Hey everyone,
I recently applied for the UK settlement visa to join my husband who is a British citizen in the UK. I submitted all original and copies of docs as well as my biometric information on the 5th of June 2015. We started our long distant relationship in September 2010 and we got married in June 2011 and has been living apart since. We do however visit each other every 6 months or so. I would travel once to the UK each year and he would travel once to Malaysia each year. We applied under category A as my husband has a salaried income of over GBP18,600 and has been in this employment for almost 2 years.
These were the documents I submitted. I even created an index in this order.
PART A : APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION & APPLICATION FORMS
• Appointment Confirmation
• IHS Number and Payment Confirmation
• Application Form – VAF4A Online
• Application Form – VAF4A Appendix 2
PART 1 : PERSONAL INFORMATION : APPLICANT & SPONSOR
• Letter of Support from Sponsor
• Certified True Copy of Sponsor’s Passport Biometric Page
• Applicant’s Current Passport
• Applicant’s Previous Passport
• Letter of Support from Applicant’s Employer
• Applicant’s Pre-Departure TB Test Certificate
PART 2 : PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP : APPLICANT & SPONSOR
A) Marriage
• Original Marriage Certificate in Bahasa Malaysia
• Certified Translated Copy of Marriage Certificate in English
• Invitation Card for Wedding Reception
• Invoice for Audio Visual Equipment for Wedding Reception
• Receipts for Ballroom Rental for Wedding Reception
• Receipts for Purchase of Wedding Rings for Wedding
• Photo Collage
o Wedding Reception
o Outdoor Wedding Photoshoot
B) Subsisting Relationship
• Email Correspondences between Applicant & Sponsor
• Flight Reservations of Applicant & Sponsor’s Joint Travels/ Holidays
• Booking Confirmation of Gifts and Flowers Sent between Applicant & Sponsor
• Photo Collage
o Malaysia Trip : Apr- June 2011
o Engagement Ceremony : 1 May 2011
o UK & Europe Trip : Dec 2011 – Jan 2012
o UK Trip : Jun-Jul 2012
o Malaysia Trip : Dec 2012
o UK Trip : Apr-May 2013
o Malaysia Trip : Dec 2013- Jan 2014
o UK Trip : Dec 2014-Jan 2015
PART 3 : PROOF OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
• Original Bachelor of Law Degree in Bahasa Malaysia
• Certified Translated Copy of Degree in English
• Official Academic Transcript
• Statement of Comparability from the UK NARIC
PART 4 : PROOF OF SUFFICIENT ACCOMMODATION
A) Sponsor's Property Ownership
• Certified True Copy of the Register of Title for Sponsor’s Property
• Halifax Mortgage Offer Letter
• 2014 Annual Mortgage Statement
• 2015 Annual Mortgage Statement
B) Proof of Sponsor’s Residence in Property
• 2014-2015 Council Tax Statement
• 2015-2016 Council Tax Statement
• Severn Trent Water Bill
• NPower Electricity Bill
• NatWest Credit Card Bill
• Halifax Annual Eligibility Statement
• Sky Internet and Satellite TV Bill
C) Clarification on Postcode Inconsistencies
• Postcode Inconsistency Clarification Letter from Halifax
• Reforwarding of Electricity Bill Letter from NPower to correct Postcode Address
• Google Streetview of Postcode B5 4TR, B5 4TT and B5 4TU
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TR
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TU
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TT
PART 5 : PROOF OF MEETING THE FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT
A) Employment and Position
• Offer Letter of Employment
• Employment Contract
• Letter of Completion of Probation
• Letter of Confirmation as Permanent Staff
B) Salary
• Letter of Support from Employer Confirming Position and Outlining Total Salary Earned
• Payslips :
o Sept 2014
o Oct 2014
o Nov 2014
o Dec 2014
o Jan 2015
o Feb 2015
o Mar 2015
o Apr 2015
o May 2015
• Letter of Support from Halifax Confirming Sponsor’s Name, Details and Account Number
• Bank Statements
o Sept 2014
o Oct 2014
o Nov 2014
o Dec 2014
o Jan 2015
o Feb 2015
o Mar 2015
o Apr 2015
o May 2015
C) Tax Returns
• P60 2013-2014
• P60 2014-2015
• P45 2013 for Leaving Previous Employment
• Tax Repayment for 2011-2012
D) Non-Salaried Directorship
• Companies House : Company Details for Common Ground Foundation CIC
• Companies House : Current Appointment Report for Common Ground Foundation CIC
When I submitted all these, I was confident that I had submitted everything I could to evidence how we fulfill all requirements. However upon reading some of the posts on this forum (I didnt know about this forum before my submission ) I realised that the main reasons for rejection is :
1) not having enough docs to evidence the fact that you fulfill the financial requirement
2) not having sufficient proof of subsisting relationship
I thought I have evidenced both quite clearly however upon reading the document checklist of other successful applicants, I realised that I didnt include the following :
- A cover letter from myself explaining how I met my husband etc that will complement his letter of support. I did however include a letter of support from my current employer as we are a global company headquartered in London and with offices in over 30 countries (Malaysia being one of them)
- Skype and Whatsapp messages log (Some of these are too personal and at times it was rather sexually graphic and I didnt feel comfortable sharing them. Besides I didnt think they were crucial given that I have submitted other evidence)
- Phone call logs
- My individual flight tickets to the UK to visit him over the past 4 years and his ticket to visit me in Malaysia over the past 4 years (though I have included flight tickets of our joint travels where we went to Europe together when I visited the UK and we went to East Malaysia and Langkawi together when he visited me in Malaysia)
- Any pictures where he visited me during our relationship BEFORE marriage as these were saved in an old hard disk that has since crashed (I did however include pictures of us being together POST marriage in a chronological order from 2011 to 2015)
- Prospective flight details of the date I intend to move to the UK. Other successful applicants shared this. However I read on the UK Visa Application website that you shouldnt book your flights till AFTER you get your visa. So by that logic, wouldnt prospective flight details be redundant?
Based on the above, do you think that I have provided enough documentations to merit an approval? Or do you think my missing out on the items listed above would affect my chances? Would the fact that we have been married and living apart for over 4 years but only applying for this visa now make them suspicious of the authenticity of our relationship and thus reject my visa?
I am waiting for the results at the moment and I do realise that I am asking for speculation on my chances. But I am a tad worried now and getting any information from people who have gone through the similar process would help me manage my expectations on the outcome.
Thank you.
I recently applied for the UK settlement visa to join my husband who is a British citizen in the UK. I submitted all original and copies of docs as well as my biometric information on the 5th of June 2015. We started our long distant relationship in September 2010 and we got married in June 2011 and has been living apart since. We do however visit each other every 6 months or so. I would travel once to the UK each year and he would travel once to Malaysia each year. We applied under category A as my husband has a salaried income of over GBP18,600 and has been in this employment for almost 2 years.
These were the documents I submitted. I even created an index in this order.
PART A : APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION & APPLICATION FORMS
• Appointment Confirmation
• IHS Number and Payment Confirmation
• Application Form – VAF4A Online
• Application Form – VAF4A Appendix 2
PART 1 : PERSONAL INFORMATION : APPLICANT & SPONSOR
• Letter of Support from Sponsor
• Certified True Copy of Sponsor’s Passport Biometric Page
• Applicant’s Current Passport
• Applicant’s Previous Passport
• Letter of Support from Applicant’s Employer
• Applicant’s Pre-Departure TB Test Certificate
PART 2 : PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP : APPLICANT & SPONSOR
A) Marriage
• Original Marriage Certificate in Bahasa Malaysia
• Certified Translated Copy of Marriage Certificate in English
• Invitation Card for Wedding Reception
• Invoice for Audio Visual Equipment for Wedding Reception
• Receipts for Ballroom Rental for Wedding Reception
• Receipts for Purchase of Wedding Rings for Wedding
• Photo Collage
o Wedding Reception
o Outdoor Wedding Photoshoot
B) Subsisting Relationship
• Email Correspondences between Applicant & Sponsor
• Flight Reservations of Applicant & Sponsor’s Joint Travels/ Holidays
• Booking Confirmation of Gifts and Flowers Sent between Applicant & Sponsor
• Photo Collage
o Malaysia Trip : Apr- June 2011
o Engagement Ceremony : 1 May 2011
o UK & Europe Trip : Dec 2011 – Jan 2012
o UK Trip : Jun-Jul 2012
o Malaysia Trip : Dec 2012
o UK Trip : Apr-May 2013
o Malaysia Trip : Dec 2013- Jan 2014
o UK Trip : Dec 2014-Jan 2015
PART 3 : PROOF OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
• Original Bachelor of Law Degree in Bahasa Malaysia
• Certified Translated Copy of Degree in English
• Official Academic Transcript
• Statement of Comparability from the UK NARIC
PART 4 : PROOF OF SUFFICIENT ACCOMMODATION
A) Sponsor's Property Ownership
• Certified True Copy of the Register of Title for Sponsor’s Property
• Halifax Mortgage Offer Letter
• 2014 Annual Mortgage Statement
• 2015 Annual Mortgage Statement
B) Proof of Sponsor’s Residence in Property
• 2014-2015 Council Tax Statement
• 2015-2016 Council Tax Statement
• Severn Trent Water Bill
• NPower Electricity Bill
• NatWest Credit Card Bill
• Halifax Annual Eligibility Statement
• Sky Internet and Satellite TV Bill
C) Clarification on Postcode Inconsistencies
• Postcode Inconsistency Clarification Letter from Halifax
• Reforwarding of Electricity Bill Letter from NPower to correct Postcode Address
• Google Streetview of Postcode B5 4TR, B5 4TT and B5 4TU
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TR
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TU
• Royal Mail Postcode Finder B5 4TT
PART 5 : PROOF OF MEETING THE FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT
A) Employment and Position
• Offer Letter of Employment
• Employment Contract
• Letter of Completion of Probation
• Letter of Confirmation as Permanent Staff
B) Salary
• Letter of Support from Employer Confirming Position and Outlining Total Salary Earned
• Payslips :
o Sept 2014
o Oct 2014
o Nov 2014
o Dec 2014
o Jan 2015
o Feb 2015
o Mar 2015
o Apr 2015
o May 2015
• Letter of Support from Halifax Confirming Sponsor’s Name, Details and Account Number
• Bank Statements
o Sept 2014
o Oct 2014
o Nov 2014
o Dec 2014
o Jan 2015
o Feb 2015
o Mar 2015
o Apr 2015
o May 2015
C) Tax Returns
• P60 2013-2014
• P60 2014-2015
• P45 2013 for Leaving Previous Employment
• Tax Repayment for 2011-2012
D) Non-Salaried Directorship
• Companies House : Company Details for Common Ground Foundation CIC
• Companies House : Current Appointment Report for Common Ground Foundation CIC
When I submitted all these, I was confident that I had submitted everything I could to evidence how we fulfill all requirements. However upon reading some of the posts on this forum (I didnt know about this forum before my submission ) I realised that the main reasons for rejection is :
1) not having enough docs to evidence the fact that you fulfill the financial requirement
2) not having sufficient proof of subsisting relationship
I thought I have evidenced both quite clearly however upon reading the document checklist of other successful applicants, I realised that I didnt include the following :
- A cover letter from myself explaining how I met my husband etc that will complement his letter of support. I did however include a letter of support from my current employer as we are a global company headquartered in London and with offices in over 30 countries (Malaysia being one of them)
- Skype and Whatsapp messages log (Some of these are too personal and at times it was rather sexually graphic and I didnt feel comfortable sharing them. Besides I didnt think they were crucial given that I have submitted other evidence)
- Phone call logs
- My individual flight tickets to the UK to visit him over the past 4 years and his ticket to visit me in Malaysia over the past 4 years (though I have included flight tickets of our joint travels where we went to Europe together when I visited the UK and we went to East Malaysia and Langkawi together when he visited me in Malaysia)
- Any pictures where he visited me during our relationship BEFORE marriage as these were saved in an old hard disk that has since crashed (I did however include pictures of us being together POST marriage in a chronological order from 2011 to 2015)
- Prospective flight details of the date I intend to move to the UK. Other successful applicants shared this. However I read on the UK Visa Application website that you shouldnt book your flights till AFTER you get your visa. So by that logic, wouldnt prospective flight details be redundant?
Based on the above, do you think that I have provided enough documentations to merit an approval? Or do you think my missing out on the items listed above would affect my chances? Would the fact that we have been married and living apart for over 4 years but only applying for this visa now make them suspicious of the authenticity of our relationship and thus reject my visa?
I am waiting for the results at the moment and I do realise that I am asking for speculation on my chances. But I am a tad worried now and getting any information from people who have gone through the similar process would help me manage my expectations on the outcome.
Thank you.