Approved Standard outside UK
Hi there hommiesss, super excited to share that I’ve finally got my spousal visa approved.
Following are details that some might find useful:
Outside Standard UK Spouse Visa
Country applied from Qatar** **
Origins? Both Afghans
Nationalities? Wife British Pas, while myself Afghan Pas
Application 17-March>BIO 18-March>ECO 20-March
Visa approved 21-May at 2:30 UK Time
Approval timeline approximately 2 Months & 3 Days
BIO area? At VFS and providing necessary Doc copies
Extra Documents asked? NO
Reminder to book appointment? 10 May
Interestingly, our Granted Entry Clearance date is from 23rd September!!! My preferred date. Many said it’s not possible for preferred date to be later than 3 months of the date of the application, but here as you see, anything can be possible.
**ABOUT MARRIAGE REGISTRATION**
WE weren’t able to register our marriage in Qatar because both partners must either be residents or citizens. SO, we ended up looking into registering our marriage online. We chose a country where online marriage registration is legal. SO IT WORKS!! Some told me it won’t work, you can find it in my previous posts… BUT TRUST YOUR GUTs Mate! YOUR OWN RESEARCH IS ALWAYS BETTER!
UK HO approves online marriage from outside.
Registering the marriage process was easy: both partners, a Muslim preacher, a lawyer, and 2 witnesses were present online. Got married online, lawyer did the paperwork and shipped it to us.
WE ALSO did apostille just in case, but it’s not mandatory.
DO NOT mention online marriage registration to avoid unpleasant drama from the HO😆. You can just explain, we met in country A, got married, showcase pictures as in showing Islamic preaching-doing Nikkah-signing or whatever pic proves both you getting married, and then proceed with saying but we got our marriage registered in country B due to…
**ABOUT ENGAGEMENT/NIKKAH-WEDDING/خطوبة**
With Muslims specifically,
DO NOT MENTION in your visa application that for example, we are engaged now but will do wedding after visa is issued, or we are مخطوبين but will do wedding after visa is issued, or we did our Nikkah ceremony but will do wedding after visa is issued.
Even if you had provided marriage certificate, you should still not mention the above to avoid unnecessary questions and doubts.
**DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR VISA APPLICATION*
The usual mandatory documents were submitted.
But I also provided extra unnecessary documents and details.
***ONE THING WORTH TO MENTION***
I did something quite interesting, not sure if anyone here has done it or not.
In each document, the first page I provided a statement. This statement can be clarification or it can also be a summary of the document, which can really come handy for the officer.
For example, in my Wife’s bank statement document, in the first page, I wrote down, which page to find salary 1 to 6, which date, the creditor name, and the amount.
For example, in personal statement document, in the first page, we wrote down titles linked to relevant subjects. They were around 7 titles. Tittles such as, how we met, where we met, family involvement, relationship development, first in-person meeting, wedding, continuous communication, future plans, etc.
For example, in tenancy agreement document, in the first page, we wrote titles with details to where to find common checking/verifying details related to tenancy agreements by HO officers.
So stuffs like these can come really handy.
**ACCOMMODATION PROFF**
As we all know, it can come costly if we just rent a place like emptied apartment for months for the sake of the visa, and then you move-in, this can waste us thousands.
So I did something smarter, I found one agency, agency that lists apartments available for move-in in future dates.
For example, Apartment A available in 1st November. Why 1st Nov? Because current tenants contract ends 31 October.
Now you find something similar, a preferred date, contact them, send someone to view the apartment, you proceed, make payment, and they give you official contract/tenancy agreement just like any other, only difference is that it is in a future date.
Might even be better if they’re well known and an established agency, like ours.
**A question intended to approved buddies**
I got the following in my approval email:
“Your application for a United Kingdom (UK) visa has been successful.”
“This notice is not proof of permission to travel to the UK.” (What does this indicate)?
“You have been granted entry clearance to the UK as PARTNER (STANDARD) from 23 September 2026 until 23 June 2029.” (What does this indicate)? AND (when is my max by which I should already be in the UK, to avoid future complications)?
**Setting up UKVI account**
Is it auto registered because I have applied to the visa? Or should I install a separate app and register?
I’ve downloaded UKimmigration IOS app the one in pink, scanned my passport, took a selfie, checked and did all the process to link my eVISA, and now I’ve got an email saying “we’re linking your eVISA to your account now”
Also if you can tell me, what’s the purpose of this UKimmigration IOS app in pink other than showing me my eVISA?
And if you could tell me at this stage if everything is done regarding the visa or is there anytime else I’m missing? Apart from the BRP, which I think I’ll only get once I arrive UK
**PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS**
Thanks all 🙌🏻