Not straightforward

I have emailed them. Hampered by being in the backwoods of Georgia right now with only my iPhone and no access to my online form. Thanks again for your help.


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Hello - I’m the sponsor for this application. I am back in the UK after our trip to Georgia, and a) we did apply for a visitor visa by mistake and b) we did not pay the £1523 (just $160).

I have not had a reply to my emails asking to cancel, but I rang the premium helpline and am assured that our original application is now closed, which I hope is the same thing. They also told me that the centre aim to return the supporting documents within 15 working days of closing an application, although there was no way for her to tell me if they had been dispatched or not.

We have started filling in a new online application, which is in the new ‘beta’ version. Pretty pastels, but I am not at all sure it is any simpler to use than the previous form. I have followed your advice and picked settlement/settlement/prospective civil partnership this time.

I have a question re supporting documents: will an online printout of my council tax bill be sufficient to prove property ownership? I own the house, so don’t have any mortgage statements etc.

Thanks again.

Mary


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We have started filling in a new online application, which is in the new ‘beta’ version. Pretty pastels, but I am not at all sure it is any simpler to use than the previous form. I have followed your advice and picked settlement/settlement/prospective civil partnership this time.

I have a question re supporting documents: will an online printout of my council tax bill be sufficient to prove property ownership? I own the house, so don’t have any mortgage statements etc.

Thanks again.

Mary

No, having your name on the council tax bill does not prove ownership. You would need to provide a copy of the land registry document or the title deeds.
It's important that you do not submit the online application until you have all the supporting documents together and ready to go.

Thanks - will go for land registry docs.


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I attach my tentative documents checklist (for a settlement visa for a prospective civil partner), and would appreciate a healthcheck.
The financial qualification is met by my income as sponsor, since my partner is retired, and has only a small pension. Can I check that we don’t need to include any paperwork regarding her pension, since my income alone comfortably exceeds the threshold?

Documents checklist:
Applicant letter
VAF4A form
Appendix 2
Applicant passport
One passport photograph
Photocopy of previous passport (is this needed, given her current passport was issued in 2016?)
Biometric form

Sponsor letter
Signed letter from employer re salary (over £18,600) and confirming length of service over 6 months
6 months of online payslips
P60 (also printed from online)
6 months of online bank statements stamped by bank branch
Land Registry document
Relationship evidence – Flights information, Photographs, Summary of Instant Messenging history

Finally, I have a question about employment. My partner is a retired freelance artist, but recently worked for a few weeks in China teaching an art class. She has also been invited to do another stint of teaching in China for a week in October. She will not be earning income in the UK, so hopefully this doesn’t affect her visa?

Your help is appreciated as always.
M


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I attach my tentative documents checklist (for a settlement visa for a prospective civil partner), and would appreciate a healthcheck.
The financial qualification is met by my income as sponsor, since my partner is retired, and has only a small pension. Can I check that we don’t need to include any paperwork regarding her pension, since my income alone comfortably exceeds the threshold?

Documents checklist:
Applicant letter
VAF4A form
Appendix 2
Applicant passport
One passport photograph
Photocopy of previous passport (is this needed, given her current passport was issued in 2016?)
Biometric form

Sponsor letter
Signed letter from employer re salary (over £18,600) and confirming length of service over 6 months
6 months of online payslips
P60 (also printed from online)
6 months of online bank statements stamped by bank branch
Land Registry document
Relationship evidence – Flights information, Photographs, Summary of Instant Messenging history

Finally, I have a question about employment. My partner is a retired freelance artist, but recently worked for a few weeks in China teaching an art class. She has also been invited to do another stint of teaching in China for a week in October. She will not be earning income in the UK, so hopefully this doesn’t affect her visa?

Your help is appreciated as always.
M

You said "online payslips"... if these are delivered to you electronically and you printed them off yourself, you will need your employer to verify their authenticity.  S/he can do that in the same letter or in a separate letter.

Make sure your bank statements are for a FULL six months, and not a day less, and they must coincide with the date span of your payslips.  It's okay to include extra bank statements to make sure you're not short.

Her work outside of the UK will not affect her visa or her application.  She's fine.  However, if her application will be pending during that time, she won't have her passport...

I'm going to rearrange your documents into the correct sections for the application. Any additional things that you are missing, I have added in blue:

Applicant Documents
- Priority processing receipt (if purchasing)
- Return shipping label
- Cover letter
- Printed online application form
- Appendix 2
- Stamped biometrics confirmatoon
- Applicant passport
- All ACTUAL previous passports ever held
- One passport photograph

Sponsor's Documents
- Copy of passport photo page
- Sponsor letter

Financial Requirement Documents
- 6 months of ORIGINAL payslips, or online payslips that are accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the employer
- 6 months of ORIGINAL bank statements, or online bank statements that are stamped/signed by the bank on EVERY page
- letter from employer
Optional but recommended:
- original P60 (or print out with a letter of authenticity from the employer)
- original job contract

Accommodation Evidence
- Land Registry document
- Latest original mortgage statement - optional, but can be included

Evidence of Plans to Marry/Register a Civil Partnership in the UK
- email correspondence with registry office/whoever will perform the ceremony asking about possible dates within the proposed 6 months of the visa
- any other evidence you have of planning your partnership registration (provisional bookings, pictures of clothing for it etc.)

Relationship evidence
- 1-2 photos of you together
- boarding passes from trips to see each other (or e-tickets if you no longer have all the boarding passes
- any letters/cards sent to each other
- screenshots of email inbox/call logs/message logs... no message content should be included, and no more than maybe 2-3 pages for each type of communication

Finally, I have a question about employment. My partner is a retired freelance artist, but recently worked for a few weeks in China teaching an art class. She has also been invited to do another stint of teaching in China for a week in October. She will not be earning income in the UK, so hopefully this doesn’t affect her visa?

It won't affect anything, but if her visa is still being processed in October, she won't be able to travel anywhere as UKVI will have her passport with the visa application.

Thanks - that’s very helpful and comprehensive. I am not sure she still has her old passports, but will ask.


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She actually has two current USA passports, but one is (presumably) still in Sheffield, and the one she has right now contains her Chinese visa.


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Okay, we have everything except the previous passports, which my partner did not keep. Is it a showstopper? There must be other cases where old passports haven’t been kept, I would hope.


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Okay, we have everything except the previous passports, which my partner did not keep. Is it a showstopper? There must be other cases where old passports haven’t been kept, I would hope.


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She just needs to give as much info as she can.  Passport numbers if she has them, and whether they were lost or stolen.

Just putting last touches to the online form. There is a question about how long you plan to remain. The visa applied for lasts 6 months, but our longer term plan is settlement after civil partnership- should we say 6 months or longer? Thanks for your help again.


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It’s not a trick question, just put “what the plan is today”.  If that’s indefinitely, five years, until retirement, for the foreseeable future, one year, etc.

It’s not a trick question, just put “what the plan is today”.  If that’s indefinitely, five years, until retirement, for the foreseeable future, one year, etc.

Hazy memory as it's so long ago now, but believe I put "foreseeable future" on mine and had no issue (I put that on my landing cards as well when returning back to UK and never have issues).

Indefinite it is - thank you both. 


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