Need Help *Death*

I was married on Friday and that night my EX husband living in America passed away in his sleep (we still don't know why yet). I am flying out ASAP to my son who is 8 and was living with his father (we had joint custody).

I need some help telling me what to do to get my son over with me.

I am here in the UK on a WP that is going to be changed to a spouse visa.

If I can get the advice of an expert that would be brilliant, because I need to coordinate this as quickly as possible so I don't lose my job here (and therefore not qualify for a spouse visa because of income).

You'll need to apply online for a WP dependant visa. You should submit it by courier to the Consulate in charge of the state where your son is residing. You should have a copy of the custody document for your son and a copy of your ex's death certificate. Fingers crossed that you should be able to get it done in a week or so. You can do the application online from the UK, schedule the biometrics for your son and then travel to the US, do the bios and submit via courier and should be processed in 24-48 hours.

If you need additional info please ask as this is just a quick overview. If you need expert advice then contact an OISC approved advisor as listed in the link in my Signature.

Thanks for replying.

I hadn't even THOUGHT of biometrics! ARRRGH!

I was thinking to save much needed money I would like to see about just doing my spouse visa while I am there and adding him as a dependent to that. I was just married on Friday to my new husband (BC) and I was thinking this might keep us from having to do it all over again in a month's time.

Can you please let me know if that is possible.

Also....can anyone tell me what is the minimum weekly amount needed to support a family of 3?

You can do your spouse visa and dependant settlement visa application instead of the WP dependant and just do it as if you were doing it from the US.  Just be aware that there will be 2 fees of $936 each plus expeditor fees since you want it done quickly. You can do the application online now and schedule the bios at the earliest date & location that you're willing to go to. Then submit both to the Consulate in charge of your son's state then you wouldn't need to have a biometric ID card. But then you'd need all your husbands information such as 3 months worth of bank statements, his passport, 3 months of payslips etc. Actually that is probably the best way to go since you're basically killing 2 birds with one stone.

The weekly maint for 3 is £100.95 for the couple plus £56.11 for your child totalling £157.06.

Caveat to this is that I am not a professional adviser.

Weby J-

Thanks so much for your help.

Just a bit more, if I may:

1) Is it OK if family members give me money to cover the visa costs? Several of my family members are pooling together money for plane tickets, etc....including the cost of my son's visa.

2) Also - I have an online US bank account (in addition to my UK bank account) and I wanted to find out what I need to do about the statements.

3) Also - I am missing 1 of my paystubs. We need my income to qualify as my husband only works part time. Is a print out from my work computer acceptable?

4) My husband just started his job after a long time off of work due to a liver tumor. I have 2 weekly paystubs. Can I get a letter from his employer to cover this aspect?

5) My husband does not have a passport. It was lost, I am assuming his birth certificate will do? The original certificate was lost but we have an 'official' copy.

6) Would it be OK to apply from the state my son is currently in? He is in Phoenix visiting my parents when his dad passed. He still does not know his dad has passed. We will only be returning to FL briefly to go to the funeral and collect my son's belongings. I am hoping that it will be OK to apply from Phoenix.

I am leaving on Tuesday to go out. As my son will not know of his father's passing until I go out and tell him, I am trying to use the time to sort out as much as I can before hand. I want to be able to focus as much as I can on my son rather than gathering documents, so I am choosing to give him an extra day of being happy before we rip his world apart. Any help I can get in the next 24 hours would be much appreciated.

Thanks again....

1. Yes. However, it cannot be used to support yourself & your son for maintanace purposes as it violates the no 3rd party support rule for settlement visas. But if they just want to help you burden the costs of flights & fees then by all means.

2. You have a couple of options. In the matter of speediness if you can print the last 3 months statements, take them to a branch of your bank whilst you're in the states they can stamp them and sign them as a true representation of your account at their institution. If they wont do that, we have had persons just send the statements without the stamp and haven't had a problem HOWEVER I am not recommending this because it is going against what the guidance states. But when pushed comes to shove...

3. If you can get a print out from your work and have the bookkeeper or the payroll person sign it or give you a letter, submit with your & your husbands paystubs & P60's.

4. Yes.

5. The Long Form birth certificate obtained from the Registry Office is fine for applications outside the US if he was born Prior to 1983.

6. You can do the online applications today if you want and just list the addresses as your parents in Arizona. That way you can schedule the biometrics appointments as well so you can speed up the process, but that also means that you'll need to pay the two application fees as well.

You will need to make sure that you take your official marriage certificate with you and that you can get the death certificate for your ex to submit with the documentation to the consulate as you only have 14 calendar days to submit your documents to the courier (I am assuming you're using one since your app will go to Los Angeles and currently they're running at 40-60 business days for standard application submissions) to deliver to the consulate by the 14th day.

Thank you!

I will use a courier for my apps - and although I haven't much money it will all go into the apps. So I need to make sure I get all the timing just right.

1) Is the 14 days from the time of the biometrics appointment? Or 14 days from the day I submit the application?

I need to wait until tomorrow to contact the Medical Examiner in Florida to see if I can get an interim death certificate. If not, I will need to wait as it can take up to 14 days to get a death certificate with cause of death listed.


2) Also - as my husband was ill recently and unable to work, but I made too much for him to get benefit (long story) - his parents used to help us monthly with money. We will no longer be getting their financial support as he is working again now, so does past support work against us, or does it not matter since we are ok now?

3) We recently had several cash gifts go into our account for our wedding. One in excess of 1500GBP (honeymoon we are now not taking as this money is going to visa/moving expenses). Do we need a letter from the gift giver, or will it be obvious that it came around our wedding, and I can just include a cover letter?

4) My landlord is out of the country for 2 weeks. He is scanning a letter he wrote into the computer and sending it to me via e-mail. Will this be sufficient? The house is a 2 bedroom and I have the tenancy agreement. The letter from the landlord just confirms the size of the house and that my son is ok to live in it.


I am so sorry to pester with questions, but I am just trying to get everything buttoned up before I go.

While you are in the States, please check into your son's eligibility for Social Security survivors' benefits.  The amount would depend on his fathers earnings and length of work history.  If he's eligible, this would only help your budget. 

I know a few people who lost an ex-spouse, or spouse, who have collected this benefit.  Please check it out, because it could come in handy. 

Mariposa-

Thanks for your suggestion. I have the number for Social security but they aren't open until tomorrow. Nothing is open today.....hence why this is even more difficult.

His father worked for well over 10 years, so I am certain my son would be eligible, and I am just hoping they can print or fax me some kind of statement quickly enough. Even if it is just an estimate.

From what I gather, it shouldn't matter that we reside out of the country. I believe.

1. The doc's must be RECEIVED by the Consulate 14 days after BIOMETRICS.

2. I would think that it doesn't matter now since you are supporting yourselves since marriage and that is the criteria for spousal visa.

3. I would just include it in a cover letter. If you can get something written from the person you got it from it cannot hurt.

4. If you have the original tenancy agreement then the email from the landlord may be ok.

Don't worry, that's what all of us are here for.

Maybe I missed it.  Shouldn't someone be asking the age of the child?  And suggesting that the OP clear the acco hurdle BEFORE leaving the UK?

The son is 8 years old.  It is stated in the OP.

Sorry to have missed it.  8 years old.  It means they are a half-person in meeting the acco requirement.  It's much easier if the child is under 10.

As I think someone posted, he is 8 and it is a 2 person house with just myself and my husband living in it, so I imagine it will be OK. My landlord scanned in a permission letter and a copy of a disclosure statement from when he bought the house showing the size of it. Hopefully they will take a copy. I have the original tenancy agreement.

I am trying to put together some support documents for our relationship but I am having a bit of a freak out over the paperwork. We have lived together here in Colchester since October. These are the things I have:
Print out of proofs from wedding photos (we just got married on Friday)
Order of Service
Bishop's License
Receipt from hotel from mini honeymoon which we left early.
I can scrounge a few photos of us together. (I do a lot of photography myself, so I am rarely in any pictures)
I think I can scrounge a few e-mails from before we lived together.
I have our tenancy agreement.
I have our council tax bill.
I have various and sundry house bills but they are all in my name.
I have the notebook we used to organise the wedding with receipts, addresses, letters from the vicar, etc.
Cards with original envelopes sent to the house for engagement and wedding.
We DO NOT have a joint bank account, but our separate accounts show several transfers to each others accounts.
I have some receipts from hotel stays when we went on some weekend getaways to the beach. I think possibly some matching train tickets to those destinations.

Is there anything obvious that I am missing? I would probably be able to make a better list if I wasn't completely insane right now.

Also....my legal name is not the same as the name I go by, and a lot of the cards, etc are in my nickname. Will a cover letter be sufficient? All legal documents are in my legal name.

Also... Should I include some kind of cover letter to explain why I am living in the UK but applying from the US? I think it might seem weird to someone looking over things if it goes unexplained.

Also...when I put my address, I should put my mother's address? Since this is where my visa will need to be sent. Or, since I am using a courier, should I put my address as my Colchester address?

You're living together...your tenancy agreement, certified marriage certificate, council tax bill should be enough for proof of relationship. However you will need your husband to write a letter in support of your and your son's visa applications since he is the sponsor for the two of you.

You don't need the order of service, hotel receipts or emails & receipts from before you lived together. You also don't need utility bills or cards. You're married, you're not applying for an unmarried partner or fiancee visa the criteria is somewhat less.

Separate accounts are fine, just need 3 months worth of statements each.

Your name on your application will be whatever name is on your US passport.