one2ka4 wrote:Hi, all, I have been through so much on this forum to find my query but unable to do so.. So if I am repeating this question, then really apologise for it,.. But I would really appreciate if some of you clever people could give me an advise on this..
I went to India in January and got engaged, now I am planning to get married in June, Now I am trying to get all the documents done, so I can go personally with my wife and apply for her spouse visa, and by the time she get through her English exam as well..
the query is, can I apply for spouse visa on her maiden name?? as we are not married yet, she can't make passport on my surname, neither I can do Sponsorship declaration on her married name, as that won't be valid, as it would be dated before actually wedding takes place..
Also do I have to make official sponsorship declaration with solicitors sign and stamps on it. Or I can just write formal letter accompanying with all other documents???
Wait for your response, thanks.
Hi, firstly congratulations on your engagement, bet you cant wait for the big day. Where is your wife based in India? Where are you based? June is going ot be mega hot to get married but I am sure you will have an amazing day, I got engaged last year March and just got married on 31st December. Been about 3 weeks since I have returned to London. Where in UK do you live? A MASSIVE CONGRTULATIONS AGAIN AND WISH YOU A LIFE TIME OF HAPPINES WITH YOUR NEW WIFE TO BE.
Anyway - 1st Point not 100% sure about this maiden name stuff. I got married to my wife and we are both Patel, so our surnames are the same but her middle name is her dad's name. I asked a lot of people this, probably to many people that I got to confused. (my own fault). But 50% peolpe said it doesnt matter you do not need to change the middle name (as after marriage in India rules, her middle name becomes my middle name, as you may know). E.g. Our marriage certificate states that she was Mira Snjaybhai Patel but is now Mira Paras Patel. And the other 50% if people said it is a 50/50 chance some immigration officers will let it go and some wont. I then rang up a number of recognised companies and they all advised it is better to change it, for the sake of a few weeks it is better advised to change it. So we have personally decided to change it which is in process at the moment. Shoudl have her passport back in a few days now. (but it oudl not usually take this long, passport name change takes about 2-3 weeks, will explain that bit after). I have also been told the rules for a UK passport holder are different to those who hold a Indian passport. For someone holding a Indian passport the name change is not so important but for those who hold a UK passport you should change it. So we have done that. Once we have her passport back we will send off out visa application which is all ready to go now, also in Gujarat the marriage certificate will say her first name your middle name and your last name. Not sure about ither states in India but in Gujarat it is like that.
Coming onto the Spouse VISA..... You cannot apply for a Spouse VISA without a marriage certificate. Are you having a court marriage or Hindu Marriage? I would always advise a hindu marriage for thsi VISA stuff from what I have heard. What you can apply for is a Fiancee VISA but again I was advised not to, as I was certain I would apply for a fiance VISA and then bring my wife back with me and then get registered here in London and apply for teh spouse VISA. I was told it is very hard to get a fiance VISA. So basically you cannot apply for a spouse VISA till you have a marriage certificate, and knowing from my process when I got a marriage certificate they ask for proof on that to (we had ot give 4 photos from the wedding (they tell you what photos), mine and her Birth Certificates (notorized), my passport copy & driving licence, her proof to like voting ID, Electricty Bill, and also a letter or green slip thing which came from the wedding venue (party plot) signed by the owner to say we got married there) and the 2 days later we got a marriage certificate.
Also if you apply for VISA before marriage I think they got suspicious (why I dont know). Also all these documents they ask for it is so annoying, it suprises me how people get VISA. Anyway if you want to know what documents I have personally gathered and going to submit let me know and I will send it you.
coming back to passport, if you do wish to change it let me know, reason for us taking so long is we wentt o about 4 different agents to get the paspsort done and my wife made trips back and forth to the passport office to submit each time they sent her back with mistakes on the form or proof etc. Finally we got rid of all agents and I dont it my self from here in London on line. filled out the form, uploaded the doucments and booked a appointment. And this time she had no problems. The rules have changed in India and it seems like non of teh agents know properly what to do, and this is in a big city like Boroda as well. So finally i got pissed off and done it my self on line from London, booked a appointment, she went handed it all in and this time it was fine. So shoudl you wish to do that let me know and I can explain that process to you too.
Hope this info helps (alot here, sorry to ramble) also sorry for any grammer or spelling mistakes) have wrote this very quickly. Also this is all my own personal situation and what I am doing, just learning from this forum and also the offical websites, so this si what I am personally doing and my personal advise) everyones situations are different I think, and I am in no way a solicitor or immigration expert. But after this passport stuff I do know I am goign to do it all my self no agents or anything, you can apply for the UK Spouse VISA on line from here in London, so have decided to do it my self with what I think is best. These agents make to many mistakes in India in my opinion and take to London. While I was in India in March, October & December / January, I visited so many agents and everyone told me different things, it is ho hard to believe one of them. for example, they ask for 6 months bank statements on the UKBA website but more the better. Agents told me 3 months are fine, and they would not submit the extra ones even if I ask them to. Not taking any risks just going to submite everything and more of it, surely more the better right and it does clearly state that on the UKBA website to.
Paras
gdluck