Spouse Visa Application - Appendix FM - Sanity Check

Hi Guys,

Please please help me sanity check the below before submission

Supporting Documents:
Applicant Passport (COPY) (original will be taken to Biometric Appointment)
Sponsor Passport (COPY)
Declaration of Sponsorship Signed and Dated

Salaried Income:
Bank Statements for 6 months (OCT - MAR) (Online PDF downloaded statements from Natwest which have iBAN number - Natwest say this should be sufficient for HomeOffice these days?)
Payslips for 6 months (OCT-MAR)
Letter from Employer
Employment Contract

Accommodation:
Council Tax Bill 2022-2023
Property Pictures
Rent Statement for 3 months rent
Tenancy Agreement dated 2017 confirming secure tenancy
Water Bill
(Sponsorship Declaration states they can contact my housing association for further info as they refused to provide a letter)

Relationship:
Marriage Certificate
Marriage Photos (10 pictures in PDF)
Proof of visit (stamped passport of entry and exit page)
Remittance (5 slips which show transfer for support)
Whatsapp (from Dec 2021 when we got married to Mar 2022 - 4 screens per month)




Slight concern:
On the application when it asks for Country of Issue my wifes passport says (DIP/DHAKA) - should I put in the DIP or just DHAKA? (probably nothing to worry about).


THank you so much for reading

Hi Guys - hoping no replies means it looks solid

Hi Guys,

Please please help me sanity check the below before submission

Supporting Documents:
Applicant Passport (COPY) (original will be taken to Biometric Appointment)
Sponsor Passport (COPY)
Declaration of Sponsorship Signed and Dated

Salaried Income:
Bank Statements for 6 months (OCT - MAR) (Online PDF downloaded statements from Natwest which have iBAN number - Natwest say this should be sufficient for HomeOffice these days?)
Payslips for 6 months (OCT-MAR)
Letter from Employer
Employment Contract

Accommodation:
Council Tax Bill 2022-2023
Property Pictures
Rent Statement for 3 months rent
Tenancy Agreement dated 2017 confirming secure tenancy
Water Bill
(Sponsorship Declaration states they can contact my housing association for further info as they refused to provide a letter)

Relationship:
Marriage Certificate
Marriage Photos (10 pictures in PDF)
Proof of visit (stamped passport of entry and exit page)
Remittance (5 slips which show transfer for support)
Whatsapp (from Dec 2021 when we got married to Mar 2022 - 4 screens per month)




Slight concern:
On the application when it asks for Country of Issue my wifes passport says (DIP/DHAKA) - should I put in the DIP or just DHAKA? (probably nothing to worry about).


THank you so much for reading

In order to cover the same 6 month period for the bank statements and pay slips, it's almost always necessary to provide 7 months worth of each. Bank statements need to be originals, sent to you in the post, if printed they need to be stamped on every page or accompanied by a letter verifying their authenticity.

The relationship evidence should cover the duration of your relationship, not just since being married.

The country of issue is Bangladesh. She'll need to provide proof of English and TB test too.

Hi Guys - hoping no replies means it looks solid

Not quite - I was just not able to easily reply over the last few days as I was travelling for oversea deployment and now I'm stuck in quarantine with spotty internet.

If by Sponsorship declaration, you mean the SU07 form, then you do not fill this out, because it does not apply to a spousal visa. Or is there now a sponsorship declaration form that is part of the online application that I'm not aware of?

In regards to the documents, just going to rearrange them a bit (missing documents are in red, my comments are in blue):

Applicant Documents
Applicant Passport (original will be taken to Biometric Appointment)
English language requirement evidence
TB test

Sponsor Documents
- Sponsor Passport photo page only
- Mandatory Sponsor Letter of support, including the following:
Paragraph 1: how you qualify to be a sponsor (UK citizenship)
Paragraph 2: employment details and how you meet the financial requirement
Paragraph 3: where you will live together in the UK, including full address and property details... also explain that your housing authority will not provide a letter confirming the applicant can move in
Paragraph 4: short, factual history of the relationship, dates and places only, no personal feelings. Plus why you are choosing to settle in the UK together

Finances
- Payslips for 7 months (SEP-MAR) - if they were issued online, each payslip MUST be verified in the employer letter, including an explanation for any discrepancies between payslip date and amount and bank deposit date and amount
- Bank Statements for 7 months (SEPT - MAR) (Online PDF downloaded statements from Natwest which have iBAN number - Natwest say this should be sufficient for HomeOffice these days?) - No, each PDF statement MUST be printed and either be stamped by the bank branch on EVERY page or accompanied by a letter from the bank confirming their authenticity. Also, 7 months are usually needed to cover every single day of the 6 months.
- Letter from Employer... this must include ALL of the following:
i) employment and salary
ii) length of employment
iii) length of time earning current salary
iv) type of employment
Plus verification of each electronically-issued payslip
- Employment Contract
- Latest P60 (May 2021)

Accommodation:
Tenancy Agreement dated 2017 confirming secure tenancy

Relationship:
Marriage Certificate
Marriage Photos (10 pictures in PDF) - no more than 2 photos should be provided. One from the beginning of the relationship, one recent (i.e. from the wedding)
Proof of visit (stamped passport of entry and exit page) - you need to provide flight tickets or boarding passes for this part, not the passport page
Whatsapp (from Dec 2021 when we got married to Mar 2022 - 4 screens per month)... should be no more than 3 pages total when pasted into word... you need to cover evidence of communication for the entire relationship, starting from when you met, not from when you married. What about everything from before December 2021?

You do NOT need the following, so you can take them out:
Council Tax Bill 2022-2023
Property Pictures
Rent Statement for 3 months rent
Water Bill
Remittance (5 slips which show transfer for support)... this is not relevant for a spousal visa - they need to see that you speak to or see each other regularly, not that money is transferred to each other

Hi Ksand,

Thank you for your reply.

I now have both my english cert and TB cert as required.

By Sponsorship declaration I actually meant the sponsor letter of support and can confirm it has every detail you outlined.

I will include 7 months of bank statements and payslips but do not have the latest P60 for 2022 - i have 2020-2021 but it does not show a full years employement as i started mid 2020 for this organisation.

I have located flight tickets and will include them

in terms of the relationship - it started at December - it was an arranged marriage and we had very little communication before then.

Thanks again.

Sorry forgot to mention - i actually went into the bank last friday and got all 7 months stamped - its sept 2021 - mar 2022

By Sponsorship declaration I actually meant the sponsor letter of support and can confirm it has every detail you outlined.

Great - just wanted to check because in-country applications do have a sponsor’s declaration rather than a sponsor letter.

I will include 7 months of bank statements and payslips but do not have the latest P60 for 2022 - i have 2020-2021 but it does not show a full years employement as i started mid 2020 for this organisation.

The P60s for 2022 haven’t been issued yet, so they won’t be expecting that one anyway, but we recommend including the most recent one you have (even if it show income from previous employment) because the guidance states that they may ask to see the sponsor’s employment contract and latest P60… so if you send it in anyway, they won’t need to contact you later on to ask for it.

in terms of the relationship - it started at December - it was an arranged marriage and we had very little communication before then.

Ah, okay, that will just need to be explained in the sponsor letter then (I assume you have already done so). UKVI ask to see communication evidence to make sure it’s not a forced or sham marriage (I.e. just for a visa), so if you explain the circumstances and therefore the reason you have no prior communication, that should cover it .


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Thank you so much Ksand - I cannot express my gratitude enough for your time.

I have uploaded all the documents now and she has an appointment with VFS Global on Wednesday to do her Biometrics.

She will be taking her document checklist/appointment confirmation and passport as I have uploaded everything else.

I hope that covers it