Hi All, I've not been on the site for a while. Just after a bit of advice......my wife has completed the Spouse Visa Application...just been for Biometrics and submit passport in Cebu. The final stage now...yippee.......she has to send all the documents to Sheffield...has anyone used areliable courier service for this? Thanks
They are incredibly difficult to find - most couriers won't deliver internationally to a PO Box address (which UKVI is) and those that will have some pretty bad feedback on this site! I would (personally) advise - as WE did for the Fiancée Visa - that your wife courier's her documents to you, then you send them - by whichever method you choose - to Sheffield. DHL got my Fiancée's documents to me in 3 days!!!
In the Phils DHL is widely available (perhaps as a kiosk in her nearest large shopping mall). There is also Fedex . Both first class companies. I used DHL once for sending a passport. No problems. I think it took about 3 days.
Exactly as @UKDJ did and had no problems and that way you submit your documents and hers both together so less chance of anything getting lost.
Actually, yes. This is how I applied for my (born overseas) son's passport too. All docs gathered and then sent by me from here in the UK. They then couriered the actual new passport back to my Mrs in the Phils.
Thank you all for your help. The UK Visa centre also asked to include prepaid return...any ideas on how to do that?
Perhaps it might be best to have her send the documents to my address, then I can send them on to Sheffield with SAE
Probably a bit of 'overkill' on my part, but I put return postage equivalent to 'guaranteed next-day' (same as it cost me to send them to Sheffield, via Royal Mail) on my return envelope. As soon as I get our documents back!!!, I will DHL my Fiancée's documents back to her in the Philippines.
UPDATE ====== THREE WEEKS and still no documents returned from UKVI in Sheffield...! Would love to know how some of the Posters on here achieved getting their documents back in 4-5 days... Yesterday I 'gave in' and called the UKVI's £1.37/minute ripoff phone advice line, to ask how long I might have to wait before getting our original documents returned (In light of what I had read from others on here, as above) only to be told - by an advisor who barely spoke intelligible English - "Give it another week!" Another waste of money!
My/our fiancée visa has now gone through the whole process and has been approved. I still have not received back the documentation (all sent on 10th Feb) despite including a SAE. To be honest, I'm not really that bothered any more. They can keep her bloody TB Cert and my bank statements showing I have diddly squat to my name! It would have been nice to have had them back though simply as some sort of re-assurance that someone has actually received, looked at and scanned my documents.
Unfortunately, I am in the same boat Applied spouse visa, & docs was sent 20 Feb’18 by DHL + pre-paid envelope
I have come home from work today to a note from the Royal Mail. I'm not expecting anything. No recent impulse purchases from Ebay or Amazon. It can only be my documentation coming back to me. I'm going to a Leaving Do tomorrow (Thurs), and the Delivery Office will be closed on Good Friday so I'll have to wait until Saturday to know for certain. However, I am 99.9999% certain it will be from UKVI. It's a shame the opening hours for these places only cater to the unemployed and elderly (who would be at home to receive the mail in the first place!).
Well that was a waste of my time. I have to wait until tomorrow to pick up my mystery package! I guess all will be revealed on Saturday. Anyways, it looks like you'll be getting your documents back a few days after a decision has been made on your application. That's assuming Saturday all goes as planned and I haven't absent mindedly order a new umbrella from Ebay upon Stellar's glowing endorsement of this item.
Confirmed delivery today of all my documents. Everything was exactly how I sent it, still with paper clips and inside plastic wallets (which I since found out UKVI does not particularly like). You'd swear that where I have multiple documents (payslips, bank statements), they have not been looked at bar the front copy! So confirmation of visa decision received by email on 26th March, and (attempted) delivery of documents on 28th March.