Spouse visa questions

[corum99]

Hi,

With regard to fiance visa's, the UKBA guidance says they will only accept print outs of online bank statements if the account is online only.

I have a regular current account with a high street bank and switched to online statements years ago. The bank informs me that it is impossible to get backdated 'original' statements, only printouts of the online statements. I can however switch back to monthly paper statements but that means I will have to wait another six months to have enough for the application.

Will the UKBA accept printouts if they are stamped and signed by the bank do you think?

[Amber]

Hi,

With regard to fiance visa's, the UKBA guidance says they will only accept print outs of online bank statements if the account is online only.

I have a regular current account with a high street bank and switched to online statements years ago. The bank informs me that it is impossible to get backdated 'original' statements, only printouts of the online statements. I can however switch back to monthly paper statements but that means I will have to wait another six months to have enough for the application.

Will the UKBA accept printouts if they are stamped and signed by the bank do you think?

Certified print outs should be acceptable.

[johnj1]

Hi,

With regard to fiance visa's, the UKBA guidance says they will only accept print outs of online bank statements if the account is online only.

I have a regular current account with a high street bank and switched to online statements years ago. The bank informs me that it is impossible to get backdated 'original' statements, only printouts of the online statements. I can however switch back to monthly paper statements but that means I will have to wait another six months to have enough for the application.

Will the UKBA accept printouts if they are stamped and signed by the bank do you think?

Your problem here will just take only a phone call or otherwise, you can walk in to one of your bank branches and tell them what you need the original bank statements for, this might incur small charges but I am sure they will send it to your home address within 5 working days. Otherwise, if they can print them out for you at the bank, stamp and sign it, this will be acceptable. Good luck

[corum99]

Unfortunately I have already spoken to the branch and they told me straight that if you received online statements it is not possible to get backdated 'original' bank statements, period. All they can offer is printouts which they are happy to stamp and sign.

I also spoke to the helpline who promised to send me 'original' statements, but when they arrived there was a covering letter and printouts of online statements.

So no, it is not possible to get old 'original' bank statements if you are registered to receive online statements, at least as far as Barclays are concerned.

I have now registered to receive monthly paper statements again but this wont come into effect until 1 June onwards.

I do hope that stamped and signed printed statements will be acceptable but would like to hear a few more views and experiences on this please.

[LankanFunkin]

All they can offer is printouts which they are happy to stamp and sign.

And as D4109125 and johnj1 pointed out, thats fine. UKBA will accept this. My wife banks with Barclays, and we had no problem submitting these.

[corum99]

Ok that does sound promising, especially the fact that you've actually gone through the process using electronic statements. I think what D4109125 was saying was that original statements could be obtained from the bank, which unfortunately is incorrect for Barclays if you have registered for electronic statements. All they sent me were printouts that I could have done myself at home. Not printed on controlled stationery etc.

My concern came about due to the following clause found on the UKBA website in relation to bank statements. Note the fact that in relation to online statements it suggests they will only be accepted for online accounts. The clause states they must

(v) be:

(1) on official bank stationery; or
(2) electronic bank statements from an online account (defined as one that operates solely over the internet and sends bank statements to its customers electronically) which are either accompanied by a letter from the bank on its headed stationery confirming that the documents are authentic or which bear the official stamp of the issuing bank on every page.

Anyway I appreciate all and any comments/experiences, its all good.

[abidabzhussain]

i ordered my last statement by calling barclays support number , as i could not wait for the original normal statement sent on monthly basis , as it would have made my payslips out of 28 days policy...


barclays sent me a cover letter on controlled stationery , barclays headed , saying that the next page showing account details name transaction is authentic and accurately display account status and balance....


barclays would never send colored original statements , trust me i did my best to get colored ones out of them but they will tell you , they cant process such request on the system....

hence i sent the black and white statement along with a cover letter which was sent by barclays within 5 days of ordering it on the phone.

[corum99]

Hi abidabzhussain.

Did the UKBA accept the copies or are you still waiting to hear?

[abidabzhussain]

Hi abidabzhussain.

Did the UKBA accept the copies or are you still waiting to hear?

I sent 5 original and one bank statement sent by bank in mail with a cover letter ....

barclays kept telling me this is accepted by home office also the home office rules state , anything which comes with a cover letter from bank is accepted...

also i put in a letter explaining , how i could not wait for the monthly bank statement and had to order one by calling barclays ....

another thing to note is that , the black n white page showing account details and transaction is not in the same format as you print online or from the bank machine... which makes it look more authentic as one which is printed by bank .....

[deleted_user]

corum99 what bank are you dealing with? So other members know to close their account and move away from it.

From Barclays Q&A: http://ask.barclays.co.uk/help/online_b ... _duplicate

[corum99]

corum99 what bank are you dealing with? So other members know to close their account and move away from it.

From Barclays Q&A: http://ask.barclays.co.uk/help/online_b ... _duplicate

Yeah I came across that page on the Barclay's site myself a couple weeks back when doing some research.

[Sahib]

Corum99, does your duplicate statement have your name incuding home address with post code, account number and sort code?
I bellieve this is one of things mentioned on guidelines to have above.
Others can rectify me if am wrong.

[abidabzhussain]

Corum99, does your duplicate statement have your name incuding home address with post code, account number and sort code?
I bellieve this is one of things mentioned on guidelines to have above.
Others can rectify me if am wrong.

Agreed...

The ones you print at home or branch dont have these details.

But the one sent by bank along with cover letter has all this on top of the page showing transactions. Only differ is its black n white along with a colored cover letter from bank (barclays)

[corum99]

Corum99, does your duplicate statement have your name incuding home address with post code, account number and sort code?
I bellieve this is one of things mentioned on guidelines to have above.
Others can rectify me if am wrong.

Hi,

No the duplicates sent through the post do not show my home address and post code (other than on the covering letter), although the other information you mention is present on the copy statements.
They are clearly printouts from a web page as they have a web url printed on the bottom of each page. At the top left of each page is printed 'BAE010 View Entries'. They look nothing like an original paper statement and have no barclays logo etc on them, even in black and white. They are simply the same as what I could have done at home, only with a covering letter.

[Sahib]

This is so annoying, i don't know why Barclays can not issue duplicate bank statements, i think almost every other bank in UK can issue duplicate copies which are exact image of originals without any problems.

1- Did anyone else contacted Barcalsys and successfully received copies?
2- Did anyone submitted the copies in the format mentioned in this thread and was that acceptable by HO?

Can this not be highlighted to Barclays in the form of email along with copy of UKBA guidance notes, they might listen this way?

[abidabzhussain]

I submitted my application with 5 normal and one order statement with cover letter... Lets see what happens.

As per ukba guidelines a statement along with cover letter is accepted.

[Sahib]

Thanks abidabzhussain for sharing with us.

Anyone else please who submited Barclays duplicate statements with cover letter for Tier1 or ILR application within UK, please share your experience.

[corum99]

Update:

I used Barclarys online messaging system to send in a complaint (to ensure it got their attention), explaining everything that had occurred and that original statements were needed for a UKBA application and that £1000 would be lost if it was rejected.

A few days later I received a phone call from the bank and they then sent out copies of proper statements, on headed paper, with my name and address etc etc. In turn I told them to downgrade my 'complaint' to an 'enquiry' if they so wished.

So a small obstacle overcome (although not without quite a lot of hassle) on the long road to making a successful application..

[Amber]

Here
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... pply-visa/
it says that a fiance of a british national travelling to the UK should complete form VAF4A

yet here
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... e-cp/visa/
it says that someone travelling to the uk to get married should complete form VAF1F

can someone explain the difference. VAF1F certainly seems the most valid for marriage as VAF4A seems geared towards settlement and the words marriage and wedding don't even appear anywhere on the form (other than a question on marital status).

I feel the first page linked to above is quite misleading.

my fiance is planning on travelling to the uk so that we can get married.

[corum99]

following on from my question in the previous post, once married, my fiance will be staying in the uk indefinitely, in case that makes a difference to the form we need to complete..

[corum99]

Never mind, I worked it out, its form VAF4A and Appendix 2.

We've had a stab at filling in VAF4a and the final question is:

9.1 is there any other information you wish to be considered as part of your application?

If anyone has any suggestions about whether this should be completed or left blank that would be appreciated.

[SoHopeful]

Only if you feel you need to provide an explanation or additional information for a question you have answered.

[corum99]

Ok thanks. We are planning on including supporting letters from ourselves and family members giving a bit of background on our relationship etc so wasn't sure what else they might be hinting at with their final question.
I think all of the prior questions on the form are pretty self explanatory and the answers straight forward so I don't think additional notes should be needed on those.