Our application

Evening all,

First of all I just want to say a big thank you to all the contributers on this forum as it has made the whole application process much easier.

I became engaged to my partner Chad last week in the UK, and we have just submitted the fiance visa application which was nerve-racking! He is now back in the US, I am in London.

I have a couple of questions:

- Stupidly, we selected the 'husband' option as the visa type when I have just learned that it should have been 'marriage'. The information provided stated that he is my fiance and we intend to marry in the UK once the Visa is approved. Is the application likely to be denied or do you think they can change the category to 'marriage'?

- Is someone able to explain the health charge we had to pay? Is it correct that he will have access to the NHS when he arrives if required?

- Is there any other preparation required for the biometric appointment? I believe he will just need to take his passport and the appointment confirmation.

Appreciate any help that can be given.

Many thanks,
Chris

Welcome to the forum .

I became engaged to my partner Chad last week in the UK, and we have just submitted the fiance visa application which was nerve-racking! He is now back in the US, I am in London.

Congratulations on your engagement .

- Stupidly, we selected the 'husband' option as the visa type when I have just learned that it should have been 'marriage'. The information provided stated that he is my fiance and we intend to marry in the UK once the Visa is approved. Is the application likely to be denied or do you think they can change the category to 'marriage'?]

Unfortunately, you've applied for a 33-month spousal visa instead of a 6-month fiance visa... and he doesn't qualify for the spousal visa yet.

So, if he attends biometrics and mails the application, it will be automatically refused, because to meet the requirements for the 'Husband' visa, he must be married on the date he submits the online application, and he must provide his marriage certificate to prove this.

However, if he hasn't attended biometrics yet, you can withdraw the application and request a refund of all the charges, then you can reapply for the correct visa.

Just make sure he DOES NOT attend biometrics - because if he does you can no longer get a refund and will lose all of the money you've paid.

See here for how to withdraw the application and request a refund:
https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Home/ViewFAQ
and
https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds

- Is someone able to explain the health charge we had to pay? Is it correct that he will have access to the NHS when he arrives if required?

All visas valid for more than 6 months require you to pay a £200 per year contribution towards NHS costs, in order to be able to access the NHS for 'free'... so for a 33-month spousal visa, this comes to £600.

However, because he should have applied for a fiance visa, he wasn't actually supposed to pay the surcharge... because the fiance visa is only valid for 6 months. This does mean though, that when he does reapply for a fiance visa, he won't be eligible for 'free' NHS treatment and will need to purchase private health/travel insurance to cover him until he is married and has received the next visa (FLR(M)) to stay in the UK.

When he applies for FLR(M) inside the UK though, he will be charged a £500 NHS levy for that visa.

- Is there any other preparation required for the biometric appointment? I believe he will just need to take his passport and the appointment confirmation.

He will - but as I said above, as he has applied for the wrong visa, in order to withdraw the application and get a refund, he MUST NOT attend the biometrics appointment he has booked.

So, what he'll need to do is:

- Not attend the biometrics appointment
- Withdraw his application in writing
- Request a refund of his application fee (this could take a few weeks to be refunded) and NHS surcharge fee (this may be automatically refunded)
- Start the application process over again and this time apply for the Marriage visa instead.

You mention you only got engaged last week - you've applied for a fiance visa very quickly, considering the number of documents required and the amount of preparation that it can take to get the application together (some people spend several weeks, even months, collecting all their evidence and documents)... so I would take your time and make sure you have everything in order before you submit the online application (as you only have 5 days from the biometrics appointment to mail all the documents to Sheffield).

For example,

- Did print he fill out by hand the VAF4a Appendix 2 form, which is the second half of the application form?
- Did you include all the required financial documents, in the exact format requested in Appendix FM-SE and Appendix FM 1.7?
- Did you include the required UK accommodation evidence?
- Do you have relationship evidence covering the entire length of your relationship (boarding passes, 1-2 photos, letters/cards, email inbox screenshots, call log screenshots etc.)
- Do you have evidence of plans to marry in the UK? For example, email or letter correspondence with the registry office or church in regards to potential ceremony dates, or a provisional ceremony booking, evidence of any plans already make (photos of the dress and/or the rings, evidence of booking a venue etc.)

Welcome to the forum .

Thank you for the warm welcome and the incredibly helpful advice.

Unfortunately, you've applied for a 33-month spousal visa instead of a 6-month fiance visa... and he doesn't qualify for the spousal visa yet.

So, if he attends biometrics and mails the application, it will be automatically refused, because to meet the requirements for the 'Husband' visa, he must be married on the date he submits the online application, and he must provide his marriage certificate to prove this.

However, if he hasn't attended biometrics yet, you can withdraw the application and request a refund of all the charges, then you can reapply for the correct visa.

Just make sure he DOES NOT attend biometrics - because if he does you can no longer get a refund and will lose all of the money you've paid.

We have now cancelled the initial Visa and will await the refund before we start again. The visa details on the login page are now blanked out so I am guessing you cannot apply until the refund has been processed. At least this gives us some extra time to collate the information required.

All visas valid for more than 6 months require you to pay a £200 per year contribution towards NHS costs, in order to be able to access the NHS for 'free'... so for a 33-month spousal visa, this comes to £600.

However, because he should have applied for a fiance visa, he wasn't actually supposed to pay the surcharge... because the fiance visa is only valid for 6 months. This does mean though, that when he does reapply for a fiance visa, he won't be eligible for 'free' NHS treatment and will need to purchase private health/travel insurance to cover him until he is married and has received the next visa (FLR(M)) to stay in the UK.

When he applies for FLR(M) inside the UK though, he will be charged a £500 NHS levy for that visa.

Thank you for clearing this up.

- Did print he fill out by hand the VAF4a Appendix 2 form, which is the second half of the application form?
- Did you include all the required financial documents, in the exact format requested in Appendix FM-SE and Appendix FM 1.7?
- Did you include the required UK accommodation evidence?
- Do you have relationship evidence covering the entire length of your relationship (boarding passes, 1-2 photos, letters/cards, email inbox screenshots, call log screenshots etc.)
- Do you have evidence of plans to marry in the UK? For example, email or letter correspondence with the registry office or church in regards to potential ceremony dates, or a provisional ceremony booking, evidence of any plans already make (photos of the dress and/or the rings, evidence of booking a venue etc.)

In regards to the above, you have made us realise we are probably doing this a bit premature - so thankful we now have the extra time.

We have filled out the VAF4a Appendix 2 form, and the VAF4A personal details form.

I may have missed the boat entirely, but is there an official list of documents that we are required to provide? I have read over Appendix FM-SE and Appendix FM 1.7, so can I assume we provide the items listed against our circumstance?

With the financial evidence to meet the requirement, will I have to send (for example) payslips to Chad so he can submit them?

I currently live in a two bedroom rental property with a housemate who will be moving out when Chad comes over. Where are the guidelines on what we need to provide?

In terms of relationship evidence, we have boarding passes for the trips, as well as various photos including the engagement. What is proving to be a challenge is to provide call logs as we have always communicated on either iMessage, Facetime or Facetime Audio - will provide as much of that info as possible.

We have not started wedding planning yet as we were unsure of the realistic timescale, but can provide photos of the rings.

Thank you again for your help, it really is appreciated.

Thank you for the warm welcome and the incredibly helpful advice.

No problem .

Just glad you were able to realise the mistake and withdraw the application in time to get a refund .

We have now cancelled the initial Visa and will await the refund before we start again. The visa details on the login page are now blanked out so I am guessing you cannot apply until the refund has been processed. At least this gives us some extra time to collate the information required.

You should be able to start a new application while you are waiting for a refund - I'm sure other people have applied while they were waiting for their refund to come though, as it can take a few weeks, possibly even a couple of months to get the refund.

However, if you do need a bit more time to get organised for the visa, it may well be worth waiting anyway .

We have filled out the VAF4a Appendix 2 form, and the VAF4A personal details form.

Great - however you do NOT need to fill out the VAF4a personal details form, because it is not accepted in the US... instead you fill out the online application form (VAF4a is just the paper version of the online form and is only accepted in North Korea).

So the forms you include will be:
- printed online application
- printed and hand-written VAF4a Appendix 2 form

I may have missed the boat entirely, but is there an official list of documents that we are required to provide? I have read over Appendix FM-SE and Appendix FM 1.7, so can I assume we provide the items listed against our circumstance?

There is a general suggested list of documents here, though it is not exhaustive and not everything will apply to you:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270197/sup-docs-settlement.pdf

Best thing to do would be to post here on the forum a list of everything you are planning to send and then we can look over it and see if anything is missing or not needed.

For the financial requirement, you work out which Category you are applying under, then fill out the corresponding category on the Appendix 2 form, and supply the documents for that category, exactly as specified in the Appendix FM 1.7 and FM-SE documents.

With the financial evidence to meet the requirement, will I have to send (for example) payslips to Chad so he can submit them?

Ideally, yes - they must all be originals and cover the exact period specified. Everything needs to be sent together in the same package and if he will be using the shipping service through VFS Global it needs to be sent from the US.

I currently live in a two bedroom rental property with a housemate who will be moving out when Chad comes over. Where are the guidelines on what we need to provide?

You will need the original tenancy agreement and a letter from the landlord giving Chad permission to live there as well (and also mentioning the housemate moving out).

In terms of relationship evidence, we have boarding passes for the trips, as well as various photos including the engagement. What is proving to be a challenge is to provide call logs as we have always communicated on either iMessage, Facetime or Facetime Audio - will provide as much of that info as possible.

The boarding passes will likely carry most weight as it shows time spent together in person. You should only include 1 or 2 photos maximum. You can also send letters/cards you have written to each other.

If you have sent each other emails, you can include screenshots of your email inbox, otherwise if you can get call logs/message logs from the programmes you use, that would be good (try not to include actual message content though).

We have not started wedding planning yet as we were unsure of the realistic timescale, but can provide photos of the rings.

You MUST provide evidence that you plan to marry within the 6 months of the fiance visa, otherwise the visa will be refused.

Photos of the rings would be good, but if you can just get some email correspondence with a registry office or church about possible dates, that would be the best evidence... it just has to be a query, just to show you are looking into ceremony dates.

Thanks again for all your help! Since ther last post we have collated the relevant documentation to submit as follows.

To confirm, I am the sponsor and we are applying for a fiance visa.

Applicant Information
- Printed online application
- Printed and hand-written VAF4a Appendix 2 form
- Current Passport
- Two color passport-sized photos - UK size
- Stamped Biometrics Confirmation sheet
- Return shipping information
- Priority processing receipt

Applicant-Sponsor Relationship
- Two photographs of us together - one in the US and one of the proposal in the UK
- Boarding pass of going to the US, and another of coming to the UK
- Photo of call log from iPhone showing occasions of extended time talking to each other
- Email trail between myself and a wedding location discussing dates
- Photo of the rings

Financial Requirement - I meet the £18,600 requirement from work in the UK
- Six months worth of pay slips
- Six months worth of bank statements showing the payments
- Letter from my employer stating all of the following:
      (i) employment and gross annual salary;
      (ii) the length of employment;
      (iii) the period over which I have been paid the level of salary relied upon in the application;
      (iv) the type of employment (permanent)
- Latest P60

Accommodation - I rent privately
- Letter from Estate Agent confirming Chad is able to move in, housemate moving out.
- Tenancy Agreement.

Thanks in advance for checking.

Looks pretty good.

A couple of extras:

Applicant:
- she must include ALL passports she has ever held, so if she has any previous, expired passports, they must be sent too

Don't forget the Sponsor Documents too:

- a notarised copy of your UK passport photo page
- Sponsor's letter of confirmation for the visa

Your letter of confirmation should include the following:
- how you are eligible to be her sponsor (i.e. you are a UK citizen)
- your employment details and which financial category you are applying under
- where you will live in the UK
- a short paragraph about your relationship (how you met, how you keep in touch, when and where you plan to get married etc.) and why you have chosen to settle in the UK together instead of another country
- a list of the documents you are including as the sponsor to support what you have written

Also, for the financial requirements, if you have it, it's a good idea to include your original job contract as well as your P60.

Thanks again.

Have everything required now, so the biometrics appointment has been booked for Tuesday next week and I'm about to send Chad all of the above documents so it can be sent back to Sheffield when ready. Cannot believe how much they charge for the shipping label alone!

Random question - with the printed visa application, passport photo(s) have to be sent in UK size - how easy is this to do in the US? Does anyone know where this can be done? We are not sure if the post office does the 45mm x 35mm photo?

The passport photos don't have to be UK sized - they will accept regular US size if you're struggling to find somewhere to print UK ones.


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Great, thank you.

So everything is printed and ready to go.

One final check for luck?

Sponsor Documents
- Letter of confirmation
- Notarised copy of UK passport photo page

Applicant Documents
- Printed online application
- Printed and hand-written VAF4a Appendix 2 form
- Current and only Passport
- Two colour passport-sized photos
- Stamped Biometrics Confirmation sheet
- Return shipping label to return documents

Applicant-Sponsor Relationship
- 2 photos of us together
- Travel documents from our trips
- Photos of call log from iPhone showing occasions of extended time talking to each other
- Photo of the rings used for engagement and wedding
- Email trail between myself and a wedding location discussing dates

Financial Requirement
- Six months’ worth of pay slips
- Six months’ worth of bank statements showing the payments
- Latest P60
- Letter from my employer stating the following:
      (i) employment and gross annual salary;
      (ii) the length of employment;
      (iii) the period over which I have been paid the level of salary relied upon in the application;
      (iv) the type of employment (permanent)

Accommodation – Privately Rented
- Letter from Estate Agent confirming Chad is able to move in, housemate moving out
- Tenancy Agreement

That all looks pretty good to me - can't see anything obvious missing .

Good luck with the application .

Thank you - you have been awesome!

Hi all,

Was just looking for some advice on Visa processing times.

The biometrics appointment was completed on February 16th, and the application arrived in Sheffield on February 26th.

I understand that you should get a confirmation of receipt email / letter from Sheffied but we have not received this.

I have used the contact form on the website and they have responded just saying they have no updates, and will not confirm receipt.

Are we being too eager? I just noticed other applications on the forum are being acknowledged and approved way quicker..

Thanks

Was just looking for some advice on Visa processing times.

The biometrics appointment was completed on February 16th, and the application arrived in Sheffield on February 26th.

I understand that you should get a confirmation of receipt email / letter from Sheffied but we have not received this.

Generally they do send an email when they've logged your application into the system, but not always - some people get no emails at all and then their visa just turns up on their doorstep one day.

However, as long as you have confirmation that the package was delivered to Sheffield, your visa will be processed.

Quick question: what date did you post the application to Sheffield?

I see you had biometrics on the 16th and the application arrived on the 26th, but there is a deadline of 5 days from the biometrics appointment to post the application... which means it needed to be in the mail by Feb 21st at the latest.

I'm not sure if it will make a difference if it wasn't posted by the 21st, or how strict they are on the 5-day deadline though.

I have used the contact form on the website and they have
responded just saying they have no updates, and will not confirm receipt.

The contact form just goes to some generic call centre nowhere near Sheffield, and they are pretty useless - they don't have access to your application and so I think they just do a general search on their computer system to see if anything comes up.

They don't often give accurate advice, and in the past, they have even told people that their application has been processed, when it hasn't even been looked at yet!

Are we being too eager? I just noticed other applications on the forum are being acknowledged and approved way quicker..

Did you pay for priority processing when you applied?

Most of the people on the forum applying recently have paid for priority, so are getting their applications processed much faster than those who haven't paid for priority.

If your application arrived in Sheffield on February 26th, then you're currently only at 13 working days of processing, and non-priority applications generally take around 30-60 working days to be processed (6-12 weeks).

The processing times for January 2016 (the most recent data available) are on the website:

Settlement

Most applications are processed within 60 days.

17 % of applications decided in 2 working days    
33 % of applications decided in 3 working days
64 % of applications decided in 10 working days
65 % of applications decided in 15 working days
76 % of applications decided in 30 working days
95 % of applications decided in 30 working days
100 % of applications decided in 90 working days[/i]
(https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y/united-states/settlement-visas/settlement)

Hi all,

Pleased to say that the fiance visa was approved late last week and we received the passport back on Monday.

Thank you again for all your help (especially ksand24) - is a lovely feeling and a huge sense of relief. His flight is booked for the end of the month.

A couple of further questions:

Travel
From my research, I believe the fiance visa is a multi-entry visa.
I am going to Germany for a week in June, and I really want him to come with me. I understand this should be okay as we will not yet be married.
So is this correct, and there should be no issues entering the UK again once the week is over?

Banking
Anyone have any advice on setting him up a bank account? I believe all that is required is ID and a proof of address to set up a basic bank account with a debit card - please correct me if I am wrong.

Many thanks