Letter of support for visiting family member w/ no prior entry clearance

My baby sister is coming to visit me for two weeks at the beginning of May - yay! - but I am a bit apprehensive about what she might face at passport control.  I travelled in and out of the UK quite a bit on short visits of a similar length while I was dating DH (2004-2006) with no problems whatsoever, but my sister is not only a young (26), single American woman, she has a fairly new passport which has never been used to travel outside the US and so has no stamps whatsoever, AND she has very, VERY little money. 

DH and I are paying for her trip, and plan to supply her with a letter stating that we accept financial responsibility for her visit, as well as documentation to support our ability to do so (copies of payslips, bank statements, and my ILR) which we have instructed her to only produce if asked for further evidence.  I am travelling to London to meet her at LHR, but will obviously not be able to speak with her until she has cleared passport control.

I'm mostly just wondering if anyone reading this has been in a similar situation and has written a similar letter of support - and if so, if you would care to share your letter so that might know where to begin in drafting one of my own.  I know that we could have obtained prior entry clearance for my sister, but given that the only real irregularity in her situation is the lack of funds on her part, we decided against the extra expense.  I'm mainly just concerned that the IO will ask her to produce evidence that she can support herself on this trip, which she cannot - and want to alleviate as many sources of stress as possible for my sister, who is a very nervous air traveller and will already be a bit rattled (and quite possibly medicated) by the time she reaches passport control!

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Just a thought--would you be able to transfer some money to her before she leaves, so she can show the IO that she has some funds?  Even if she just gave it back to you once she arrives, at least she would be able to show that money to support her is available. 

Thanks for the reply.  

Unfortunately, I won't be able to transfer any money to her as no-one in my immediate family (she currently lives with my parents) has a bank account, and I'm obviously leery about sending cash through the post!   

There's always Western Union.  DH used that to send me some money when I was in the US with no bank account.  They'll charge $25, but it's really fast and there are lots of places she could go to pick the money up. 

Unfortunately, for a multitude of reasons that I'd rather not get into here, making cash available before her visit is not something I want to do.  Suffice to say that any cash I send home to my family will not make it back to the UK.   

Sorry - I know you're trying to help!   

Meg, does she have a return ticket?

Oh, well, like I said it was just a thought 

I think she'll probably be fine, and I hope someone can give you some suggestions for the letter.

My sister came over in December and I didnt even give it a second thought that she might have trouble getting in. She was a bit surprised when they asked for her return ticket but all in all they didnt give her any hassle because she said she was visiting me and had my phone number. She's a 27 year old single girl as well.

Like anyone, the main thing is that she is:

A. Truly a visitor (staying for a period that is consistent with being a visitor and has a return ticket)
B. Is going to return home (has a job, school or strong family ties)
C. Can support herself during her visit.

Really, I think you are probablly being overly worried.  She should just be prepared, which means knowing what your address is, having a contact number for you, know where you are going to be (like picking her up at the airport), know what her plans are.  If you are really paranoid, having a letter of support can be found on Garry's Transpondia site at: http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/BlankSponsorDeclaration.pdf.  I would recommend having the letter but instructing your sister to not present it unless asked for clarification information.

Young ladies from America only tend to get bounced when the have been deceitful with an immigration officer and get caught out, even when they feel it wasn't a lie to say "visiting friends" when they were there to visit their boyfriend.

FWIW,  my Mom swears that you get less hassle if you say visiting family instead of visiting my sister/daughter/aunt/etc.  And she's been coming through for 20 years.

Meg, does she have a return ticket?

She does - I've told her that she may well be asked to produce it and to make sure that she prints out the e-ticket confirmation.

Oh, well, like I said it was just a thought 

I think she'll probably be fine, and I hope someone can give you some suggestions for the letter.

Thanks, hon!

My sister came over in December and I didnt even give it a second thought that she might have trouble getting in. She was a bit surprised when they asked for her return ticket but all in all they didnt give her any hassle because she said she was visiting me and had my phone number. She's a 27 year old single girl as well.

Good to hear!  Like I said, I travelled over quite a few times without any problems whatsoever (mostly financed by my credit card, too, so I never had any more than about £20 on me when I entered the UK!) in 2004-2006, but it does seem (or maybe I've just been spending too much time on UKY) that it's getting more difficult for young American women these days.

a letter of support can be found on Garry's Transpondia site at: http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/BlankSponsorDeclaration.pdf. 

Thank you, Kitson!  I could have sworn that Garry had a sample letter posted on his site, and trawled through Transpondia earlier today before posting my query, but missed this one entirely. 

I know I'm likely being overly cautious; however, my sister has never travelled internationally before and as the big sister, it's my job to be overprotective.   Obviously she can meet criteria A and B (she is staying for two weeks and has a job back home in Georgia) but criteria C is the main obstacle.

FWIW,  my Mom swears that you get less hassle if you say visiting family instead of visiting my sister/daughter/aunt/etc.  And she's been coming through for 20 years.

How bizarre!  I wonder why that is?    

Thanks for all the help, guys!

Thank you, Kitson!  I could have sworn that Garry had a sample letter posted on his site, and trawled through Transpondia earlier today before posting my query, but missed this one entirely. 

The non-visa national invitation letter is at http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/usuk/nvninvitation.swf

It tickles all the keys on the Immigration Piano for this sort of thing; most prominently, it does not wander into the applicant's motivation but sticks rigorously to the sponsor's capacity and premise for the visit.

It is an SWF file, not indexed, because idiots of a certain nationality (can't imagine WHICH nationality, but the flag is red, white, and blue; and they have an annual super bowl ) have printed it out and crossed out the fictional names and replaced it with their own with a pen.   They even left the Transpondia watermark intact.  You can't make this stuff up.   

And then they complain when the IO challenges it.  DUH     It's always good for a laugh at stakeholder meetings with Borders when they show me one, but secretly I resent being embarrassed by my erstwhile countrymen.

Use your own words, and your own paper, and stick to the formula and you'll be fine. 


ETA: Whatever you do, avoid the broken eyeline style.  That annoys the bejesus out of them.

The non-visa national invitation letter is at http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/usuk/nvninvitation.swf
It is an SWF file, not indexed, because idiots of a certain nationality (can't imagine WHICH nationality, but the flag is red, white, and blue; and they have an annual super bowl ) have printed it out and crossed out the fictional names and replaced it with their own with a pen.   They even left the Transpondia watermark intact.  You can't make this stuff up.   

And then they complain when the IO challenges it.  DUH     It's always good for a laugh at stakeholder meetings with Borders when they show me one, but secretly I resent being embarrassed by my erstwhile countrymen.

Use your own words, and your own paper, and stick to the formula and you'll be fine. 

I want to say I can't believe people would do that, and that I'm surprised and all that jazz--but I'm not really I imagine in some small way it's amusing for an IO to find one of those, even though they have to be all serious about it when they have to refuse the person

ETA: Whatever you do, avoid the broken eyeline style.  That annoys the bejesus out of them.

Okay, sorry but I have to admit my ignorance. What is broken eyeline style?!

The non-visa national invitation letter is at http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/usuk/nvninvitation.swf

Thanks, Garry!  I remember you mentioning a time or two that people had a tendency to lift the letter wholesale from your site.