Please read the rules before posting.

I am a British citizen applying for ILR for my wife. If I am employed and can meet the financial Requirements, do I need to submit my wife's financial information and documents too?

The reason for the question is that my wife is self employed and a lot of the documentation I don't have because it is with the accountant who I currently can't get a hold of.

Any advice would be appreciated!

So I'm a chinese national/US permanent resident. I've only visited the UK twice—1st time last year, 2nd time just a few weeks back—via standard 6-months visit visa, and only stayed there for 10 days each time.

I'm wondering if me visiting the UK too frequently—every year, or twice a year—on a visit visa will look suspicious when I apply for the visa again, but also when I go through the custom. My 2nd time at the custom a few weeks back, the agent already asked more questions than last time (including my job, whether I have family or friends in the UK, and asked to check my green card).

I know these are all pretty standard questions/checks, but I'm just a bit paranoid. Since I do intend to visit the UK at least once a year—for tourism but also doing personal research libraries/archives—will that reflect negatively for when I apply for the UK visa, and for when I go through the UK custom again in the future?

Like, the border agent must be wondering why I'm visiting the UK once or twice a year for say 5 years in a row, even though I do not overstay. I'm afraid they'll think I'm trying to immigrate here or have families/friends here—I have 1 friend only, and no family or even distant relative at all here.

Hi all,

I don’t know if the following is a matter worth mentioning in this forum but I am a bit stressed. So, a month ago I submitted a request for the A1 form, under the impression that it was the required documentation that I was advised to submit to my home country’s Tax Office. However, upon further review on the same day, I realized that this form did not relate to my immediate needs. Specifically, I was requested to submit a form to confirm my National Insurance contributions to date and not the A1 form. Immediately upon this realization, and on the same day I contacted HMRC to request the cancellation of my request and I received assurances that my request had been rightly noted and would not proceed any further. Regrettably, after one month, I unexpectedly received the A1 form. Given my current Visa status and sole residency and employment in the UK, I had not anticipated nor desired this document and I requested it by a misunderstanding. Consequently, I am uncertain as to its implications for my current status and what am I supposed to do right now. Could you further advise me on how to deal with this unfortunate matter? The A1 form is active for 2 years which are my Visa dates and I was just filling these dates in the form while submitting it since I initially thought I was supposed to add my Visa duration dates.

Thank you in advance for your help and looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

I'm an academic and freelancer (Social Science) and I want to apply for the Peer-Review route of the Global Talent Visa. Does anyone know how many Reference and Recommendation Letters I can submit in my application? There are no sources or details on the internet about the number of the letters. Does that mean I can submit as much as I have?

And is there any difference between the reference, recommendation, and support letter in this route?

Please any insights, advice and thoughts would be appreciated.

my british friend wanted me to visit the uk from the philippines and he will be sponsoring my trip. Does anyone know what are the exact list of requirements to be submitted and also I am working remotely (ph based company). Would it be possible for me to visit whilst working at the same time there? or perhaps get a time off from work?

Hi Everyone, My wife was initially on graduate dependent visa (Jan 2023 - Jan 2025) but she joined a masters course in Oct 2023 and switched to student visa. The international student visa allows her to work only part time but now she has a full time job offer from a reputed firm which we feel is an amazing opportunity for her career. They want her to start in July and her student visa won’t allow her to work full time until her course completion date (Oct 2024). We are now contemplating 2 possibilities

1. Can she switch back to graduate dependent visa before her course completion ? - given that she already was on this visa before start of her masters.
2. If option 1 isn’t possible - her university allows the option of converting her masters to part time/ take a break from masters for few terms. I am assuming if she takes this option her student visa automatically gets cancelled and she can then apply for dependent visa? What are her chances to get the dependent visa in this case?

I am currently on graduate visa (PSW) and will switch to skilled worker visa in October/November.

My husband came over originally on the finance visa 3 years ago, then extended via spouse visa once married . We are doing the next renewal now (got UKVS appointment Wednesday) , but he was asked to switch to the Evisa in the last few weeks .

Prior to Evisa , I knew the drill. Once approved , the new biometrics residence permit would come in the post as before .

Will that still happen if he is signed up to Evisa ?

Is it possible to apply for student visa from another country instead your country of residence? I have a friend whose family reside in another country and he wish to apply from there since it’s smoother and faster, however he is not a resident but regularly visit there. Will this be an issue if he applies for student visa while he is a tourist in that country.

I stayed in the UK for my internship for 2 months from June to August 2023. I applied for NI number (I have the application reference number too). But I didn't get it delivered due to some shipping error from their end. Now when I am applying again for work visa for job, they're asking me the question "Do you have a National Insurance number". Should I mention "NO" here or should I mention "YES" and put my application reference number?
Will putting "NO" impact my work visa application?

My financial sponser for the visit visa (my father) does not agree on providing pay slips.

I have his bank statements showing salary deposited in his account . And he's providing me with letter of sponsership and an affidavit for support.

So can i upload his income tax returns instead of payslips ? Would they suffice as proof of employment?

I'm a student and unemployed so don't have anything to show to begin with.

Hello,

I'm currently on a PSW visa which is ending soon this year. My salary is around £26-27k, and while my company is offering me sponsorship, it's a very small business with limited growth prospects in the near future. I'm considering changing my job next year, but the sponsorship visa complicates things.

I've been applying for many other jobs, but I keep getting rejected, possibly because of my visa status, though I haven't received any feedback. This is causing my confidence to drop, and I feel like my employer is undervaluing my work and salary due to the sponsorship situation. I'm unable to negotiate, and the problem is that my aspirations and goals are much higher than my current situation. Can anyone help me out, please?

Hello everyone, first of all a big thank you to this sub for all your help. What a great source of information and kind contributors we have here!

Below is a list of documents myself (sponsor) and my partner (applicant) will be submitting for evidence before our BIO appointment next week. Please point out anything I've missed, I may have gone a little overkill in places, but Id rather give too much evidence than not enough. If this could hurt our application, do tell me.

Travel Documents

• A full scan (all pages) of the applicant's EU passport

• A full scan (all pages) of the sponsor's UK passport

Financials

I started a new job 5 months ago, so I had to apply through Category B and provide 12 months of financial documents. Luckily my previous employment still met the financial requirements. I may have gone overboard with documentation here, but I know that most refusals are based on failing to prove that you meet the financial requirements. Therefore I figured this would be the place to really go the extra mile.

• 5 months of payslips from employment A

• A signed letter from HR (employment A) confirming my employment, salary and payslips are legitimate

• My signed employment contract (employment A)

• 12 months of payslips from employment B (overkill perhaps, but I gathered all I had from the previous job just to be sure)

• A signed letter from HR (employment B) confirming my ex-employment, ex-salary and old payslips are legitimate

• A signed letter from my old boss (employment B) further confirming the above, I requested both HR and my old boss because I didn't know who would get back to me first... They both replied on the same day so I figured I'd submit both

• Email correspondence with HR when getting my old payslips. They were sent in plain text (with all relevant info like tax codes and deductions), but I wanted to be absolutely certain that the HO knew they were legitimate

• Bank statements for the account my salary is paid into (both employments) going back 12 months

Accommodation

I am lucky enough to own a home, so my evidence was centered around proving this. Again, some of this may be redundant, do let me know if this is simply too much.

• Copy of my annual mortgage statement 2023 (Only shows one payment though because the house was purchased in November 2023)

• Copy of land registry title

• Signed letter from solicitors confirming exchange of contracts

• Copy of the signed mortgage deed

• Copy of the signed purchase contract

• A recent water bill

• A recent council tax bill (with single person discount showing my fiance never attempted to live here prior to the visa application)

Relationship and Intent To Marry

• Email correspondence with a wedding venue about availability in the next 6 months

• Email correspondence with my local city registrar about a civil ceremony at the registry office in the next 6 months

• A 10 page cover letter briefly discussing who we are and our intention to marry, followed by a timeline of our relationship. I also mention that we have begun planning our wedding, but held off on making any bookings until a visa was approved.

The timeline was kept as simple as possible, mainly bullet points followed by images, the length of the document is purely due to the sizing of images rather than reams of text. Images were kept at the smallest size possible while maintaining the ability to see/read them easily.

• Example 1

11th-15th June: Met in XXXX city (followed by images of us together and flight receipts).

• Example 2

15th June - 15th July: Long distance, we kept in contact daily via texts and calls, full chat logs are available on request (followed by a small selection of chat/voice call logs).

Misc

• A copy of the applicant A2 UKVI English certificate

• A scan of the gov document checklist with all the evidence checkboxes ticked off (unsure if this was totally necessary since my fiance will take a paper copy to the bio appointment anyway)

Hiya,

I’m currently on a Global Talent (exceptional talent) visa that runs out in Nov 2025. I’m just looking ahead and planning, and am confused by the requirements.

Is there a minimum salary I need to be making? I don’t see a reference in the guidance. As I’m a performer, this fluctuates.

When can I take the life in the uk test? I know I can’t apply until 28 days before I qualify on this strand of global talent. Could I study and pass it in the next few months and it still be valid? If I can save some time now I would love to.

If anyone has done this same route to ILR, let me know.

Thanks in advance!

Applied for ILR on 10 year route using super priority route. After submitting documents on the Sunday, never heard anything from home office. But 4/5 days letter I received my new ILR BRP from Home Office.

2 questions:

1. it didn’t say on the piece of paper attached with the new ILR BRP that I have to return the old BRP? Is that the case now or should I still return the old one? What address do I send it to?
2. Normally when you are issued a new immigration status from the home office they send you an email with the terms and conditions. Didn’t get it this time? How do I go about getting it? Or it doesn’t matter because it’s ILR?

Thanks for the help!

So I’m an Indian citizen but haven’t lived in India at any point in my life (have just visited). Most recently I’ve been in the US on a work visa, and I had to leave as I left my job and was no longer in status. I came to India, where I am waiting for a new work visa for a job I have lined up in the US. Now, I would like to apply for a UK tourist visa from here (india) so that I can travel there during this long waiting period. I am unsure how can i make a good case for myself as I do not have a job in India nor have I been here very long. The only ties I can demonstrate is family (first cousins and aunt) and property as my father owns a house here. I don’t know if this will be an issue? I have also been to the UK in the past few years to visit and no issues. Any opinions or suggestions?

Quick question (and please forgive me if this seems silly): has the SET M form for ILR been digitized? Meaning, is this just completed online now?

I’m going to submit my ILR application this week, but I can’t tell if there is an extra form I should be submitting in addition to my documentation, or if going through the Gov.UK wizard is actually the way to complete the SET M form now.

If it’s not through the online wizard, does anyone have a link? The last SET M form I can find is from 2014, and I’m not sure if this is relevant now.

Can someone please kindly clarify?

Again, sorry if this is silly or if this has been answered before. I’ve had massive problems along the partner route (have been sent back to my home country in the past…ugh) and am just wanting to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, especially since things have changed digitally since I did my second app in 2021.

Thanks in advance!

Hie, I have been outside UK for 15 months because when we left for holiday my father took away my brp and documents( i had never been outside UK before since the issue of my brp). I did apply for a new passport and I now have an eVisa to come back. I was supposed to start uni last year. I didn't defer so that means I will have to restart the applications. My eu pre settlement status is due to expire mid next year. My father doesn't live in Uk anymore. Can I apply for a Settled status next year and explain myself, if not will they extend my pre settlement visa? I really want to study in UK, if they do will I be eligible for a student loan since my father(eu citizen) has left UK?

Hi, does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this visa? More specifically, I'm looking for what criteria needs to be met in terms of your business and investments while you are in the UK on that visa, other than your business idea being innovative, viable and scalable. Any inputs are much appreciated!

I have applied to extend my skilled worker visa and understand I can remain in the UK under 3C until a decision is made. For personal reasons, I may decide to voluntarily cancel my application and leave the UK. If I withdraw the application and my current visa has expired do I need to leave the country immediately or is there a grace period? Does that grace period begin the day my current visa expires or the day I withdraw the application?

Basically I would want to withdraw the application asap to have a better chance of getting a refund for the application and healthcare surcharge before my application is processed, but would need to work my 30 days notice at my current employer. I am not even sure if I would be legally allowed to work those 30 days after I withdraw my application?

Hi all

Can anyone clue me in on what the wait times are like for a biometrics appointment in Germany right now? Dusseldorf, Munich and Berlin are all valid options.

Thanks in advance. 😊

Edit: Apologies if I wasn't clear, I am hoping to find out how long it is taking to get an appointment not how long the appointments last. My mistake.

Hi all I recently got a job offer to work as a Nurse in the UK Im bringing my spouse and son with me,. Im wondering if my husband had a misdeminor marijuana possesion charge back in 2008( had probation for 12 mo no prison time as it was only a misdeminor) if that would affect his visa application to come with me as a dependant.

I (19M RQF7 student) didn’t have formal proof of financial codependence, so I made a 56 slide power point with pictures since 2020 for proof of relationship. I also applied under differential evidence requirement, but included finances just so there wouldn’t be delays, if they wanted to see them.

29.04.2024 - Biometrics

03.05.2024 - Application sent to home office for review

09.05.2024 - Visa acceptance letter

Hi all, i have applied for swv outside uk(india). I have been assigned to a cos letter on april 29th and where my start date is May 01,2024 and applied my visa on may 8th. My confusion is as start date is past date in my cos letter does that effect on my visa start date?

I have been assisting my partner with her Visiting Marriage Visa so we can get married in my home country (Scotland) before coming back to Canada, where we reside. We have been going through the process for a while and have our appointment booked with the VFS office this Thursday. When I was going through the Visa office document self upload section I noticed that there is a field for the TB test certificate but we had not encountered this on anything we have looked at until today. Googled it just now and from searches it seems to think it is necessary for a family visa but I am unclear if exactly that is what my partner will have since it is just a visiting marriage visa and we will be leaving within 2 weeks of arrival. I am a bit concerned about it since our appointment with the Visa Office is coming up this week and we were unaware of a TB test being needed. Has anyone gone through this themselves?

I'm an international student and I've been living in the UK since 2022, I didn't sign up for a UKVI account when I came. All my visa stuff is in order, but I'd prefer to have a UKVI account also since I don't know what's going on with the BRPs going electronic in 2025 and I saw we'll be contacted about it through our UKVI account. Went to the website but I can't figure out how to apply for an account, can anyone help me?

I am hoping to move to London with my husband (who will need a spousal visa if that matters) in a year ish, so I just started researching into visa. I’m Canadian citizen currently living in Spain. 12 years experience in tech (8 as software engineer, 4 as engineering manager). I have a good resume and interview well. I did a quick search on LinkedIn for jobs I qualify for; I think I can shoot for a low 6-figure salary.

My only concern is that I didn’t technically graduate from my university though I was like 0.5 credits away (admin error and partly my fault). I kept meaning to go back to finish my degree. But it has become one of those things that the longer I drag my feet on, the less I want to do it.

My question is whether my lack of degree is finally going to come back and bite my butt when I apply for jobs and visa for UK? Since I still have some time before I start applying for jobs, should I try to go back and get that damn degree paper?

I did do a search in this sub and I think the degree may not matter as much, but still want to ask this in case someone has more insights about this. Thanks in advance!

Please enlighten me

Hey, I came here on a student visa then got married to an Italian. She’s on EU pre settlement. But she came here after 2021. I found out I am not eligible to apply for EU settlement scheme. Is there any other way to get settlement here as a family member of an EU citizen? If not what should I do now? Im really confused.

Hi! I’m a physio on a skilled worker visa sponsored for 3 years. I’m changing employers, can anyone guide me with how much i’m supposed to pay and the process of changing sponsors/visa? Thank you!