Sponsor Questions

Yeah thought I would include given I am a 10% owner although pay rent to my parents who actually own the property.

Other than that, looks alright to go?

Does my wife - the applicant - need a letter from her employer at all, as we noticed this is a requirement in the "Guide to supporting documents" page.

Bottom of the table for settlement visa it says,

Evidence of your current employment or studies
This could include:
 a letter from your employer on company headed paper – detailing your salary and the length of your employment, confirming that you have been given time off work, and stating whether this time off is paid or unpaid
 a letter from your education provider on headed paper – confirming your enrolment and leave of absence
 business registration documents confirming the business owner’s name and the date when the business started trading

No, the applicant does not need to provide any employment info.

Hi guys, thanks to all your help I have my wife over here on her spouse visa for 2.5years!

Having looked over the forum for the next visa application it seems we need mail in her name and also our shared names.

I have got us both on the council tax bill which we will use for the national insurance card, however I am not sure what mail I can get her on in just her name and wondered what anyone here tends to use?

Gas and electric will also be shared, and I just got her a phone joined to my plan as it was far cheaper but they don't do paper bills and even if they did it would be my name.

Thanks!

She doesn’t need anything just in her name... mail in both names is best, but if you can’t get enough mail in joint names, you can use separate mail instead.

So if you can get joint names on at least 3 different sources (tenancy agreements, council tax, bank account, electricity bill, gas bill, water bill, phone bills etc.), then you may not need anything in just her name or just your name.

However, things that she could get in only her name are:
- any of the above I just listed
- NHS letters
- DVLA letters
- HMRC letters
- TV licence, maybe



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As ksand said, there's no requirement to get mail in her name only. 

When you are up for visa renewal in 2.5 years, you'll need to show that your relationship has been subsisting by proving that you've been living together.  You'll need a minimum of 6 items of mail evenly spaced throughout the 2.5 year period from a minimum of 3 sources.  If all 6 items are jointly addressed, that's all you need.  But if you don't have a jointly addressed item for a specific time period, you can use 2 items from the same time period addressed to each of you individually. 

So, at a minimum, you'll need 6 documents (all jointly addressed).  At a maximum, you'll need 12 documents (all individually addressed)).  If you're mixing and matching, you'll need anywhere between 7 - 11 documents. 

For example (mixing and matching documents):

Months 1-5:  1 item jointly addressed (tenancy agreement)
Months 6-10:  2 items singly addressed (you - bank statement; your partner - NHS letter)
Months 11-15:  1 item jointly addressed (tenancy agreement)
Months 16-20:  1 item jointly addressed (council tax)
Months 21-25:  1 item jointly addressed (utility bill)
Months 26-30:  2 items singly addressed (you - bank statement; your partner - bank statement)

Total:  8 documents

Thanks! Working on getting these in paper now to save the stress later.

Another question is the benefit of going for the same-day appointment ahead of posting it? The obvious one is receiving the passport back far quicker, but I was wondering what is the difference in cost with going for the appointment and posting the renewal application?

Couldn't find how much it would be for extending the visa on the government website and wanting to start budgeting for it ahead of time!

Thanks 

Another question is the benefit of going for the same-day appointment ahead of posting it? The obvious one is receiving the passport back far quicker, but I was wondering what is the difference in cost with going for the appointment and posting the renewal application?

The same-day appointment gets your visa decision on the day (within a few hours) and you get your passport and documents back on the day... then your BRP card will arrive in the post within 10 days, though for many people it arrives in about 4 days.

If you apply by post, you're looking at being without your passport and visa for up to 8 weeks.

So, the benefit would be getting your visa within a few days compared to a few months... which is useful if you need to travel or you need the BRP for a job or something similar.

If you don't need the visa back quickly, you may as well save the money and apply by post, since the processing time is only about 8 weeks. In comparison the ILR application after 5 years can take up to 6 months to be processed, so there may be more benefit to applying in person for that visa instead.

Couldn't find how much it would be for extending the visa on the government website and wanting to start budgeting for it ahead of time!

The current prices are:
FLR(M) visa = £1,033... but this has been approved to rise to £3,250 by 2020 (though it may not rise by that much in that time)
IHS surcharge £500... but this will be rising to £1,000 sometime this year
In-person appointment = £610... but this also rises in April each year (last year it was £590)