Dear Triple H,

I'm about to submit my husband's papers in for his family visit visa application and just want to run a few details over with you first to make sure I haven’t missed anything important.

My husband holds a Philippines passport. I'm a British Citizen who has been living in Hong Kong for the past 11 years. We got married last year (in the Philippines), after which he moved over to Hong Kong on a dependant visa to be with me.

I'm planning to take a trip back to UK next month, and want him to accompany me. We'll only be staying for 2 weeks. The main reasons I want him to come with me are really to meet my UK family members and friends, and for him to experience a bit of the UK (it will be his first trip there). As his salary couldn't afford him this trip, I’m sponsoring him financially for the whole cost of the trip, except for accommodations which will be provided by a friend of mine as I don’t own any properties in the UK. My parents’ home don’t meet the number of rooms and overcrowding criteria for adequate accommodations. My friend is not going to charge us for the 2 weeks stay at her place. She has stated this in her letter offering accommodations to us. As supporting evidence, she has also given me a letter from her solicitor (addressed to her) confirming ownership of the property, her council tax and her surveyor’s valuation report (fax copy only) confirming number of bedrooms in her flat.

My questions are: -

1. Are the documents I have mentioned sufficient to comply with the accommodations requirement if someone else other than the sponsor is providing the accommodations? If not, please advise what additional documents are needed.

2. Alternatively, we would consider staying at a B&B. The only thing is, I don’t want to pay for deposit for reservations until we know for sure that my husband can go to the UK. I'd like to know if we stayed at a B&B, would it be sufficient evidence of accomodation arrangements if we have just email confirmations of availability and room rates for the period of stay?

3. We have been married for just over a year. I'm not sure if this matters or not, but is it necessary to provide evidence of marriage, i.e. marriage certificate, and death certificate of his first wife (as proof of legality of our marriage)? And do we need to provide wedding photos as well?

4. My husband has 3 children from his first marriage. All three children still lives in the Philippines and are looked after by their maternal grandfather. They won't be travelling with us on this trip, but they are however his dependants. As the sponsor, I will be attaching my bank statements with the application. There are sufficient funds in the account for us to take this trip without serious impact on our financial resources. Is there anything else we need to include with regards to the children?

5. Will the fact that my husband has moved to Hong Kong recently have any bearings on the ECO’s decision to approve the visa application?

6. I've seen Kaitain mention submitting "notorised" copy of his passport. Is this the same as a "Certified True Copy" from my solicitor, or should it be from some other recognised authority. How do I get a notorised copy. Lastly, I would like to know if the ECO returns all our original documents to us after checking them for authenticity.

I apologise for being a nit-picker but its just that I know if we don't get it right the first time, its going to affect any future applications to the UK for my husband. I'd really appreciate it if you (or anyone out there) can shed some light on the subject. We're hoping to have all supporting documents ready for submission by the end of this week. The application will be lodged at the British-Consulate in Hong Kong as we're both living there at present.

Many thanks & regards,
Bubbles

 

Thanks for your reassurance Triple H.

I know its only for 2 weeks. I'm concerned because I want to move back to UK with him next year. We intend to start the spouse visa application in February 2007. Anything he puts down now will be in UK Immigration's record. I just don't want to do anything that will affect the chance of success for that. Only reason we're taking this trip, is because there's a really cheap deal going with one of the airlines. And, this would be the chance for him to see the place for himself before we make the big move.

Is that to say proving adequate accommodation according to the rule doesn't apply here?