It’s been over a year since I started my trust grade job as an SHO in general medicine in the UK. Before this, I had already applied for a Tier-2 Dependent Visa of my wife, later, she was able to successfully settle in the same trust that I work for. Hence, I thought this is the right time for bringing in my parents on a visitor visa. I knew the visitor visa was always going to be tricky and that’s why I had planned for it meticulously for last one year.
Firstly, I want to go through the online application process itself, then I will, later on, discuss the documents that I collected and the cover letter I prepared for the visit.
I started my online application through this portal – https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor/apply-standard-visitor-visa
I filled the entire form myself on behalf of my parents. The application starts at the beginning with language selection, and the name of the country from where I am going to provide my biometrics. After this, I had to register the email address to begin my application process. I had to put the main reason for the visit to the UK which is – Tourism (including visiting family and friends) and then explained a little bit more detail on the main purpose of the visit and anything else that I planned during the trip. I then entered my other travel information like planned arrival and departure date. Remember, the earliest you can apply is 3 months before your planned date of arrival. I recommend doing this as early as possible as nothing is going on time as planned on this covid pandemic.
Other information that are required are - personal information, passport details, spouse/partner details, dependent details, parent details, employment details, details of the family in the UK (which are of course my details like my passport number and type of visa that I have), accommodation details, travel history and other self-declaration. The principle is simple here- do not falsify any information, do not condense – rather elaborate the details as much as you can.
At the end of the application, it will redirect to the biometric centre website, in my case it was VFS Global. VFS Global website will auto-create the user account and give the appointment time slot. Please do not rush here, select the time slot which you think is the most appropriate one before you can collect all the required documents.
After the online application forms were done, I downloaded and printed out the entire application form (remember this is sometimes asked in the biometric centre) and also the document checklist. All the required documents for the application are already shown in the document checklist that comes after the application. In my (and most other) case, the official document checklist will ask for the following: -
Mandatory documents:
- Passport
Other documents:
- Evidence of support you will receive from the sponsor including details of what support is being provided and how
- Evidence that your sponsor is not, or will not be in breach of UK immigration laws at the time of your visit
- Evidence of funds available to you, and which are accessible by you
- Invitation from your UK based family or friend(s) and evidence of their permission to be in the UK
- Evidence of the relationship, if any, between you and your sponsor
To leave no loopholes or doubts, I collected the documents and prepared the cover letter in the exact same order as the document checklist given.
I collected the above-mentioned documents in the following way:
1. I asked my parents to get 6 months statement from the bank that they had saving accounts on. My father was not receiving salary directly in the bank, but rather was getting hand cash, so I had asked him to deposit the salary in his bank account every month since last 2 years before spending, as I knew someday it will come in handy. I also asked my parents to get the letter from the bank showing the final balance certificate in GBP currency as proof of the availability of funds.
2. I wrote an invitation letter with details of the reason for the visit, the type of accommodation I live in, the type of work I do, and the type of support I am going to provide to my parents. I had already two bedrooms in my accommodation and that was reflected in my tenancy agreement as well, which I used as a form of evidence.
3. I had prepared a relationship verification letter from the local council in my home country, I used this document as the proof of relationship in my application
4. I emailed them a copy of my BRP and passport and asked them to make a colour printout and include that in their application.
5. I also asked my parents to get a letter from their employer stating the role of the job, leave period and salary to serve as the no-objection certificate for the leave.
6. I then asked the local engineering firm to provide the valuation certificate of the property owned by my parents and included with it the tax clearance receipt of the property and land ownership registration certificate. You may also include the vehicles registered under your/parents name here.
7. If you have any birthdays coming up or there are any festive occasions like Christmas, New Year or your local festival then you can also use this reason for your family reunion in the UK.
My mother was a housewife and that in itself was the proof for her ties back home, as my father would need her support when he is back at work. I made a similar cover letter and list of documents for my mother as well.
Once the visa was granted, I bought the round air ticket, gave the checklist of things to buy for my parents, and made sure they bring in their vaccine certificate, COVID PCR test report taken within 48 hours of departure and travel medical insurance including COVID cover. I then gave them full flight details and also asked the booking agency to request for wheelchair (if in case they feel lost during the transit and arrival). I also trained them properly on potential questions that might be asked during the immigration check-in at Heathrow airport as they are not much used to with the English language.
I hope you have found this useful and I wish you all the best for your parent's visitor visa application as well. Ciao.
Hi Sidu. Great explanation. I am applying for my mother's visit visa. Do you think it will cause any issue if I state I am sending my mother about 5 lacs rupees per year and show it as her income? She has no bank savings but receives house rent from a tenant which goes to my father's account and also my father receives pension money every month. Obviously, its my supporting my mother financially but I have to send it to my father who gives it to my mother.
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