I'm also a little muddled with the correspondence requirement. I understand the guidance requests 3 separate sources spaced out over 2 years - our proposed list would be:
Okay, so you want 1 document in each name dated every 4 months from Aug/Sept 2018 to Aug/Sept 2020, from at least 3 different sources. All documents must be original that you received in the post in the months they are dated. Online documents cannot be used, even if ordered backdated and mailed.
For now, we'll assume Sept 2018 to Sept 2020, so you will want documents from the following months (though if you apply in August you will want to change the months to Aug, Dec and Apr of each year):
Sep 2018
Jan 2019
May 2019
Sep 2019
Jan 2012
May 2020
Optional extra: Sep 2020
From the documents you have listed, you can use:
September 20181. Applicant: ?
1. Sponsor: ?January 20192. Applicant: Halifax Bank Statement (Source 1)
2. Sponsor: Halifax Bank Statement
May 20193. Applicant: Three Mobile Phone Bill (Source 2)
3. Sponsor: EDF Energy Bill (Source 3)
September 20191. Applicant: American Express Statement
1. Sponsor: American Express Statement
January 20202. Applicant: Talk Talk phone bill
2. Sponsor: Halifax Bank Statement
May 20206. Joint: - Home Insurance Policy with both names -
the names are fine (Source 4)
Optional extra: September 20207. Applicant: American Express Statement
7. Sponsor: American Express Statement
So, you're currently missing a document for each of you in September 2018.
And then finally, in terms of the accommodation requirement, is my annual mortgage statement sufficient, or should I be supplying the Title Deeds to? Land Registry doesn't cover Scotland so is the £3 'Registers of Scotland Title Deed and Plan' is what they want?
You MUST include the Land Registry document - this is the most important document. And, yes, you will need to get the document from the Scotland Land Registry website, instead of the England/Wales one.
You also include:
- your latest council tax bill
- your latest annual mortgage statement
To show your monthly housing costs
Then finally, has there been any relaxation of the requirements to get bank statements signed and stamped by a bank if it's printed out by them? I managed to find a patient bank employee for the first visa who spent 20 minutes printing out, signing and stamping my bank statements but I'm guessing with COVID that'll be a lot more difficult this time around. Would it be okay to just print out the bank statements or is a letter stating they are genuine + stamping each page still needed?
Alternatively, I (may) be able to get the postal copies of my bank statements over the six months to use as proof for the income requirement - if I use the statements send through the post do they need to be stamped or are they okay to be sent in 'as is'? If I did this, I'd look to then use other documents to meet the correspondence requirement.
- Statements mailed to you in the post are original and do NOT need to be stamped.
- Statements printed by the bank in-branch are considered original and do NOT need to be stamped (though many people do get them stamped just in case)
- Statements printed at home from online banking could have been tampered with by you before printing, so to prove they are genuine, they MUST be stamped by the bank on EVERY page, or accompanied by a letter of authenticity on bank letterhead.
We do recommend turning OFF paperless for everything as soon as you arrive in the UK, as you will need paper copies of all documents for FLR and ILR.
They are allowing a little bit of leniency regarding meeting the requirements due to issues because of Covid though, so you can have a look here to see what the adjusted requirements are:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents
