[lau123nJ]

Hi,

My husband is applying for a visa to settle in the UK, at them moment we only have an abridged marriage certificate issued by the department of home affairs in south africa and also the handwritten one that we received on the day of the wedding.

He applied for an unabridged marriage certificate 8 weeks ago and it still isnt ready, would UKVI accept the handwritten one and the abridged one or does it specifically need to be the unabridged?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JS123]

Did you by any chance find more information on this? We applied using the unabridged certificate (and it was a big drama to get it from Home Affairs in South Africa). The visa is up for renewal now, and I was wondering if the unabridged version is an absolute requirement.

 

[SRChand]

Hi,

My husband is applying for a visa to settle in the UK, at them moment we only have an abridged marriage certificate issued by the department of home affairs in south africa and also the handwritten one that we received on the day of the wedding.

He applied for an unabridged marriage certificate 8 weeks ago and it still isnt ready, would UKVI accept the handwritten one and the abridged one or does it specifically need to be the unabridged?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I got married in Kenya in a religious ceremony which gives us a legal handwritten certificate recognised by Kenyan Law.
What I did was get it certified by Ministry of Foreign affairs which means they stamped my certificate and wrote a letter to confirm that the marriage certificate is original/legal etc...
I submitted both the certificate and letter....
I hope that is not a problem. I applied on 1st Aug 2017 so I'm still waiting...

Good luck. xxx

 

[lau123nJ]

Hi,

The only information I have found regarding this was when I called the UKVI helpline (spending a small fortune to do so) advising the agent that I have the handwritten marriage certificate given on the day along with the carbon copy of the marriage register and the printed abridged certificate and I was advised this is acceptable. We will be submitting a covering letter explaining that we have attempted twice to obtain an unabridged copy once back in 2015 and again this year and still haven't had any joy in receiving it. I just hope this information is correct!

 

[JS123]

Hi,

The only information I have found regarding this was when I called the UKVI helpline (spending a small fortune to do so) advising the agent that I have the handwritten marriage certificate given on the day along with the carbon copy of the marriage register and the printed abridged certificate and I was advised this is acceptable. We will be submitting a covering letter explaining that we have attempted twice to obtain an unabridged copy once back in 2015 and again this year and still haven't had any joy in receiving it. I just hope this information is correct!

Thought to let you know that I renewed my spouse visa successfully with my abridged marriage certificate (that is, the one you get on the spot at Home Affairs). I did not include any explanation. This was for renewal though, and for my initial visa I did use an unabridged one.

 

[The Apostle]

Thought to let you know that I renewed my spouse visa successfully with my abridged marriage certificate (that is, the one you get on the spot at Home Affairs). I did not include any explanation. This was for renewal though, and for my initial visa I did use an unabridged one.

Well done! In future, for either abridged or unabridged marriage certificates from abroad, simply use a verified law firm service and you can obtain it, apostilled, in under two months, sometimes under one month.