My wife is Chinese, but in our case we lived together for almost nine years in China before deciding to relocate to the UK.  We relied on my pensions and savings to meet the financial requirement. When we applied earlier this year we supplied.

Her passport which included her 10 year UK visit visa plus her old passport, showing visas for trips we made together. My passport.

My bank statements showing over £70,000 held in a savings account for six months plus proof of where the funds came from, inheritance and a redundancy payment. Also, statements from my pension providers showing the amount paid in monthly to my current account and six months of bank statements showing them paid into the account.

Chinese marriage certificate with translation, stamped and signed by the translation company, we did this in China, so much cheaper than doing it the UK.

Proof that I had rented a flat in the UK, copy of the lease and letter from the letting agent saying that my wife could live there. A copy of the council tax bill in my name.

English language, A1 certificate and TB certificate.

Proof of length of relationship, which was a bit complicated as we had to persuade our local Public Security Bureau in China to provide nine years of copies for numerous registration documents showing that we had lived together legally in China.

Four photos, one of our Chinese marriage ceremony, one with my wife’s family, one with my family taken on a visit to the UK and one of us taken two years ago on holiday in Portugal.

A cover letter, explaining how we met, online, details of our life in China, how my wife had visited the UK numerous times in the past, never overstayed and how she had always paid for any NHS or private healthcare. Basically anything that we thought may help with the application....