UK Spousal Visa

I have another question, sorry! I was wondering can we apply today? The employment letter hasn’t arrived yet but should be coming on Tuesday. As long as it’s dated within 28 days would it be okay just to upload that before biometrics?

It's safest to wait until you have everything in your hands. Everything should be dated prior to the date of the application. If you were in a real time crunch to apply before your visa expired  (if applying for FLR for example) you would have no choice, but if you have the time, it's best to wait.

It's safest to wait until you have everything in your hands. Everything should be dated prior to the date of the application. If you were in a real time crunch to apply before your visa expired  (if applying for FLR for example) you would have no choice, but if you have the time, it's best to wait.

That sounds best! It’s only a few days away 
I get way too worried and overthink all this visa stuff haha, you have all been so helpful though!

We’ve got my payslips, employment letter and bank statements so payslips and employment dated 1 Feb, are we still okay to send it off tonight?

We made cover letters too and these are dated Jan 31 Is that okay?

All other evidence sorted aswell but just not sure on the dates for these things! I have had so many questions, thank you all for putting up with me lol! I will be here so much over the years for sure!x

Basically, every document you include should be be dated on or before the date you apply online...  because that is your official application date, and you have to be able to show that every requirement was met and you had every document ready on that date.

So, as long as you have all the documents now, and you are not waiting on anything else to arrive or be issued, then you can apply online today .

But if you are still waiting for any documents, then don't apply online until you have them.

We made cover letters too and these are dated Jan 31 Is that okay?

For the letters, a letter from the sponsor in support of the application is mandatory, but a letter from the applicant is only optional and should only be a contents letter for the documents.

The sponsor letter should include:
Paragraph 1: how you qualify to be a sponsor (your UK citizenship)
Paragraph 2: your employment details and which financial category you are applying under
Paragraph 3: where you will live together in the UK, including full address and property details
Paragraph 4: short, factual history of the relationships (dates and locations only), plus the reasons why you are choosing to settle in the UK together and not the US

The applicant letter, if you choose to include one, should just really be a contents letter for the application documents, plus an explanation for anything unusual or complicated about the application.
For example, an explanation for:
- anything unusual about the documents you are including (i.e. large bank statement transactions, or reasons why you cannot provide a particular document)
- any previous refused visas or entries to the UK
- any previous illegal working or overstaying in the UK
- any criminal convictions the applicant has

For the letters, a letter from the sponsor in support of the application is mandatory, but a letter from the applicant is only optional and should only be a contents letter for the documents.

The sponsor letter should include:
Paragraph 1: how you qualify to be a sponsor (your UK citizenship)
Paragraph 2: your employment details and which financial category you are applying under
Paragraph 3: where you will live together in the UK, including full address and property details
Paragraph 4: short, factual history of the relationships (dates and locations only), plus the reasons why you are choosing to settle in the UK together and not the US

The applicant letter, if you choose to include one, should just really be a contents letter for the application documents, plus an explanation for anything unusual or complicated about the application.
For example, an explanation for:
- anything unusual about the documents you are including (i.e. large bank statement transactions, or reasons why you cannot provide a particular document)
- any previous refused visas or entries to the UK
- any previous illegal working or overstaying in the UK
- any criminal convictions the applicant has

That is absolutely perfect! thank you! We got my Mum to compile one since we’re staying with my mum and dad til we get our own home. Will we still need that one? It just confirms that they pay their mortgage and that are happy to have my husband and I there etc

That is absolutely perfect! thank you! We got my Mum to compile one since we’re staying with my mum and dad til we get our own home. Will we still need that one? It just confirms that they pay their mortgage and that are happy to have my husband and I there etc

Yes, a letter from the homeowner is an absolute requirement.

So, letter-wise you need to provide:

Applicant
- optional cover letter

Sponsor
- mandatory sponsor letter supporting the application and detailing how each requirement of the visa is being met (UK citizenship, financial, accommodation, relationship)

Accommodation
- letter from homeowner(s) confirming that the applicant and sponsor have permission to live there and stating that the home will not be overcrowded

Financial
- letter from employer stating all the required information, and if necessary, confirming the authenticity of electronic payslips/P60

Please can someone help me. I’ve been crying for about an hour. My husband submitted his application and all seemed fine then got to VFS Global and booking biometrics and he only has two options which are premium and both over $1000 each. I’m so surprised because we have paid IHS and the application fee and I don’t know what to do. I can’t find any information and I don’t know why it’s trying to make him pay that amount

Please can someone help me. I’ve been crying for about an hour. My husband submitted his application and all seemed fine then got to VFS Global and booking biometrics and he only has two options which are premium and both over $1000 each. I’m so surprised because we have paid IHS and the application fee and I don’t know what to do. I can’t find any information and I don’t know why it’s trying to make him pay that amount

Were you planning to use the settlement priority service? It's $816.
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/us/en/premium-services/priority-visa-for-settlement

If not, you don't need to use any of the priority services.

He should book biometrics at USCIS centre rather than the application support centres.

(hopefully they are not closed  due to Covid)

Were you planning to use the settlement priority service? It's $816.
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/us/en/premium-services/priority-visa-for-settlement

If not, you don't need to use any of the priority services.

Yes we were gonna do that one. I’m so confused. He selected Chicago and it’s saying we have to either pay 2000 for a premium settlement package or 1200 for standard settlement package. It doesn’t seem to let us back out, so we have to choose one of them apparently 

Yes we were gonna do that one. I’m so confused. He selected Chicago and it’s saying we have to either pay 2000 for a premium settlement package or 1200 for standard settlement package. It doesn’t seem to let us back out, so we have to choose one of them apparently 

No, he must NOT select the Chicago Premium Centre... that is only for the premium services which cost $1200 and $2000 and are a total waste of money (you are basically paying $1200 to be able to keep your passport while you wait for the visa).

What he needs to select is "USA - Application Support Center", then add the $816 priority service, and then he will be able to  book biometrics at one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centers in the US. It's at this point that he selects a centre in Chicago.

If he is in Chicago, it looks like he will want to book biometrics at the following ASC (which seems to be the only one in Chicago):

Chicago South, IL
8004 B South Cicero Avenue,
Burbank,
IL 60459-1570

Or the other ASCs in or near Illinois that he can book biometrics at are listed here:
https://egov.uscis.gov/office-locator/#/ascresults/IL/Illinois

I'm not sure what you do if it won't let you change it from Chicago to 'USA - Application Support Center' though though.

No, he must NOT select Chicago... that is only for the premium services which cost $1200 and $2000 and are a total waste of money.

What he needs to select is USA - Application Support Center, then add the $816 priority service, and then he can book biometrics at one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centers in the US.

If he is in Chicago, he will want to book biometrics at the following ASC:

Chicago South, IL
8004 B South Cicero Avenue,
Burbank,
IL 60459-1570

Or the other ASCs he can attend in or near Illinois are listed here:
https://egov.uscis.gov/office-locator/#/ascresults/IL/Illinois

Ughhh we can’t go back apparently. It’s greyed out and won’t let him change it for the MVV we used Indianapolis at the ASC so I thought it was weird that it didn’t show up but must’ve clicked the wrong thing. Would you recommend us doing a refund? This is so frustrating 

Ughhh we can’t go back apparently. It’s greyed out and won’t let him change it for the MVV we used Indianapolis at the ASC so I thought it was weird that it didn’t show up but must’ve clicked the wrong thing. Would you recommend us doing a refund? This is so frustrating 

I'm not entirely sure what you can do now.

You could cancel the entire visa application and start over, and apply for a refund, but it could take several weeks to get the money back. so you would need to make sure you had enough money available to pay the entire visa fee again.

Or if you can afford it, you could pay the $2,000 premium fee anyway (this includes the $816 priority processing service... the $1200 one does not include any priority processing) and submit biometrics and documents in person at the Chicago Premium Centre.

If you haven't already, you could check the FAQ to see if they help at all:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en/visa/help/usa

I'm not entirely sure what you can do now.

You could cancel the entire visa application and start over, and apply for a refund, but it could take several weeks to get the money back. so you would need to make sure you had enough money available to pay the entire visa fee again.

Or if you can afford it, you could pay the $2,000 premium fee anyway (this includes the $816 priority processing service... the $1200 one does not include any priority processing) and submit biometrics and documents in person at the Chicago Premium Centre.

If you haven't already, you could check the FAQ to see if they help at all:
https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en/visa/help/usa

Thank you! We are going to apply for a refund and reapply for the visa this weekend. Do they definitely refund people for this? It’s before the biometrics were booked so I’m assuming they do .. I get so nervous though  what a mess. So I think one of the options was DHS he’d said... so he would need to click that one for the Application Support Centre? He must have clicked Premium Centre by mistake. It’s so frustrating that they don’t let you go back and amend it! But we’d much rather not pay that 1200 for basically document scanning etc. We want to self upload!