Caveat – This is what I went through and the documents I put together. I think it’s worth getting advice from a consultant like Nikki to help tailor your application to your circumstances.
As part of my application for a UK fiancé Visa, I needed to prove:
- the genuineness of our relationship
- that we met the Financial Requirements
- that we were planning a wedding
- our accommodation for when I move there
- other miscellaneous things
Here’s what I submitted.
PROOF OF RELATIONSHIP
You need to show you have a genuine relationship. I think there’s also a requirement that you met at least once in real life, so that’s something you’ll have to prove.
- Letters or bills in both our names – this shows that we lived together
- Letters, (including cards, bank letters, etc.), we received individually during the time we were living together – this shows that we both lived in the same address
- 25 or so photos since we met – it’s best to include photos we have with other people, and to show how things changed over time (e.g. long/short hair, less/more weight [ha!])
- Cards we gave to each other
- Email confirmation of any travel we had together that shows we took the same flights, bus, train, etc. – it’s best to present printouts that show both our names. Some hotel reservations are under just one person’s name.
- Whatsapp messages – I downloaded my chat onto a word document and selected 1 to 2 sample pages per month. I also made sure not to choose the chats when we were arguing LOL
- References from Family and Friends – These are letters signed by family and friends, addressed “To Whom It May Concern,” and it should say: a) how they know us, and b) why they believe our relationship is genuine. I gave 5 letters (Yes, it was awkward).
PROOF OF FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
You need to show that your partner in the UK earns £18,600 per year before tax. There are different ways to meet this requirement, and this article from Citizens Advice explains your options. These are the things my fiancé had to put together. Nikki emphasised that we should submit originals of the first three documents, but I have my own thoughts about that.
- Pay Slips from the last six months – I gave print-outs as my fiancé received them digitally.
- Bank Statements from the last six months showing that my fiancé received his income as shown in the Pay Slips. – I submitted originals as my fiancé received them in the post. If you receive them digitally, you can go to the bank and they’ll print out original statements for you.
- I’m not sure what Bank Statements look like in other banks, but when we went to HSBC to have them print out bank statements for my Family Visa, they said that they were exactly the same as what was available online. It would have looked the same if we printed them out ourselves. In the future, I think we can just print the HSBC Bank Statements out ourselves.
- I didn’t know this then, but apparently my fiancé submitted his Bank Statement for ONE MONTH! I would have been so upset if I had known about this then. I got my visa in the end without any complications though, so all is well.
- Employment Letter – This is a letter signed by a manager or similar ranking official in the company stating:
- that my fiancé is employed in the company
- start date
- gross annual salary
- whether there are any changes in salary in the last six months. If there are, what the salary was before and the current salary. If there aren’t any changes, just what the current salary.
- Type of contract – e.g. permanent, fixed term, temporary, etc.
- Statement verifying that the Pay Slips are genuine: “I confirm that the Pay Slips provided from [month] to [month] [year] are genuine.”
- P60 – Not a critical item, but I submitted it anyway.
- Employment Contract – Not a critical item, but I submitted it anyway.
PROOF OF PLANNING A WEDDING
You need to show that you intend to get married within the six months the Fiancé Visa will be valid, and that you’re in the middle of planning a wedding.
- Marriage Notice as submitted to the Registry Office. We had some issues on this point.
- I was applying for this visa in August 2019, intended to fly to Scotland in October 2019, and then to get married in January 2020. The problem was, the Registry Office only accepts Marriage Notices (I’ll write about this another day) three months before the wedding, i.e. October 2019. I e-mailed the Registry Office and informed them about my plans, but they said they’ll really only accept Marriage Notices three months before the wedding and that this isn’t something I’d need to get my visa. I immediately wrote to Nikki (because she said this requirement was VITAL), and she said that I can just submit the e-mail exchange I had with the Registry Office. I did that and everything turned out okay!
- When we eventually submitted our Marriage Notice, I don’t think we got anything back from the Registry Office which would show that we gave them anything. If this will apply to you, maybe you can get a receipt for the fee you have to pay when you lodge the Marriage Notice Form.
- 3 to 4 things that showed we were planning a wedding – I submitted confirmation e-mails with the Church, reception venue, florist, and hair and make-up artist. Some of the e-mails also show that we’ve paid a deposit.
PROOF OF ACCOMMODATION
You need to show that you will have a place to live when you move to the U.K.
- Mortgage Statement or other document that shows that my fiancé owns the house we were going to live in.
- If you are renting a house or flat, you can show your lease agreement.
- If you have a tenant in the house (e.g. a lessee or flatmate), you should also submit a Property Inspection Report, which is a report from the Council confirming that the house won’t be overcrowded and that the house is in good condition.
OTHERS
- Certified copy of my fiancé‘s passport – this needs to be certified by a solicitor. My fiancé photocopied his passport, brought it and his passport to a solicitor’s office, and they certified the copy for him.
- Degree Certificate from the University of Edinburgh – this shows that I comply with the English Language requirement
- Tuberculosis Test – you have to get this done in a certified clinic. Only people from certain countries will need this. Check here to see if you do and where you might find the nearest certified clinic.
That’s it! I hope this was helpful. Let’s talk about how tedious, annoying, and kind of discriminatory this process was in the comments.
Uproot and Settle 