Documents for settlement visa to the UK

Scotland as in the UK?
visa4UK :: Frequently Asked Questions
on the FAQs I forgot to make a note at the end of my application of the supporting documents I should send with my application.
The list of documents required will be in the email we send you at the end of the application process.

See also
Husbands, wives and partners (INF 4)

Visas for the UK

The Dominican birth certificate needs to be legalised by the JCE (Junta Central Electoral) in Santo Domingo.

raf2012 said:

Hi thanks, but when she did the application on line they sent a mail telling to bring that printed with the supporting documents in the day of the appointment! so i don't know....if they need everything right now with application form printed, or at the end of the application process!

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If that's what the email said then it sounds like she needs the supporting docs for the day of appointment, doesn't it?

Why not get the log-in details from your fiancee & log-in yourself & have a look at what she has received?

Neither Chirmoya nor myself are likely to be logged in to the visa system because we're British nationals. I think you need to get into the system yourself & take a look.

Husbands, wives and partners (INF 4)
Copy/paste from the website:
What supporting documents should I include with my application?

You should include all the documents you can to show that you qualify for entry as a husband, wife, civil partner, fianc?, fianc?e, proposed civil partner, or unmarried or same-sex partner. If you do not, we may refuse your application.

As a guide, you should include the following:

Your original birth certificate.
Your original marriage certificate (if you are married) or your original civil partnership certificate (if you have registered a civil partnership).
Recent bank statements or savings books for your sponsor and evidence of your sponsor's employment in the UK, which could include payslips to show what financial support you have.
Evidence of your accommodation, such as a mortgage agreement or rental agreement, and evidence that you and your dependants can stay in this accommodation if it is rented or provided by your local authority.
Letters from you and your sponsor that are relevant to your application.
If you have been married or in a civil partnership before, one of the following original documents:
a divorce certificate
a final dissolution order, or
your or your sponsor's previous husband's, wife's or civil partner's death certificate
Evidence that your sponsor is settled in the UK. (This can be a copy of their passport or registration certificate that has been confirmed as a true copy, in other words 'certified').

I can't see anything there about translations - looks like they want the original documents (which will be in your fiancee's language of course, i.e. Spanish).

Read through everything on this website.
General information (INF 1)
Then have a look at all the headings on the left hand side including biometric data.

Yes, having crawled through these various websites I'm beginning to see what you mean............. On here it says:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/resources/en/docs/1903073/VAF1F

scroll down to

Part 11 Supporting documents checklist
Please ensure you submit all the relevant original documents that you want the Entry Clearance Officer to see when considering your application. The list below is for guidance only. It is not a list of documents that you should or must supply. The UK Immigration Rules make it clear that it is your responsibility to satisfy the Entry Clearance Officer that you are genuinely seeking entry to the UK for the purpose and duration that you have stated. Submission of particular documents does not guarantee that your visa will
be issued. It is your decision how you satisfy the Entry Clearance Officer that your intentions are as you state in your application. It is your choice which documents you submit. (emboldening mine).

Given that last sentence I would, whether she needs to or not, get everything translated, photocopied, certified..........in other words the works! Try & think like a bureaucrat & in that way she can't be accused of leaving anything out.

I also see on Worldbridge Welcome Page
https://www.visainfoservices.com/Pages/Content.aspx?tag=Welcome_Page

Call for Assistance

You can also use our user-pay phone service at 44 20 8099 9552. Trained agents will provide you with visa application information. There is a fee equivalent to US$12 to make this call. You can only pay for the service (using a secure, automated system) with a credit or debit card with the Visa or MasterCard logo.

We will then work with the visa section to answer your query.

Have you tried phoning this service? If you do you might find out that you don't need things translated, certified etc Try phoning them first, if that doesn't produce a clear answer come back & post here & I'll send this thread to someone at the British Embassy in Santo Domingo. OK? No promises that contacting the Embassy will work because the visa process is obviously farmed out to a commercial company, but I can try for you.

This has no direct significance to 'The Application' but may influence the sort of help we might next offer:-
Where does your fianc?e live? If she lives on the NORTH coast I have an alternative number she can call. If she lives down in Santo Domingo (or fairly close to) she might be advised to pay a visit to the CONSULATE section of the Embassy a few days BEFORE the appointment date just to confirm with them directly. I appreciate it is easier for her to do this 'On-Line' or via the telephone but if there is ANY doubt in her mind as to what is best to take in on the day ............... she might consider paying the Consulate a surprise visit & get them to CONFIRM what translations are needed on particular documents!! ~ Grahame.

OK raf2012, we have an official answer. I wrote to the Ambassador but he is away on leave until 12th. January (which is after your fianc?e's appointment) so I wrote to the Charg? d'Affaires and had a very speedy, very clear response which he has given me permission to post.

Dear Ginnie,

There is no requirement for documentation submitted for UK entry clearance applications, including settlement applications, to be translated. There is a requirement for documentation to be translated for visa applications to some of the Overseas Territories. We are currently reviewing the information on the UK Border Agency and Worldrbridge websites and will amend to reflect this information.

Many thanks for signposting people to the official websites that is the correct thing to do.

Regards and Happy New Year!
Scott

Scott Melling
Charg? d'Affaires
British Embassy Santo Domingo

In other words, raf2012, it has been brought to their attention that there is some conflicting information between the Worldbridge & UK Border Agency websites.

Anyway, now you have your answer. Of course I appreciate you don't know me from Adam & might be hesitant to believe this, so if you would like to PM me your email address I will forward you Mr. Melling's mail so that you can see it for yourself.

Thank you Lambada for taking the time to get the info. Seems that many changes have taken place and we appreciate your efforts.


Happy New Year

hello people OMG im schocked to hear that no documents need to be translated i have seen on the uk boarder angency website that any documents in any language other then english need to be traslated to english... Sorry to say but my husband was refused a settlement visa this month as the documents we sent were not original or leagle well what was the problem??
Firstly we didnt translate the marrige certificate
secondly my passport and birth certificate were copies which were not certified original by a solicitor!!:disappoin
But we will re apply as to appeal will take soo long only this time we will traslate everything and send ALL original documents i dont want to be dissapointed again its better to be safe then ?580 out of pocket!!
Good luck tho

clarkeyl said:

Sorry to say but my husband was refused a settlement visa this month as the documents we sent were not original or leagle well what was the problem??
Firstly we didnt translate the marrige certificate
secondly my passport and birth certificate were copies which were not certified original by a solicitor!!:disappoin

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The part which I emboldened was the problem, I would imagine. The websites clearly state the documents must be originals. I don't think there is any question about that. See my post 8 above.

Where there was confusing information on the websites was over whether the documents needed to be translated or not. And the answer to that is above from the Charg? d'Affaires.

i have read you thread but have found this on world bridge

Thank you for contacting WorldBridge Service, UKvisas? commercial partner. We appreciate your patience regarding the response to your enquiry as WorldBridge strives to provide the most accurate responses to all enquiries. Below you will find the response to that enquiry:

The documents must be translated into English. You are required to have the translation done by an official translator. The consulate does not recommend translators for this purpose. In addition, the translated document must be certified. Usually this can be done by a lawyer or a notary public.

Our experience

We didn't need translations for the initial settlement visa when my husband first applied to come to the UK, they accepted the papers in Spanish.

However, we had our marriage certificate and my husbands birth certificate translated into English for his indefinate leave application. We did this through the DR embassy in London and they provided a very speedy service (although expensive). Both translations were legalised by them also. However, although the application forms asked for these, they did not even ask for or look at the translations when we took the application to the Home Office! :ermm: But all is not lost because recently when applying for citizenship they were required!

My advice, if you have time, get them translated as I'm sure you will need them some day. I know friends have also needed them when applying for schengen visas.

Hope this helps

Let us not allow ourselves to be confused by the :cheeky: recondite. raf2012 already uncovered the dissonance between information on the two websites Worldbridge & UK Border Agency. I notified the Embassy; they are clearly already aware & will be amending the website. The Charg? d'Affaires emailed the official response, which is above. The Ambassador has a copy of this response (or rather will find it in his inbox when he returns from holiday).

Any further posting of parts of the websites which conflict with what Mr. Melling said is only going to muddy the waters for others, some of whom do not have English as a first language, so let us try to be understanding of their needs too. Yes we know there is different information on the 2 websites, it has already been brought to the attention of the Embassy.

clarkeyl, you are entirely at liberty to spend the next 5 hours identifying conflicting information on the websites, but forgive me if I don't respond . Nor am I capable of re-interpreting the Charg? d'Affaires email as your PM seemed to ask, which is why I didn't respond to it (I actually thought that what he said was clear). That plus I know you are already getting good advice in response to the PM's you sent BushBaby. My advice would be no different, I can assure you.

Happy New Year to all!

Well having read saskias post along with yours im quite confident now and have submitted the new application. My husband will go for his appointment in Santo Domingo January 9.

clarkeyl said:

Well having read saskias post along with yours im quite confident now and have submitted the new application. My husband will go for his appointment in Santo Domingo January 9.

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May I give a word of caution here!!

Please do not allow your husband to go into the appointment confident - he needs to display a feeling to the interviewer that 'HE WILL BE A LOVING, ATTENTIVE & HARD WORKING HUSBAND' to you AND not be one of the imigrants to the UK who after a period of 6 months decides he is going to go off & play with some friends somewhere else other than the family home!!

Harsh, direct words?? ......... absolutely. But well intentioned. If your husband can not convince the Consulate that he DESERVES to be given a visa, that he is honest & upright to the extent of being a useful contributor to the UK economy ......... he will not get one even IF all of his papers are in order, translated, notorised, produced in triplicate & embossed with a gold seal all round!:cheeky: :ermm: aranoid:!

Tell him to be humble, attentive & grown up in the way he presents himself. Has he BEEN to see Mendez yet as I suggested? It would certainly not do his case any harm to have Mendez on his side by giving a bit of advice prior to the appointment! ~ Grahame.