YAY!!!!!! I am England bound!!!!!
Received documents via UPS today (no signature required). So the process for me started on 4/26 with biometrics, docs (non priority) received in Sheffield on May 3rd. I received a total of three email notifications from Sheffield: confirmation of receipt on May 10th, notice of delay due to my application processing not being "straightforward" was received on 7/29, and then much to my surprise, the "decision made" email arrived on 8/2.
Things I worried about that did not impact decision, but may have caused delays:
1. Sent a photo copy of the U.K. Land Registry. I expected they might request a certified copy which I obtained after my submission. However, I was not contacted for any further information of any sort.
2. To demonstrate my British husband's citizenship, I sent his original birth certificate. I later read on this forum that a certified copy of his passport would be required. Apparently that is not always the case.
3. Due to the timing of my doc submission and the closing dates on hubby's bank account, we were missing the last statement.
4. I sent just one passport photo. That worried me because I saw many references on this forum about two being required.
Besides the above, to prove the genuine nature of our relationship, I sent our wedding invitation, two pics from wedding, three pics of us on holiday, boarding passes for three of my trips there and two of his here, one year's worth of phone records showing multiple calls every day and envelopes from two letters he sent me and two I sent him. I also sent the original real estate transaction document showing the sale of my home one month before the application was made.
To demonstrate accommodation I sent hubby's council tax receipts and water bills for one year, pay slips and bank statements (copies stamped at the bank on every page front and back) showing the corresponding wages as well as deductions for the monthly mortgage payments for the six months leading up to my application.
Other docs sent included our marriage certificate, divorce papers, IHS payment confirmation letter, my expired and current passports, letter from hubby's employer confirming employment, and return mailing label
Other lessons learned:
1. Calling or emailing the help line is 100% useless and frustrating. I made numerous calls during my preparation and after submitting the application. I received inaccurate information, one rep contradicted the next...one of them was even quite rude.
2. I had read in the application instructions that any document I expected to have returned to me should be accompanied by a photo copy of said doc. So I copied the birth and marriage certs along with divorce papers and all the copies were returned in my packet. In fact, every sheet of paper I sent was returned to me except the printed application and the appendix.
3. The ECO in my case appears to have been reasonable in not over scrutinizing my application or refusing to grant the Visa because of discrepancies/omissions in the supporting documentation I submitted. I am feeling very lucky in this regard because it sounds as though, in other cases, mistakes that I made could have proven disasterous. My advice to anyone making an application is to follow everything to a tee so there is nothing to worry about and of course be patient because it is all out of your control once everything is in the mail. Also seek advice from this forum, it would have helped me if I had discovered it sooner.
Good luck to all!!
