Haven't had a bank account for 6 months

[jamie1976]

Hi, my fiancee is about to apply for a settlement visa. The problem is I haven't had a bank account for 6 months. I explained this in a letter, will that be sufficient?

[Shifty-Sidney]

There is nothing wrong with not having a bank account, but you will need to be able to prove financial stability and your ability to support your wife/Gf. Maybe you can get a letter or statement from family members or employer to satisfy this. It depends on your circumstances and why you do not use accounts.
Mainly - be honest and try to put yourself in their shoes - do you put a good enough argument for approval?
hope this helps. mark

[jamie1976]

Thanks for the advice Mark, It was very comforting. I thought 6 months worth of bank statements may have been essential. We attempted a visit visa 2 years ago, and failed miserably, but since then I have been over there twice (we have lots of proof that we have met) and this time I feel we have put up a good argument. I just hope we get a nice guy reviewing our case.

[eljean]

why is that so?dont you have a bank account?

its one of the two things that you need to prove your financial side...bank account is neccessary for you to show that you have enough funds to support your fiancee in the uk...

[joebloggs]

i think you will have problems if you don't have a bank account or savings book, how are you going to show you have finances to support her if you don't have bank statements ? showing you have savings for her to live off and your wages going into your account, so she will not need recourse to public funds, also if its a fiancee visa, she cannot work in the uk.

the embassy want printed bank statements from the bank, as they cannot directly check with your bank about your account, and they will not take online printed bank statements as they are easy to fraud.

from the ukvisa 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, fiancé, fiancée, 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'.)

We will refuse your application if we find that any documents are false."

[PeterB]

the embassy want printed bank statements from the bank, as they cannot directly check with your bank about your account, and they will not take online printed bank statements as they are easy to fraud.

We submitted online printed statements and had no problem. After all, it is possible to opt for 'paperless' banking these days - there would be no proper printed statements.

[joebloggs]

what visa was it peterb that you have ? well you might have been lucky to get away with it applying for a visa in Manila, but if you need to sent it to IND in the UK, I don't think so

quote from the FLR form

"The documents showing the finances available to you and/or to the person supporting you should cover at least the
last 3 months.We do not accept internet or cashpoint statements as evidence of finances."

I've just read about someone who got ILR after sending in their app 7 weeks late, but i've also read about many more people who had had they visa app rejected and lost their visa fee.

infact it might be possible for your bank to certify the statements, or even better ask them for headed paper printed ones, they might charge you a small fee for this.

if you don't provide everything and more they ask for, you risk losing your visa fee and time.

but then ask your g/f Jamie1976 to phone up the embassy and ask about it , see what they say

[PeterB]

what visa was it peterb that you have ? well you might have been lucky to get away with it applying for a visa in Manila, but if you need to sent it to IND in the UK, I don't think so

Fair to say that this was visitor visa, applied for in Makati. I hadn't taken six months worth of statements with me, but a section 352 certificate/Annual Interest Statement, 3 months old, showing over £200k balance. No - they needed 6 months statements, so I went to an internet cafe and printed the statements!

[joebloggs]

well maybe your interest account balance was enough evidence to show your g/f wouldn't need recourse to public funds , but even on that you could have been refused, as they ask for 'recent' , is 3 months old recent ? , one of the last visa's i appiled for, they asked for my last bank statement , which was only sent to me one week after i posted the visa app to the phlippines

applying for a visa is not rocket science , just read the form and the guidence notes, give ALL the information/evidence they ask for, make sure you qualify for the main sections of a relationship, finances and accomodation, and do a bit of research on the web using forums like this, and you shouldn't fail

i've applied for settlement visa's *3, FLR *3 and ILR * 3 all have been granted, becuase i took a bit of time over it ..

better luck next time jamie1976..