I'm not sure how it works then if the sponsor (e.g. his spouse/wife) isn't able to support

him financially but his friends can....

Definitely worth checking with an immigration solicitor if you can afford it

There are some good forums too that you could try asking on there first though

such as this one (if you haven't already tried posing the exact same question there):

User Posted Link

Posted By: essexcanaryOTBC, Sep 30, 00:26:25