Spouse Visa Accommodation

I am a USC and my husband is a UKC. I will be applying for my spouse visa in May and we are going to be living with his parents. The guide to supporting docs from the UKBA seems kind of vague when it comes to accommodation so I'm not sure what is too much or too little information.

At this point we were going to include a letter from his parents. It hasn't been written yet but I think it will be stating we have permission to stay at the house and the letter will advise how big the house is, how many rooms and how many people stay there (currently 4 people live there, I would make 5), and that we will have our own bedroom. Not sure what else the letter needs to say.

We we going to also provide 6 months of mortgage statements. There's no rental agreement because we are staying with them free, and there's no utility bills in our name. The other things listed from UKBA are: land registry documents, council tax statement, property inspection report. We're not sure if we need more documents?

Do you think it will be sufficient for us to provide 6 months of mortgage statements from his parents as well as the letter from his parents? Or do we need further documentation? Thanks for any help you can provide this is one aspect of the application we're just not sure on.

If you will be living with his parents, you need:

- The letter from them inviting you to live with them, confirming that the home will not be overcrowded with you living there, and also stating how much, if anything, you will be contributing to rent and bills.

- The land registry document for the property (can be downloaded from the Land Registry website for a small fee)

- The 6 months of Mortgage statements

So, you were almost there - you just need to get hold of the land registry document as well (it's probably more important than the mortgage statements as it shows who owns the property).

Thank you so much for the reply. If you download the land registry doc wouldn't that mean you would be submitting just a regular copy? I'm not sure how property documents are there but I know we can't submit an original and I'm not sure if we would need to have it certified. Does it matter if it's a regular copy for accommodation requirements?

Can I just 'bump' the OP last question? I only have a copy and 'should not be used in court etc'....basically a copy.

Also, are there any key points the parent's need to state? Or is there an example letter knocking about I could refer to?

It's not a problem.

The copy downloaded from the website is considered official for the visa and is sufficient. Many, many people here on the forum have submitted this downloaded copy and no one has had a visa refused because of it.

Edited to add:

Sorry missed this question:

Also, are there any key points the parent's need to state? Or is there an example letter knocking about I could refer to?

There's no example letter as far as I know - it's fairly straightforward.

The letter just has to state:

- that they own the property
- that your US spouse has permission to live in the house with you and the parents
- that the home will not be overcrowded with you both living there too.

See here for the accommodation requirement and overcrowding rules, sections 9-12 on this page:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa--2

We will be staying with my sister-in -law's family- Do I need to have both the Land Registry document AND 6 months of mortgage statements?
My sister-in-law is less than willing to provide both, and it seems like just the Land Registry document would suffice. Does anyone know what we need to provide for our proof of adequate accommodation?

No you don't need both and I don't think it says anywhere that you need 6 months of mortgage statements. We're staying with friends while we find our own accommodation, we just had an email from our friend who we are staying with stating that we can stay there, her contact info, how many rooms in the house and who lives there and their passport numbers. I also included a council tax statement from her. Just the one.

Our application was a straight forward one, applying with savings and we were approved.

I know that other people have just included the letter and been approved.

Good luck

Council tax statements are not and have never been required because they do not prove homeownership. Mortgage statements can be included to show that the house is being paid for if it's not owned outright.

The most important things to include are the letter from the homeowner and the land registry document to show who owns the property.

Copied from the suporting documents checklist, along with council tax statements you can even send utility bills.  I was scared to the point of puking every day when someone on another site said I had to have mortgage statements and I'd never come across any documents that said this. Like I said, I didn't have mortgage or land registry docs and I know of people who only had the letter and they got the visa.  Have to say tho, Internet forums are a great diet plan.


Accommodation details
You may wish to submit any of the following documents to provide us with evidence of your accommodation. We advise that you do not make any payments for accommodation, travel and so on until you have received your visa.

Details of the accommodation that you and your sponsor intend to live in and permission for you to stay there along with evidence of any other occupants

This could include:
Land Registry documents
mortgage statements
rent book or tenancy agreement
council tax statements
property inspection report
utilities bills
 accommodation details with a supporting letter from the occupant/ landlord confirming that you are able to stay there