Document checklist before submission (another one)

Right off the bat let me say thank you to all who are donating their experience and help. It is so greatly appreciated. I realize that there are several similar posts but with all the different situations the offer of an experienced eye looking over things is very reassuring. That said, here's what we have so far.

Introduction

I (Stephen) am a British citizen, my wife (Sara) is American. We were married in 1999 having met in 1995 while I was on a gap year in the USA. We have been resident in the USA since 1999, and during that time have had four daughters. I am a teacher, Sara is a stay at home mum, but recently went back to university and completed her degree. We are planning to all move to England this summer so that I can take up a position at Bedford School. I, along with all the children, have British passports. This application is for a visa that would enable Sara to join us.

Proof of relationship

1.   Marriage certificate
2.   Birth certificates for all our children
3.   Various other documents in both our names (tax returns, bank statements etc.)

Proof of financial responsibility

1.   Letter from current employer
2.   6 months of bank statements showing deposits from current employer
3.   Print out of 6 months of pay slips (we don’t get hard copies) to match bank statements
4.   Tax returns from 2015, 2016, 2017 showing total annual income (this includes out of contract work such as summer teaching)
5.   Contract from future employer
6.   Letter from future employer indicating acceptance of contract and housing arrangements (housing is provided with the job)

Additional inclusions

1.   Application form
2.   Biometrics form
3.   Financial responsibility form
4.   Copies of information pages for British passports (Stephen and children)
5.   Sara’s passport
6.   Photographs

Welcome to the forum .

I'm just going to rearrange your documents into the right sections and order for the application package. I'm also adding documents you don't have.

You do NOT need:
- childrens' birth certificates
- childrens' passport copies

Applicant Documents
1. Receipt for Priority Processing, if purchasing
2. Return shipping label
3. Optional contents letter
4. Printed online Application form (do not submit until all the documents are gathered and you are completely ready to mail them to Sheffield)
5. Completed VAF4a Appendix 2 - second half of application form
6. Biometrics confirmation (stamped at appointment
7. IHS surcharge receipt
8. Her US passport
9 All her previous passports
10, 1 passport photo of her

Sponsor Documents
1. Copy of UK passport photo page
2. Letter of support for the visa, outlining the following:
i) how you qualify to be a sponsor (UK citizenship)
ii) your employment details and which financial category you meet
iii) your accommodation in the UK where you will live
iv) short history of the relationship

Financial Documents - Are you Category A or B?
It'll be A if you will still be employed with your current employer in the US on the date you submit the online application, or B if you have left the current employer on the date of application.
For Category A:
1. 6 FULL months of original payslips showing at least £1,550 before tax on each one. If they are printed out, they must be accompanied by a letter from the employer confirming authenticity
2. 6 FULL months of bank statements showing the deposit of every single payslip. If they are printed from online banking they must either be: a) stamped/signed by the bank on EVERY page or b) accompanied by a letter from the bank on letterhead paper confirming authenticity
3. letter from current US employer stating ALL of the following:
i) current employment and salary
ii) length of employment
iii) length of time earning current salary
iv) type of employment
4. Contract from future employer

The most recent payslip, bank statement and the employer letter must all be dated within 28 days of the online application date.

Accommodation Documents
6.   Letter from future employer indicating acceptance of contract and housing arrangements (housing is provided with the job)
- Do you have anything official for the accommodation apart from the letter?
 
Proof of relationship
1. Marriage certificate
2. Any divorce decrees from previous relationships
3. 2 photos of you and your wife (no one else in the photos)
Evidence of living together since 1999:
4. Annual tax returns (showing address) from 1999 through to 2017/2018 (or as many as you have)
5. House deeds or rental agreements covering the last 18 years
6. Utility bills etc. - maybe 1 a year since 1999 showing you have lived together the whole time

ksand24 thanks for having us, and thank you again (that seems to be a common theme in these threads!)

I think we are good on most of the list but may come up a little short in places.

Applicant documents

7. IHS surcharge receipt. We paid this online as part of the application and I don't recall a specific receipt. Is there somewhere in particular I should look for this?

Financial documents

We will be category A.

Just to double check the 28 day rule, that is based on the date the online application was submitted (as printed on the first page of the form in the applicant biographic details and travel date section, right under the bar code) correct? It is not based on the mailing date of the forms.

Accommodation documents

We do not have anything beyond the letter. It does state the address of the house we will be living in, if that helps.

Proof of relationship

We have tax returns back to 2005 but do not have any deeds past 10 years ago or bills past 7 years ago.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks once again, Steve

Applicant documents

7. IHS surcharge receipt. We paid this online as part of the application and I don't recall a specific receipt. Is there somewhere in particular I should look for this?

The important thing is to include the IHS number, rather than the receipt specifically.

I believe you can print out the email with the number in it and include that.

Financial documents

We will be category A.

Just to double check the 28 day rule, that is based on the date the online application was submitted (as printed on the first page of the form in the applicant biographic details and travel date section, right under the bar code) correct? It is not based on the mailing date of the forms.

Yes, they have to be dated no earlier than 28 days before the official application date... and the official date is the date you submit the online application and pay for the visa.

Accommodation documents

We do not have anything beyond the letter. It does state the address of the house we will be living in, if that helps.

I’m not quite sure how it works if you have accommodation provided by an employer when applying for a spousal visa. I assume the letter will be okay, but I don’t know for sure.

Most people use one of the following:
- a valid tenancy agreement in the sponsor’s name and a letter from the landlord giving the applicant permission to live there too
Or
- Land Registry document and mortgage statement for a home that the sponsor and/or applicant own in the UK
Or
- a letter from friends/family giving the applicant and sponsor permission to live with them, along with their Land Registry document

Proof of relationship

We have tax returns back to 2005 but do not have any deeds past 10 years ago or bills past 7 years ago.

Should I be concerned?

You do need to cover the entirety of the relationship... ideally from 1995(?) when you got together, but most importantly from 1999. Do you have ANY documentation showing you lived together between 1999 and 2005?

Don’t underestimate the importance of showing evidence for the length of the relationship - someone was refused last year because UKVI didn’t believe they were in a genuine relationship, despite them having been married and living together in the US for 20 years (they didn’t send enough evidence to prove they lived together for all of that time).



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As always. Thank you.

As regards the proof of relationship before 2005, here's what I have found (everything else was purged for a move across the US 10 years ago). Any advice as to what would be helpful and what is just not relevant is appreciated. I might be grasping at straws!

1. Social security statements. The earliest we have is May 8, 2003 for me and January 8, 2004 for my wife. They are official and have the address of our first house on them, but they are to us individually.

2. We sponsor a child through Compassion International and have an official letter dated December 19, 2002 addressed to us both. The child we were sponsoring left the program so our sponsorship was transferred to another child, this was the letter informing us.

3. Personal letters, with postmarked and dated envelopes, for the period from 1996 to 1999 while I was at uni in England.

4. Old passports that can be used to match the dates of trips through that period. We visited England several times together.

5. Photographs are also not a problem, but I see that only 2 are necessary. The 2 I had in mind were one from very early in the relationship (December 1995) and a wedding picture (July 1999).

Is any of that useful?

Thanks, Steve

Good morning all. If anyone has the time I have a couple of final questions before submitting tomorrow. We have done the best we can and will be following the list ksand24 provided exactly up until this point

Evidence of living together since 1999:
4. Annual tax returns (showing address) from 1999 through to 2017/2018 (or as many as you have)
5. House deeds or rental agreements covering the last 18 years
6. Utility bills etc. - maybe 1 a year since 1999 showing you have lived together the whole time

We have the following.

4. Front page of 1040 tax returns married filing jointly with address back to 2005.
5. House deed for our current house purchased in 2007
6. Utility bills one per year back to 2011

Additionally

7. Social security statements with different dates and addressed individually for 2004 (both of us) and 2003 (Steve)
8. Letter from charity on official paper addressed to us both from 2002
9. Personal letters in postmarked envelopes one per year 1995-1999

Questions.

1. Within the bounds of what we can control are there any glaring omissions or unnecessary additions on the list?
2. Does the return shipping label need to be an actual sticky label?

Thanks for helping get us this far, fingers crossed.

Steve

Additionally
7. Social security statements with different dates and addressed individually for 2004 (both of us) and 2003 (Steve)
8. Letter from charity on official paper addressed to us both from 2002
9. Personal letters in postmarked envelopes one per year 1995-1999

I'm not sure that the personal letters will be considered for correspondence, as they have to be official mail, although I guess there's no harm in including them.

1. Within the bounds of what we can control are there any glaring omissions or unnecessary additions on the list?

Assuming you have everything I listed above, I don't think there's anything else you need.

2. Does the return shipping label need to be an actual sticky label?

Assuming you are purchasing the return label from VFS Global (which 2-day, fixed price UPS shipping for $155), then you will be sent the label in an email and you just have to print it out and include it in the package.

If you aren't using the VFS Global label, then it's not possible to create an international return label from the US, so you'll need to open an online account with UPS or DHL, include your online account number in your package and then wait for Sheffield to charge the account for the shipping when they sent it back to you.

Will you be purchasing Settlement Priority Processing? It's $793 and purchased through the VFS Global website at the same time as the shipping label.

It gets your application put to the front of the line when it arrives in Sheffield (behind the priority applications already there) and it means your application is picked up and looked at faster.

Current processing times:
With priority processing: about 1 month or so (some people have waited longer though)
Without priority processing: about 3 months

See here:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/user_pay_services.html#Settlement-priority-visa-service
and the shipping labels are further up that page, under Courier Service:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/user_pay_services.html#Courier-Service

ksand24

Thank you so much.

We did purchase the VFS label and have the print out included.

We had been working on the 12 week timeline as described on the website. Our leave date is July 14th. As such we did not purchase priority processing. With it going out tomorrow that would give us 16 weeks to get it back.

I suppose the advantage of adding the priority service would mean if we were refused there is time to try and do something about it.

The disadvantage is putting the kids on Ramen for another few weeks to finance all these forms

ksand24

Thank you so much.

We did purchase the VFS label and have the print out included.

Great .

We had been working on the 12 week timeline as described on the website. Our leave date is July 14th. As such we did not purchase priority processing. With it going out tomorrow that would give us 16 weeks to get it back.

Fair enough . Hopefully applying now, you won't have to wait too long, but normally as we go into the summer months (usually from April onwards) non-priority processing starts to stretch to 4-5 months, even 6 months for some people.

I suppose the advantage of adding the priority service would mean if we were refused there is time to try and do something about it.

The disadvantage is putting the kids on Ramen for another few weeks to finance all these forms

Yeah, that's one advantage, though if you do have the time and would rather save the money, that's possibly a better advantage. Plus, if you paid for priority now, then did get a refusal, you'd likely want to pay for priority again when you re-apply, which is even more money (especially as all the prices are going up on 6th April, though thankfully not by too much).

Actually, I don't think adding priority processing is possible. In my ignorance before finding this site I already submitted the online form. As such my understanding based on the FAQ site below is that isn't possible.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/frequently_asked_questions.html [nofollow]

Actually, I don't think adding priority processing is possible. In my ignorance before finding this site I already submitted the online form. As such my understanding based on the FAQ site below is that isn't possible.

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/usa/frequently_asked_questions.html

Why do you think it's not possible?

You have to submit the online form first before you can purchase priority service, because you need your GWF number in order to purchase it. Normally, you do it at the same time that you purchase the shipping label, both of which are done after you apply online... you just add both items to your shopping cart.

The only thing you can't do is purchase priority processing after you have mailed the documents to Sheffield. They used to let you 'upgrade' to priority during the processing, but they stopped allowing it about a year ago.

ksand24 you beat me to it. Was about to post the below, but you answered before I posted!

Thanks for everything.

Further reading now has me confused.

Can I purchase Priority Visa Service/Settlement Priority Visa Service if I have already submitted my application at the UKVI?

No, you cannot purchase the Priority Visa Service/Settlement Priority Visa service once you have submitted your application to the respective UKVI Consulate for processing.

Does this refer to the online form which I have submitted, or all the documents I have yet to send?

If it is the latter then I guess priority is still an option.

Does this refer to the online form which I have submitted, or all the documents I have yet to send?

If it is the latter then I guess priority is still an option.

No, it means you can't add it on later, after you have submitted your documents to the consulate.

You have not yet submitted your application to UKVI (the online form doesn't go anywhere), so you can purchase priority right up to the day you mail your documents - in fact, you use to ONLY be able to purchase it on the same day you mailed the documents, and not before.

The website used to have instructions as to how to purchase priority processing after Sheffield had received your documents (you had to email the priority receipt to them directly), but they got rid of the option last year and added that entry to the FAQ.

The only problem you might have is that since you have already used the GWF number to purchase the shipping label, it might not let you purchase something else using the same GWF number... a few people have had this issue in the past, but it may have been fixed now.

Posted it today. Decided that it was worth going with priority service just in case there are any issues. Will report back when we have a decision.

ksand24 many thanks to you for the guidance, without your help it would not have been in anywhere near the shape it was.

Man, proof of relationship going all the way back? Thats rough. My husband and I will have been together 15 years this year but we only got married last year.

In the past, his credit was bad so it was always my name on leases, bills, etc. Our taxes were done separately as well.  This year will be the first year we've filed jointly. We do have a joint bank account that we've shared for 10 years and our rental agreement from our current house which we've rented for 4 years but this is the first year we've filed taxes jointly.

Do you think they would accept things like notarized letters from his parents and my parents stating we have been together since April 2, 2005? Or maybe my health insurance from work can show that I've had him on as a domestic partner for the last 10 years.

It really is frightening how little proof you can have of something when you are not consciously saving proof. haha