You know you can’t beat a good old Asian wedding. It guarantees love, happiness, sadness and bucketfuls of tears. The guest list extends to the whole baradi and then a few hundred others. However, when we are planning a wedding that includes half of our town, do we really include our nearest and dearest? The reality is in a multi-cultural Britain, our loved ones may not live around the corner but many thousands of miles away. Can your Guest List realistically extend to the Asian Sub Continent or further afield?
The simple answer is, of course it can. If you want your Dadi or your Chacha to join the festivities then with the right mindset and forward planning they could be joining you on the dance floor come the wedding season. If you have a family wedding this Summer then why not invite over your rishtedaar from Mumbai or Multan to come celebrate with you!
The starting point is checking whether they need a visa to visit the UK in the first place. If you don’t already know – it depends on their nationality. Citizens of some countries don’t need a visa to visit the UK at all. You also need to be able to prove that you are in the UK legally before you can sponsor your Guest. This is normally done by providing a copy of your passport or visa.
The Guest will have to be able to prove that they can be afford the trip without adding major stress to their financial position. It does not matter if you are paying for it or they are. As long as one of you has the money to do so. They can do this by providing bank statements or payslips. If you want to push the boat out and treat your wedding Guest to an all-expenses paid wedding trip then you will need to show that you can afford to pay for it as well as maintain yourself during their stay.
The information you need to provide should include an estimate of the cost of the trip, confirmation of your income and proof that you have money to pay for your Guest’s trip and stay (so do not blow the whole budget on wedding shopping!). This is normally done by showing bank statements and pay slips. The sponsor will have to sign a Declaration confirming that they will maintain and accommodate their Guest without any recourse to public funds.
When you are taking the responsibility to sponsor a relative or friend to come and visit you then you need to explain why. It is good practice to include details of your relationship and the reason they are visiting. Throw in the shaadi card for good measure!
Once an Application has been submitted your Guest will be invited to the Visa Application Centre in their Country. This is to submit the Visa Application and documents. It normally takes around 3-4 weeks for an answer to be given as to whether the Visa Application has been approved. Don’t order that sherwani just yet!
A good solicitor can normally assess beforehand the strength of the Application. Common grounds for the Entry Clearance Officer refusing Applications are if the Guest’s financial position is not strong, the Guest does not have close ties with their own Country or they have previously been in breach of visa conditions.
Statistics show that the number of successful Visitor Visa Applications granted have risen. Using the right solicitor for the Applications is crucial. The solicitor should be able to understand the immigration procedure, required documents and be honest about the prospects of the Application.
At Nayyars we love a desi wedding and we appreciate how important it is to have the right guests. If you want a member of your Baraat to arrive from abroad then give our Immigration Team a call today on 0161 491 8520.
