UK Visitor (standard) With Family Situation

Question

I am a Masters Student in Germany and will be student while traveling to UK. My nationality is Pakistani

I want to visit my sister living in UK (British national) but she is living under government support Housing Benefit. So if I want to go visit her is it better to go with General Visit Visa and book a hotel or living with her is not a problem?

Since her house is government supported and has only 2 rooms, and I have enough financial statement to have a journey on my expense, would it be better if I mention that I have a sister but I will stay in a hostel and the letter from my sister tells the same? What do I need from the sister side (like her Passport etc).

Also lastly I need the proof for the return to Germany, so as per my thinking will it be enough if I show them my enrollment letter with enrollment in the semester or do I need a special letter from university.

Answer 1

If you want to visit your sister in the UK, you should apply for a UK Visitor (standard) Visa (family visit visas were recently abolished). Your question is about accommodation arrangements. When assessing accommodation, the ECO is obliged to consider the various provisions in the Housing Act 1985 and subsequent amendments to the act.

If your sister lives in council housing and you want to use her flat for accommodation, the strongest evidence needed is a letter from the estate giving you permission to stay there as a guest for a given period. If the estate already has a 'generic' letter of permission, you can use that instead but its evidential quality is substantially reduced. And finally, if her tenancy agreement has a clause permitting visitor accommodation, you can use that (also reducing the evidential quality). In the absence of those and with no permission at all from the estate, your application will be imperilled. The fact that your sister has invited you, or has agreed to accommodate you is not taken into consideration when council housing is being used because she does not own the premises and hence does not have the capacity to give permission unless stated in her tenancy agreement.

If instead you opt to stay in a commercial property, like a B&B or hostel, you would not need to submit booking or reservations. Instead they will examine your financial evidence (vis-a-vis your apparent lifestyle) to determine if you have the capacity to accommodate yourself.

It's fine to include a brief invitation letter from your sister if you think it's necessary. You can use Section 9 of the application to explain why you are opting to use a B&B, hostel, etc rather than staying with your sister.

For your final question about needing a bespoke letter from your university, this would be considered unusual and they would wonder why you thought it necessary. Your enrollment paperwork along with your current housing arrangements in Germany should be sufficient. Because Pakistan is considered to be a high risk visa-national country, the evidence supporting your personal circumstances in Germany should be of impeccable quality.