Starting the UK settlement visa (first one): Any sample format available?

[Globaleyes]

Dear Forum,

I'm trying to find out if there is a sample application available for the UK visa to live with a married partner. My partner is Thai, I'm British, living in Britain, and she intends to live here with me.

Is there also, perhaps, a complete list of things we need to do / arrange / compile? This is what I think I need, as far as I can gather:

Proof of relationship and marriage (relationship history (phone calls, photos throughout, early communications, skype logs, marriage certs and photos)

Proof of our nationalities

Proof of my income (payslips, employer's letter, contract of employment) - I think I can prove about 20k.

Proof of my savings and investments (bank statements, share account statements)

Proof of her investments and savings (bank books etc)

Proof of Accommodation (photos of my house, proof of mortgage, council tax etc)

TB certificate for her

English test cert for her (A1 level at least, taken at IDP or the British Council)

Completed online application, application fee and NHS surcharge.

Almost certain to need the entirely un-justifiable 'replacement vignette' charge!

Anything else anyone would care to add? Any and all advice welcome.

I did a successful application in 2009 (with the helpful advice of 7by7) but this time it seems so much more difficult.

Kind Regards,

G.

[theoldgit]

A good starting point is the pinned topic at the top of this forum http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/524561-uk-settlement-visa-basics/

[wooloomooloo]

I did a successful application in 2009 (with the helpful advice of 7by7) but this time it seems so much more difficult.

Was this a settlement visa or visit visa application, Globaleyes? Though, I do note the thread title 'first one' but you further state that it seems more difficult. It could be a pertinent question.

Edited May 17, 2015 by wooloomooloo

[fbf]

I'm working on a settlement visa application for my fiancée; we'll marry before submitting. It's a work in progress, we have a shared folder on Google Drive for all this stuff, and a speadsheet document with a checklist. It currently stands as follows:

Disclaimer: I've never done this before so this will almost certainly have errors/omissions.

[her name] - letter to embassy

[her name] - travel insurance

[her name] - photo (like passport)

[her name] - passport (all pages)

[her name] - ID card and household registration copy

[her name] - document/certificate showing of name change

[her name] - translated certificate of name change

[her name] - original passport (before name change)

[her name] - photocopy of original id card (before name change)

[her name] - Statement

[her name] - A1 English speaking/listening exam certificate

[her name] - TB certificate

[my name] - letter to embassy

[my name] - payslips

[my name] - P60

[my name] - letter from employer (headed paper) confirming payslips and P60

[my name] - employment contract

[my name] - bank statements

[my name] - utility bills

[my name] - passport page scans

[my name] - proof of ownership of house

Flight booking/quotation

Photos of us from April 2014

[ditto for other trips]

Photos from the wedding

Photos from the honeymoon

Skype record

Email record - search results from Gmail

Letters from friends in the UK supporting our relationship

Hotel reservations from April 2014

[ditto for other trips]

Details of the wedding (date, invites, emails, etc.)

Application form

I took out her financial/employment documents since the visit visa applications. I'm hoping they have no bearing on the settlement application, because after being made redundant we decided against her looking for another job in favour of wedding planning and studying English.

I'm not sure if we need any evidence of travel insurance or a flight quotation? Or any other evidence of making plans to live in the UK (e.g. possible study courses or job searches for when she arrives? or are they not bothered about what she'll do if allowed in?)

She's going to get her name changed in between the honeymoon and the visa application, so I presume she needs to show that. She seems to think she will get an official document/certificate along those lines, which will need to be translated into English.

I need a letter (on headed paper I guess) confirming my payslips because the company has switched to electronic payslips and P60.

I'm not sure the easiest way to prove ownership of my house. Mortgage statement - is an annual statement enough, showing the loan secured on the house? Or do I need to prove purchase/land registry etc?

Skype record will be screen grabs from mobile app - 99% calls, not chat text, as we use WhatsApp for that. Email will be subject and first few words (i.e. screen grabs of Gmail) showing the emails.

Not sure if I need letters from friends supporting the application or not.

Edited May 17, 2015 by fbf

[bigyin]

She doesn't need to have a job as long as you can prove that you can meet the financial requirement. You don't need travel insurance or flight quotation or any evidence of what she will do in UK. There is a question about this and I just put "Will look for work eventually when in the UK". She will get a name change certificate which should be translated into English. Yes letter from employer on official headed paper. No need to supply proof of purchase of house just mortgage statement and maybe council tax bill. Finally no need to have letters from friends as it is a settlement visa application. Good luck.

[wooloomooloo]

fbf, a few points that you are welcome to take or leave. Wouldn't hurt to include the kitchen sink but as the application and the all the associated documentation takes shape, I found it helped to minimise the amount of clutter, if you will, which makes a huge difference in the amount of time it takes in compiling the application folder.

[her name] - travel insurance - not necessary.
[her name] - document/certificate showing of name change - you mean from maiden name to married name? If so, not necessary, and covered with photocopy of previous passport. Also, see my comment further down.
[her name] - translated certificate of name change - as above, not necessary if changing to married name. See my below comment further down.
[her name] - photocopy of original id card (before name change) - not necessary, but, wouldn't hurt.

[her name] - Statement - what statement would this be? Bank statement? If so, yes, wouldn't hurt to include.

[my name] - passport page scans - agreed, though does need to be self-certified or certified by a solicitor. I walked in to a solicitors office in London and was charged £10 for three colour photocopies of my passport and all certified by the solicitor with a nice little stamp, signed and dated. Obviously, you don't have to go to a solicitors but I wanted everything bolted down.

Details of the wedding (date, invites, emails, etc.) - not necessary. This will be covered in the application form and you will also be submitting your translated marriage certificate, won't you? I would seriously consider having it translated and notarised. See my additional comment further down.

I'm not sure if we need any evidence of travel insurance or a flight quotation? - not necessary.

Or any other evidence of making plans to live in the UK (e.g. possible study courses or job searches for when she arrives? or are they not bothered about what she'll do if allowed in?) - evidence is not necessary, but doesn't hurt to state in the application that your wife intends to work and/or study. Keep it simple, i.e. just a one line statement. I recall that the application form used to have a question about whether the applicant intended to work in the UK. I just stated 'yes' and left it at that.

She's going to get her name changed in between the honeymoon and the visa application, so I presume she needs to show that. She seems to think she will get an official document/certificate along those lines, which will need to be translated into English - never heard of this myself. ID card, house registration and passport will all be amended to her married name on production of your marriage certificate and is quite painless with the ID card and house registration done same day. I seem to recall that the MFA now do a same day passport service for a premium fee. Though, only last week my wife renewed her passport in PHS and it was back within three days.

Not sure if I need letters from friends supporting the application or not - not necessary.

I'm not sure the easiest way to prove ownership of my house. Mortgage statement - is an annual statement enough, showing the loan secured on the house? Or do I need to prove purchase/land registry etc? - can't help you with this one.

When applying for my wife's settlement visa we had her following documents translated and notarised: birth certificate, ID card, house registration, marriage certificate and marriage registration certificate.

Not everyone has all or some of their documents translated or indeed notarised, but, I wasn't taking any chances. I should also state that we have these at home in the UK and there will be times when the marriage certificate is required and it does need to be notarised (i.e. Schengen application), and, possibly in the future her birth certificate, who knows? It was just a lot cheaper and quicker having it all done in BKK and never needs to be done again. Notwithstanding, we didn't want my wife to be refused just for a translation and it's impossible to know what should, and shouldn't, be translated or indeed notarised, so just did the lot. Though, up to you.

Edited May 18, 2015 by wooloomooloo

[fbf]

Thanks for the replies bigyin and wooloomooloo, very useful indeed (and sorry Globaleyes for taking over your topic somewhat, but hopefully still relevant).

I do agree "less is more" sometimes, or "quality not quantity" so I'll focus the list accordingly.

There's a small difference in the above replies about whether a name change certificate is issued or needed. If she's given one, we'll translate and include it, if not then we'll just go with the old passport copy.

The item "[her name] - Statement" seems to be left over from a previous visit application, I think it was an employer statement of some kind. wooloomooloo, you mentioned it might be good to include a bank statement, but is this definitely needed? Her bank balance was reasonably steady until recently, but since she lost her job and then I've made a couple of large deposits for wedding costs it's all over the place. There's so much money in her account now that she's afraid to use it, so withdrew her living expenses money and is using cash for everything! I'm not sure evidence of all this activity will help the application, unless the existence of a bank account in itself is a good proof of id or something else? I suppose it will correlate to the activity in my own bank statements though (which looks a bit too much like money laundering at the moment, not helped by a family member's trust fund passing through my current account).

About the wedding invites - I'll think about how to keep that focused. As we need to prove we are in a "genuine and subsisting relationship", it's quite a subjective thing to show, I figured that a wedding attended by around 15 of my friends (mostly from the UK) would be good evidence, as it would be almost impossible and probably pointless to orchestrate purely for the sake of a sham marriage. But maybe the wedding photos will be enough? Or just the usual photos of us being together (and since a friend some years ago had his Thai girlfriend turned down because he wasn't wearing enough different T-shirts in the photos, I usually buy a couple of new ones before each trip).

About getting documents translated/notarised after the marriage; yes, an easy Schengen visa will be nice for holidays as I've had enough long haul flights lately. She can do this in BKK but if anything gets missed, we'll just add it to the next family visit.

[wooloomooloo]

I wouldn't worry too much about your wife's bank statements. My wife had a few thousand baht in her bank account at the application stage but submitted her statement anyway.

If you wife's statements are rife with random debits and credits, which will take a lot of time to address, then I'd just ignore them.

I should reiterate that as your file comes together, it will morph in to some giant monster that you really didn't intend, but you need to pare it down as much as possible as it's very easy to lose sight of every last thread. So much so that you could inadvertently create more questions than you've answered. Let the documentation to do the talking, not you.

My wife didn't submit a letter, I only submitted my sponsor's letter. Didn't want to contradict anything.

[wooloomooloo]

About the wedding invites - I'll think about how to keep that focused. As we need to prove we are in a "genuine and subsisting relationship", it's quite a subjective thing to show, I figured that a wedding attended by around 15 of my friends (mostly from the UK) would be good evidence, as it would be almost impossible and probably pointless to orchestrate purely for the sake of a sham marriage. But maybe the wedding photos will be enough?

Don't bother, really. A wedding doesn't prove a subsisting relationship. You're just making work for yourself.

A few photos of the wedding will suffice.

[7by7]

To add to the above:

Your marriage certificate is all the evidence of your marriage that you need. Though you should included evidence of your relationship prior to the marriage; phone bills and/or similar to show contact, copy of your passport to show when you have visited her etc..

Her bank statements are irrelevant as it is you who has to meet the financial requirement; unless it is being met by savings, in which case if her savings are being used then evidence she has the money, as per the appendix, is needed.

Her employment in Thailand, previous or current, is irrelevant. She is moving to the UK and so will be leaving any job she may have in Thailand and as the intention is to settle in the UK she does not have to show a reason to return to Thailand.

Although anecdotal evidence from some members here suggests otherwise, the UKVI official line is that all documents not in English should be accompanied by a translation.

It's a good idea to get things such as birth and marriage certificates translated anyway; they may be needed once in the UK and it's a lot cheaper to have them done in Thailand than in the UK.

For all UK purposes, including visa and LTR applications, having the translation affirmed, or notarised, by the Thai MFA is not required; but each translated document must contain:

• confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document
• the date of the translation
• the translator's full name and signature
• the translator's contact details.

However, other countries, such as the Schengen states, do require affirmation by the MFA, so it may be worth getting it done in case she ever wants to apply for a Schengen visa or similar once in the UK.

[Globaleyes]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It sounds like I'm on roughly the right lines, with a few tweeks to make.

[fbf]

So I've finally got around to making the actual application online and the website seems a bit unclear in some cases.

I've selected "Settlement", "Settlement" and "Wife" at the start, and the application sections seem very close to the visit visa ones from before. Also I've needed to make a list of things to change later anyway as I can't put, for example, our honeymoon travel in there as it's in the future.

For her passport, issuing authority for Thai passports is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right? Except there isn't room for that, so the visit applications before (approved) were truncated to Ministry of Foreign. Should I put MFA instead?

For work, she is unemployed but attends an English school in Pattaya two days per week (4 hours total). Should I put "Student (Non Working)" or is that aimed at more full-time courses? If so, I should put "Supported by spouse/partner/other" I guess.

They want my passport details as a sponsor, so United Kingdom for the place of issue and IPS as the issuing authority. I hope that makes sense on the application.

A very strange question - when did I arrive in the UK? I was born here, so I've put my date of birth. Well, it's a form of arrival, but odd that the form doesn't explicitly cater for people who were born here!

Regarding the English test, Trinity college in London emailed this after my fiancée passed the test in April:

Anyone taking a Secure English Language Test (SELT) after 6^th April 2015, the Home Office requires the candidate to be assigned a Unique Electronic Reference (UER). This will be required when you submit your visa application to the Home Office.

Your UER is: TCL/####/####/####

I was expecting the application form to have a field for this but the closest I can find is the question in the English Language page: "How did you meet the English language requirement?" So I have dumped the UER reference in there, along with the date of the test, type of test, name and address of test centre and grade.

For the new Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), I was also expecting to see a place to deal with this too, but it seems it needs to be paid separately. There isn't even a place to enter the IHS reference number, but I found on this page the following:

You’ll be sent an email with an IHS reference number. This will also be shown on screen when you’ve paid. You’ll need to write this on the cover of your visa application if you’re applying online from outside the UK, the cover sheet if applying online from inside the UK or on the application form if applying by post. You need this reference even if you’re exempt from paying the healthcare surcharge.

"Write this on the cover"? It will probably be in a plastic folder. Maybe a sticky label? Or add it as a first page? I'll be inclined to print out the reference page for this health charge payment after the payment is made. Unless anyone know a better/more correct way.

Sorry for so many questions! Usually if I find a form that's poorly designed, I don't mind taking an educated guess, but not this time.

[fbf]

Something else I've just come across, missing from my documents list:

From this page: "You may need to provide additional documents depending on your circumstances - eg a sponsorship form from your family member in the UK."

It's not clear to me if that form is needed in the case of a wife joining her husband. I'll assume it's needed unless anyone can find evidence otherwise.

[bigyin]

Yes I put MFA when I did it. That will be fine as they know what that is. The decision is made by an ECO based in Bangkok so they are familiar with local terminology. And yes again about work. You will be supporting her (at least initially) so it is OK to say so. UK passport details will be fine as you describe. My old passport was issued by UKPA so I assume it has changed names. They will be familiar with what is required in terms of each language provider so putting it in there is fine but I would also refer to it again in your sponsor letter (see below). I would also send any paper certificate you might have with a copy. For the Health Surcharge I would certainly print out any confirmation you have of payment and send that with the application and refer to it again in your letter and maybe put a post it note on the front (and make sure the staff at Trendy Building don't take it off). Last but not least you have to write a covering letter as sponsor of your wife as she will be by then. So anything that you think might be unclear from the form you can cover in that letter. When I did my letter I covered all the evidence I was supplying on each of the important parts such as finances, accommodation, relationship, English Test. I am sure you haven't but don't forget the TB certificate. Good luck.

[7by7]

Something else I've just come across, missing from my documents list:

From this page: "You may need to provide additional documents depending on your circumstances - eg a sponsorship form from your family member in the UK."

It's not clear to me if that form is needed in the case of a wife joining her husband. I'll assume it's needed unless anyone can find evidence otherwise.

Not required for an application by a spouse/partner.

As you probably know, you will need to complete the financial appendix.

[fbf]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

@bigyin I will take your advice and make the covering letter a good summary of meeting all these various requirements.

@7by7 actually I'd missed that, so thanks! It seems the online application is actually mostly offline. The form you linked to also says "You MUST also complete and submit the main Personal Details Form (VAF4A). Failure to do so will delay your application." however when I searched for and found VAF4A (linked from this page) it looks like the online application covers all of this.

[7by7]

Yes, the VAF4A form is the one you complete and submit online.

However, at the end of the online process you will need to print a hard copy of it for your wife to sign and submit with the financial appendix form and her supporting documents.

BTW, if on checking the hard copy you notice any errors you can alter it and say what you have done in your sponsor's letter.

[fbf]

Got it, thanks. So we have the electronic application, which is printed anyway, and then the appendix form... and separate evidence of paying the NHS charge as that's just an afterthought until they next redesign the process. Phew!

[fbf]

Just wondering if it would cause a problem if I fill in the financial appendix form electronically. Adobe Reader has a form-filling feature, shown here: http://snag.gy/kth2z.jpg

My handwriting isn't great, it's tedious, and I might make a mistake near the end and have to start over...

[Globaleyes]

Regarding the English Test and payslips / employment proof of income.

My wife rang a company in BKK about taking the English test and despite there being only two companies that offer the test, the lady on the phone wasn't sure which particular test should be taken. Is there a specific test that we should ask for? ( I was very surprised by this!)

Also, regarding calculating income, the immigration guidance says six months payslips, which will be pro-rated to 12 months. Can I use more months and pro-rata them accordingly?

Thanks,

G.

[7by7]

fbf, yes you can fill the form in electronically, print it and then sign it.

Globaleyes,

There are only three approved test centres in Thailand, all, unfortunately, in Bangkok. See page 12 of the list of approved providers.

You need to provide the financial evidence as specified in the guidance; depending on how you are meeting the requirement. There is no flexibility and ECOs have no discretion on this point.

So if it says the last 6 months, that is what is required.

Note, that in many cases they wont take the total of that 6 months and double it, they will take the lowest month and multiply it by 12!

[Globaleyes]

Hi 7by7,

you've got me worried now. The guidance you mentioned says this:

"Where the person is in non-salaried employment – the level of gross annual employment income relied upon in the application will be the annual equivalent of the person’s average gross monthly income from non-salaried employment in the 6 months prior to the date of application (where that employment was held throughout that period). To calculate this annualised average for non-salaried employment in Category A the following calculation should be used: (Total gross income from employment held throughout the 6 month period, divided by 6) multiplied by 12 = Income from non-salaried employment that can be counted towards the financial requirement."

There is no mention of taking the lowest pay packet and multiplying by 12 (which would screw me - we couldn't do it.). Would you let me know where you got that info from?

Cheers,

G

Globaleyes,

There are only three approved test centres in Thailand, all, unfortunately, in Bangkok. See page 12 of the list of approved providers.

You need to provide the financial evidence as specified in the guidance; depending on how you are meeting the requirement. There is no flexibility and ECOs have no discretion on this point.

So if it says the last 6 months, that is what is required.

Note, that in many cases they wont take the total of that 6 months and double it, they will take the lowest month and multiply it by 12!

[theoldgit]

There is no mention of taking the lowest pay packet and multiplying by 12 (which would screw me - we couldn't do it.). Would you let me know where you got that info from?

This is the full guidance.

Financial_Requirement_Guidance_20140324 (1).pdf

[Globaleyes]

So, according to this in the full guidance on page 19:

"Example © The applicant‟s partner is in non-salaried employment in the UK. He works on a weekly rota basis and does not receive any paid holidays.

He has earned £450 each week in the same job for the last 7 calendar months, except for the week prior to the date of application when he earned £150 owing to a holiday.

Non-salaried income = (gross earnings from employment held throughout the 6 month period, divided by 6) x 12 = ((25 weeks x 450 + 1 week x 150) ÷ 6) x 12 = (11,400 ÷ 6) x 12 = £22,800 So the financial requirement is met through Category A non-salaried employment."

they DO average your income out? Clearly taking the lowest month would be as un-representative as taking the highest month (which would be nice...)

There is no mention of taking the lowest pay packet and multiplying by 12 (which would screw me - we couldn't do it.). Would you let me know where you got that info from?

This is the full guidance.

[7by7]

If you are relying on non salaried employment in the UK; don't worry; the calculation you have quoted will be used.

My bad, I should have said "some" not "many."

If memory serves, I haven't checked, it's usually when the sponsor has been working overseas on contracts or similar.

[Globaleyes]

lol. I can't begin to tell you how worried you got me there for a moment

Thanks.

If you are relying on non salaried employment in the UK; don't worry; the calculation you have quoted will be used.

My bad, I should have said "some" not "many."

If memory serves, I haven't checked, it's usually when the sponsor has been working overseas on contracts or similar.