Howdo. New York>>>Norwich

Yeah, I know I only need 6 months worth of financial evidence. It was irrelevant me mentioning 2 years really. It's just that we'd meant to be initially applying some while back but things kept getting delayed because of family stuff and life events. Either which way thankfully I have the financial stuff covered.

No worries - just wanted to make sure you were aware that you only need 6 months' worth, so you didn't end up sending too much  .

Regards the issue with the tenancy agreement, thanks for letting me know that's a MUST have. I have just written to my landlord saying I can't find it so maybe I'll be able to get a replacement from them although before dealing with them direct I actually got the flat from a letting agency originally so I might have to contact them. Hopefully it won't be a big issue to get the necessary evidence.

Yeah, hopefully they'll be able to provide a copy of it for you.

I'm not really sure why the guidance says you can include things like utility bills and council tax statements, because anyone can be named on those, and the whole point of the accommodation evidence is to prove that either:
- you own the property
or
- you and your partner both have permission from the property owner to live there (either by both being named on the tenancy, if you both already live in the UK, or by providing the tenancy with your name on it plus a letter from the landlord giving her permission to live there once she arrives in the UK on her visa)

I know I should really create a thread in the main Visa section of the forum rather than keep posting odds and ends in this welcome thread, but......

..just one more 

So, my landlady emailed me and said she'd managed to unearth an original tenancy agreement for my flat which she'd kindly scanned and sent me. Would a print out of this suffice together with the supporting letter from her saying that I live here and it's fine for my wife to move in OR do I need the actual original agreement (which looks a 6 page spiral bound affair)?

Also, we were just finally getting our acts together to register for the online visa application via the official Visa4UK site. Just trying to find the actual online form seems a trial in itself, after going round in a loop for what seemed like hours I think we've finally got there. On the first page where it asks for details it also asks 'date of travel'? Seeing as we don;t know the exact date when she'd want to move over just yet I'm assuming it's okay to just put any date in here as until we actually submit the form everything can be constantly edited/changed? I know this is probably a stupid question but I'm sure like most people we're way over cautious and just don't want to make any schoolboy errors.

Also, my wife finally just registered on here as Amity Jane (not her real name, bonus point for anyone who knows where she got that  ) I shall now pester her to create her own welcome message so everyone can say hi 

Thankyee kindly.

I know I should really create a thread in the main Visa section of the forum rather than keep posting odds and ends in this welcome thread, but......

..just one more 

So, my landlady emailed me and said she'd managed to unearth an original tenancy agreement for my flat which she'd kindly scanned and sent me. Would a print out of this suffice together with the supporting letter from her saying that I live here and it's fine for my wife to move in OR do I need the actual original agreement (which looks a 6 page spiral bound affair)?

You need the actual original document. Scanned documents are not considered original and so are not acceptable for the visa.

Also, we were just finally getting our acts together to register for the online visa application via the official Visa4UK site. Just trying to find the actual online form seems a trial in itself, after going round in a loop for what seemed like hours I think we've finally got there.

The visa form you want is:

SETTLEMENT -> SETTLEMENT -> HUSBAND (or WIFE)

If you have selected MARRIAGE as the visa type, you’re applying for the wrong visa.

Don’t submit the online application until you have every single document in your hands and ready to put in the mail to Sheffield.

On the first page where it asks for details it also asks 'date of travel'? Seeing as we don;t know the exact date when she'd want to move over just yet I'm assuming it's okay to just put any date in here as until we actually submit the form everything can be constantly edited/changed? I know this is probably a stupid question but I'm sure like most people we're way over cautious and just don't want to make any schoolboy errors.

You want to be careful about the date you choose... because the date you put is the date your visa will be made valid from... and you will only have 30 days from that date to enter the U.K.

You’ll want to put the earliest possible date you may wish to move, and they should make the visa valid starting 7 days before that date.

If the date has passed before the visa is issued, it will simply be made valid from around the date the decision is made.

What you don’t want to happen is that you put a date a few months in the future, then you get the visa fairly quickly, but you can’t fly to the U.K. until the date on the visa.



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Thanks Ksand24 for answering my questions.

I had figured that might be the case regards scans not being admissible but was just vaguely hoping. I just let my landlady know and hopefully it won't be a bother getting the original documents from her.
Okay that's one more little thing ticked off.

The visa form you want is:

SETTLEMENT -> SETTLEMENT -> HUSBAND (or WIFE)

If you have selected MARRIAGE as the visa type, you’re applying for the wrong visa.

I'm still a little confused here. From what I can figure out the settlement visa ' SET(M)'  seems to be for if we've already been granted a previous visa for my wife to come over and live (with a 2 year limit) -

Complete this form only if you are applying for indefinite leave to remain in one of the
following categories:
• Family life as a partner (2 year route - you were last granted limited leave of 27 or
24 months under Part 8 of the Immigration Rules and have completed at least 24
months with such leave)

Please forgive me if I'm being really slow here, I just find the whole immigration website really confuddling and I want to be 100% sure we're applying for the correct thing before we waste lots of time and money.

If you are applying online from the USA, you use the website and select settlement, settlement, wife.

SET(M) is what's completed from INSIDE the UK after 5 years.  But your wife will be applying for the settlement PATH, which is why it's called a settlement visa.

It's a bit confusing.

From inside the UK, settlement means indefinite leave to remain (permanent residency).  It can be applied for after meeting the UK residence requirements with eligible visas (such as work visas, spouse visa, and so on).

From outside the UK, settlement in regards to a spouse or fiance(e) visa denotes a family visa settlement path, that will lead to settlement down the line.

Thanks all.

Luckily my (much smarter) wife is here with me at the moment and she figured things out just after I typed my confusing message.
The original advice was correct, it was just a drop down menu we had to select from when creating the online application, therefore SETTLEMENT > SETTLEMENT > WIFE makes sense now.

I think we're on track now (although my head hurts a bit  )

I'm still a little confused here. From what I can figure out the settlement visa ' SET(M)'  seems to be for if we've already been granted a previous visa for my wife to come over and live (with a 2 year limit)

Sorry, it’s not a physical form.... those are the options you select from the dropdown menu when you start filling out the online application form... it’s one online form for all visas, so you just select the type of visa you are applying for when you start the application

The visa category is Settlement... because a spousal visa is a visa that eventually leads to settlement (ILR) in the UK after 5 years.

My point was that under the Settlement category, you must select Husband or Wife, and NOT Marriage.

The difference between Settlement and a settlement visa is:

Settlement (ILR) = permanent residence in the U.K., which takes 5 years to qualifying visas to qualify for

Settlement Visa (I.e. a spousal visa) = a family visa that eventually leads to Settlement (ILR)

For the spousal visa, you fill out 2 application forms:

1. The online application on the visa4uk website, selecting Settlement -> Settlement -> Husband/Wife... this is a generic application form just with personal details about the applicant and is pretty much the same for all visa types:
https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/home/welcome
DO NOT submit this form until you are COMPLETELY ready to mail all your documents to Sheffield

2. VAF4a Appendix 2, which is the form specific to a spousal visa and contains all the questions about how you meet the financial, accommodation and relationship requirements:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-uk-visa-for-family-settlement-form-vaf4a


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Thanks again. That lays everything out very clearly, much appreciated. Apologies for being a little slow on the uptake, comes with the territory I guess as the whole process seems quite daunting.

We're on the right track now. We have 95% of our supporting documents ready just a few loose ends to chase up and sort and double (and triple) check everything.

No need to apologise!  Ask as many questions as you want.   

The process isn't the most clear or straightforward one, and I'm pretty sure a part of that is deliberate.