My Thai wife and I are considering moving to the UK next year. Although we are unlikely to have £62,500 in savings we should be able to meet the financial requirements based on a job offer in the UK and having earned over £18,600 for the past 6 months.

However, I'm concerned about meeting the accommodation requirements. We don't currently have a property in the UK, and my intention had been to obtain the visa, travel to the UK, and then look for somewhere to rent for 6-12 months. Is this possible, or do I need to organize accommodation before we apply for her visa?

Where are you planning on staying prior to finding a property to rent?

I was planning to wait until the visa was approved and then travel to the UK a few weeks before my wife to organize the accommodation. While doing so, I'd stay with friends or in a hotel.

You will need to have the accommodation sorted when you apply for the visa, it's part of the application

^ Thanks for the reply howerde.

Does anyone know if there's a way around this? For example, would a provisional rental agreement with evidence of a deposit having been paid be adequate?

I should have cash savings of in excess of £50K when I apply for the visa. However, I don't want to pay £3-4000 to rent a property before the visa has actually been issued.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate them.

What about staying with friends or family initially? This is perfectly acceptable.

They should write a letter inviting you to stay and briefly describing the property and who else already lives there to show that there is at least one room for you exclusive use. If possible they should also include evidence that they own the property, such as a mortgage statement, or if they rent a landlord's letter granting you permission to live there.

For example, would a provisional rental agreement with evidence of a deposit having been paid be adequate?

Forgot to answer this bit; sorry.

Yes, such an arrangement should be acceptable.

^ Initially staying with friends or family is certainly an option. Would an invitation to stay for 3 months usually satisfy the ECO?

Make it open ended; such as " They can stay with us until they have arranged their own accommodation."

Say the same in your sponsor's letter; i.e. that this is an open ended arrangement until you have arranged your own accommodation, pointing out the difficulties of doing so until you are actually in the UK.

It's not an unusual situation; especially when the sponsor is an expat returning home with his/her foreign spouse; the ECOs will have seen it many times before.

Thanks a lot for your informative replies.

They've been a great help and are much appreciated