The Sponsor's Letter - UK Spouse visa

[globalThailand]

 

 

Quote

 

Alternative currency measures may involve high-cost local arrangements with the banks and online payment providers in each country, which when added to the visa application fee would make the process substantially more expensive for all applicants. This would far outweigh the currency conversion fees suffered by applicants who do not own a payment

card intended primarily for use in the required currency.

 

 

Wow... that is meaningless fluff indeed.  In fact, after reading it a number of times it still doesn't make any sense.  If I did have a payment card intended primarily for the use of dollars it would still not matter a jot - the cost in dollars to me is way more than the stated cost in pounds.   Actually around 7% more... total cost of Visa and IHS is £1795, I paid just over £1900 according to the currency converter UKVI uses to means determine your earnings in a foreign currency.

 

 

[globalThailand]

So... the documents were submitted today.  A heads up that they don't seem to want any plastic at all... I had 3 clear plastic press stud folders clearly labeled with the application name / number and contents of each file.  I even had a backup single folder with labeled contents in case they wanted to put it all together - my wife came out with all the folders and the separated sleeves (originals / photocopies).  I spent a lot of time trying to make it convenient and clear for the ECO but VFS just dump it all in single envelope!

 

Should have taken rasgs advice and had a 'contents' page of my sponsor letter...

[onionluke]

Great thread .

[rasg]

A heads up that they don't seem to want any plastic at all... I had 3 clear plastic press stud folders clearly labeled with the application name / number and contents of each file. 

 

The staff at VFS make the rules up as they go along. Three visas in the last 18 months and they always submitted everything and returned everything the way we submitted it.  

[globalThailand]

Great news all!  My wife got her visa approved!  A big thanks to all for the great help you've been.  We really could not have done it without the initial 7by7 sticky on the forum (great place to start!) and the really great advice for you chaps.

 

I do have a follow up question though...  In the letter it explains about the BRP (Biometric Residence Card), what it is, where to collect it and when. After this section it just says

 

Police Registration within 7 days of arrival

Police Registration within 7 days of arrival to the UK

 

...so... after the very clear instructions of the BRP I'm now confused by the above.  1) They are the same... we can't arrive, then arrive in the UK  and 2) No clear (or any) instructions.  We just go to a police station, any police station, and say hi?  Do this after we get the BRP, or can we do it before?

 

Thanks again all

 

[bobrussell]

I must have missed something big happening with settlement visas if you are required to register with the Police after a Thai application!

 

The list is:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Most people married to an EEA citizen are exempted from this requirement!

 

Another way of raising money? £34!

[rasg]

I'd never heard of it before and the reason I didn’t comment on it.

[7by7]

I, too, have never heard of Thai people having to register with the police in the UK. Certainly not those entering with a view to settle as the partner of a British citizen

 

These letters are form letters used worldwide; are you sure that part applies to your wife?

 

If you want to be sure, then follow the procedure in UK visas and registering with the police within 7 days of her arrival.

[globalThailand]

Thanks for the link 7by7... and looking the info it would seem that anyone now entering for more than 6 months requires police registration!  Really this whole process is endless hoop jumping!  And another 34 quid!   Not only that, I thought moving to the UK I'd left behind the Orwellian practices of having to register with police... thankfully she doesn't have to do it every 90 days.... yet! 

 

Attached is an excerpt of the letter... as you can see, no details at all, not even a 'check this link if you are not sure what to do'.

 

What you don't really see in the attached is that the instructions to register are right after a page break, so it's quite misleading really, seems out of place and not really an 'instruction' under the heading of 'What you must do after you arrive in the UK'...And it would seem the consequences of missing this step could be pretty dire!     

 

[rasg]

I think you need to read this link:

https://www.gov.uk/register-with-the-police

 

To me it doesn’t look as if there is any requirement for a Thai national to register at all. I think you are wrong on this one.

Who needs to register with the police

You may be told to register with the police if all the following apply:

• you’re 16 or older
• your visa or immigration application is for longer than 6 months
• your visa or immigration application is not exempt from the police registration requirement
• you’ve been told to register on your entry visa vignette or Home Office letter that approved your application for leave

 

Thailand is not on the following list.

 

You must register with the police if you’re from:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

 

Exemptions

You don’t need to register with the police if you have permission to live permanently in the UK, or are a family member of an EEA citizen.

You’re also exempt if you’re visiting the UK on a temporary visa:

• as a seasonal agricultural worker
• as a private servant in a diplomatic household
• as a minister of religion, a missionary or a member of a religious order
• because you’re the partner (spouse, fiancé(e), civil or unmarried partner) of a person settled in the UK
• as a person with access rights to a child resident in the UK
• as the parent of a child at school
• after you’ve been given asylum

Edited January 20, 2017 by rasg

[Blackandwhite]

Police checks are good it will help her later once she settles in the Uk as she in effect will have a security vetting to sat she can work and has no convictions 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2017 by Blackandwhite

[rasg]

It could be if we have been talking about police checks! The poster was talking about his wife registering with the police and she doesn't actually have to do that. Presumably if she wanted a job with kids etc she would then need a police check.

[globalThailand]

Thanks Rasg,

 

I'm reading the link you've posted and I'm certainly leaning towards me jumping to the wrong conclusion.  What has me scratching my head though is >>

 

On 1/20/2017 at 1:17 AM, rasg said:

-  you’ve been told to register on your entry visa vignette or Home Office letter that approved your application for leave

 

As you can see from the letter I posted, under the heading "What you must do after arrival to the UK" it states 'police registration within 7 days'.  It seems odd, unclear and really out of place, but it does seem that she has been instructed to register in the HO letter.  I emailed the local police station last week to see if we can do it there - no response yet.  

 

 

[rasg]

If you read the list of exemptions list above, it's not necessary. I just had a look at the letter that my wife had from the Home Office and there is nothing mentioning anything about the police at all. Does your wife have a criminal record or anything different from the norm? It ls the only reason why they would want police registration. Why not give the Home Office visa department a call. They were pretty good when my wife's vis was going through. I was quite surprised...

[globalThailand]

Nothing out of the norm... Unless the HO know something I don't! hehe

 

Thanks for the advice, will give that a try.

[globalThailand]

So... I called the HO.  Once I got through the nightmare telephone menu maze that leads to dead ends and many redials the woman I spoke to was very helpful.  She seems to think it's a clerical error - some part of a from letter that was not deleted.  Though she did recommend we got to the local police station just in case... So I'll either get blank looks and told to go home or have to pay 34 quid unnecessarily.   

[rasg]

So she didn’t really know then! It sounds like a clerical error in the letter. My wife's has nothing on it about registering with the police and the link I provided is quite explicit that you don't need to do it.