Sponsorship Undertaking Form - SU07/12

[DuncLua]

Good afternoon,

I am looking for some advice please regarding the Sponsorship Undertaking form - SU07/12.

I'm a British Citizen, working and living in Angola with my wife and 2 year old son. My wife is Angolan (married for over 3 years now) and our son (born in Angola) has a British Passport.
We have decided to move to the UK and I am currently collating all the required supporting documents to apply for my wife's Spouse Visa. As I do not yet have an official job offer (just a verbal agreement with a rival company manager) for my return to the UK, I will be using evidence of my bank account savings to cover the maintenance requirements. For the accomodation requirements, I own an apartment which is currently being rented out but the current tenants have since been provided with the 2 month letter of eviction, so will be empty on our return and used as our place to live.

We plan to submit the visa application in Angola and if successful we will all leave Angola and enter the UK at the same time as a family. However while reading through the forms required I came upon the Sponsorship Undertaking Form. I notice in this form that it states:
"The sponsor giving this undertaking must be resident in the United Kingdom (see Note 1)".
As I have been living in Angola for over the past 3 years, this is not exactly true for me. However as I own the apartment with a current ongoing mortgage payment, am I covered in this aspect?
Also, the form requires my employers company name, address and postcode. The company I work for is international and has offices in the UK but I am employed as an international assignee, so through the Angolan office. If I fill in the address of the Angolan office am I not then contradicting the previous statement regarding the resident in the UK requirement?

I am thinking that there must have been a lot of cases similar to mine where a family all leave one country together to enter the UK so hoping that some advice can be given with regards to the Sponsorship form.

I will be providing a covering letter with regards to all the documents, our relationship as well as all the other visa evidence so perhaps the letter would negate the requirement for including the Sponsorship form, or is it a neccesity?

Thank you as ever for any help or advice.

[DuncLua]

Hi,
I have sent a question direct to Visa4UK regarding the Supporting document.

For Mortagage Statements being used as proof for future accomodation, do they fall under the category of requiring to be within 28 days of the visa application? My current annual Mortgage statement for the appartment I own is dated up until October 2014. A request has been made for an updated statement but it is taking forever to arrive and I fear may not arrive in time before other documents become outdated.

Thanks.

[michali]

Not sure I can help with all your questions but are you sure you need the Sponsorship form when applying from Angola? It is mainly used for dependent visas but I know some countries seem to require them. In any case, even though you are not presently in the UK, you, as a UKC, are considered settled there, so no problem there. We also used a property that we had rented out and gave notice to our tenants to vacate so we could use the property as our residence. Not sure about mortgage statements but have you downloaded the registry document to show the propert is yours from the Land Registry website? It costs £3.

[Rayking]

If you haven't got letter of employment to start a job within three month,I'm afraid your application will be refused.
The mortgage statement is to proof your accommodation and that you own the place,hasn't got anything to do with proofs of financial requirements.
You don't need sponsorship undertaken form,but if you're in doubt,just fill one and take it along,it won't hurt your application.

[DuncLua]

Hi michali,

Thank you very much for that. I did not know that the registry document could be downloaded. I have now paid for the Land Registry document and should have it sent to me by e-mail within the next 24 hours. It was a bit more expensive for Scotland though, £21 in total, michty me! That combined with my mortgage statement and valuation description report should hopefully cover the accomodation side of the application.

Hi RayKing,

I am covering the financial side of the application by including my bank statements and payslips which will prove that I exceed the required £62,500 in cash savings for the visa application. As far as I am aware (please correct me if I have misunderstood), this total does not require me to have an immediate job offer in the UK in place? I would be grateful if you could please confirm this with me as soon as possible as only yesterday I had a discussion with my manager in Angola and was offered a continuation of work here but on a monthly rotators position, with my home based being the UK. If the job offer is indeed required then I will request a written job agreement from them as soon as possible so it can be included with the visa application.
Thank you also for the advice regarding the Sponsorship form. You are correct, there should hopefully be no harm in including it as well.

A little bit strange, I look to take my Angolan wife and family out of Angola to live in the UK, but then it seems that I will then turn around and return there for work! Such is life.

Thank you again for the ongoing help and advice.

[michali]

Once you can show savings of at least £62,500 held in a readily accessible account for at least the past six months, you do not need to show evidence of a job when you come to the UK. You must declare the source of the savings. All our accounts are in joint names so we both wrote a declaration. We just wrote that is was an accumulation from salary and wrote details of my husbands job. Some people advise you to include statements over a period of time showing the money being added to savings but we no longer had that evidence and our declaration appears to have been acceptable. If any of the savings have been gifted to you you must enclose evidence of this. A letter from the donor stating that it is a gift and not a loan and bank statements showing the funds leaving their account and entering your account.

Once you are using the Savings category, it is not advisable to include any other income, salary etc as this just confuses the application.

Wow! You pay much more for the land registry document in Scotland! However, it is a worthwhile document to have, as it gives useful information on your property.

[DuncLua]

Thanks again michali for the great advice and info.
All my savings have been from my 6 years working in Angola so all through my job and I should be getting the official bank statements delivered next week from a colleague. I'll be sure to add the declaration though.

Cheers!

[michali]

All the best with your application!

[DuncLua]

Thanks for the good wishes michali, however it looks like we won't be able to put in the application as my wife missed out on the required English A1 entry level by 6%. I just read the results just now.

She was concerned about the listening part due to the recordings they had to listen to being very low in volume and not very clear. She was fine with the reading, writing and talking but this was the part that lowered her overall score.
The ironic things is she speaks and listens to me, a Scotsman, every day and has no problems understanding me! That's just a small piece of humour during a low point.

I'm not sure if there's any room for appeal given the small margin? Up until 6 months ago Angolans were exempt from having to sit the exam due to the lack of a certified exam centre. Now they have an exam centre but one with a dodgy stereo system.

[DuncLua]

Hi,

I am currenty looking into a Plan B, with possibly a Plan C and maye even a Plan D to get around my wife missing out on the English language exam A1 mark by 6%.

Could you please give me advice regarding applying for a British Passport when in the UK on a UK Visitors Visa?
If we remai in Angola and have the baby here then I am thinking of getting an Angolan passport for the baby and also a 6 month UK Visitor Visa and then once we are in the UK, applying for a British Passport for our child. Does anyone know if there would be any problems related to this?

Of course, this is based on my wife by then succesfully passing her English exam and also having her UK Spouse Visa in place as well.

For the record, I am a British Citizen and our first child was born in Angola but it took around 6 months to get his British Passport approved and delivered and we do not have a similar amount of time this time around due to the move to the UK and job change.

Thanks.

[gaskellpuppy]

Hi everyone
My husband and I are currently living in Turkey for the past 3 years but plan to move to the UK into a house I own there
We are on our second application made in Istanbul on the 31 St March 2015 as he was refused due to invalid language test in January.on the refusal letter it stated that all other requirements were met ie financial,relationship etc.he has now taken and passed a test which appears on the gov UK list
I received a phone call from Sheffield on 10th April checking sponsorship which seemed odd as on previous application was rung by Istanbul-----has anyone else experienced this???since which time we have heard nothing
I'm concerned why it is taking longer than the previous time to process the application as surely they have already done all the verification checks the previous time and just need to update them???
I'm also worried that they retained my original bank statements previously so I had to send Internet banking statements this time which couldn't get stamped as I haven't been to the UK
However my understanding is that as I am in receipt of pensions i am only required to show one bank statement proving payment into my account and in fact did not need to provide 12 months statements at all----is this correct???
It's getting urgent now as my own residence status in Turkey runs out next week and overstaying leads to bans and large fines is there any way to contact Istanbul to expedite the decision???
Thanks xxxxx

[SoHopeful]

Hi everyone
My husband and I are currently living in Turkey for the past 3 years but plan to move to the UK into a house I own there
We are on our second application made in Istanbul on the 31 St March 2015 as he was refused due to invalid language test in January.on the refusal letter it stated that all other requirements were met ie financial,relationship etc.he has now taken and passed a test which appears on the gov UK list
I received a phone call from Sheffield on 10th April checking sponsorship which seemed odd as on previous application was rung by Istanbul-----has anyone else experienced this???since which time we have heard nothing
Many countries now have applications processed in Sheffield now. Only priority applications are done in the actual country if this arrangement is in place.
I'm concerned why it is taking longer than the previous time to process the application as surely they have already done all the verification checks the previous time and just need to update them???
I dont't think it's just matter of updating - to UKVI it's a whole new process.
I'm also worried that they retained my original bank statements previously so I had to send Internet banking statements this time which couldn't get stamped as I haven't been to the UK
However my understanding is that as I am in receipt of pensions i am only required to show one bank statement proving payment into my account and in fact did not need to provide 12 months statements at all----is this correct???
Yes - along with a letter from the pension provider at least one statement in the 12 months prior to application is required.
It's getting urgent now as my own residence status in Turkey runs out next week and overstaying leads to bans and large fines is there any way to contact Istanbul to expedite the decision???
Thanks xxxxx

You could have a look on the site for Turkey to see if it's possible to pay for your application to be prioritised but if they called April 10th it could be any time now. Is there any way you could look into extending your residence? If not, your spouse would have to wait until the outcome and you return to the UK.

[gaskellpuppy]

Thanks so hopeful
Can't extend my residence as Turkey itself has a whole new very complicated process which also costs quite a lot although have considered it!!!!also most of the documents I need to get residence in Turkey are (u guessed it with the UK visa office) lol
Looks like will just have to keep fingers crossed that they process it soon although the Istanbul processing figures for April were the worst I've seen in the last 3 years
Thanks for confirming my thoughts on pension requirements----they were sent a recent letter from nhs pensions confirming my pensions and tax paid since 2010,p60,and as it is a government pension is easy to check luckily
I've buried them under paperwork this time lol
Thanks again

[DuncLua]

Hi All,

This may or may not be a stupid question but...does the VAF4A form for a Spouse/Settlement visa application need to be printed double sided or single leaf?

Thanks.

[CR001]

It doesn't matter, either will be acceptable.

[DuncLua]

Thanks for the quick reply and info CR001.

Cheers

[DuncLua]

Hi again,

A couple more questions please on the 28 day ruling for supporting documents.

We have just completed the online application for my wife's Spouse visa so it shows as being dated 28th Mya 2015. However the soonest appointment we could get for the actual visa submission at the British Embassy in Luanda is for the 15th of June. Do the supporting documents need to be dated within 28 days of the online application completion (28th May)? Or for the actual appointment date? (15th June)

Also, I own an apartment in the UK that we will be using for the accomodation aspect. I had a home survey report completed in March 2015 and was planning to submit this along with the Land Registry title deeds (downloaded last week) as evidence. However I am worried that the 28 days ruling also applies to the home survey report?
Should I just submit the Land Registry document along with a utility bill or do they need proof of the actual size of the accomodation? It would be difficult to get an updated report done at this stage.

Thanks.

[gaskellpuppy]

Hi
I've just received notification that my husbands settlement visa has been successful on the second attempt
He was turned down on the first attempt as language certificate was invalid!!!!
Noting the questions u have asked-
1) u cannot apply for a spouse visa by converting from a visitors visa,your wife will need to leave the country and apply at home.wouldnt recommend trying this either as they could consider it deception which may lead to a ban!!!!would also impact any future visit visa applications u make if decide against permanent relocation
2)sponsor needs to be a UK citizen or a person with permanent residence in the UK.I have acted as my gusbands sponsor and we have been living in Turkey for the last 3 years and will be entering th UK together
3)do not apply without a valid language certificate----it is an automatic refusal and u would not win an appeal!!!
Your wife needs to take the test again and pass or it means wasting a lot of money and puts a refusal on her passport!!!!
4)I used land registry document,and house survey to prove accommodation available.u can highlight mortgage payments on your bank statements to prove payment history as well as letter from your mortgage company
5)if u have the required savings in the bank for a period over 6 months u do not need a job offer in the UK although having one would improve your application
Best wishes for your application

[DuncLua]

Hi gaskellpuppy,

Thanks for the info and good wishes.
I've had a few updates to our scenario since starting this thread.

We returned to Angola from the UK on the 23rd May to specifically make her Spouse Visa Application, so are doing it from within her own country. Her current Visitor's Visa will expire on the 21st June so we expect the Spouse Visa to be preocessed after that date given the 15th June submission date.

My wife passed the english exam when in the UK and she has the required certificate.

I am a UK citizen although we have been living together in Angola for the past 3 years. We plan to travel together (with our 2 children, both British passport holders) to the UK once my wife has her visa.

My apartment in the UK was being rented out but is now available and we'll be using that for the accomodation coverage.

My only concern now really is the validity of the Home Survey Report done in March. All other documents, letters from employee, payslips, bank statements etc etc I think we should have covered.

Cheers.

[gaskellpuppy]

Hi again dunclue
Had a few more thoughts!!!!
You will count as your wife's sponsor as she will not be supporting herself or be entitled to state support so you do need to complete sponsorship form(they will also ring u to make sure u r genuine!!!)it is also a good idea to write a letter of support explaining your relationship,plans on coming to the UK reiterating your willingness to provide for all her needs,and that you plan to live together permanently!!!!
Don't forget to complete the appropriate appendix re finances which u download from the website and complete in pen!!!!
Best wishes for your application and future together xxx