US citizen married to HM forces (marine)

Greetings,
Would some please provide me with some needed insight.

My husband and I recently got married in the USA, August 2016.
He has been a British Royal Marine for a little over 4 years. He has indeed settled in the UK but has not attained citizenship since he has not completed 5 years of service. In September I came over to England on 6 months visitors visa.

What visa should I apply for to remain with him in the UK?
Is it the FLR (o) where I'm applying as a dependent of an armed forces or is it the FLR (m) where I apply as the spouse of some one who has settled in the UK which he has?

Also what are the processing times for these?


Any inforation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

What nationality is your husband? When you say he is settled in the UK, do you mean he has ILR?

You cannot switch to any other visa category while you are in the UK as a visitor.

You may be eligible for settlement under ARF once he has completed 5 years of service. Otherwise, spouse settlement visa.

He is St.Lucian (commonwealth) and thank you so very much for this thread. I can definitely use the information from there. He has leave to remain for the time that he is in the military. Hopefully in a couple months, he will have served 5 which could be used towards his citizenship application. I was only curious because I have seen this work for others. However, I spoke to another agent at UKVI who said that I should return to the US.

Dont waste your time speaking to UKVI over the phone, they are useless and plenty of evidence here for giving wrong advise.
For future, avoid using the word 'Settled'. This has a compeltely different mean in immigration terms in the uk.
Once he has been here for 5 years on his current visa ( which i suspect is tier 2), he will be granted something called Indefinite leave to remain (ILR). The person holding a ILR is called settled in the uk.
You are best to exit the uk and come back again (by going to europe or somewhere close). This will let you stay here for another 6 months as a tourist.
Once he has ILR, then u can go back to US and apply for a spouse visa, which will be flr (m), a.k.a. spouse of settled person.
check the salary requirement and other things now, to make sure u can apply for that visa once he has ilr.
post here to ask what u dont understand.

DO NOT consider leaving briefly for an EU state and returning as a visitor! If you have already spent 6 months (or a considerable amount of time) in the UK having entered as a visitor, the IO at UK Border Control is highly likely to refuse you entry. You cannot be spending more time in the UK than you are spending in your home country as this would be considered as 'residing' not 'visiting'. Even more likely if the IO is aware that your husband is resident in the UK.

For how long a visit did the IO stamp your passport on your last entry? If you have exceeded this, there may be issues with entry in the future.

The bottom line is that you are unable to submit a spouse visa application from within the UK as you aren't permitted to switch to any other category while here as a visitor.

You can apply for a Spouse Settlement visa (from outside the UK) once your husband has been granted ILR and can show that he can meet the minimum income level of £18,600 p.a, by submitting the last 6 months payslips + the corresponding bank statements. (Unless you have £62,500 in savings, held in an accessible account for 6 months or savings over £16,000 to make up any shortfall in earnings. Savings can be joint).

A Spouse visa will grant you an initial 2.5 year period after which you will need to submit a FLR(M) application for a further 2.5 year extension, before qualifying for settlement (ILR).

The initial visa fee is currently £1195 + £600 NHS surcharge.

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview

Hi all,

Thank you for the information. Like I stated earlier we only took this route because two of our friends took that exact route on a 6 months visitor visa and filed the FMR (O) and it went through. I guess things have changed in the past 5 years.
When I do return to the USA, should I go for the Spousal visa or the join family who has settled in the UK, does anyone know the advantages with time alloted and prices? It will be quite pricey for us to do his application then mine within a 4 month period. So we are looking to do mine first then his.

I entered England on the 9th of Sep 2016, so I have only been here for almost 2 months.

There were major changes in the Immigration Rules on the 9th July 2012.

1. A Spouse Settlement visa comes under the 'join family living permanently in the UK' application. They are one and the same with no difference in fees.

2. Note living permanently. Your visa application will fail if your husband hasn't been granted ILR (permanent residence).

What period if stay did you ask the IO for when you entered? What does the stamp in your passport say?

Hi again,

In my passport, it says I have 6 months that I can spend here, no more. I have been here for almost 2 months.

I also doubled checked my husband's passport, he has a RESIDENCE PERMIT which is VALID UNTIL: EXEMPT.

VISA TYPE: EXEMPT SECTION 8(4).....Forgive me but it that visa considered a settlement visa or not?

Also, I know this request might be tedious, however, do you have a link of the major changes in the Immigration Rules on the 9th July 2012.

Thanks.

ohara wrote:What nationality is your husband? When you say he is settled in the UK, do you mean he has ILR?

You cannot switch to any other visa category while you are in the UK as a visitor.

You may be eligible for settlement under ARF once he has completed 5 years of service. Otherwise, spouse settlement visa.

Have you read the information in ohara's blue link in this post on ARF6? You will see that your husband needs to complete 5 years of residence in the UK before (as a member of the Armed Forces), he can sponsor a spouse for settlement.

Archived copies of the Immigration Rules
https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ... tion-rules

Now being aware of your husband's visa category, ARF raises certain issues. It appears that your husband's visa as a member of the Armed Forces, won't lead to settlement. This suggests that ILR won't be applicable. However, once he has completed 5 years in the Uk he would be entitled to sponsor a spouse.

The link that Ohara posted for you will show the procedure that you need to follow. Again this can only be applied for from outside of the UK and the visa fee is still applicable.

When did you marry? As one point in the link says:
"the parties were married or formed a civil partnership or a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership at least 2 years ago;"

Also see (11):
Please note: dependants of HM armed forces who are intending to enter the UK with a view to settle should not be issued visit visas but leave should be granted as according to above, if however they apply for a visit visa they must demonstrate their intention to leave the UK as according to paragraph 41 (ii).

Edit: Also see the visa fee for this category:
Indefinite leave to enter the UK as the dependant of a member of the
armed forces under Appendix Armed Forces to the Immigration Rules = £1,875 + the NHS Surcharge @ £200 per year of visa issue

Thank you so very much for your time. I will update the thread in a couple months after my return.

Ellabertelle wrote:Thank you so very much for your time. I will update the thread in a couple months after my return.

Are you now clear on the type of application you need to submit? It won't be a Spouse Settlement visa...it will be entry clearance as a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces as shown in the ARF link.

How much longer does your husband have until the end of his enlistment?

You also need to clarify this before you apply. The wording may be ambiguous, but if not it appears that your recent marriage in August 2016 may mean you don't qualify.
"the parties were married or formed a civil partnership or a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership at least 2 years ago;"

Yes I am aware of the type of visa that you speak of..I now reading up on it.

He has at minimum 5 more years. Hopefully the relationship akin to marriage mean that we have had relations for more than 2 years.

Again , your information is really really helping me out.

In which case you will be issued with a visa for a period of 4 years. The NHS Surcharge will be £800 in addition to the visa fee.

If you are applying as a spouse, I'm not sure whether you can combine this with a period as unmarried partners. Did you live together for 2 years before you married and have documented proof of this? i.e Joint tenancy or mortgage, shared finances, bills etc.

Well since was in the military of a different country for the past 4 years it has been rare that we share any form of bills. Hopefully, the case can be made using other means.

I feel like I am in a tight spot. Wish I did research prior. Will have a word with my husband and inform him of what you have provided me. If he has any questions, I do wish that you have some time to answer them or provide insight in the near future.

Thank you so much "Casa"

If I'm not around or unable to answer your questions, I'm sure there'll be someone on the forum who can.

To be honest, I really don't see why there's a requirement under ARF for a couple to have been married (or in a Civil Partnership) for at least 2 years. This is only a requirement for unmarried partners when applying for settlement in order to prove a relationship 'akin to marriage'.

That's why I'm hesitant about whether the wording is ambiguous. It's something you need to clarify.

The only reasonable way to read this would appear to be:

• the parties were married;

or

• formed a civil partnership;

or

• a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership at least 2 years ago;

I would agree noajthan, except it would be clearer if unmarried partner was last instead of civil partnership which shouldn't need 2 years of co-habitation.

Casa wrote:I would agree noajthan, except it would be clearer if unmarried partner was last instead of civil partnership which shouldn't need 2 years of co-habitation.

How's this then? (!)
a relationship 'akin to marriage or civil partnership' at least 2 years ago

In other words an unmarried relationship (in UKVI/HO world-view) requires 2 years time-served to put it on par with sanctity of marriage/CP.

Or this then? 'akin to marriage or to a civil partnership

Casa wrote:Or this then? 'akin to marriage or to a civil partnership

Exactly.

If so, and as OP is married, the clause would not apply to OP.
No 2 year rule.

Good news then Ellabertelle. The HO certainly don't make it easy.