Hello,
I am new here and hoping someone can help me. It's the first time I've applied for a visa without hiring a lawyer, so I want to make sure I'm doing it all correctly....
I am applying for ILR as the spouse of a British citizen. I'm currently gathering the documents we'll need and I am a little worried about the proofs of residence required. My husabdn and I have lived with his parents ever since I moved here 5 years ago. We don't pay bills, so we don't have a lot of correspondence addressed to the both of us, except for our joint bank account statements which are however all online-only. My husband doesn't have enough correspondence that qualifies. My first question is, can I use these digital bank statements or does all the evidence need to have been physically mailed to us?
Here is a list of correspondence I have; I basically included every physical letter i have that qualifies:
- Nov 2021: joint account statement (Digital)
- Dec 2021: my p45
- Jan 2022: joint acct statement (Digital)
- july 2022: nhs letter addressed to me
- july 2022: joint bank acct statement (Digital)
- nov 2022: nhs letter addressed to me
- jan 2023: joint acct statement (Digital)
- mar 2023: nhs letter addressed to me
- june 2023: letter from the bank addressed to both of us
- august 2023: nhs letter addressed to my husband
- october 2023: letter from the bank to both of us
- nov 2023: mortgage offer letter from the bank, to both of us
Second question is regarding proof of residence. Here's what I've got so far:
- homeowner statement to be signed by my in-laws;
- title register which i bought online through gov.uk- however it is not an official copy
- passports for both of my in-laws (expired)
Do I need to buy an official copy of the title register? Are expired passports ok? For reference, I used both when I renewed my visa in 2021, and the passports were expired then, and i had no trouble. They own the house outright and do not pay mortgage, so I can't include that.
Will be very grateful for advice, and thank you 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
The point of the correspondence evidence is that is original, paper mail sent to you at your address. You only need mail from 3 different sources so if you had had one paper statement each (or one joint paper statement) coming in every month, which is what we recommend, then you could have just added one piece from each of two additional sources, worked the spacing around those dates, filled in with the bank statements and you would have been sorted.
The requirement for ILR is that the mail be spaced from your application date, back to your last grant of leave to remain. That's pretty much every 5 months and you'll need one joint piece or one piece each, from the same month to keep to that.
I realise that you don't have that and can only provide what you do have so I'm mentioning this as much for the next person reading as anything else.
There is provision in the rules for when there is not enough mail but we really only see this used for the fiancé to first FLR(M) visa when the couple only have a handful of months of living together. What is asked for is a letter with an explanation of why mail cannot be provided with the correct spacing and/or in the correct format.
The only alternative would be to submit what you have without the letter, rather than drawing their attention to the problem. I'm trying to put myself in your position and without giving it more thought, I don't know what I would do. I don't
think that by itself would be enough for them to refuse you though so try not to worry too much.
I would definitely provide the digital statements though, along with the physical mail that you do have as without those you have nothing for your husband from the earlier months.
Your accommodation evidence is good. You can have them mention in their letter that they own the property outright which explains the lack of a mortgage statement.
The online title is fine as are the expired passports.
