Fiance Visa Fun

[lizzy90]

Like many other people on this discussion board I'm in the middle of applying for a fiance visa. My Fiance is from the UK and I'm a New Zealander.

I do have a couple of queries that I hope can be answered.

My Fiance and I have made a concious decision not to live together before marriage - we will have to supply evidence of our relationship, which is so far is written correspondence & photos - is there any other forms of evidence that anyone else can suggest?

And what is considered proof of funds? I'm assuming that its providing enough money to live on until applying for the spouse visa which then allows you to work. Which say is a minimum of a month (eg after arriving on fiance visa, applying for marriage and then getting married) - how much should I allow for living in London??

Any help or hints would be greatly appreciated

[darksquid]

hi lizzy, it's been a couple of years since I went through the process, but I assume they're still looking for the same sort of proof.

There is absolutely no requirement to have lived together prior to obtaining the fiancee visa. However, you must show that you have physically MET at least once. I assume this is to weed out arranged marriages. I submitted far more than I needed, I think! I'm sure a few photos of you together (dates and places written on the back might help), plane ticket stubs, phonebills, emails/letters, hotel receipts, etc will all support your application.

As far as proof of funds, submit original bank statements to prove savings and income. (I submitted both or our original bank statements and payslips for the 6 months prior to my application) It doesn't have to be a huge amount. In fact, I know people who have been successful with less than 1,000 GBP savings between them. As long as there is some indication of regular income by your British partner, it should be fine. I also submitted my CV to show I was willing and able to find employment upon receiving my FLR. If you are worried at all about proof of funds, you can specify a sponsor (like your fiance's parents) who will be willing to submit bank statements and say they will help out if they need to. But that really shouldn't be necessary unless your fiancee isn't working or is receiving benefits.

Also, you might want to submit some sort of evidence that you have booked or are in the process of booking your wedding/civil ceremony. As they will be expecting you to get hitched within 6 months, they will want to know that you have made plans to that effect.

Um, what else...

Oh yeah, they will want to know what sort of living arrangements have been planned. My husband (then fiance) hadn't yet found us a rental yet when I submitted my application, so I said we would be living with his parents. They sent me a copy of their mortgage agreement, and wrote a letter saying it was fine for me to live with them. You must have a bedroom to yourself, and if you are renting, you must submit permission from the landlord, and a copy of the rental agreement if possible.

I hope that helps a little bit! Good luck and don't worry - it sounds so much more daunting than it really is.

[lizzy90]

Thank you so much for your information - it does make it less daunting when you have somebody to talk to that has been through it.

So I'll be off to apply in the next few weeks and hopefully I'll be full swing into the finer details of a wedding!

Thanks again

Lizzy

[mooncalf]

Is your fiance coming to NZ for the visa application or are they going to send all the documents to you? If so they will need to get certified copies of things like passports which neiother of you are likely to want to send in the post. I went with my fiancee to the Wellington High Comission and I think that really helped our application!

Good luck...and once you get your fiancee visa make sure you read the info on the spose and then settlement. We left the settlement one a little too late and that wasn't fun at all!

[lizzy90]

Unfortunately I will heading off to the Wellington High Commission by myself, however I did check with them and if HO sites my Fiance's passport and sends certified copies to Wellington its all good.

Yes finding out about the spouse fees after getting married was a nice surprise - I'm glad I checked it out before hand!

Thanks so much for your reply - what was the interview process like in Wellington?

[mooncalf]

Unfortunately I will heading off to the Wellington High Commission by myself, however I did check with them and if HO sites my Fiance's passport and sends certified copies to Wellington its all good.

Yes finding out about the spouse fees after getting married was a nice surprise - I'm glad I checked it out before hand!

Thanks so much for your reply - what was the interview process like in Wellington?

We had submitted our application via the website the night before we set off to Wellington from Auckland by Car and took the scenic route via Rotorua. So our application was already there. We got to the visa office around 10am two days later. And since they only work half day we should have really got there at 8am. So I advise you do. We were lucky we managed to get in the building and once they close the doors who is in they deal with and thats that for the day.

Make sure you have all your paperwork nicely filed in sections. Think of it as a well presented school report! Use dividers to clearly mark what is what (include a copy of your updated CV as well). I had a letter from my mum to prove she was happy with it all and for us to live with her after the wedding in the house.

Our folder had a copy of the application form first (essential to print it from the website with the case file number) . followed by ID followed by financial then other supporting letters. I had looked at a wedding venue and got a letter from them with a provisional price as proof also. And then we just had photos card letters emails phone bills all batched up in the back of the folder. We had met on the internet so had chat logs as well. They looked thru it all then went to the back office and came back and asked us when she wanted to travel. I told them my return date and that I wanted her to come with me. She then went back to the back office then came back and said they said they would post a decision by the time I was to fly which was about a week from that day. Oh they also asked for the fee and courier thing to send back all the proof. I think they just asked her a few questions but I don't remember it being anything painful.

HTH

Mooncalf