UK Fiancée Visa Random Questions

Dear All (and I really hope splitting questions out is best way - my apologies if not!)

1. For passport for family member letting us stay at their house, just biometric page of passport for ID and confirm their entitlement to be in UK? Any other 3rd Party Consent forms required?

2. Does anyone have a list of the supporting document categories as per the VFS Document Checklist please for a Fiancée visa?  Don't want to start preparing files in different groupings then have to re-order once seen that.

3.  Any advice on file naming conventions apart from "be sensible"?  ie Last Name - Finance -Payslip - Month etc?

4. We understand you cannot make an appointment at an Application Center (either Premium or Application Support) in USA until you have both paid your application fee (and completed application form) AND uploaded all your supporting documents?

Many thanks and best wishes to all for 2021 - hopefully easier in many ways than 2020!

O

It's actually much easier for us to help you if you can post all of your fiance visa questions in the same topic (just use one topic only for your fiance visa application), so that we can keep track of all the questions you've asked and all the advice you've been given, all on one page.

So, I'm going to answer all the questions you posted in this thread, and then link to this reply in your other threads.

1. For passport for family member letting us stay at their house, just biometric page of passport for ID and confirm their entitlement to be in UK? Any other 3rd Party Consent forms required?

You don't actually need their passport at all, but if you do want to include it, just the photo page is needed.

No other consent forms are required because third party support is not allowed (other than for accommodation).

2. Does anyone have a list of the supporting document categories as per the VFS Document Checklist please for a Fiancée visa?  Don't want to start preparing files in different groupings then have to re-order once seen that.

See here:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/us/en/vacs/supporting-documents

Basically, you want:
Applicant documents
Sponsor documents
Sponsor's Financial documents
Accommodation documents
Relationship documents

3.  Any advice on file naming conventions apart from "be sensible"?  ie Last Name - Finance -Payslip - Month etc?

Just something like
December_2020_payslip.pdf

4. We understand you cannot make an appointment at an Application Center (either Premium or Application Support) in USA until you have both paid your application fee (and completed application form) AND uploaded all your supporting documents?

You apply online and pay for the visa first.

Then you make an account on the VFS Global website

Then you book your biometrics appointment and purchase any extra services (courier service, priority processing etc.)

Then you upload your documents.

_________________________________________________ _______________________________________________

And the answers to the questions from your other threads:

I am assuming the Gross Annual Salary that I "declare" to meet the threshold in the Finance annexes as a Category A method to meet requirement should the lowest of the one I received over the previous 6 months but in my employee letter I should ensure they explain the change after they have listed the enclosed print out of electronic payslips as accurate along lines of was paid a Gross Annual Salary of 47,000 (until Oct 20 inclusive) and a Gross Annual Salary of 50,000 since then.

The gross annual salary you put on the application should be your new CURRENT salary of £50,000, because it is what you will continue to earn in the future.

However, when UKVI actually calculate your previous 6 months of income they will only consider the £47,000 salary as you have not yet been earning £50,000 for a full 6 months.

So, basically, they will just take the lowest payslip and multiply it by 12 months to get your previous earnings, then they will use the £50,000 salary for your future earnings.

Assuming these should be colour scans?

I think they request them in black and white to save file size, but check the instructions when you apply.

Do you need to provide all pages (applicant and sponsor) or just biometric pages with any previous visa / UK entry stamps?

No, I believe you provide:
- applicant's actual US passport
- scan of only the photo page of the sponsor's UK passport
- scan of every page of applicant's previous passports

UK sponsor only needs to provide current UK passport, US applicant only to provide previous/expired US passports?

UK sponsor: photo page of current UK passport only
US sponsor: actual current US passport plus every previous passport ever held.

Do you need to scan the passport on an A4 white background or just the passport size image?

Don't know, I'm afraid - you'll have to see what instructions it gives you when you apply.

Thanks for all the advice so far. Getting close to dropping application in now.

What is recommended practice for grouping scanned documents together - ie should a letter of permission, land registry etc all go as one pdf entitled Accommodation or do each of the supporting paperwork as an individual pdf?   Trying to make life easier for ECO is aim I suppose?

Similarly should I just do my six months payslip as one pdf with each page scanned in order or do each month as an individual one?

Thanks

O

You should make a separate PDF for each document and the filename should clearly show what document it is, and, if applicable, the date/month of that document.

For example:

Accommodation Documents:
Land_Registry_Document.pdf
Homeowner_Letter.pdf
Mortgage_Statement.pdf

Financial Documents:
Bank_Statement_December_2020.pdf
Bank_Statement_January_2021.pdf
Payslip_December_2020.pdf
Payslip_January_2021.pdf
Employer_Letter.pdf

As always appreciate the helpful advice, getting very close here.

So for a 14 Feb application date we have a 5 Feb bank statement that shows a 31 Jan Pay Slip being deposited.  This is normal routine so if I provide months F,J,D,N,O,S bank statements and the J,D,N,O,S,A payslips am I right in thinking that covers the required 6 months?

Thanks
O

As always appreciate the helpful advice, getting very close here.

So for a 14 Feb application date we have a 5 Feb bank statement that shows a 31 Jan Pay Slip being deposited.  This is normal routine so if I provide months F,J,D,N,O,S bank statements and the J,D,N,O,S,A payslips am I right in thinking that covers the required 6 months?

Thanks
O

Add a month at the beginning for each.

Thanks Larrabee - is that a month "to be on safe side" ? Does Jan -Aug not cover the 6 months payslip period? 

O

Your previous post read as Aug to Jan which is not 6 months.  January to August is definitely six months.  If you are using a Jan 31 payslip, you need a payslip for:

Jan 31
Dec (usually early for Christmas)
Nov 30
Oct 31
Sept 30
Aug 31
 
So at this point you have six payslips but you’ve only covered Aug 31 to Jan 31, which is only five full months.  So you need to add the Jul 31 payslip to cover six FULL months.

Then you just want to ensure bank statements cover from the July 31 payslip to the Jan 31 payslip.  A few days longer is better than 1 day short.

Well....we finally put the application in online. A few observations for others doing same and I am afraid a few questions we will need to work through!!

1. It should have not been a surprise but invariably card got declined first attempt, US card paying a UK company for first time for several thousand $. A few phone calls but we got there in the end but stressful zoom moments for sure.

2. Pleasantly surprised to get a VAC appointment within a week, this was on West coast. One slot a day at 1200...will see what reality on ground looks like though. Site certainly is clunky.

3. There does not seem to be a way to delete documents once uploaded?  We were trying hard to get them in a useful order but looks like once they are in, they are in?

4. We still have some concerns about what supporting data goes in what categories, even accepting because of fiancee visa from USA we won't be using all categories, ie expecting Education, Tuberculosis or Employment to have anything.  Most things for applicant seem to go into the Other category -  passport, name change paperwork etc.  For a Fiancée visa using Category A all the finances  (payslip/bank statements) etc seem to need to go under the Sponsor section rather than Finance.  Equally while there is a Accommodation Permanent/Temporary section,  the Sponsor section lists accommodation there as well.  I fear we may be getting confused between the Sponsor being a company for other visa types ?

5. The checklist provided had only a few items, applicant passport listed, then a page with blank lines that looked like for us to add our own. Our supporting evidence is far more than the 8 or so lines provided on this form.

Grateful for any advice please.

O

I wouldn't worry too much about what goes in each section because it's such a mess to try to attempt to apply the partner visas to their one size fits all format.
I would include a list of the documents you are submitting so that they know you've included everything you need to and they just need to look for it.

2. Pleasantly surprised to get a VAC appointment within a week, this was on West coast. One slot a day at 1200...will see what reality on ground looks like though. Site certainly is clunky.

3. There does not seem to be a way to delete documents once uploaded?  We were trying hard to get them in a useful order but looks like once they are in, they are in

If you have paid for the $1200 service at a VAC, you do not need to upload any documents, because the $1200 service you have paid for includes document checking and scanning at the appointment.

You need to take all your documents to the appointment, they will scan them for you, and then give them back to you. You can also keep your passport while the visa is processing if you like.

Documents only need to be uploaded if you are not using the VAC and instead are attending biometrics at an ASC without paying anything extra (other than the priority processing for $816 if you wish to use it). In that case, you upload all your documents to VFS Global and then mail your passport and stamped biometrics sheet to New York for processing.

Just to let you know that the $1200 service does not include the priority processing service (the $2,000 service does though), so you may be waiting up to 12 weeks for your visa to be processed.


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My apologies...after a late night in front of screen I got my initials mixed up!

Just to confirm we are doing biometrics at an ASC without paying anything extra (but with the priority processing for $816) so will need to be uploading all our documents ourselves before that appointment next week.  1200 was the time not cost.

If anyone has a clue how to delete a document already uploaded we'd be really grateful.

We had a list of documents we were submitting as final page of my Sponsor Letter so hopefully that will give them the indication all there somewhere.

O

Just to confirm we are doing biometrics at an ASC without paying anything extra (but with the priority processing for $816) so will need to be uploading all our documents ourselves before that appointment next week.  1200 was the time not cost.

Ah, okay - that makes more sense .

If anyone has a clue how to delete a document already uploaded we'd be really grateful.

Not sure, I'm afraid - I know someone else here has been having problems even accessing the documents they've uploaded at the moment, let alone managing to add or delete them. The VFS Global site isn't the best.

Regarding your previous questions:

4. We still have some concerns about what supporting data goes in what categories, even accepting because of fiancee visa from USA we won't be using all categories, ie expecting Education, Tuberculosis or Employment to have anything.  Most things for applicant seem to go into the Other category -  passport, name change paperwork etc.  For a Fiancée visa using Category A all the finances  (payslip/bank statements) etc seem to need to go under the Sponsor section rather than Finance.  Equally while there is a Accommodation Permanent/Temporary section,  the Sponsor section lists accommodation there as well.  I fear we may be getting confused between the Sponsor being a company for other visa types ?

As larrabee said, don't worry too much about it - as long as all the documents get uploaded, I don't think it matters too much.

The sections cover all types of visas, so only some of them need to be used... as long as your upload sections make sense, I wouldn't worry.

5. The checklist provided had only a few items, applicant passport listed, then a page with blank lines that looked like for us to add our own. Our supporting evidence is far more than the 8 or so lines provided on this form.

Yeah, the checklist is bad and doesn't list even half the things you actually need.

If you haven't done it already, if you list all your documents here, we can check you have everything you need.

Thank you very much...so what we have is....

General

   Online F Visa Application
   Sponsor Letter

Financial   

        Appendix 2 Financial Requirement Form
   Letter from Sponsor Employer
   Payslips 7 months: Sponsor
   Bank Statements 7 months: Sponsor
   Shared Financial Obligation: Supplementary Credit Card statement
   P60 2020: Sponsor

Accommodation   

        Letter from for Permission for Residence
   Property Ownership: HM  Land Registry Document
   Home Owners Passport
   Property Suitability:  Survey Letter

Identification   

        Passport: Sponsor pic page
   Passport:  Applicant current all
   Passport:  Applicant expired all

Legal   

        Divorce-Judgement of Dissolution 
   Name Change
   California Department of Motor Vehicles Driving Record with Cover Letter : 

Relationship   

        Applicant Relationship Letter:
   Photographic Evidence
   Travel History Timeline
   Travel Tickets 2020 Flights: 
   American Airlines Flight History:  Applicant
   British Airways Flight History:  Sponsor 2018-2020
   Passport Entry Stamps:  Sponsor to USA
   Whats App messages one per month screenshot
   Pictures of Letters and Cards 6 from each to other
   Pictures of Engagement Cards inside  6 sample
   Email Screenshots one per month
   Marco Polo video Screenshots – one per month
   Newspaper Engagement Announcement
   Facebook Engagement Screenshot
   Wedding Plans: Correspondence (venue booking, registrar provisional booking, venue deposit, appointment to give notice)

O

Okay, so you don't need the following documents:
- Appendix 2 Financial Requirement Form (no longer accepted in the US as it is now part of the online application)
- Shared Financial Obligation: Supplementary Credit Card statement
- Home Owners Passport (though you can include it if you want)
- Property Suitability:  Survey Letter
- Applicant Relationship Letter
- Travel History Timeline
- Passport Entry Stamps:  Sponsor to USA
- Newspaper Engagement Announcement
- Facebook Engagement Screenshot
- Pictures of Engagement Cards inside  6 sample

Just going to rearrange slightly so I can check everything is there (comments in blue, additional documents in red):

Applicant Documents
Mailed
Passport:  Applicant current
Stamped biometrics appointment confirmation sheet (stamped at biometrics appointment)
Return shipping label (can be purchased from VFS Global for either $45 return only or $75 roundtrip)       
Return packaging
First page of online application with barcode on it (not sure if it's needed)
Scanned
Passport:  Applicant current all
Passport:  Applicant expired all
California Department of Motor Vehicles Driving Record with Cover Letter : 

Sponsor Documents
Passport: Sponsor pic page
Sponsor Letter

Financial   
Letter from Sponsor Employer
Payslips 7 months: Sponsor
Bank Statements 7 months: Sponsor
P60 2020: Sponsor

Accommodation   
Letter from for Permission for Residence
Property Ownership: HM  Land Registry Document
Property Ownership: Latest original mortgage statement (if they have a mortgage)
 
Relationship   
Divorce-Judgement of Dissolution 
Name Change
Photographic Evidence - no more than 2 photos of you together
Travel Tickets 2020 Flights: 
American Airlines Flight History:  Applicant
British Airways Flight History:  Sponsor 2018-2020
Pictures of Letters and Cards 6 from each to other
Whats App messages one per month screenshot
Email Screenshots one per month
Marco Polo video Screenshots – one per month

Evidence of Plans to Marry
Wedding Plans: Correspondence (venue booking, registrar provisional booking, venue deposit, appointment to give notice)