Questions and Concerns about form VAF4A

For the biometrics appointment I know I will have to schedule that after I have applied for the visa online I found an office located near me (I'm in manhattan NY) it should give me this location as an option for my appointment right?

You can make an appointment at any one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centres across the US. They should show you the centres close to your location, but you can change it to a different location if you like.

Will I have an email that I will have to take with me so that way they know what the appointment is for and if so I saw (and I am repeating myself here I just like to triple check) that someone had gone early would I just take this paper with me and get it done quick?

You will be issued with an appointment confirmation sheet that has a bar code on it, which you must print and take with you to your appointment, along with your passport. This confirmation sheet will be stamped by the biometrics people and then you MUST include it in your documents package that you send to Sheffield.

Several people have had luck showing up at the USCIS center a few days earlier than their appointment date and have been seen as a walk-in.

My goal is to get this all done in a couple days since the sooner I get it sent off the sooner I will get it back. Also sorry one more question what day do you start counting from is it once you apply online, once your package arrives, or once you get the email from sheffield stating they have your application?

It's once you get the email from Sheffield stating they have your application... because this is the date they enter your application into their system and start tracking its progress.

so for all the information that we had to get signed and dated what if by the time I get the email from sheffield it is now past the 28 days because I have seen some people get their email a week later and some people have never received one? But when it arrives in sheffield it is within the 28 days will they still count it since it had gotten there within the time frame they asked?

so for all the information that we had to get signed and dated what if by the time I get the email from sheffield it is now past the 28 days because I have seen some people get their email a week later and some people have never received one? But when it arrives in sheffield it is within the 28 days will they still count it since it had gotten there within the time frame they asked?

No, the 28 days is from the online application date.

As long as your financial documents are dated within 28 days of the date you submit the online application, you are fine.

I thought you meant what day they start the processing time... which is from the date they send the email telling you they've got your documents.

- the latest financial documents must be dated no more than 28 days before your Official Application Date
- your Official Application Date is the date you submit the online application and pay for the visa
- after you have submitted the online application, you attend biometrics
- you then have 5 days from the biometrics appointment to mail your documents to Sheffield
- after they have arrived in Sheffield, they will send you an email confirming receipt of your documents
- you start the count for your processing time from the date you get this email

Quick question does my husbands british passport photo page have to be signed and certified he's going to mail me the last bits we need friday and I currently have with me just the photocopy of his passport photo page so I just want to make sure just the copy will do otherwise I wasn't sure if I should have him mail me a certified one instead and we don't need his birth certificate right?
For evidence once he sends me the rest we'll have tax returns for years 2011-2016 his earnings for this year so far so his (Bank statements certified, Payslips signed, Letter from employer, job contracts ((he has 2 since his pay was raised)) and his P60 from march this year). Then we have the letter from landlord, his letter, my letter, refusal paperwork, marriage certificate and copy of marriage license. Then we have apartment leases for same address to show we were living together and to confirm that some W-2's, insurance, and car contract. Then just flight details from previous trips from 2010 and this year and a couple photos this is all we need right for evidence I'm just double triple checking cause we plan to file next week so im making sure I have all my ducks lined up.
Thanks 

Oh and my passports previous and current of course

Quick question does my husbands british passport photo page have to be signed and certified he's going to mail me the last bits we need friday and I currently have with me just the photocopy of his passport photo page so I just want to make sure just the copy will do otherwise I wasn't sure if I should have him mail me a certified one instead and we don't need his birth certificate right?

It used to be that you needed either:
- a certified copy of his passport photo page
OR
- a regular photocopy AND his original long-form birth certificate

However, this specification has been taken off the UKVI website and some people have been fine with just the regular photocopy of the passport photo page.

So, it's up to you, you can either include just the photocopy, or if you feel safer, he can get a photocopy certified by a Post Office for about £8-10, and mail that copy to you.

For evidence once he sends me the rest we'll have tax returns for years 2011-2016 his earnings for this year so far so his (Bank statements certified, Payslips signed, Letter from employer, job contracts ((he has 2 since his pay was raised)) and his P60 from march this year). Then we have the letter from landlord, his letter, my letter, refusal paperwork, marriage certificate and copy of marriage license. Then we have apartment leases for same address to show we were living together and to confirm that some W-2's, insurance, and car contract. Then just flight details from previous trips from 2010 and this year and a couple photos this is all we need right for evidence I'm just double triple checking cause we plan to file next week so im making sure I have all my ducks lined up.
Thanks 

If you can post all the documents in a clear list, organised by section, and including all the admin bits, such as the application forms and passports (financial, accommodation and relationship), we can check it over and make sure nothing is missing .

Ok this is my list I have the filled out copy of the appendix 2 I don't have the printed version of the application yet and those bits since I'm not filing till next week though I will include it in my list so that way you are able to tell me if this will be everything I will need in my envelope when it comes to mailing.

Relationship:
Ticket stubs and flight Iteneraries from 2010
My cover letter
Refusal of entry Paperwork
E-mail receipt confirmation of a paid NHS fee from 2010
Tax Returns (US) from 2011-2016
Marriage Certificate
Photocopy of marriage license
Wedding photo (with dates and names)
Various W-2's for address confirmation (just for good measure)
Renter's Insurance (with address for good measure)
Apartment leases from 2013-2016
Car contract (For ownership)
Memorandum title
Bank statement
Flight Itinerary's for 2017 (to show proof of contact)
Mail Invoice 2017 (for proof of contact)
Printed photos of call history
Photo from my visit in june-july (with names location and date)
Printed flight itinerary for flight I would like to take in september

Sponsor Info:
Sponsor letter
Photocopy of passport photo page
Letter from employer
7 Payslips (each signed and dated and stated authentic by employer)
2 Job contracts Old and new (it was updated due to change in income)
P60 from april 2017
Tenancy agreement (Original and photocopy)
Letter from landlord
Bank statements 7

Filled out appendix 2 form
2 passport photos
2 passports (my old one and current one)
Printed Online application form
IHS# Receipt
Receipt for priority settlement processing
Receipt for return shipping
stamped biometrics

And just to clarify the list on documents my husband and I need to include are on my cover letter and his sponsor letter.
Thanks

I'm just going to rearrange your documents into more sensible sections because they're all mixed up at the moment.

This is the general order they should be presented in the application package, and should be listed in your cover letter:

Applicant/Admin bits
- Applicant cover letter
- Printed Online application form
- VAF4a appendix 2 form
- 2 passport photos
- 2 passports (my old one and current one)
- IHS# Receipt
- Receipt for priority settlement processing
-  Receipt for return shipping... you need to send the actual shipping label, not the receipt
stamped biometrics
- Refusal of entry Paperwork
- E-mail receipt confirmation of a paid NHS fee from 2010
- Printed flight itinerary for flight I would like to take in September

Sponsor:
- Sponsor letter
- Photocopy of passport photo page

Financial documents:
Required:
- Letter from employer
- Bank statements 7 - just to confirm these are either originals sent in the post or have been stamped/signed by the bank on EVERY page?
- 7 Payslips (each signed and dated and stated authentic by employer)
Optional:
- 2 Job contracts Old and new (it was updated due to change in income)
- P60 from april 2017

Accommodation documents
- Tenancy agreement (Original and photocopy)
- Letter from landlord

Relationship documents (in order of importance)
- Marriage Certificate
- Wedding photo (with dates and names)
- Tax Returns (US) from 2011-2016
- Various W-2's for address confirmation (just for good measure)
- Ticket stubs and flight Itineraries from 2010
- Flight Itinerary's for 2017 (to show proof of contact)
- Mail Invoice 2017 (for proof of contact)
- Printed photos of call history
- Photo from my visit in june-july (with names location and date)

Photocopies
- you should include photocopies of every original document you wish to be returned to you

You don't really need any of the following as you've already covered everything:
- Photocopy of marriage license (unless you mean marriage certificate, not licence, in which you should include it)
- Renter's Insurance (with address for good measure)
- Apartment leases from 2013-2016
- Car contract (For ownership)
- Memorandum title
- Bank statement

And just to clarify the list on documents my husband and I need to include are on my cover letter and his sponsor letter.
Thanks

They don't HAVE to be on the sponsor letter, as they will be listed on your cover letter... if you do include them in the sponsor letter, only list the documents HE is providing in support of the requirements (i.e. finances and accommodation)

Thank you
Yes the sponsor letter he just included the documents he was providing
In my cover letter I included everything else
So for the shipping I do that through the website you pay the priority fee right? If so the return shipping label how do I get that is that when I go to drop it off at UPS and they will give it to me?
For the bank statements I dont know what they will be I told my husband how to go about it depending on how the bank gives it to him hes going friday to get them from the bank depending on if they print them or give him actual statements I told him what he needs to do. Also for the bank if they do end up stamping and signing each paper will we have to get a letter from them stating their authentic and that he is the account holder with the current address he resides I read that somewhere but I dont remember the specifics?

Yes the sponsor letter he just included the documents he was providing
In my cover letter I included everything else

Great .

So for the shipping I do that through the website you pay the priority fee right? If so the return shipping label how do I get that is that when I go to drop it off at UPS and they will give it to me?

Okay, so the way it works is:

- you purchase both the settlement priority processing AND the shipping labels from the VFS Global website, at the same time, in the same transaction (as some people have found if they do it separately, the system won't let them put the second transaction through)

- you print off the priority processing receipt and place it on the very top of your document pile

- you wait for the shipping label(s) to be emailed to you

- you print off the shipping label(s) from your email and place the RETURN label in your documents package

- if you are using round-trip shipping, you take the outbound shipping label to the UPS store, get a UPS envelope from them and put your documents inside, then fix the shipping label to it (or they will fix it on - not sure)

- write SETTLEMENT PRIORITY PROCESSING in LARGE letters on the very outside of the package, so that it will be seen immediately upon arrival in Sheffield (if you don't do this, the application may not be processed as priority as they won't know to put it in the priority pile)

- wait for the visa to be processed

- when it has been processed, Sheffield will use the return shipping label you provided to ship the documents back to you. Sometimes they decide they can't find the label and contact you to ask you to send it... so in that case, you can just attach the label to the email back to them

For the bank statements I dont know what they will be I told my husband how to go about it depending on how the bank gives it to him hes going friday to get them from the bank depending on if they print them or give him actual statements I told him what he needs to do. Also for the bank if they do end up stamping and signing each paper will we have to get a letter from them stating their authentic and that he is the account holder with the current address he resides I read that somewhere but I dont remember the specifics?

Okay, if the bank print them or they are mailed to him, they don't need to be stamped or signed, and you don't need a letter... because they will be considered original. A letter only needs to confirm that the statements are authentic... I've never heard of having to confirm his current address.

It's only if HE prints them himself at home from online banking that they either have to be stamped/signed or accompanied by a letter.

The official guidance for the bank statements is:

(a) Bank statements must:

(i) be from a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating.

(ii) not be from a financial institution on the list of excluded institutions in Appendix P of these rules.

(iii) in relation to personal bank statements be only in the name of:
(1) the applicant’s partner, the applicant or both as appropriate; or
(2) if the applicant is a child the applicant parent’s partner, the applicant’s parent or both as appropriate; or
(3) if the applicant is an adult dependent relative, the applicant’s sponsor or the applicant, unless otherwise stated.

(iv) cover the period(s) specified.

(v) be:
(1) on official bank stationery; or
(2) electronic bank statements which are either accompanied by a letter from the bank on its headed stationery confirming that the documents are authentic or which bear the official stamp of the issuing bank on every page.

thank you for all that information i will let my husband know and i will make sure to follow ur directions for the shipping its gettin close to filin now so i'm getting nervous about doing it wrong
thanks again ksand24

sure to follow ur directions for the shipping its gettin close to filin now so i'm getting nervous about doing it wrong
thanks again ksand24

Np . All the information about the shipping and priority should be on the VFS Global website, so double-check the instructions there, as I may have forgotten something:
http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/user_pay_services.html

Ok so I checked out the website and it seemed confusing at first but I think I figured out what it is I need to do if I have questions I will probably be back when I'm sorting it all out next week also I have two more questions.
I'm fixing my cover letter for the list of evidence I'm giving based on my list above and what was organized what would be the best way to go about listing those items in my cover letter?
Also my husband like I said is mailing me the last few pieces we need to file he will be mailing it express so it should be here within the first 3 days of next week at the latest I wanted to file the paperwork on monday or tuesday so I have enough time to go through it and still be able to mail it as soon as possible I know I've been told to wait till I have everything in hand but just doing the online application and paying for everything when the items we need to finish it should be here that day or the following would that be ok do you think? The only time frame you need to worry about for mailing is the 5 days within the biometrics which I don't plan on doing till after I have everything.
Thanks again

I'm sorry for all my questions I hope I'm not annoying anyone I have another question I'm going to be applying online on monday but I want to make sure I can print everything off my computer is not connected to the printer where I'm staying so I was curious if the online form was able to be downloaded so I can put it on a USB to use my step moms computer to print it off and then for the receipts are they all e-mailed to you cause if so I should be able to print it off from my phone right? It connects through bluetooth

Thanks again for everything if it wasnt for all the help I would of filed this all wrong

I'm sorry for all my questions I hope I'm not annoying anyone I have another question I'm going to be applying online on monday but I want to make sure I can print everything off my computer is not connected to the printer where I'm staying so I was curious if the online form was able to be downloaded so I can put it on a USB to use my step moms computer to print it off and then for the receipts are they all e-mailed to you cause if so I should be able to print it off from my phone right? It connects through bluetooth

Thanks again for everything if it wasnt for all the help I would of filed this all wrong

Practice this now with something else, but you can print to PDF by selecting that option in the Print dialogue box when you choose initiate the print process.  It's in the first drop-down menu when you select which printer you want to send the job to: