Nearly ready to submit application. final questions and last checklist!

Application Documents:
- Priority processing receipt 
- Return shipping label
- Printed online application (VAF4A) + copy
- VAF4A Appendix 2 + Copy
- IHS Payment receipt

Relationship Documents:
- Text Messages ( 3 per month)
- Screenshots of facetime calls (3 per month)
- Photos of Sponsor and Applicant together (2 photos, no more)
- Plane tickets and boarding passes from visits

Financial Documents:
- Letter from NHS
- Letter from NHSP (verifying online payslips)
- NHS Payslips (official)
- Letter from Martin (Ward Manager)
- NHSP Payslips (printed)
- 6 months of Bank statements from NHS
- 6 months of Bank statements from NHSP
- Latest P60

Accommodation Documents:
- Land Registry (She owns her flat)
- Marriage certificate + copy


Now for the questions!

- How many pictures of together should I include?
- Do I include all of the boarding passes I can find? How do I include them? Copies, originals, both?
- For the text messages and Facetime calls, how exactly should I put those together? How many screenshots per month and what do the screenshots of the texts need to include? Also, I went to visit her in England for over 5 months, so we don't have tons of texts every day during that time.

You don't need:
- copies of the application forms (except to keep for yourself for future visa applications

Just going to rearrange into the correct order for the application package - my additions are in red:

Applicant Documents:
- Priority processing receipt 
- Return shipping label
- cover letter (if including)
- Printed online application (VAF4A)
- VAF4A Appendix 2
- stamped biometrics appointment sheet
- IHS Payment receipt

Sponsor Documents
- copy of her UK passport photo page
- sponsor letter of support for the visa

Financial Documents:
- NHS Payslips (official)
- Letter from NHS... which letter is this? Payslip verification or the mandatory employer letter?
- NHSP Payslips (printed)
-  letter from NHSP (verifying online payslips)
- Letter from Martin (Ward Manager)... which letter is this? Payslip verification or the mandatory employer letter? Is Martin NHS or NHSP?[
- 6 months of Bank statements from NHS
- 6 months of Bank statements from NHSP (why are there 2 sets of bank statements? Surely all the payslips are paid into the same bank account, so both payslips should be on the same statement each month?)
- Latest P60

Accommodation Documents:
- Land Registry (She owns her flat)

Relationship Documents:
- Marriage certificate + copy
- Photos of Sponsor and Applicant together (2 photos, no more)
- Plane tickets and boarding passes from visits
- Text Messages ( 3 per month)
- Screenshots of facetime calls (3 per month)

Now for the questions!

- How many pictures of together should I include?

You've just answered your own question above... you said you are including no more than 2 photos... which is how many you should include.

- Do I include all of the boarding passes I can find? How do I include them? Copies, originals, both?

Yes, include them all. They should be originals.

- For the text messages and Facetime calls, how exactly should I put those together? How many screenshots per month and what do the screenshots of the texts need to include? Also, I went to visit her in England for over 5 months, so we don't have tons of texts every day during that time.

You don't need any text messages for the time you spent together, because you were together and could talk to each other in person. Your text messages and calls are to prove your long-distance relationship when you were apart, and your boarding passes are to prove the time you spent together.

You should screenshot a selection of calls and a selection of messages, then paste them into a list in Word (or similar) and crop out everything except the name/number, date and time.

How many you include depends on how many months you were communicating for. You want between 40 and 60 calls on 1-3 sheets of paper, and 40-60 messages on 1-3 sheets of paper. So, if you only have say, 6 months to cover, you might send 2-3 messages per week (48-72 in total). If you are covering 2 years, you might send 2-3 per month (48-72 in total). If you are covering 5 years, you might just send 1 per month (60 in total).

@ksand24

Thank you for your reply!

The NHS letter is the mandatory letter since we have the original payslips.

The NHSP letter is the mandatory letter AND includes that the payslips are genuine, is that okay?

The letter from Martin (her Ward Manager) is a letter stating that her additional weekly rostered hours will continue to be available for her, since the NHS Payroll department said they could not comment on that since they don't do scheduling, and they said it would have to come from her Ward Manager.


I also have some questions about the VAF4A Appendix 2:

- What date format should I use? MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY
- Question 1.6: How often do you meet? We have seen each other every month for the last 9 months, but 5 of them were when I was staying with her in the UK.
- Question 3.3: From the list below, please indicate the main method of meeting the financial requirement. I have Complete Part 3A checked for Salaried employment in the U.K. but she also has her hourly side job she works. How should I answer this question?
- Question 3.11: What is your sponsors Annual income from this employer before tax? Her payslips say £15,310, but she obviously makes more than that with both jobs and enhanced hours. We meet the 6 month requirement, so is it okay if I answer this question with the £15,310 answer?

@ksand24

Thank you for your reply!

The NHS letter is the mandatory letter since we have the original payslips.

The NHSP letter is the mandatory letter AND includes that the payslips are genuine, is that okay?

Yes, that's fine. I just wasn't sure which letter was which.

The letter from Martin (her Ward Manager) is a letter stating that her additional weekly rostered hours will continue to be available for her, since the NHS Payroll department said they could not comment on that since they don't do scheduling, and they said it would have to come from her Ward Manager.

Ah, okay - that needs to go in the mandatory employer letter, because UKVI base the income requirement on the hours and salary stated in the mandatory letter. If it's not in that letter, it may not be considered.

The mandatory letter should not be coming from payroll, it should be coming from either HR a senior official.

So, you need:
- mandatory NHS letter from either HR or her manager, confirming all the required elements
- mandatory NHSP letter from either HR or her manager, confirming all the required elements AND confirming the hours AND confirming the payslips if possible
- letter from NHSP payroll confirming her payslips, if HR or her manager will not do it.

For Appendix 2:

- use UK date format
- 1.6: just put what best describes it... maybe 'usually once a month, but I visited for 5 months in 2018'
- 3.3 - Salaried employment in the UK, category A (for some weird reason they don't mention non-salaried employment, but this section is for both)
- 3.11: I would give the average income calculated from her last 6 months of income... this number MUST be above £18,600, or you will have to apply under Category B and provide 12 months of payslips and bank statements.

Yes, that's fine. I just wasn't sure which letter was which.

Ah, okay - that needs to go in the mandatory employer letter, because UKVI base the income requirement on the hours and salary stated in the mandatory letter. If it's not in that letter, it may not be considered.

The mandatory letter should not be coming from payroll, it should be coming from either HR a senior official.

So, you need:
- mandatory NHS letter from either HR or her manager, confirming all the required elements
- mandatory NHSP letter from either HR or her manager, confirming all the required elements AND confirming the hours AND confirming the payslips if possible
- letter from NHSP payroll confirming her payslips, if HR or her manager will not do it.

For Appendix 2:

- use UK date format
- 1.6: just put what best describes it... maybe 'usually once a month, but I visited for 5 months in 2018'
- 3.3 - Salaried employment in the UK, category A (for some weird reason they don't mention non-salaried employment, but this section is for both)
- 3.11: I would give the average income calculated from her last 6 months of income... this number MUST be above £18,600, or you will have to apply under Category B and provide 12 months of payslips and bank statements.

Dang, I guess I really messed up. For NHSP letter, it was written by HR and it lists all the requirements PLUS the verification of payslips being genuine. So that one seems to be fine, right?

As for the NHS letter, it was written by Payroll. BUT the letter from Martin (her ward manager) Says the exact same thing as the NHS payroll letter, but also includes that the shifts will continue to be available to her. Would we be okay just submitting the letter from martin? I will write below what the letter says.

"To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to confirm that Miss _________ is a Band 2 Nursing Assistant employee at ______ Hospital. She has been employed since June of 2017, making her an employee with us for a total of 1 year and 4 months to date.

Miss ____ is a full-time, salaried employee earning a gross base pay of £15,310.43 per year, and has been earning this salary since the start of her employment in June 2017. Abigail also works an average number of enhanced rostered hours of 32 hours per month, or 8 hours per week. As Abigail's ward manager, I am able to guarantee that Miss _____ will continue to work these extra hours. The enhanced rostered hours will continue to be available to Miss ___ indefinitely"

It sounds like everything that needs to be included is in that letter.

Dang, I guess I really messed up. For NHSP letter, it was written by HR and it lists all the requirements PLUS the verification of payslips being genuine. So that one seems to be fine, right?

As for the NHS letter, it was written by Payroll. BUT the letter from Martin (her ward manager) Says the exact same thing as the NHS payroll letter, but also includes that the shifts will continue to be available to her. Would we be okay just submitting the letter from martin? I will write below what the letter says.

"To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to confirm that Miss _________ is a Band 2 Nursing Assistant employee at ______ Hospital. She has been employed since June of 2017, making her an employee with us for a total of 1 year and 4 months to date.

Miss ____ is a full-time, salaried employee earning a gross base pay of £15,310.43 per year, and has been earning this salary since the start of her employment in June 2017. Abigail also works an average number of enhanced rostered hours of 32 hours per month, or 8 hours per week. As Abigail's ward manager, I am able to guarantee that Miss _____ will continue to work these extra hours. The enhanced rostered hours will continue to be available to Miss ___ indefinitely"

It sounds like everything that needs to be included is in that letter.

Yes, but you still need the payslips verified.

So, you can either include:
- letter from Martin as above (which will be the mandatory letter), but it ALSO needs to confirm the validity of the payslips

OR
- letter from Martin as above
AND
- letter from payroll confirming the payslips ONLY (not mentioning any of the other details about the employment).

My concern with having both letters as they are now is that UKVI may confuse the payroll letter with the mandatory employer letter and therefore won't take into account the extra hours.

Yes, but you still need the payslips verified.

So, you can either include:
- letter from Martin as above (which will be the mandatory letter), but it ALSO needs to confirm the validity of the payslips

OR
- letter from Martin as above
AND
- letter from payroll confirming the payslips ONLY (not mentioning any of the other details about the employment).

My concern with having both letters as they are now is that UKVI may confuse the payroll letter with the mandatory employer letter and therefore won't take into account the extra hours.

The NHS payslips have to be verified as well? Even if they are the original payslips sent in the mail that are on card-stock like paper?

NHSP payslips are confirmed in the NHSP letter already.

The NHS payslips have to be verified as well? Even if they are the original payslips sent in the mail that are on card-stock like paper?

No, you already said they were original, so they don't need to be verified.

NHSP payslips are confirmed in the NHSP letter already.

I'm sorry, I'm really getting confused with which letters are from which company here.

- Which company is offering the extra hours?
- If Martin is NHS, why is he confirming the NHSP extra hours?
- If all the employment and extra hours are confirmed by the NHS letter, then there's no need for an NHSP letter of employment, because all the details will be in the NHS letter.

If the extra hours are from 'separate' employment with the NHSP, then you need:

NHS
- letter from NHS HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and £15,310.43 salary

NHSP
- letter from NHSP HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and the guaranteed extra hours and stating that she will earn at least £3,289.53 per year from these hours (to make it up to £18,600) [and the NHSP payslips if they can]

If the HR/manager letter from NHSP does not confirm the payslips, you also need:
- letter from NHSP payroll confirming the NHSP payslips

If the extra hours are being guaranteed by the NHS (not NHSP) and are part of her employment contract with the NHS, then you need:

NHS
- letter from NHS HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and £15,310.43 salary AND the extra hours (and stating a total annual salary of at least £18,600).

NHSP
- letter from payroll confirming payslips only

No, you already said they were original, so they don't need to be verified.

I'm sorry, I'm really getting confused with which letters are from which company here.

- Which company is offering the extra hours?
- If Martin is NHS, why is he confirming the NHSP extra hours?
- If all the employment and extra hours are confirmed by the NHS letter, then there's no need for an NHSP letter of employment, because all the details will be in the NHS letter.

If the extra hours are from 'separate' employment with the NHSP, then you need:

NHS
- letter from NHS HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and £15,310.43 salary

NHSP
- letter from NHSP HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and the guaranteed extra hours and stating that she will earn at least £3,289.53 per year from these hours (to make it up to £18,600) [and the NHSP payslips if they can]

If the HR/manager letter from NHSP does not confirm the payslips, you also need:
- letter from NHSP payroll confirming the NHSP payslips

If the extra hours are being guaranteed by the NHS (not NHSP) and are part of her employment contract with the NHS, then you need:

NHS
- letter from NHS HR or manager (NOT PAYROLL) confirming employment details and £15,310.43 salary AND the extra hours (and stating a total annual salary of at least £18,600).

NHSP
- letter from payroll confirming payslips only

Im probably making this very confusing and I am sorry about that.

NHS: This is her full time, salaried employment. £15,310 is her gross salary for a 35 hour work week. She actually works about 43 hours a week, so thats 8 extra hours. The letter from Martin states that even though she was usually scheduled for 35/week, she actually works 43/week and he confirms that these additional hours will continue indefinitely. These payslips she has are original.

NHSP: This is her part time, hourly employment. She can pick up shifts from her hospital or surrounding areas called Bank Shifts. She usually works 1-3 per month. There are hundreds of these shifts available daily. The letter from NHSP (HR) includes the mandatory requirements, as well as confirms that the printed payslips are genuine.

Im probably making this very confusing and I am sorry about that.

NHS: This is her full time, salaried employment. £15,310 is her gross salary for a 35 hour work week. She actually works about 43 hours a week, so thats 8 extra hours. The letter from Martin states that even though she was usually scheduled for 35/week, she actually works 43/week and he confirms that these additional hours will continue indefinitely. These payslips she has are original.

NHSP: This is her part time, hourly employment. She can pick up shifts from her hospital or surrounding areas called Bank Shifts. She usually works 1-3 per month. There are hundreds of these shifts available daily. The letter from NHSP (HR) includes the mandatory requirements, as well as confirms that the printed payslips are genuine.

Right, so the 8 extra hours worked per week are NHS overtime/additional shifts and have nothing to do with the NHSP shifts?

In that case you need:

NHS
- letter from Martin confirming employment details, annual salary of £15,310.43 AND confirming that she works 8 extra hours per week AND that those 8 hours are guaranteed and bring her annual salary up to £18,809.96 per year.

[My calculation to get that amount:
£15,310.43/52 weeks = £294.43 per week
£294.43/35 hours = £8.41 per hour
£8.41 x 43 hours = £361.73 per week
£361.73 x 52 weeks = £18,809.96 per year]

Which actually means she meets the requirements using only her NHS hours, without needing to include the NHSP shifts at all!

In which case, you could actually apply using only:
- NHS letter from Martin
- 6 months of NHS payslips
- 6 months of bank statements
[- job contract]
- P60

And you wouldn't even need to mention the NHSP part-time shifts at all, or provide any evidence of them.

Right, so the 8 extra hours worked per week are NHS overtime/additional shifts and have nothing to do with the NHSP shifts?

In that case you need:

NHS
- letter from Martin confirming employment details, annual salary of £15,310.43 AND confirming that she works 8 extra hours per week AND that those 8 hours are guaranteed and bring her annual salary up to £18,809.96 per year.

[My calculation to get that amount:
£15,310.43/52 weeks = £294.43 per week
£294.43/35 hours = £8.41 per hour
£8.41 x 43 hours = £361.73 per week
£361.73 x 52 weeks = £18,809.96 per year]

Which actually means she meets the requirements using only her NHS hours, without needing to include the NHSP shifts at all!

In which case, you could actually apply using only:
- NHS letter from Martin
- 6 months of NHS payslips
- 6 months of bank statements
[- job contract]
- P60

And you wouldn't even need to mention the NHSP part-time shifts at all, or provide any evidence of them.

Yes, those overtime hours have nothing to do with the extra shifts via NHSP.

We have the letter from Martin, but it doesn't state that £18,809.96, it just states her gross annual salary of £15,310.

Can we just submit both incomes in order to be safe?

Is the letter from Martin okay?

Yes, those overtime hours have nothing to do with the extra shifts via NHSP.

We have the letter from Martin, but it doesn't state that £18,809.96, it just states her gross annual salary of £15,310.

You need to have something in the letter stating the total it comes to with the extra income, so you need either:
- total annual income including the extra hours
or
- number of extra hours plus hourly wage for those hours

Basically, you want to spell it out for them that the salary and hours mentioned in the letter(s) come to more than £18,600 per year.

Can we just submit both incomes in order to be safe?

Is the letter from Martin okay?

You can submit both to be safe, but the letter from Martin still needs to confirm either the total income with the extra hours or the hourly rate for those extra hours (so that they will be considered as part of the income).

So, your options are:

1.
- use only the £15,310 NHS income and ignore the 8 hours extra per week
AND
- the NHSP income (what does that come to in total per year?)

2.
- use the £15,310 NHS income plus the extra 8 hours per week... with the letter stating the total annual income including the 8 hours extra (£18,809) or the hourly wage plus the number of extra hours

3.
- use the £15,310 NHS income plus the extra 8 hours per week... with the letter stating the total annual income including the 8 hours extra (£18,809) or the hourly wage plus the number of extra hours
AND
- the NHSP income (what does that come to in total per year?)

@ksand24

NHSP income doesn't come to much, in the last 12 months I think it's been around £800. Therefore, I think we have to get another letter from Martin, stating the annual income AFTER the 8 hours/week of overtime is taken into account.

My question is, since I have every other document in my possession, is there a way to avoid having my wife ship the new letter from Martin? Or will it have to be hand signed and shipped?

Also, does my wife's letter (sponsor letter) need to be hand signed?

@ksand24

NHSP income doesn't come to much, in the last 12 months I think it's been around £800. Therefore, I think we have to get another letter from Martin, stating the annual income AFTER the 8 hours/week of overtime is taken into account.

Ah, okay.

Yeah, I would make sure that the letter from Martin explicitly states the annual income including the extra hours... because you don't want them to calculate the income as follows and refuse the visa:

£15,310.43 (NHS) + £800 (NHSP) = £16,110.43

I would also include the NHSP payslips as well, as you have planned, because she is only just over the £18,600 requirement with the NHS income, and the £800 earned will give a bit of a buffer.
 

My question is, since I have every other document in my possession, is there a way to avoid having my wife ship the new letter from Martin? Or will it have to be hand signed and shipped?

Also, does my wife's letter (sponsor letter) need to be hand signed?

Everything should be original and hand-signed - so both Martin's letter and your wife's letter should be signed and mailed.

Having said that, they have just changed the application system (everything goes to New York now and is scanned and transmitted to Sheffield), and there is a lot of contradictory advice about whether or not they want originals and copies, or if copies only are acceptable... so it may be that you would be okay with non-handsigned letters, but we really don't know what is going on with it at the moment, so I would include originals just to be safe.

Ah, okay.

Yeah, I would make sure that the letter from Martin explicitly states the annual income including the extra hours... because you don't want them to calculate the income as follows and refuse the visa:

£15,310.43 (NHS) + £800 (NHSP) = £16,110.43

I would also include the NHSP payslips as well, as you have planned, because she is only just over the £18,600 requirement with the NHS income, and the £800 earned will give a bit of a buffer.
 
Everything should be original and hand-signed - so both Martin's letter and your wife's letter should be signed and mailed.

Having said that, they have just changed the application system (everything goes to New York now and is scanned and transmitted to Sheffield), and there is a lot of contradictory advice about whether or not they want originals and copies, or if copies only are acceptable... so it may be that you would be okay with non-handsigned letters, but we really don't know what is going on with it at the moment, so I would include originals just to be safe.

So, they will look at the actual annual income and not just the 6 months? I said in a previous thread that her 12-month income was just shy of £18,600, but her 6-month income met the "£1,550 per month requirement"

I'm a little worried now.