Our situation - about to apply for settlement visa

[alanakaja1980]

Ok so here is our situation in full:

At the beginning of March my husband (US citizen) will eventually apply for his settlement visa. I am his sponsor and I am the BC. By March we will have all the possible supporting documents gathered and ready to be sent away.

I am currently unemployed (even though I am still trying to get temp work up until my due date) and am currently receiving jobseekers allowance. I am pregnant and am due in June, so from 11 weeks before my due date my jobseekers allowance claim will cease to exist and I will hopefully be able to claim for income support. I hope to have around £2500 in my savings account by March, and will probably have a few hundred pounds sitting in my current account. My outgoings every month only consist of one loan payment which is just over £100. I have no rent or council tax as I am staying with my Mum.

My husband is currently working as a self employed taxi driver in USA and is earning around $1000 per week and will have around $10,000 savings by March. He also has a job offer for his return to the UK, in which we have a letter to confirm this from the company, to send off with the other supporting documents.

My Mum is willing to give us any additional financial support as well as rent-free accommodation at her 3 bed house (she is the sole occupant). We will of course be sending away relevant supporting documents to confirm this.

What I want to know is if anyone else has been in the same or close to the same situation as us, ie the sponsor being unemployed. I would love to hear fellow posters stories or opinions on this.

[alanakaja1980]

Also, once we are ready to submit his application I will let you all know what documents we are sending and will keep you all informed of the process and outcome.

[alanakaja1980]

Thought I would keep you all updated on our situation. I am still unemployed on jobseekers allowance and am currently 26 weeks pregnant. I have over £6000 in savings account. My husband is still currently working in the USA.

Tomorrow I will be sending all the supporting documents over to my husband in the USA for his settlement visa application. I have put everything together in a binder in seperate sections (13 different sections in total) This is what I am sending;

- Supporting letter from applicant

Section 1: Applicants current and previous passports
-current passport
-previous passport
-1 passport photo

Section 2: Evidence of applicants marital status
-original + copy of marriage certificate
-original + copy of previous divorce certificate

Section 3: Evidence of applicants current employment
-letter from employer
-daily logs showing earnings (he is a self employed driver)
- applicant's CV

Section 4: Evidence of applicants finances
-bank statement
-UK job offer letter
-photos of applicants property overseas

Section 5: Evidence of relationship between applicant and sponsor
-copy of marriage certificate
-letter from sponsor
-original + copy of sponsors birth certificate
-travel itineraries showing previous travel between USA and UK
-travel itineraries showing previous travel together
-skype transcripts
-photographs (not inc wedding)
-copies of cards from special occasions (not inc wedding)
-other correspondence between applicant and sponsor

Section 6: Evidence of sponsors immigration status
-original UK passport + copy of bio data page
-copy of marriage certificate (due to passport being in maiden name)

Section 7: Evidence of sponsors employment status
-copy of jobseekers allowance agreement
-copy of P60
-Sponsors CV
-copy of jobs sponsors has applied for in UK

Section 8: Evidence of sponsors finances (inc 3rd part financial support)
-6 months bank statements
-saving account statements
-copy of loan agreement
-letter of 3rd party financial support
-6 months banks statements from 3rd party
-6 months payslips from 3rd party
-saving account statement from 3rd party
-copy of employment contract from 3rd party

Section 9: Our wedding
-copy of marriage certificate
-copy of wedding vows
-wedding photos
-copy of wedding cards

Section 10: Proposed accommodation
-supporting letter from sponsors mother
-copy of mortgage statement
-copy of council tax statement
-copy of utility bills
-photos of proposed accommodation

Section 11: Evidence of co-habition between applicant and sponsor
-copy of previous apartment lease agreement
-copy of previous joint bank account statements
-copy of previous joint bank account agreement
-copies of correspondence addressed to both applicant and sponsor at same address

Section 12: Letter of support
-supporting letter from sponsors sister
-supporting letter from friend of sponsor and applicant

Section 13: Additional information
-copy of letter from hospital confirming pregnancy
-copy of scan photo

Now I know that this seems too much to send but we do not want to take a chance this time. We have already been through this process in USA and my visa was rejected, so we do not want to leave anything out. We will be sending the original copy of our marriage certificate along with my original birth certificate and passport (as well as copies of them). I'm not sure if they require my passport but I don't need it for the time being so we may as well send that just in case.

I will keep you all updated on how it goes. I hope my information above gives others a help when they are preparing their documents for this type of visa.

[alanakaja1980]

As I have posted in another thread, my husband's application was approved today and his visa has been issued.

Here is our timeline;

8th March 2011 - Applied online for settlement visa
21st March 2011 - Biometric appointment
22nd March 2011 - Sent off supporting documents to NYC consulate
31st March 2011 - Email from NYC consulate stating supporting documents sent to wrong office, supporting documents forwarded to LA consulate
5th April 2011 - Email from LA consulate confirming receipt of application
7th April 2011 - Email from LA consulate confirm approval of application and issue of visa

Feel free to post this thread as a sticky. I'm sure it will give advice and hope to others who are in the same situation as my husband and I.

[batleykhan]

Congratulation on your success. I am glad it worked out for you in end