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Topic: UPS saying not enough postage  (Read 1745 times)

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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #15 on: July 14, 2016, 12:42:15 PM »
Do we include wedding cards also?


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #16 on: July 14, 2016, 12:44:41 PM »
Well dirst ups place hubby went to said they could post with sent labels other say no lables are good for a letter.

But does it say 'letter' on it, or does it say 'package'? If it says package, then UPS can't argue that they are for a letter, because they aren't

If it says 'letter', then VFS may have issued the wrong label and you'll need to contact them again to get it corrected.

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.been through our stuff were gonna shave a bit off but theres still quite a bit tbh...im on d.l.a so need adequate maintenence proof so sent in a years bank statements and hubby sending yrs bank statements as he has savings. i sent all my benefit letters also chat history photos divorce papers for hubby 4 letters from family and friends...appendix 2 su07 thats bout it tbh

Okay, well you don't need 1 years' worth of bank statements each.

- Only 6 months of bank statements are required for adequate maintenance... so you can take out 12 months of bank statements (6 months each) right there.

- You only need to send 1 benefit letter confirming the benefit and amount you receive, so take all the rest out.

- Letters from friends and family cannot be considered and will not be looked at, so take them out too.

- SU07 form is not required for your visa, so take that out (it's only for elderly dependant relatives and adult dependant relatives).

So, that's 12 months of bank statements, all but one benefit letter, 4 family/friends letters and the SU07 form you can get rid of immediately.

Also hubby has minor criminal convictions over a year ago weve had to send papers for that too...will that affect application?he jus got fines n such like no jail time

Yes, he will need to send his police record/evidence of the convictions. If any of them happened within the last 12 months, it's an automatic visa refusal, but as long as they happened more than 12 months ago, they can't refuse the visa because of them.

It shouldn't be more than a couple of sheets of paper for each though, right?


Do we include wedding cards also?

Nope - just your marriage certificate.


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #17 on: July 14, 2016, 01:00:25 PM »
Ok well our appendix says 12 months bank statements on it su07 is only 1 piece of paper and gov.co.uk says necessary...gotta send all my benefit letters income support d.l.a child tax credits child benefit housing/council tax benefit criminal history is a lot of detailed papers so cant cut them out tbh


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #18 on: July 14, 2016, 01:31:29 PM »
Ok well our appendix says 12 months bank statements

Where does it say that? I can't see it in the maintenance section of the application form and it's not mentioned in the official maintenance evidence document either - from what I can see in that document, only 6 months of bank statements are mentioned, not 12 months.

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su07 is only 1 piece of paper and gov.co.uk says necessary

It is NOT necessary, it is for exceptional circumstance visas only.

The UKVI guide to supporting documents only mentions it for an adult dependant relative visa (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270197/sup-docs-settlement.pdf):
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Adult Dependent Relatives
If you are applying as an adult dependant relative your sponsor should also complete a Sponsorship Undertaking Form (SU07)

Adult dependant relatives are either elderly parents or adult children who are completely reliant on the sponsor to care for them physically and support them financially because they cannot work and cannot take care of themselves (and cannot get any help in their home country).

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gotta send all my benefit letters income support d.l.a child tax credits child benefit housing/council tax benefit criminal history is a lot of detailed papers so cant cut them out tbh

All you need to send is evidence of how much you receive each week/month - so presumably that's one letter for each type of benefit, confirming what you are entitled to....so from what you've listed above, I count 5 benefits, so 5 letters.

Then you send 6 months of bank statement which show the benefits being paid in each week/month, along with 6 months of statements showing your husband's savings.


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #19 on: July 14, 2016, 01:43:16 PM »
Okay, here we go, the official guidance from UKVI about who needs to fill out SU07:

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ECB12.3 Sponsor undertakings on maintenance and accommodation

As with undertakings from an applicant (see above), the ECO should only require an undertaking from a sponsor in exceptional circumstances or for certain categories eg parents, grandparents and other dependent relatives under Rule 317 of the Immigration Rules. (see Maintenance & Accommodation - MAA)
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/undertakings-ecb12/ecb12-undertakings#ecb123-sponsor-undertakings-on-maintenance-and-accommodation)


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #20 on: July 14, 2016, 01:49:22 PM »
I can confirm VFS do incorrectly label the packages as letters going outbound. I actually had to tear open my son's bubble mailer and get the correct label out. The one that says letter was the one that was outbound. UPS guy said because my sons documents fit into one of their express envelopes we had to use that, but for mine (which weighed just over 3lbs and was in a big bubble mailer), he said they (UPS) wouldn't care what it was in or what my label said, he could see it was paid for.

Tracking showed delivered for both this morning so clearly they did indeed let it through! I think maybe your UPS person is being a bit fussy, but VFS should fix it.
Let me also say those labels are highway robbery. UPS guy said they will adjust the price the company pays because they aren't billed until you ship it, and ours were far less than what I paid them!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2016, 02:00:44 PM by Aeonix »
Moved to the UK April 2006
Married March 2007
Moved to the U.S. June 2009

Husband accepted new job in UK April 2016
Returning to UK Aug/Sept 2016!

Moved from UK-Germany 2022


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #21 on: July 14, 2016, 02:08:04 PM »
Awesome info guys im gonna get this a bit better organised thank u tons if ive seemed sharp its jus cos im stressed to the max atm sorry 😢😢😢


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #22 on: July 14, 2016, 02:48:03 PM »
Awesome info guys im gonna get this a bit better organised thank u tons if ive seemed sharp its jus cos im stressed to the max atm sorry 😢😢😢

No problem - just try to keep calm and don't panic, you will get it sorted :).

Looking back over the document requirements again, for cash savings you definitely only need to provide 6 months of bank statements... so 6 months from your husband.

I'm wondering though if you do actually need 12 months of your bank statements after all.

It's a bit confusing because the 12 months is mentioned under Maternity and Bereavement Allowance, but it also says that if you are showing maintenance for financial requirement exceptions and are relying on benefits for income, you need to send the same documents as for Maternity Allowance.

Even with 12 months of them though, your documents still shouldn't be more than 5 lbs. I had to get 4 months of bank statements printed for my mortgage application recently, and that was only 10 pages and they weigh 0.3 lbs, so 12 months of your statements and 6 months of his shouldn't weigh more than 2 lb or so.

Then there's no reason for the rest of the documents all together to weigh more than another 1-2 lbs.


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #23 on: July 14, 2016, 03:29:13 PM »
I can confirm VFS do incorrectly label the packages as letters going outbound. I actually had to tear open my son's bubble mailer and get the correct label out. The one that says letter was the one that was outbound. UPS guy said because my sons documents fit into one of their express envelopes we had to use that, but for mine (which weighed just over 3lbs and was in a big bubble mailer), he said they (UPS) wouldn't care what it was in or what my label said, he could see it was paid for.

Tracking showed delivered for both this morning so clearly they did indeed let it through! I think maybe your UPS person is being a bit fussy, but VFS should fix it.
Let me also say those labels are highway robbery. UPS guy said they will adjust the price the company pays because they aren't billed until you ship it, and ours were far less than what I paid them!

Mostly I think people choose to go with VFS for the convenience, even if it is more expensive. But if you are paying more and the system is causing more worry and hassle, not less, that is just not right! >:(


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #24 on: July 14, 2016, 04:31:46 PM »
On the bottom of the OUTBOUND label, below the larger barcode, it should read--

BILLING: P/P
DESC: DOCUMENT PACKAGE
RETURN SERVICE- PAYMENT GUARANTEED  (if you're using return, presuming all are)

If your label says anything other than "Package" ie "Letter" then it's incorrect.  But Package also means you're using a UPS envelope & with everything inside (including the return envelope I chose to include), the whole thing shouldn't be more than 1" in height.

If you're trying to use a UPS box (even their smallest) then they're going to question it.

If your label says Package & you're using the envelope & the worker is saying it's wrong then go to another UPS store.  I was lucky enough to have a UPS distribution center nearby.  This is the big warehouse where all the stores' daily intake are brought to so I was able to save 1 step in the process.  The center worker scanned my label, folded another envelope to put inside the envelope I was using, & taped the whole thing up without a fuss.


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #25 on: July 14, 2016, 04:51:33 PM »
It deffo says document package so should be able to stick it in a box tbh first ups place hubby went they gave him a box which fitted everything guy sed that we can use that box so we jus go with that even tho it weighed more than 5lbs they can bill us i guess


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #26 on: July 14, 2016, 09:13:07 PM »
Definitely follow up with that suzie first if you can (and after you take out as much as you possibly can).

It is my understanding that if you used VFS, then when UPS scan the barcode, essentially it is them (or  UKVI)  that get charged. You just pre-paid for it. Not sure if they make it easy where if it's over a certain amount then you can just be billed for the excess. Guy at UPS told me (when I thought my packet was too big) that if it was anything over then it gets billed to the account holder, which was VFS/UKVI since they produced the labels.


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #27 on: July 22, 2016, 10:53:56 AM »
Hey,

VFS global states right on their website that their labels are only good for up to 5 pounds.

Scroll down a bit and click Courier Service.

http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/user_pay_services.html#4
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #28 on: July 23, 2016, 12:51:05 AM »
Well lots of great info here guys thanks, we posted our documents yesterday weighting in at almost 8lbs. Guess we'll see what happens now.

Everything we provided is the documents the UK site says to provide which is financial, housing and the authenticity of the relationship.

We both provided 12 months bank statements, I have two accounts so that weighed it down a bit.

There's six different benefits so we couldn't send in just one page to show that besides a few of the benefits changed within the last 12 months so we included the older benefit letters to show the older amounts on my sponsors 12 months bank statements.

The SU07 form is two pages so whether we need it or not it's miniscule so we threw that in.

I've had two previous divorces so there's a bit more papers.

We sent in 40 pics of us together and screenshots of our chat history every week for the last 14 months.

We've included everything our solicitor asked us to on her appendix we've got it in perfect order and separated with dividers.

We didn't go with the minimum requirements I wasn't brought up that way if you wanna do the minimum well expect minimum results back. We sent in the "minimum" requirements which is vague. It said it was up to us to send in the other evidence which is what we did. Yes it weighs 8lbs but we shaved all we could. Maybe 2 pics and one sheet of chat history and a few pages of all our other financial, housing, benefits, savings and relationship would have been enough but we don't have the time or money to hope that was enough and if not try again. We just want to be a family, every page of our 8lb parcel is just what they asked for.
We just want to be a family and enjoy the rest of our lives together in the UK.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2016, 01:04:36 AM by Jamessusan2015 »


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Re: UPS saying not enough postage
« Reply #29 on: July 23, 2016, 07:12:10 AM »
Well lots of great info here guys thanks, we posted our documents yesterday weighting in at almost 8lbs. Guess we'll see what happens now.

I have to say, I'm curious as to what is causing the documents to be that heavy - even mentioning all the things you sent, I don't get how that can add up to 8lbs.

Remember though, that before your application is seen by an ECO, someone in Sheffield might have to go through it, rearrange the documents and take out anything unnecessary. So it could be that half of your documents are not even seen by the person processing your visa.

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We both provided 12 months bank statements, I have two accounts so that weighed it down a bit.

Assuming your accounts were savings and not income, they will ONLY consider the most recent 6 months of bank statements for each account... so you sent 12 months of statements that no one will look at, which means that's 1 lb (or more?) you could have got rid of immediately.

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There's six different benefits so we couldn't send in just one page to show that besides a few of the benefits changed within the last 12 months so we included the older benefit letters to show the older amounts on my sponsors 12 months bank statements.

The only thing that matters is current and future income, so the old benefit amounts are irrelevant.

So, all you need to show for benefits is the most recent letter for each, stating the entitlement for 2016/2017, along with at least 1 bank statement showing those amounts being paid in.

The other 11 months of her bank statements, along with your 6 months of savings are purely to see incomings and outgoings, to make sure that after paying rent and council tax, you'll still have enough to live on after the visa is granted.

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The SU07 form is two pages so whether we need it or not it's miniscule so we threw that in.

It will only be considered if you are applying as an Elderly or Adult Dependant Relative... which you are not, therefore it won't be looked at.

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I've had two previous divorces so there's a bit more papers.

But a divorce decree is only a couple of pages long, right? So, that's about 4 sheets of paper or so?

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We sent in 40 pics of us together and screenshots of our chat history every week for the last 14 months.

Only 1 photo is needed, since it is only to show you have met in person at least once. The photo should be of just you and your wife, no one else in the picture. If you like you can send 2 photos, one at the wedding and one from another time in the relationship.

Only 2 pages of chat history should be included - just take a few screenshots of dates and times (two per month, maybe) and paste them together onto 1-2 pages. It's like sending a phone bill... they only need to see that you talk regularly, not what you talk about.

Even one screenshot per week would only add up to 60 screenshots, and showing dates and times only means you could get maybe 10 on a page... so that's 6 pages, or even just 3 pages if you print double-sided.

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We've included everything our solicitor asked us to on her appendix we've got it in perfect order and separated with dividers.

I hope they gave you good advice as we've seen several solicitors who don't really know what they are talking about giving advice that is completely incorrect and, had it been followed, would have resulted in a visa refusal.

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We didn't go with the minimum requirements I wasn't brought up that way if you wanna do the minimum well expect minimum results back.

With UKVI, the opposite is true - as long as you send the minimum required documents, your visa will be issued... and the less you send, the easier their job is and the faster they can process the visa.

The visa is processed as a 'tick box' application - they go down the list in front of them, tick off each document on the list, and issue the visa. No personal opinions come into it.

If you've sent a ton of documents that aren't needed, then they can't consider any of them as they won't be on the tick list... so they have to dig them all out, put them to one side and only look at the absolute required documents.

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Maybe 2 pics and one sheet of chat history and a few pages of all our other financial, housing, benefits, savings and relationship would have been enough but we don't have the time or money to hope that was enough and if not try again.

It definitely would have been enough.

I've been on the forum almost 10 years - I've advised on hundreds, if not thousands, of spousal visa applications. Less is more, believe me - I have witnessed first hand exactly how many pages of each document are needed to get the visa approved.

The extra documents are unlikely to affect the visa outcome but they don't half make things difficult for Sheffield to go through them all. Nothing you can do about it now, but I hope the excessive documents don't delay your application processing time.

You don't want the visa to be refused because they didn't see one of the required bank statements from the last 6 months, as it got mixed up in all the extra documents you sent.


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