of already drunk guys, brandishing their bottles of wine and cans of Special Brew outside the main door of the social security office, and trying to avoid making eye contact with (or indeed look bemused at) the gaggle of young gents and ladies discussing the merits of rottweillers over pit bulls - I kid ye not, and this was the ladies debating - but the interview itself was a breeze (certainly not an interrogation in any way, shape or form), and the interviewer seemed to enjoy the experience, perhaps due to my wife's gracious air (if not mine).

Proof of sufficient funds to cover the stay in the UK - for your wife as the visa applicant that is, so either she needs to submit 6 months worth of bank statements, or if you are supporting her financially on the trip, you have to provide six months worth of bank statements and a letter indicating how you intend to support her during the trip (simple short explanation is fine). Also 3 months worth of pay slips, from her, or again from you if you're supporting her financially.

It would be worthwhile proving your relationship status (marriage cert with English translation) as it would need to be made clear she is travelling with you, unless she has family or friends she intends to stay with in the UK.

Proof of accommodation for the visit. In practice this is not always insisted upon or chased up, but at times it can prove a sticking point. If you're going to stay with family, get one of them to send a letter of invitation to you and your wife - or so it appears less contrived, a letter addressed 'To Whom It May Concern' explaining that you have been invited to stay with them between date x and date y. Otherwise, proof of hotel/guest house bookings perhaps.

By your numbering Scooty

1) I'm sure that wouldn't do any harm but I'm not sure that that alone would satisfy the reason to return clause. One might only speculate beyond saying that.

2) That's how I met my now wife (not so much through a dating site but through Internet chat) and the fact we maintained contact in part via such a system was documented in our settlement visa application supporting evidence folder. She was always highly uncomfortable with letting people know we met online, but purely as her peers and associates seemed to have a view that all online comms involve sordid dialogue or whatnot, thus for her first visitor visa application we noted how we first met physically, thus said 'met in a bar', which is where we did meet. Now if there aren't more than enough connotations surrounding 'meeting in a bar', meeting online is totally safe for a visa application. Naturally the ECO might like proof of subsequent real world meetings and time spent together

Document list:

6. More for a settlement visa than a visitor visa, but no harm in including it

7. Maybe overkill? I think, from what you say, you have enough in reserve to support her during her visit should that be necessary. The ECO won't be wondering what might happen shuld any harm befall the sponsor during the applicant's stay

Hi Scouse,

I hope thats the case!!!

What Scouse says is nigh on definitely the case. When the applicant submits the form with all the supporting evidence in place, if the Embassy - having reviewed both form and supporting documents - feels that the visa should most likely be granted, they'll send out a communication like the one you received and the applicant will receive a short (and I would say cursory) interview at the front desk in the visa section.

This is not to say that things are looking bad if the Embassy do not offer this short interview treatment and require a fuller formal inbterview at a specified date instead. It just means ... well done on putting all the supporting evidence in place in such a clear manner that it made the Embassy's job an easier one

Would be great to hear how this one turned out Scotty?

I presume you're refering to the Sponsor's passport here (ie: the passport belonging to the British citizen marrying the Thai applicant)?

If so, you naturally don't want your actual passport out of your hands for too long and certainly don't want to be posting it overseas if you're unable to be in town (ie: bangkok) when your fiance/fiancee/husband/wife is going for interview.

In such cases photocopy all the appropriate pages - idenitifcation page and all pages with visa stamps on in particular.

You will need to get these signed off as being a true copy of the original by someone like a solicitor. I cannot find the relevant document from UK Visas that states this requirement just now, but I can say with all confidence that it is a formal requirement having clearly read it on one of the IND pages - but not on the Embassy Web site (another example of why what should be a fairly straightforward process becomes confusing for many!) What is not clearly stated is whether each and every page should be signed (many solicitors might charge you a fee for each and every page attested) or just the collated set of copies signed once.

I can't help but suspect the former to be the case, officially, but no way was I going to spend that much money! I had my identification page (in my British passport) attested by a solicitor and stapled it to the copies of the visa pages, sending this ahead for my then fiancee to lodge her settlement visa application (of course, all this evidence is not required up front, we were just aiming for 'short interview' treatment').

I was in town on the day of her interview and simply handed her my real passport to show at the interview.

Had I not been able to be in town, I would have felt very nervous about not fully complying with official requirements and would have had each copied page attested, though no doubt I'd have haggled hard with the solicitor for a bulk discount on price

The British Embassy Web site has a set of advice notes at:

Visa Application Advice Notes

and the notes for Sponsors and those for Spouses will prove most useful here. That is if you're not so stressed out already that distilling all of the information therein isn't a little too much to deal with. In such cases the condensed list above will of course be highly helpful.

The following is pretty much the same as the above list but incorporates a breakdown of which party should (or at least might) take responsibility for which item of information when, as sponsor and applicant, you get on with putting the application together:

This was transcribed from an official document provided to my then fiancee, now wife, last year. I presume it still covers all the requirements. I've added whether an item might be supplied by [sponsor] or [applicant]

British Embassy Settlement Visa Support Document Advice Check List

To enable us to consider your application please provide those documents listed below. If you have already submitted any of the documents indicated, please regard this as a check list only. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and an Interviewing Entry Clearance Officer may request additional documents.

Please provide original documents plus one photocopy of each document

1. Your previous passport(s) or a copy of the police report, if lost [APPLICANT]

2. Full copy of your husband / wife or fiancé(e)'s passport showing all stamps and visas for UK and Thailand [sPONSOR]

3. Evidence of your financial position (original bank book(s), wage slips, land & property deeds etc) [APPLICANT]

4. Evidence of your employment (past and present) together with evidence of salary paid [APPLICANT]

5. Evidence of contact between yourself and your husband / wife or fiancé(e) - eg: e-mails, letters, telephone bills, cards and/or photos [APPLICANT & SPONSOR]

6. Birth / Marriage / Divorce / Death certificate(s) as appropriate to show you and your husband / wife or fiancé(e)'s marital status [APPLICANT & SPONSOR]

7. Documents detailed on the attached sheet concerning your sponsor's ability to support and accommodate you in the UK [sPONSOR]

8. Birth certificate(s) of all your children regardless of whether you intend to take them to the UK at this point [APPLICANT]

9. Documents specified below [the embassy may or may not add an additional list of required documentation here but naturally you will not know what, if any, additional documentation might be required until the application has been made and the Applicant has been contacted by the embassy]

Support and Accommodation

As a sponsor you may be asked to provide evidence that you can support and/or accommodate the person whom you are sponsoring to enter the United Kingdom. The usual form of evidence that is acceptable to this office to support your claim to be able to provide financial support to someone would be:

a. Wage/Salary slips for the last three months.

(To show that you have a regular income adequate to provide the level of support required.)

b. If you have your own company in the United Kingdom you should provide attested copies of the company's annual accounts for the last two years.

c. If you are self-employed you should submit attested copies of your last two years' Income Tax returns.

d. Your last six months' bank statements.

(To give an indication of your financial standing and level of continuing financial commitments.)

If you are sponsoring someone who wishes to settle in the United Kingdom as your dependant (i.e. wife fiancé/e, child, etc.) you have to show that there will be adequate accommodation for them, and you, in accommodation of your own or which you and they will accommodate solely. Acceptable evidence of this would be:

a. Full details of the accommodation availablei.e. number of rooms and their intended use e.g. bedroom, kitchen, living-room, etc.)

b. Full details of all those people who will be occupying the accommodation, including details of their ages and sex.

c. If you are buying the accommodation on a mortgage, we will need to see evidence of this from your mortgage company.

d. If you will be renting property, we will need to see an attested copy of the Tenancy Agreement which should be for a minimum period of six months.

This leaflet is for guidance only. Each visa application is considered on its own merits and, as such, the documents described above must not be considered the definitive list of documentary requirements required in support of visa applications

NOW ... the thing that strikes me as bizarre - I've never found a copy of this in such a clearly expressed form anywhere on the Embassy Web site but they send it to an applicant AFTER they have submitted her or his application?! Seeing as we submitted all our supporting evidence with the application form, it would have been a great deal less stress to have had this info up front

I am married to a Thai national, and been living in Thailand for nearly a year, but now want to return to the UK with my wife.However because I have been living and working here,I do not have the same sort of ties in the Uk that most Men have that want to take thier wife back.

I don't own any property in the Uk, do not have savings in the UK, and do not have a job in the UK,so does this preculde me from being able to return home with my Wife

Please advise me

Richard

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Richard, I have a couple of friends (one being the husband - British - and the other being the wife - Thai) that were in exactly in the same position as you seem to be and they came to the UK within the last several months, the wife on a Settlement Visa.

The three broad criteria you need to satisfy in order to secure a UK Settlement Visa are:

Proof of a valid relationship - easy for my friends, easy no doubt for you also

Proof that suitable accomodation is available - he had his parents formally offer adequate accomodation in their family home until they were up on their feet so to speak (and they went on to find their own flat once he found work - which has nothing to do with the visa application, coming well after the event)

Proof of ability to self support without recourse to public funds (for the non-UK national on the visa) - naturally a job offer would solve this, but in my friend's case he had his parents write a letter offering financial support (they thus had to provide proof of their capability to do so, but the amounts one needs to prove access to are nowhere near as high as most imagine they are) to cover his wife should it be required. He managed to find a job quickly on return.

This one did the trick for us.....

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Your full address

Date here

Re: Letter of Sponsorship - Miss Name Name

To Whom It May Concern:

Miss Name Name, a friend of good standing, intends to travel to the United Kingdom on Month-Day-Year for a period of approximately three weeks for the purposes of a holiday. During this time I will be providing Miss Name Name with accommodation at the above residential address (---address reiterated in brief---) of which I am sole tenant. Additionally I will be covering any costs of subsistence during her stay and as sponsor for the purposes of her visa application undertake to provide financial cover for any circumstances that arise during her holiday in the United Kingdom.

I have been in the continuous employ of Company Name since Month-Year where currently I hold the position of Job Title with an annual salary of £peanuts (pounds sterling).

Attached to this letter of sponsorship are copies of the following:

Latest available salary slips for a period of six months

Latest available bank statements for a period of six months

Identification page from my United Kingdom passport

Should you require any further information or evidence on my behalf in support of the application please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours truly

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Naturally you might wish to alter it a little

is it fair to say that the more you write in your cover letter the more questions she will be asked about the relationship?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've never heard of anything to indicate this might be the case.

A cover letter is not specified in any official documentation thus it is not a formal requirement. Many people choose to include one perhaps because they keep hearing of the fact that others use them, and presume they are a requirement. Others use cover letters to make the task of the Entry Clearance Officer simple.

I'd suggest it is a good idea to use one, but to keep it straightforward and simple and if indeed there is a direct correlation between the contents of the letter and the questions the ECO asks, with hope those questions will be 'straightforward and simple' also

when she has her interview will she be interviewed alone or could i join my lady at the interview so as i can explain matters to the interviewer ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At present you won't even be allowed into the Visa Section of the Embassy, let alone into the interview with her. This is a recently introduced measure due to overcrowding in the Visa Section:

British Embassy Bangkok News Entry

Access to Visa Section

In order to control the current overcrowding of the visa section from 1 August 2005 access to the visa section is restricted to applicants only.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but are sure you will appreciate that by controlling the numbers in the section we will be better placed to offer an improved service to applicants. To resolve the problem of overcrowding we are now looking at outsourcing options and hope to appoint an outsource partner by the end of 2005.