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I have a short term study visa to live in the UK for six months. I am letting a house here from a colleague. My girlfriend is coming to visit me, and she is going to stay here. In this scenario:

Who should write the invitation letter?

  • Me? (the person who is actually "inviting", but is not the owner of the house she will stay in, and not a British citizen)
  • My colleague? (he doesn't know her at all but I am letting the house from him and he is a British citizen)
  • My colleague's mom? (She is the actual owner of the house; she lets the house to her son, and he is subletting it [with her permission of course] to me; she is also a British citizen and doesn't know my girlfriend at all)
  • A combination of the three? (a letter from me with their signatures confirming they are aware of the invitation and accept it)
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    Small terminology point - you are not ‘letting a house from a colleague’, you are renting it from someone who is sub-letting it to you.
    – Traveller
    Commented Nov 14, 2019 at 12:54

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Speaking as someone who lived in England as a student for many years, it's perfectly fine for you to write the invitation letter to your girlfriend yourself. You don't need to be a British citizen or a house owner to invite someone to come and visit you. I wrote multiple letters inviting my parents to visit me in the UK, and we never had problems with that.

I'd suggest you base your letter on templates from UK universities, as they are used to helping foreign students. For example, this one from the University of Essex, or this one from the University of Salford, or this one from the University of Greenwich. You'll also get a pretty good idea of what kind of information is typically included in such letters.

I'd also suggest against having your friend or his mom writing the invitation letter. This is because the border agent could question your girlfriend on her relationship to them (i.e. "For how long have you known this person? What is your relationship to them?") and this could lead to problems. If you prefer, you might add in your letter that the house owner is aware of and has authorized her visit, but I personally don't think this is necessary.

Hope this helps!

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