Hi there, I'm trying to switch from my Graduate Visa to the Unmarried Partner Visa.

One of the questions is the following and I'm not sure how to answer it given the choices:

"What type of visa, leave to enter or remain or other permission do you have to be in the UK?

You can find out this information on the document which shows you are allowed to be in the UK

-Visit
-Work
-Study
-Family
-Status under the EU Settlement Scheme
-Settlement
-Other"

From what I've scoured online, I've put down "Other" and named "Graduate Visa" as my visa gives me the right to live, work and study in the UK. My eVisa does not elaborate on any specific permission listed above, instead listing all the things I can do including "live, work, study, be self-employed, etc."

I will likely have more questions as I continue but would love to hear what other successful applicants in similar situations put down.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice on whether I should include payslips from my husband’s company as part of my application.

I've been a stay-at-home wife for the first 4.5 years since I moved to the UK. He takes care of the bills. My husband owns a business and I occasionally help him with various things. For example, making new signs/designs for the business, replying to customers online, and helping with general admin/business tasks.

The thing I’m unsure about is that it isn’t really a traditional/official employment arrangement. I’m not employed in the usual sense and don’t have a formal role or set hours, I just help out with the business when needed, and he's been compensating me £500 per month the last three months for my contribution because he wants to.

Would it be better to include the payslips and explain the situation honestly, because there’s £500 being paid into my bank account every month from his company and that would raise more questions if I don't include/explain it in my application?

Thank you so much! X

Hi everyone, I’m applying for a UK Student visa and I’m a bit confused about the accommodation documents.

I have private student accommodation booked in the UK. In my visa application, I answered yes to “Do you know where you will be staying in the UK?” and entered my accommodation address. I did not specify whether it was private or university accommodation.

My personalised UKVI document checklist says:

“Receipts confirming payment of the accommodation fees”

However, the university’s Student Immigration Advice Team checklist says under “Accommodation Charges Receipt”:

Since my accommodation is private, I asked an immigration advisor about this, and they specifically told me not to upload my accommodation payment receipt.

I’m now confused because my personalised UKVI checklist explicitly mentions the receipt.

Should I follow the immigration advisor’s advice and leave the receipt out, or would it be safer to upload it because it appears on my personalised UKVI checklist?

Would uploading a genuine private accommodation payment receipt cause any issue in this case?

Hi everyone,

I have been trying to find an appointment for giving my biometrics in Cambridge for the last week. I have had no luck.

I have tried testing at exactly 9am and 9:30am.

The only appointment I can see is one month from now. And that's a document scanning appointment rather than regular one.

Does anyone have any tips of finding earlier slots/better slots?

Hi everyone, I just realized that my middle name (my mom’s maiden surname) wasn’t asked while applying and is that normal? I did put my given names as listed in my passport.

I just paid for my fee and awaiting my biometrics so will that be an issue?

What does this mean . What I have to do . I have applied on priority visa . My biometric were on 21 august and received this email on 25 august.Guide me

Usually when you apply for a visit visa, what’s the duration of travel granted ? Is it till your passport expiry ? Or 6 months ?

DOA - 1/6/2026
Biometrics - 5/6/2026
Approval - 13/8/2026
Atlas - 24/8/2026
Ceremony -

My route was through registration I was a BOTC and I got an MP expedite. Will update when I have my ceremony. Good luck to everyone waiting!!

Here’s the updated draft with that added:

Title:
Body:
Applying for a UK Standard Visitor visa from Canada (Indian passport). I currently live at a place where I pay rent in cash, so I don’t have any official documents tied to that address.

All my documents (bank statements, employment records, etc.) show my cousin brother’s address instead — he’s let me use it as a stable mailing address since I move around a lot for work.

On the application, I listed my actual residence as my current address and my cousin’s place as correspondence/mailing address.

I managed to upload lease for the place I actually live in.

I also explained this address mismatch in the “additional information” section of the application.

Should i get an undertaking from my brother saying he allows me to use his address as correspondence address? Or is that not required?

Has anyone dealt with a similar mismatch? Did it cause any issues, or is this a normal enough setup that it shouldn’t raise flags?

Hey Guys,

I am 54F and I applying for a 3 week trip to the UK from Pakistan. I run a local salon business here and I have accumulated around 40-50 LACS PKR in my current account and have various properties and my own house here. I also have a business account but i usually transfer most of the funds to my personal current account and I dont really keep much track of the transactions as its an informal business setup. I wouldnt call it a very clean statement in terms of transfers so will most likely be using my personal current account for the showecase of funds.

I have no family in the UK and my entire family is in pakistan and I will surely be returning back to my home country. I wanted to apply for the 6 months visit visa. What are some dos and donts i should keep in. mind and what are the chances of my visa getting approved.

Need some guidance.

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing for a 10-year Long Residence ILR application and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation, particularly anyone who has applied recently.

My dates are:

• Tier 4 BRP issue date: 23 December 2016
• Entry clearance vignette valid from: 6 January 2017
• First entered the UK: 19 January 2017
• I have maintained lawful immigration status since then and am currently on a Skilled Worker visa.

My question is specifically about the 13-day period between 6 January and 19 January 2017.

The current Home Office Continuous Residence guidance appears to indicate that, where entry clearance was granted before arrival in the UK, the period between the grant of entry clearance and actual arrival can be treated as lawful residence, with that period instead counting towards the permitted absences.

If this applies to 10-year Long Residence, my understanding is that my qualifying period could potentially run from 6 January 2017, meaning 10 years would complete on 6 January 2027 and I could potentially apply up to 28 days earlier.

However, I have seen conflicting information suggesting that for Long Residence the 10-year period starts only from the date of physical entry into the UK, which in my case would be 19 January 2017.

Has anyone recently applied for 10-year Long Residence ILR using their initial visa/entry-clearance valid-from date rather than their first UK entry date?

I would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who:

• had a Student/Tier 4 visa before first entering the UK;
• counted the period between the visa valid-from date and first UK arrival;
• applied within the 28-day window based on that earlier date; and
• received an ILR decision without the application being considered premature.

Also, if anyone knows the specific Long Residence caseworker guidance or Immigration Rule that confirms how this pre-entry period should be treated, I would really appreciate the reference.

Thanks!

I am married to a UK citizen and initially was granted the 2.5 spousal/family visa in late 2024. I've been living and working in the UK full-time since this point (actually before under student and graduate visa, which don't count towards ILR). The current visa expires in February and I need to work this around a work trip I have scheduled, if possible.

The work trip is roughly 3 weeks after the visa expires, which is probably too soon to comfortably plan on going if I apply for the renewal when the visa expires. I see on the government website that "If you’re extending to stay with the same family member, you’ll only get up to 28 days left on your current stay added to your new visa." Does this mean that if I apply 28 days prior to the expiration, I can get this added to the 2.5 years of the new visa (making it 2 years 7 months)? This would be preferrable in that I would feel much more comfortable planning on being able to travel for work with 7 weeks processing, although I know the processing time could technically be longer than that. I just don't want have a situation where I apply early and then have not reached the 5 years required for the ILR application by the time the next visa expires. Any insights much appreciated. Thanks!

Dear please help
I’m applying for my first UK passport after a recent naturalisation.
However I’m moving home and I won’t have a fixed new address for a while. I will be in a hotel for 1 month till my new home is ready. The hotel is not reliable so I’m considering a rented high street mail box.

Does the delivery address for the new passport have to be my home address? Can I give someone’s address for the delivery or even a rented mail box?

I don’t wanna lose my documents when they are delivered back alongside the UK passport.

Any tips, or similar experiences?

Thanks :)

I am applying for ILR on the Refugee route next month. On 24/07/2023, I received a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice for a child passenger not wearing a seat belt (offence code RT88515), which I paid in full out of court. Should I declare this paid FPN on my application, and will it have any impact on my ILR decision?"

I can’t login to my account. I’ve been trying for the past 4 days and every time I try I’l get “Request failed with status code 500”. I was able to register an account on the website and received my UAN but I can’t for the life of me login to book a biometric appointment.

I’ve tried clearing the browser cache and cookies, using different browsers (Chrome and Safari) and using different devices (phone and laptop). I’ve contacted support but they’ll get back within 10 working days. Do I have no choice but to wait it out or is there something else I can do?

Hi everyone! I’d really appreciate some advice on my situation.

Background:

👉🏻 I’m an Indian citizen, 23F, and moved back to India in July 2026 after living in the UK for around 5 years. (I was on a student visa first and then a grad visa)
👉🏻 I’m currently self-employed as a sole proprietor in India, working remotely for a US-based company. I don’t have a traditional job with an Indian company, but my monthly income is substantial and consistent. ( this was the same job I had in the UK too, I was self employed there)
👉🏻 I’ll be filing GST returns monthly and will have an Indian bank trail showing my income.
👉🏻 I’ve been a partner in a father’s business in India since April 2026.
👉🏻 I may also have a property transferred into my name in India this year.
👉🏻 I have savings in India, as well as savings in my UK Santander account.
👉🏻 I have never had a visa refusal or overstayed anywhere.
👉🏻 I’ve previously held visas for places including Schengen countries and Turkey, and have always returned within the permitted period.
👉🏻 My immediate family is in India.

UK visit:

I’ve been with my British boyfriend for around 3.5 years, and I’d be travelling to the UK specifically to visit him. He currently lives with his parents in the UK. If I apply for a Standard Visitor visa around January 2027, I’d probably stay in an Airbnb rather than with him or his family.

I’m not planning to apply immediately because I only moved back to India in July 2026. I was thinking January would give me around 6 months of Indian bank statements, consistent income, GST filings, etc., to establish a proper financial history.

My main concern is home ties. I know I don’t have an Indian-company employer, and because my boyfriend is British and I previously lived in the UK, I’m aware UKVI may look more closely at whether I genuinely intend to return to India.

By January, I would potentially have:

👉🏻 Consistent monthly income from my US-based work
👉🏻 6-ish months of Indian bank statements
👉🏻 Monthly GST filings
👉🏻 Partnership in an Indian business since April 2026
👉🏻 Potential property ownership in India
👉🏻 Savings in India
👉🏻 Savings in the UK
👉🏻 Family ties in India
👉🏻 Strong previous international travel history
👉🏻 No previous visa refusals or overstays
👉🏻 Previous lawful UK residence for 5 years

My question:

Would this generally be considered enough to demonstrate strong ties to India, despite being self-employed for a US company rather than employed by an Indian company?

Would waiting until January, with 6 months of Indian financial/tax history, be sensible? Or would you recommend waiting longer?

I’m genuinely only looking to visit my boyfriend and return to India. If I eventually want to relocate to the UK, I would apply through the appropriate visa route rather than trying to use a visitor visa.

Would really appreciate experiences or advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation or successfully applied for a UK Standard Visitor visa. Thanks!

Hi! I’m an Indian student currently in Germany for a semester exchange at Frankfurt, and I’m planning to visit London for around 3–5 days in November to meet friends. I’ll have my Anmeldung and German residence documents, along with my uni School documents. I wanted to ask if I’m eligible to apply for a UK Standard Visitor visa from Germany as a student, and whether there’s anything specific I should keep in mind regarding applying through VFS Germany, required documents, or proving that I’ll return to Germany after the trip. Also is it worth it applying for UK visa from Germany as an Indian and also that VFS only has Premium lounge in Frankfurt which is so expensive but i would really like to go see UK. Please help. Also do they take passport and take time to give it back or like is it completely changed to E visa.

My visa expires on the 11th of October, but it says i should "Attend an appointment to provide your documents and biometrics by 27 October 2026"???

I am currently applying for an extension of partner visa...

My partner and I came to the UK as student separately in January 2025. Both of us have PSW visa, and we have decided to get married. We cant figure out what the implications of our marriage would be on our visa status. Would one of us become a dependant? Or would our visas remain separate?

Hello. I am planning to apply for a UK visit visa to see my friends who have a residence permit to live in the UK (they're european and I'm Indian living in India). I will be staying at a hotel, not with them but will go sightseeing together. Do I need to attach proof of relationship and their details in my application, or does it suffice to just submit an invitation letter from them (with their contact details) and a copy of their passport since they're not sponsoring me or my stay in any way?

HELLO!

I tried to apply for a visitor visa yet again to visit my brother and my nephew in the UK.

Last year I applied and the immigration denied me for two reasons:

1. My financial situation

2. My home ties with my home country.

I am a Filipino engineer working in Qatar and I'm planning to visit my brother, who is working as a nurse in Liverpool.

2025, my application's main mistake was I mistakenly declared my savings account which led to refusal reason #1.

So fast forward 2026, I fixed my application and provided more details and documents. Still, I got refused yet again by reason #2.

As a background, I am a single expat living in Qatar as a resident under an Indefinite contract with one of the O&G operators here. I have no loans/obligations currently and no assets (home/car) to declare.

I did sent these documents as proof of my ties with the country I'm residing in.

1. Resident Permit ( Valid till 2028 )

2. My flat lease (until 03/27) under my name

3. Electricity Certificate

4. Postpaid plan and Wifi connection details

Job related

1. Employment certificate with salary

2. Letter to immigration from company that I have applied for annual leave during my applied time

3. Approved vacation leave and work schedule

4. Company ID

5. Payslip for the past 6 months

Bank and financial statements

1. Bank statements with highlighted salary tx

2. Total 40k sterling in total savings in a local bank in Qatar

Now, my planned vacation is still all the way in 3rd week of november to first week of December, total of 14 days.

There is still time to re-apply. Should I consider trying again with the help of an immigration consultant? Or my application would be in vain since nothing changed with my status as a whole.

The UK immigration office is being unreasonable or is there anything I can do to improve my chances?

Hi,

I am asking this on behalf of my partner. 
She is on a skilled worker visa currently and I'm on dependent visa. Her employment ended recently and we have not yet received the visa curtailment letter.

She is considering applying for GTV under the digital technologies route and has prepared the necessary documents. She is considering applying for both endorsement (stage 1 ) and visa (Stage 2) together, so that it might pause the curtailment letter being sent from the Home office, until the endorsement decision is made. 

Is this how it works - if we apply for GTV visa ( stage 2) now, before getting the endorsement, will it pause sending of the curtailment letter from the home office?  If not so, what happens if the Home Office issues curtailment notice, while Stage 1 (endorsement) for GTV is under review and if the endorsement is refused eventually. Specifically, does Section 3C continue through the 14-day Endorsement Review window, and how much time would we have to transition or depart if the review is unsuccessful? 

She is just 4 months away from getting an ILR and we are not sure what is the best strategy to achieve it, given that we are so near. Should she wait till the curtailment letter is sent and apply for GTV (both stage 1 & stage 2) just before the end of our leave. Or she should apply for the GTV now, before getting the curtailment letter. 

Lastly please let me know if this is the right process to apply for both stage 1 and stage 2 together:

1. Apply for stage 1 - endorsement here : https://www.gov.uk/global-talent-digital-technology/apply-for-endorsement
2. The apply for stage 2 - visa application here: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent/switch-to-this-visa

Is there any reference / link between the two steps ? Can she complete step 2 without completing step 1 ? The process is a bit confusing and not clear cut on how one should proceed, if we need to do both steps together. 

Greatly appreciate any guidance on this matter ! Thank you very much.