Visit UK with British spouse

[Jude123456]

Hello,

I would like some advice on my situation.

I’m planning to visit the UK with my British spouse. My husband left the UK over a year ago to live with me in my home country. He has dual citizenship with this country. We both work full time here and intend to come back. I don’t own property to prove strong ties to my home country (aside from my bank account, utility bills and a joint rental/lease agreement for 5 years which we signed when we moved to our new home).

I will be applying for a standard visitor visa. The thing is I’ve applied twice before and gotten rejected because I could not prove strong ties. On both occasions, my husband’s family invited me (we are family friends) but I did not mention my husband on the application form. And on both refusals, the ECO wasn’t convinced I’ll be leaving the UK.

Edit: we got married here (home country) over a year ago when my husband moved.

I was wondering what I can do to make my case stronger.

I was thinking of including the following:
- cover letter explaining purpose of my visit
- cover letter from my husband explaining that we are travelling together, etc. should he mention he left his well paid job in the uk to live with me (I.e. we could have afforded the spouse visa if we wanted to)
- marriage certificate
- rental agreement and other joint utility bills
- husband’s work contract
- my work payslips etc
- joint savings account where we are depositing a fixed amount every month (each of us will deposit a fixed amount). Plan is to use this for holidays.
- travel itinerary outside the UK (we intend to travel to other countries as well)
- evidence of travel history last year

Are these documents ok?

Can I submit the joint savings account instead my individual account (we are both depositing the same fixed amount every month) and explain this is our holiday fund?

Lastly is it ok if we submit 3-4 months worth of bank statements because we recently opened the bank account for holiday fund.


Thanks

[Jude123456]

Just wanted to clarify that my last refusal was a few months before we got married.

[Ticktack]

I was thinking of including the following:
- cover letter explaining purpose of my visit That's fine
- cover letter from my husband explaining that we are travelling together, etc. should he mention he left his well paid job in the uk to live with me (I.e. we could have afforded the spouse visa if we wanted to) Not sure they care why he left or what he left behind, but you can try. No harm in that.
- marriage certificate
- rental agreement and other joint utility bills
- husband’s work contract
- my work payslips etc
- joint savings account where we are depositing a fixed amount every month (each of us will deposit a fixed amount). Plan is to use this for holidays.
- travel itinerary outside the UK (we intend to travel to other countries as well)
- evidence of travel history last year

Are these documents ok? Documents are good

Advisable to stick with 6 months statement of account, particularly your salary account, as it shows your regular income coming in. You can use all accounts you have. Joint accounts and personal accounts for the pair of you.

The tricky part always remains your last rejection. You have to address all issues raised by the ECO at the time and explain them all away. Without doing this, the ECO would always refer back to your last refusal.

[Jude123456]

Thanks, that's helpful And yes, you're right.

My issue remains is convincing them that my salary is indeed what I claim it to be and that I'm being paid cash. The last refusal was because they couldn't believe I was paid an amount (which is well above average) and there was no evidence of it going to my bank account. Add to that the fact the company I work for write payslips by hand (crazy I know sigh ).

Unfortunately, we get paid in cash and I live in a country where cash still rules so even electric, other utilities are mainly paid like this.

I guess I just need to explain that in the cover letter.

[Ticktack]

Thanks, that's helpful And yes, you're right.

My issue remains is convincing them that my salary is indeed what I claim it to be and that I'm being paid cash. The last refusal was because they couldn't believe I was paid an amount (which is well above average) and there was no evidence of it going to my bank account. Add to that the fact the company I work for write payslips by hand (crazy I know sigh ). That's not the end of the world. I'm sure your company has stamps. The accounts department can stamp the payslip and sign it to authenticate it. Then get you HR department to write you a letter addresses to the British Embassy stating that your bank slips are genuine, annual and monthly income. Add your employment letter to back it up.

Unfortunately, we get paid in cash and I live in a country where cash still rules so even electric, other utilities are mainly paid like this.

I guess I just need to explain that in the cover letter. Yes you do, but get as much as you can from your company as well. Word of mouth (in this case, word on cover paper) isn't always enough.

[Jude123456]

Much appreciated!!

The payslip did have stamps on them but you're right, I'll ensure HR explain this in the employer letter as well including the fact that I'm paid cash and why my salary seems "high" (I've been with them forever lol so salary gradually increased). Looking at the previous HR letters, they looked vague. It did not even include the dates of my travels so I can see how bad that looks. I didn't even pay attention to that before.

[lolo2]

You also can try depositing the salary in the bank account every time you get paid - preferably on the same date every month - and then use the bank statements as financial evidence, together with the corresponding payslips. That's the approach some applicants who receive payments in cash take and usually work. Official documents have more weight than self-made cover letters as pieces of evidence. Demonstrating a consistent financial situation is key for these applications as per the feedback received from UKVI on the previous rejections.

[Jude123456]

You also can try depositing the salary in the bank account every time you get paid - preferably on the same date every month - and then use the bank statements as financial evidence...

That's a good idea. I never thought of that. Thank you!!