Sponsor a U.K. visitor visa for mother-in-law – Please help where to start.

[khurram_9]

Dear All,

Any help, support and guidance regarding the following matter will be hugely appreciated.

I want to apply a “visit visa” for my mother-in-law to come visit us from Pakistan. I am a British Citizen (Passport Holder) and my wife is on a spouse visa currently into her 4.2 of 5-years route.

As we are expecting our first child, it would be nice to have her by our side to celebrate. I have been reading a lot of articles on this forum and after seeing counter-arguments I am slightly confused. I understand that some people on this forum are not in favour of mentioning the “pregnancy” aspect as the ECO (Entry Clearance Officer) can hold it against the application. For example, although not the case, it can be perceived as mother-in-law coming over to help deliver the baby that may account towards undertaking “unpaid work” whilst on a visitor visa.

It must be noted that our aim is to apply for a 6 months visa however, she will only be spending 4 – 6 weeks in the U.K. I have a full-time job (7 years with the same employer), adequate accommodation (as living free-of-charge with the family) and necessary funds to maintain her in the U.K.

Therefore, I wonder if you can assist me with the following points please.

1. Is it wise to mention “pregnancy” in the application or keep it simple as standard visit visa?
2. What documents do I need to provide as sponsor?
3. What documents does she need from Pakistan?
3.1. Since she is a house-wife, husband cash supports her monthly. She doesn’t have a bank statement.
3.2. Her husband is a recently retired government official and receives monthly pension.
3.3. Her husband also has a car business from which he draws regular monthly income.
3.4. Her husband also does a property business i.e. buying and selling property. However, the return can sometime takes long i.e. it is not a standard monthly return and leave bank statement vulnerable.
3.5. Her husband has property in his name and owns a couple of cars.
4. My mother-in-law when visiting U.K. will leave her husband in Pakistan, including her son, daughter-in-law and grandson. She also has siblings as well as mother and father that lives in Pakistan.
5. Is there anyway I can sponsor the whole trip, without even bringing my father-in-law's bank statement into question? The bottom line is, my mother-in-law is only coming for 4-6 weeks and will return back home to her life after this period.


Any timely advice on the above will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the support guys.

[waheed]

Hi Khurram,

First of all I am not an expert and also seeking the forum help

Every application will be considered on it own merits.

I am also applying for my mothers visitor visa and seniors have replied to my post general-uk-immigration-forum/family-vis ... 94892.html. Hope this will give you an idea.

Also search the posts from user Bathanza

In my view you mother need to have a bank account. She also need to show her strong ties back to Pakistan (social , economic and financial ties) to ensure the case officer that she will return to Pakistan after her visit.

Any support from your side will actually weaken the case.

In my view your father in law should sponsor her.

[khurram_9]

Hello Waheed,

Thanks for coming back to me in time. I will surely be looking at the thread you have posted and indeed, each case is decided on its own merit. However, I was hoping for my case to be pretty much straight but who knows

Basically, I am sponsoring her in a sense that she will visit me here in the U.K. and I will be providing her with the accommodation as well as her lodging expenses (nothing else). I do not support her monetarily or otherwise and she is totally dependant on her husband (my father-in-law) in Pakistan. He looks after her daily expenses as well as accommodation, food etc. He will also be providing her the flying ticket and any other expense for that matter. As for the ties, she lives in the same house hold as her husband, Son, daughter-in-law and grandson ever since she's married. They have a big family in Karachi-Pak where she has a Father, Mother, and other siblings.

Are you aware of any documents that would be needing, both from me as well as her husband for the sake of this application?

Any help is appreciated.

[waheed]

Hi Khurram,

In my view these are the documents that you should in used support of your mothers in law application from your side.

• Passport Copy
• UK Visa Copy
• Payslips (6 Months)
• Bank Statements Copy (6 Months)
• Accommodation Proof
• Utility Bills (Energy and council tax bills)
• Employment confirmation letter

Your mother in law needs to have some kind of financial activity in her account for at least 6 months to display a steady income stream. This can be committed amount either provided by her sons or if you can arrange your father in laws pension.

Again in my view without the bank account it is extremely difficult.

There needs to be outgoings from her account as well like a fair share to display that she is financially independent in her house.

Additional, documents such as property ownership, savings evidence will suffice. Also, in your sponsorship letter you can write about providing space, guarantee their timely return and bear all expenses. By all means, good reason of traveling to UK (visiting one of her daughter/family), steady income stream and details of her children/property in Pakistan will provide strong evidence of her ties back home.

Your mother in law need to know her application inside out to maintain consistency and no contradictions. For example, Things like how long she wishes to stay in UK. What you/she writes in sponsorship letter/application should tally and remember if interviewed.

For showing ties you cab get a family tree form NADRA.

One another option can be that your father in law can also accompany your mother in law and then he can bear all the expenses and his financial documents can be used in the visa application.

Hope this helps but better wait for some senior to reply and they are more knowledgeable and up to date.

[khurram_9]

Thanks a million Waheed.

I guess I will only get stuck as she doesn't have the bank statements. My understanding was since she is dependant on her husband in Pakistan, she can use his documents for the sake of this application. However, what you said means she can only use his documents if he is accompanying her to visit the U.K.?

So far, I have shortlisted the following docs. Do you have any suggestions on this please?

Documents Checklist

SPONSOR (Myself):

Financial:

1. Invitation Letter (Do I need to draft a letter of such nature).
2. Employer Letter.
3. 6 months attested pay slips.
4. Tax return of last one year (Do I need to show P45/tax return letter).
5. 6 months personal Bank Statements in which salary is credited.
6. 6 months joint bank statements (on my wife and my name) showing a saving amount.

Accommodation:

1. Landlord Letter/NOC from home owner (since living with a family).
2. Property Inspection Report (Chiltern Hill).
3. Landlord Council Tax + Utility bill (Is it needed since the property is on owner’s name).
3.1. There is no Utility bill on my name at the minute.

Additional Docs:

1. Copy of my British passport.
2. Copy of our Marriage certificate (English Translation).
3. Copy of my wife’s resident permit. (Is it needed)
4. Proof of address i.e. O2, Nationwide, GP etc. (Do we need to provide these details?).
1. Maintenance letter from myself confirming maintaining MIL on her trip to the U.K.


APPLICANT / VISITOR (My Mother-In-Law):

Financial: Since my mother-in-law (MIL) is dependent on my father-in-law (FIL), a recently retired government official, what possible documents can we provide to cover the financial aspect. Is there anyway, I can cover the whole thing i.e. not showing the statements at all?

1. Business registration documents, confirming business owner’s name and the date the business started trading. My FIL is a documented partner of a state agency business.
2. 6 months personal Bank Statements of primary bank account.
3. Tax returns of last one year (if any).
4. Property documents owned in Pakistan (all the documents should translate in English).
5. Valuation/assessment report of properties from reputable estate agent on official letterhead with official stamp.
6. Personal Car's Document.
7. Valuation/assessment report of cars from reputable showroom on official letterhead/stamp
8. Saving certificates/Bonds (instant available/cashable).

Additional Docs:

2. Complete Visa application form with declaration.
3. Copy of Pakistani passport.
4. Copy of marriage certificate (English Translation).
5. Utility Bills on FILs name.
6. NADRA Family Tree. Do we need details of applicant’s Father, Mother and Siblings?
7. Reservation of Tickets for proposed date. (Is it mandatory/necessary).
8. Travel Insurance (Is it mandatory/necessary).
9. Maintenance letter from FIL confirming maintaining MIL and that he will maintain trip.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

[waheed]

Hi Khurram,

I am in the same boat,

I have not applied for mothers visa and will apply shortly once I am comfortable.

My father passed away few years ago and mother have invested in Bahbood saving certificate.
but her bank account was not running at all the Household expenses were done by my late father.
In our culture and as normally in a traditional Asian house wives depend on their husbands and sons earnings so to need to have a bank account.


She can apply now but chances of rejection are too high , so I thought its better to be safe than sorry, so instead of my brothers contributing towards the household expenses in cash , now they transfer the money in mothers account. (They will also attach their bank statement in support of mothers visa application along with mothers bank statement)

Mother instead of receiving the profit from saving certificates in cash now she gets the amount transferred in her bank account, this way her account balance is building up and she is spending the money form her bank account.

I will wait for at least few months more before my mothers account is running and in a a good position.

Your documents seems fine to me but for your MIL side documents I have no idea.

My suggestion is to wait for some senior to reply as they will comment whether its OK to apply without the bank account.

or

If you want to take a chance you can but need a very strong cover letter like Bathanza did,

Hope it helps.

Thanks

[khurram_9]

Thanks Waheed. It looks like no one has replied to my request which is quite upsetting.

You mentioned about the cover note from Bathanza, do you happen to have his thread/link please? I want to see what's been suggested in that thread.

Cheers

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

Visitor visas are not an exact science. However, there are some usual refusal arguments often brought forward by the Home Office. You want to be proactive and avoid getting within the scope of those refusal reasons.

You can always apply with her husband's bank details. But I have seen refusals formulated around the lines "While I am satisfied that your husband earns such and such money, it's ultimately your own personal circumstances that I am considering in the context of this application...". If the Case Worker pulls that card, your application is dead in the water.

I know that in Pakistan many women, especially elderly, don't need or have a bank account. However, as you are in the UK and there will be occasions for her to visit you, it might worth considering to open a bank account for her there. So rather than using cash, she can use a bank account so she will have a demonstrable income.

But the situation is what it is. You can't make it different. Just add a support letter explaining the purpose of her trip and be honest. There is no need to hide that your wife is pregnant. Helping family is not working illegally. Otherwise if a visitor prepares a breakfast for you, the Home Office can arrest you all

Just send the application and hope for the best. It seems on the weak side to me but it still something worth trying.

[khurram_9]

Hello Zerubbabel,

I appreciate your reply. As you rightly stated, it all depends on which side of the argument ECO is accepting. The fact is that she is maintained by her husband from day one for all the Worldly aspects. Having said that, she does have an account however it has not been materialised adequately. Again, due to the culture for a house-wife in Pakistan it is very much common.

As you said, in a given situation the only logical thing to do is to go with my father-in-laws bank statement and hope for the best. This beg the question as to what additional docs she needs from her husband. do you have any suggestions? I have shortlisted a lot of potential docs that can accompany the application but I very much doubt that we need to have all of them?

Also, is there a title of the cover note I am required to make? Is there any sample available on t his forum?

Any help is very much appreciated.