Applying for first spouse visa extension

I have this down on my to-do list A letter from relative(s) or friend(s) confirming I or my partner lived with them for some or all of the 2-year period I can't quite remember where about in the application it mentions this, would a letter from my mum not suffice to say that that husband and wife live here rent free and that my wife has been living at this address ever since she came to this country mentioning the date she entered the country. It's best to mention the number of rooms/bedrooms too - I knew my previous documents will come in handy! Haha!

Yes, that's exactly what you need to provide.

Since you still live there, the letter can be used for both the 2-year correspondence section AND for the accommodation section

For the accommodation section, she needs to state:
- the full address
- that she owns the property
- that you both still have permission to live there
- the number of bedrooms + living rooms, and the total number of occupants in the house, to show it is not overcrowded

For the 2-year correspondence section, she needs to state:
- that you have been living there for the whole 2 years

PS: Still waiting for my sons first passport to be processed, it's been in processing status since the 28th May. Fingers crossed i hear something soon as I need the supporting documents back for this application.

Fingers crossed you get it soon.

However, if you do not receive the passport in time to apply for the visa, you can just provide his birth certificate and the letter confirming his address, and explain that you have applied for a passport for him but that it has not yet been processed.

Yes, that's exactly what you need to provide.

Since you still live there, the letter can be used for both the 2-year correspondence section AND for the accommodation section

For the accommodation section, she needs to state:
- the full address
- that she owns the property
- that you both still have permission to live there
- the number of bedrooms + living rooms, and the total number of occupants in the house, to show it is not overcrowded

For the 2-year correspondence section, she needs to state:
- that you have been living there for the whole 2 years

Fingers crossed you get it soon.

However, if you do not receive the passport in time to apply for the visa, you can just provide his birth certificate and the letter confirming his address, and explain that you have applied for a passport for him but that it has not yet been processed.

Awesome, I'll add the people that live here. I have the original letter from the previous application, nothing has changed apart from the date of the letter. I can copy the information from there.

I'm glad that one letter will suffice. I've made some progress with the evidence gathering & hoping to get as much done on my week off from work. I'll soon be in a position to list my evidence here for you awesome people to rigorously check over.

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I've requested copies of the utility bill that is in both of our names from 2018, so basically we received our first joint bill the following month after she came to this country and I've only received 6 bills today in the post. They are not the originals because it has "COPY" printed on them, will this do? It'll have to! They were directly requested from United Utilities.

Will this cover the requirement for proof of cohabitation? I don't think it will, it seems too light at the moment.

She only has one bank statement as a bank account was opened quite late, so I don't think there is any use of including just one bank statement, or should I include this? I've now tweeted the bank and asked them whether they can generate monthly statements from the day the account was created even if no money was put in.

I'll have to check to see if there any letters like from the hospital in her name that we could possibly use that spans across 2018-2020.

Here is a list of what I can provide;

• Water Bills (Joint)
• Bank Statements (wife's name) - i only have one statement at the moment.
• NI Number Letter
• Hospital/Doctors Letters (I'll have to check this)

So how many more proof of cohabitation do I need to provide. There's this 6 and 12 number being mentioned somewhere in the application.

I knew this was going to be a sticky point of the application. 

I've requested copies of the utility bill that is in both of our names from 2018, so basically we received our first joint bill the following month after she came to this country and I've only received 6 bills today in the post. They are not the originals because it has "COPY" printed on them, will this do? It'll have to! They were directly requested from United Utilities.

Will this cover the requirement for proof of cohabitation? I don't think it will, it seems too light at the moment.

No, it won’t at all, because you cannot use backdated, reprinted copies of documents for the cohabitation requirement. The bills you received today can only count as evidence of living together in June 2020.

Everything you send must be original documents that you received in the post in the months they were issued, to show you were both physically living in the house to receive them on those dates.

She only has one bank statement as a bank account was opened quite late, so I don't think there is any use of including just one bank statement, or should I include this? I've now tweeted the bank and asked them whether they can generate monthly statements from the day the account was created even if no money was put in.

I'll have to check to see if there any letters like from the hospital in her name that we could possibly use that spans across 2018-2020.

It depends if the bank statement is dated in one of the months you are required to send evidence for or not.

Here is a list of what I can provide;

• Water Bills (Joint)
• Bank Statements (wife's name) - i only have one statement at the moment.
• NI Number Letter
• Hospital/Doctors Letters (I'll have to check this)

So how many more proof of cohabitation do I need to provide. There's this 6 and 12 number being mentioned somewhere in the application.

I knew this was going to be a sticky point of the application.

You need to provide:
- 6 documents in each name (either joint or separate)
- from at least 3 different official sources
- spread evenly over the last 2 years... so 1 document in each name dated every 4 months
- if you are using individual documents, they must be dated in the same month as each other

So, you will need a document in each name from each of the following months:

June 2018
Oct 2018
Feb 2019
June 2019
Oct 2019
Feb 2020
Optional extra: June 2020

Any documents you order now and receive on the post can only be used for June 2020.

We always recommend that you turn off paperless billing for everything, get both names added to bills ASAP after arriving in the UK, and save ALL your mail for the next 5 years, so that you have plenty of documents to choose from when it comes to applying for FLR and ILR

If you can list the dates of all the documents you have (that you received at the time) we can see what you can use.

If you cannot provide the required 6 documents from 3 or more sources, every 4 months, you need to write a letter explaining why you are unable to provide them.


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No, it won’t at all, because you cannot use backdated, reprinted copies of documents for the cohabitation requirement. The bills you received today can only count as evidence of living together in June 2020.

Everything you send must be original documents that you received in the post in the months they were issued, to show you were both physically living in the house to receive them on those dates.

It depends if the bank statement is dated in one of the months you are required to send evidence for or not.

You need to provide:
- 6 documents in each name (either joint or separate)
- from at least 3 different official sources
- spread evenly over the last 2 years... so 1 document in each name dated every 4 months
- if you are using individual documents, they must be dated in the same month as each other

So, you will need a document in each name from each of the following months:

June 2018
Oct 2018
Feb 2019
June 2019
Oct 2019
Feb 2020
Optional extra: June 2020

Any documents you order now and receive on the post can only be used for June 2020.

We always recommend that you turn off paperless billing for everything, get both names added to bills ASAP after arriving in the UK, and save ALL your mail for the next 5 years, so that you have plenty of documents to choose from when it comes to applying for FLR and ILR

If you can list the dates of all the documents you have (that you received at the time) we can see what you can use.

If you cannot provide the required 6 documents from 3 or more sources, every 4 months, you need to write a letter explaining why you are unable to provide them.


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The copy bills are dated appropriately - for legal reasons they can't remove the word "copy" from the bills but have mentioned they can send an email confirming the name on the account & how long its been active for. That's not really going to help me.


I'm going to spend the rest of the day hunting down the old bills. This is starting to stress me out.

The copy bills are dated appropriately - for legal reasons they can't remove the word "copy" from the bills but have mentioned they can send an email confirming the name on the account & how long its been active for. That's not really going to help me.

Yeah, unfortunately, those can't be used for the co-habitation requirement. Even if they did not say the word 'copy', you received them in June 2020 and not in the months they were issued, so they can't be used to show evidence for the other months.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day hunting down the old bills. This is starting to stress me out.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you mange to find suitable documents.

A few tips for the next 2.5 years so that you don't find yourself in the same situation for ILR:
- switch all your bank statements to paper statements so you receive them all in the mail every single month (as monthly bank statements are really useful when it comes to filling document gaps)
- get both names on as many bills as possible, if you haven't already done so
- turn off paperless for EVERYTHING you can
- save every single item of mail you receive for the next 2.5 years
- try to work out when you will be applying for ILR and therefore what spacing you will need, so that you won't get stuck without mail in the right months when you're ready to apply for ILR (for ILR you cover the full 2.5 years, so that's 1 document in each name spaced every 5 months)

These are tips we normally try to give people as soon as they receive their fiance/spousal visa and arrive in the UK, so that they prepare their mail for FLR(M) as they go through the next couple of years.

Ok, I've been doing some hunting down and it seems I DO have the original water utility bills.

So this is what I have at the moment;

Water Bill (Joint name)
04/01/2018
21/02/2018
04/09/2018
06/03/2019
03/09/2019

There's a bill for early 2020 where I don't have the original. It has to be somewhere at home.

National Insurance Number confirmation letter (12/06/2019)

National Insurance Meeting Letter (18/03/2019)

Oldham Council Payment Receipt (20/02/2019)

NHS Doctors Letter x2 (17/10/2018 & 17/07/2018)

Prescription (13/02/2018)

NHS Family Origin Questionnaire (17/09/2018) - this has the home address with the wife's name on it.

Bank Statements x3 (10/08/2019, 10/12/2019, 10/03/2020)

This is what I have managed to gather today. I'm going to deposit some money into the wife's account today/tomorrow which will generate another statement for her.

I've already started looking at getting my broadband bill on a joint name for future.

Anything else I can possibly look at adding here? Or look at requesting?

When you mention that I can't use documents that I've requested in the past, it has the date of when the original document was sent, like the water bill, if they didn't have COPY printed on them, no-one would have known that all the statements were sent at once.

I appreciate the support that you have all given me. Hopefully I am heading towards the finish line in terms of providing proof of cohabitation - blimey, looks like I'm becoming a hoarder of letters now. A filing cabinet must be prepared.

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Okay, let's see what you can do with these documents:

June 2018
1. You: ?
1. Your Wife: ?

October 2018
2. You: ?
2. Your Wife: ?
NHS Doctors Letter (17/10/2018)  - whose name is this in? (source 1)

February 2019
3. You: ?
3. Your Wife: ?
Oldham Council Payment Receipt (20/02/2019) -  whose name is this in? (source 2)

June 2019
4. You: ?
4. Your Wife: ?
National Insurance Number confirmation letter (12/06/2019) - whose name is this in? (source 3)

October 2019
5. You: ?
5. Your Wife: ?

February 2020
6. You: ?
6. Your Wife: ?

Optional extra: June 2020
7. You: ?
7. Your Wife: ?

So, you are missing a lot of documents at the moment, if you use those months - you only have 3 suitable documents, possibly only in one name, though they are from 3 different sources.

Another option could be to use May 2018 to May 2020 for the documents instead, which gives you a few more, but not all of them:

May 2018
1. You: ?
1. Your Wife: ?

September 2018
2. Joint: Water Bill 04/09/2018 (source 1)

March 2019
3. Joint: Water Bill 06/03/2019

May 2019
4. You: ?
4. Your Wife: ?

September 2019
5. Joint: Water Bill 03/09/2019

March 2020
6. You: ?
6. Your Wife: ?
Bank Statement 10/03/2020 - is this in joint names? or just your wife's name? (source 2)

Optional extra: May 2020
7. You: ?
7. Your Wife: ?

Now you have 3 documents in each name (water bills), plus one bank statement (wife's name)? Which only gives 2 sources, but gives 3 documents each, plus whoever's name the bank statement is in

What about the following types of documents:
- council tax bills
- electricity bills
- phone bills
- TV/internet bills
- official payslips/P60s (P60s could work for May of each year if you have them)
- credit card statements
- tenancy agreements
- mortgage statements

Alternatively, what about ANY other mail you've received at all that you might be able to use if absolutely necessary?

Water bills are joint. They're sent every 6 months.

The rest of the documents are just in my wife's name.

I think there may be some other letters I could use, not 100% sure at the moment. The wife says there is another box to check, will do this later on & report back to you.

Council tax, electricity bill, mortgage or tenancy agreement doesn't apply to us. It looks like for future I'm going to need her name or both of ours on as many letters as possible.

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Just realised I got the months wrong for May to May

Instead, you would need:

May 2018
1. You: ?
1. Your Wife: ?

September 2018
2. Joint: Water Bill 04/09/2018 (source 1)

January 2019
3. You: ?
3. Your Wife: ?

May 2019
4. You: ?
4. Your Wife: ?

September 2019
5. Joint: Water Bill 03/09/2019

January 2020
6. You: ?
6. Your Wife: ?

Optional extra: May 2020
7. You: ?
7. Your Wife: ?

Which only gives you 2 water bills, 1 source and nothing else... so that won't work .

Council tax, electricity bill, mortgage or tenancy agreement doesn't apply to us. It looks like for future I'm going to need her name or both of ours on as many letters as possible.

Ah, sorry, I forgot that you've been living with family.

Basically, you just want to keep trying to find items until you have as many documents as possible, and if you really can't get the right number of documents, you can write an explanation for why not. If necessary, you may need to fudge the months slightly in order to provide SOMETHING, even if it's not quite spaced every 4 months.

What you could do is ask to have your names put on some of their bills for the future - like the council tax or electricity bill - so that you have more official mail in your names.

Unfortunately, these are all things that really needed to be done when your wife first arrived in the UK, so that you wouldn't end up in the situation now where you don't have enough documents. At least you know now, so you can get things sorted for ILR.

You mention above getting her name put on your broadband bill... so do you have previous broadband bills in your name that you can use for the requirements?

I have to admit I've never seen a case before where all the mail is in the applicant's name and the sponsor has no individual mail at all.

Usually it's the other way around, because the sponsor generally already has an established life in the UK and so receives a lot more mail in their name, whereas the applicant is the one who often has to scramble to get mail in their name.

The reason for the co-habitation evidence is to prove you and your wife have been occupying the same property at the same time, but at the moment, with all the documents (other than water bills) in your wife's name only, it looks like your wife lives with your mum and that you don't even live there.. which obviously won't work for the visa!

You mention above getting her name put on your broadband bill... so do you have previous broadband bills in your name that you can use for the requirements?

I have to admit I've never seen a case before where all the mail is in the applicant's name and the sponsor has no individual mail at all.

Usually it's the other way around, because the sponsor generally already has an established life in the UK and so receives a lot more mail in their name, whereas the applicant is the one who often has to scramble to get mail in their name.

The reason for the co-habitation evidence is to prove you and your wife have been occupying the same property at the same time, but at the moment, with all the documents (other than water bills) in your wife's name only, it looks like your wife lives with your mum and that you don't even live there.. which obviously won't work for the visa!

Before I even opened the latest messages from yourself, I was thinking, damn, there isn't enough evidence of me living here!

The home broadband bills are in my name at the moment, I've asked Virgin Media to have joint names on the bill and what I need to do to get that done.

I agree I didn't think you would need to provide evidence every 4 months covering the 2 years.

I live with my parents at the moment, rent-free.

I've found a letter from the council confirming that my wife is on the register to vote, another letter confirming her registration at the local doctor's surgery.

If I was to write a letter mentioning that I don't have enough evidence, what would you even put apart from you misjudged it badly and didn't have the wife's name on enough bills?

I should at least receive one more bank statement in my wife's name before submitting the application.

What evidence can I show that I live at the address? I have HMRC letters, bank statements, letter(s) from the physiotherapy.

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Before I even opened the latest messages from yourself, I was thinking, damn, there isn't enough evidence of me living here!

The home broadband bills are in my name at the moment, I've asked Virgin Media to have joint names on the bill and what I need to do to get that done.

I agree I didn't think you would need to provide evidence every 4 months covering the 2 years.

Yeah, we try to let people know when they first get their visa, so at least they are aware of it and can get mail sorted, but sometimes we don't manage to inform everyone.

I live with my parents at the moment, rent-free.

Yeah, and I know it can be tricky being able to gather mail when you're living with family/friends.

Given that you really don't have any mail in your name other than the water bills, I would see if you can find ANY mail at all addressed to you, even if it's not from an official source - because that would be better than nothing.

If I was to write a letter mentioning that I don't have enough evidence, what would you even put apart from you misjudged it badly and didn't have the wife's name on enough bills?

Well, you can mention that the reason you don't have a lot of mail in both names is because you live with your parents and so the bills are in their names instead.

However, at the moment, it's not your wife's name that is the problem - you have tons of evidence with her name on it, so that's not the issue. What you need to explain is why you have nothing in YOUR name.

I've found a letter from the council confirming that my wife is on the register to vote, another letter confirming her registration at the local doctor's surgery.

I should at least receive one more bank statement in my wife's name before submitting the application.

Again, none of these helps if you don't have any mail in YOUR name to put with the mail in your wife's name.

What about bank statements in YOUR name? What about YOUR letters from the NHS, HMRC, DWP, DVLA, the council etc?

What evidence can I show that I live at the address? I have HMRC letters, bank statements, letter(s) from the physiotherapy.

Yes, all of those - that's exactly what you need!

Why didn't you mention all of these before, and list them along with your wife's letters, when I asked if you had any of them?

Other documents you could use if absolutely necessary are things like:
- letters from store cards (Tesco Clubcard, Boots card, Nectar Card etc.)
- invoices/order slips from online orders
etc.

Can you list EVERY SINGLE document you have in your name, in your wife's name, and in joint names?

If we have a clear picture of EVERYTHING you have, we can help you work out if you have enough documents you can use, and what the best combination of months are.

Yeah, we try to let people know when they first get their visa, so at least they are aware of it and can get mail sorted, but sometimes we don't manage to inform everyone.

Yeah, and I know it can be tricky being able to gather mail when you're living with family/friends.

Given that you really don't have any mail in your name other than the water bills, I would see if you can find ANY mail at all addressed to you, even if it's not from an official source - because that would be better than nothing.

Well, you can mention that the reason you don't have a lot of mail in both names is because you live with your parents and so the bills are in their names instead.

However, at the moment, it's not your wife's name that is the problem - you have tons of evidence with her name on it, so that's not the issue. What you need to explain is why you have nothing in YOUR name.

Again, none of these helps if you don't have any mail in YOUR name to put with the mail in your wife's name.

What about bank statements in YOUR name? What about YOUR letters from the NHS, HMRC, DWP, DVLA, the council etc?

Yes, all of those - that's exactly what you need!

Why didn't you mention all of these before, and list them along with your wife's letters, when I asked if you had any of them?

Other documents you could use if absolutely necessary are things like:
- letters from store cards (Tesco Clubcard, Boots card, Nectar Card etc.)
- invoices/order slips from online orders
etc.

Can you list EVERY SINGLE document you have in your name, in your wife's name, and in joint names?

If we have a clear picture of EVERYTHING you have, we can help you work out if you have enough documents you can use, and what the best combination of months are.

I was so fixated on getting evidence in my wife's name gathered today that I've completely forgotten about myself.

To make things easier for you, myself and everyone, tomorrow I'm sitting down even if it means not moving all day and I'm getting every letter/evidence in my name out and sorted. I'll then put a list of the documents with dates and then we can take it from there.

I have plenty of letters I can include that's in my name, so I'll crack on and get that done.

I appreciate you're help & patience. At times I'm not the best person to be dealing with and can unintentionally frustrate others. So my apologies. I'm going to get my butt into gear tomorrow & you'll have a good list of evidence to dissect.

Thank you @ksand24

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