spouse visa issue

I wonder if you could advise me on this issue. I am a british born indian living and settled in UK, and holding a UK passport. I met my wife ( an indian citizen from india on a student visa) when she came to the UK last september to study for her master's in public health, when I bumped into her as a colleague (as I was working too at the time in the health sector and I went to the same conference that she went). We stayed in contact, and then I fell in love with her and decided to marry her, which eventually happened and we got married on 20th december 2003 in UK in chigwell where I have lived.

My wife now still has a student visa, as she came from India, and her student visa would expire in october 2004. She is about to complete her thesis on the master's programme in public health and she is also about to do her examinations (PLAB test) as she is also a qualified medical practitioner from Russia and would require a PLAB score to secure her GMC resgistration to practice as a doctor.

I own my own three bedroom property and her name is with the property on the deeds as well as on the bank accounts and bills. Further our marriage was registered with the british marriage registry office. I would like to ask these very important questions:

1. When should my wife apply for her change of status from a student visa to a spouse visa?

2. I phoned the Home Office to ask about the fact which form to use, although I did not tell them all the facts that I have written here, but they said that there is no guaranteee that she would be able to change into a spouse visa in UK.

3. Further she has been with me for the last 6 months as my wife, and we both own a property in london, and she will soon be starting work as she is free to work as she is married to me and has no restrictions on her working in the UK, but I am seriously worried about the fact as to whether the Home Office would reject the application of her extension of her visa on the basis of marriage to me.

4. I would also need to know that they (HO) initially is saying that for a visa national to change to a spouse visa the person concerned would need to return to their country of origin before the entry clearance can be given on the basis of a spouse.

5. It would be quite difficult for both of us if she had to go to India just for this extension on the HO application form and purposes. It would not only take time and would result in the loss of money but also the time factor would be important as she would be starting work as soon as she finished her programme next month.

6. I am a settled UK citizen and am worried as to what will happen in this case and my wife is also quite upset thinking whether she would need to return to India for this purpose.

7. Further we got married really quickly in the sense that my wife entered Uk for the first time in september 2003 and we got married in december 2003....I am worried as to whether the Home Office would say that the purpose of her entry was to marry me...although in reality we never knew each other and it was me who made the proposal to he first...purely on the basis of love and on her professionalism. I am a senior lecturer and student welfare officer at the London Business School, and would like your expert advice please.

Many thanks.

skc

SKC,


Whats all the fuss about? everything seems to be legimate...

Just complete FLR (M) - marriage and post it to HO or go there physically...


there should not be any problem


All the best

PS. make sure you change it before the Mrs LTR expires

Hello there,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank chess.

I would be happy to answer your questions and wish you and your wife the best for the future.

*1. When should my wife apply for her change of status from a student visa to a spouse visa?
*2. I phoned the Home Office to ask about the fact which form to use, although I did not tell them all the facts that
I have written here, but they said that there is no guarantee that she would be able to change into a spouse
Visa in UK.

As soon as possible because there is a possibility that the home office may ask her to apply from India. If this has happened you would have enough time to plan within her legal status as a student.

*3. Further she has been with me for the last 6 months as my wife, and we both own a property in London, and she will soon be starting work as she is free to work as she is married to me and has no restrictions on her working in the UK, but I am seriously worried about the fact as to whether the Home Office would reject the application of her extension of her visa on the basis of marriage to me.

*6 months together with a marriage certificate is more than enough to satisfy Para 281 (ii) of the immigration rules.
*Both own property satisfies Para 281 (iv)
*Your work alone is enough to satisfy Para 281 (v). Do not worry about her future job. There are female British Caucasian doctors who married to prisoners. It is a free country.
*In fact you are giving her a status. It is you as a British Citizen and tax payer who is sponsoring her and indirectly asking the secretary of the state to give her the right immigration status as your wife. Can he say no to you? If he did, take the home office to the court and you will win.

*4. I would also need to know that they (HO) initially is saying that for a visa national to change to a spouse visa the person concerned would need to return to their country of origin before the entry clearance can be given on the basis of a spouse.

I am afraid this is the new rules. If your wife is applying from the UK to change her status there is a possibility that HO would refuse her application saying she has to apply from India. That is why I advised you to apply as soon as possible.

If her application was refused, then I will advice you may wish to follow the following strategy.
1- Send the VFA2 form with a supporting documents and attested copy of her passport to any lawyer in India with power of attorney. Ask him/her to apply in her behave to the British consulate in India.
2- Once an interview appointment is given, she or both of you can travel for the interview, get her visa and come back.
3-In case of unexpected refusal you can both come to the UK as long as her immigration status as a student is still valid. She can extend her student visa until the appeal is heard. Do not worry she will be settled because she establishes the requirement of the law.
4- If point 1 can not be achieved because the British consulate needs to see her passport initially, she may travel to apply and come back to the UK then return for the interview. I am afraid this will cost you two tickets. However as long as her student status is still maintained she can enter the UK freely. Again, that is why I am advising to apply as soon as possible.

*5. It would be quite difficult for both of us if she had to go to India just for this extension on the HO application form and purposes. It would not only take time and would result in the loss of money but also the time factor would be important as she would be starting work as soon as she finished her programme next month.

If she has to go to India, this is not an extension; it is a change of status for settlement. I am afraid it has to be done at some stage. The sooner the better. You do not wish to see her illegal in the country. Yes I agree it may cost you money but even if she started work she would change her status either to work permit or to post graduate doctor if she passed her PLAB and found a job. Her work will not preclude the plan I am suggesting to you because she will need to be India for a few days.

*6. I am a settled UK citizen and am worried as to what will happen in this case and my wife is also quite upset thinking whether she would need to return to India for this purpose

.

I am afraid the Home Office may ask her to do so. I agree it may cost her one or two tickets to India but I believe this will be afforded. The minimum salary of a starting doctor in a month would be more than enough to cover three return flights to India .

*

7. Further we got married really quickly in the sense that my wife entered UK for the first time in September 2003 and we got married in December 2003....I am worried as to whether the Home Office would say that the purpose of her entry was to marry me...although in reality we never knew each other and it was me who made the proposal to he first...purely on the basis of love and on her professionalism. I am a senior lecturer and student welfare officer at the London Business School, and would like your expert advice please.

Even if they think so, it is irrelevant. What is between her and the home office is the law. HO or British consulate should apply the law. Here are the rules ; Para 281 http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/defaul ... ageId=3204

As long as she satisfies the requirements of the law then she should have her LTR (limited leave to remain for 2 years) then ILR (indefinite leave to Remain) then she would be eligible to apply for British citizenship as per rules.

Please remember, it is you as a British citizen who will give her a status. Please remember you are not a second class citizen in the eyes of the law and you can do a lot.

Good luck

Many thanx tdabash and chess. I still have a couple of queries:

1. what do you mean by a VFA2 form? Where do I get that?

2. you mentioned as I quote .........."In case of unexpected refusal you can both come to the UK as long as her immigration status as a student is still valid. She can extend her student visa until the appeal is heard. Do not worry she will be settled because she establishes the requirement of the law."..

.......my question is that her student visa would expire, and if by then nothing fruitful happens then would she be able to extend her visa or would I be able to extend her visa for her on the basis of the fact that an appeal has been made and we are awaiting the hearing of the appeal? Could you advise me on this please?

3. You mention that..... "If she has to go to India, this is not an extension; it is a change of status for settlement. I am afraid it has to be done at some stage. The sooner the better. You do not wish to see her illegal in the country. Yes I agree it may cost you money but even if she started work she would change her status either to work permit or to post graduate doctor if she passed her PLAB and found a job. Her work will not preclude the plan I am suggesting to you because she will need to be India for a few days."...

......now my question is would she need a work permit to work in UK although she is married to me as I am a British Citizen? In order to change her status for settlement would she definitely have to go to India personally to do that? Can it not be done in anyway from here in UK itself?

4. you mention ..."I am afraid this is the new rules. If your wife is applying from the UK to change her status there is a possibility that HO would refuse her application saying she has to apply from India. That is why I advised you to apply as soon as possible. ".............

......my question is that can you please say how this rule is being applied? Is it a mandatory rule ?......or where can a I get the reference for this rule like you have mentioned the article numbers for the other rules and given their respective web-links?

thanking you always for your sincere help. I wish to know everything as we both are worried about what we have to do.......... and if we both would know the regulations then we can plan ahead.

thanx.....SKC

Hi chess and tdabash,

Thank you again for your continued help. I have one final question to ask:

If you say that the home office may say that my wife would have to go back to India to apply for her spouse visa, and that the laws about this have changed from the Home Office, then I have the following critical questions:

1. If the Home Office has made this law mandatory then anyone who is a visa national and then gets married to a British citizen as in the case of me and my wife, then there would be no use in applying from within the UK and paying all that application fees as there would be a straight rejection as the HO law does not allow such applications...this is like changing visitor status to student status for visa national students coming from visa countries as tourists/visitors and in those cases they cannot change to a student status with out returning to their home country. Would not the similar thing happen in this case and there would be no point in making a spouse visa application as the HO law says that the applicant that is my wife would have to return to India to make the change from student visa to spouse visa?? I am really worried about this.

2. You mention that to send attested copies of the documents to India to a lawyer who has the power of attorney so that they act on my wife's behalf at the British Consulate in Delhi. But in India there exists a lot of corruption and the lawyers are even more corrupt, and they would not only charge me sky high legal fees (not surprising knowing that I am a british citizen settled in UK), but they would also take tremendous amount of time. In fact, the interview back log for spouse visas and the related interviews and documentations have such a long back log that it would take not less than 6 months for anything to move. In that case our whole family life would go through a lot of troubles as I would not be able to stay with her leaving all my work and house and everything else in UK...hence she would be without me in India which would be disastrous both for me and for her in this situation, as I have to be in uk for my job as well as maintaining my house. I have my livilihood in UK. Further alone without me the process of changing her visa status to a spouse visa would be even longer as they would not bother with her application as her husband is not there. This would jeopardise both her career prospects as well as her mental state.

you mrntion...."I am afraid this is the new rules. ......."...........

I would also like to know in detail when this law was passed that in order to get a FLR as spouse of a british citizen settled in UK, the wife of the person being married and staying with the british citizen husband in UK, the person would need to go all the way back to their home country to make the application even if they are already staying with the married person (husband) in UK??

I am really tensed ..please help.

thanking again.......skc

skchatterjee

For time management and prompt strategy, I would advice to apply in person so that if the home office asked her to apply from India, she would have more time to adopt the strategy put in my previous post.

Please remember, working for a spouse immigration status does not preclude another application for other types of immigration status. The essence of the strategy I have suggested for you is to work towards her settlement while she is legally present in the UK within the time in which she is able to return and can extend or change her status from student to another; until she gets her spouse immigration status.

If she is to apply in India, she will need to fill the settlement visa form which is called VAF2 form. PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO SEE THE FORM http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/VAF2_2003_Eng,0.pdf

My final advice is PLEASE START NOW I have no shadow of a doubt that she will be eventually a winner.

Good luck

To the moderators and tdabash,

I am abit confused regarding this topic - Does it mean that one can not change in country from Student to spouse Visa. This has been very common (or is IND cracking down on marriages?)

I have not come accross this new rule - does anyone know???

Chess,

I came across a doctor who was on post graduate training and had been asked to apply from his country. I am not saying that our friend's wife can not change status in the country but I am putting a strategy against the worse.In my previous post all my statements were with 'may and if'. For avoidance of any misunderstanding, I elected to amend my previous post leaving the bolded conclusion.

As you know, the immigration officers are lovely people.

Our friend admitted that HO told him yes but there is no guarantee then they advised that the person may be asked to obtain his/her country of origin.

At no time, I am not saying your advice is incorrect but my worries that our friend's wife applies, wastes 13 weeks then is asked to apply from India. The situation will be difficult.

Dealing with immigration officers is unpredictable. It is very logic that our friend's wife would obtain her settlement visa but if the visitor is asked to apply from his country the student may be asked to do the same.

There are changes in the rules for a visitor but our friend's wife has a leave for more than 6 months. The applicable rule here may be Para 284 which constitutes no problem.

What would happen if an immigration officer has got it wrong?
In country appeal? How long does it take?

If HO asked our friend's wife to apply from India, what would be the best course of action? A trip to India will cost less than Lawyer's fee in the UK. Even if she has to wait for 6 months is much better than an appeal which would take at least a year.

If they got it right, our friend's wife would have no problem at all. she will be even able to work immediately.

I am sorry I do not trust immigration officers until I see the visa in the passport

Have a good week end chess

I am sorry I do not trust immigration officers until I see the visa in the passport

Have a good week end chess

Thanx tdabash,


Yep, I can see where you are coming from - IMHO skch should not have any problems

You are welcome.