STUDENT VISA to SPOUSE VISA - status change

Dear forum members,

I would hope someone on this forum may be able to help.

My brother came to the UK last year in July (07/2012) on a student visa for 6 months. He student visa has now finished however, since the last few months he has fell in love and hopes to marry a UK national/ British citizen.

Can anyone advise if he will face any problems or issues in obtaining a spouse visa. He is currently unemployed and so is his finacee, however, both wish to marry. My brother is a Pakistani national.

Many thanks in advance for your help and for providing any legislative / immigration law in your response.

Put simply he won't be able to switch inside the UK to a spouse visa.

To be able to switch he would need a visa which is longer than 6 months and either he or his partner needs to earn over £18,600 or have £62,500 in savings. If your salary is less than £18,600 you can make up the shortfall with cash savings.

He needs to return to Pakistan and either he/she needs to get a job and earn over £18,600 for a minimum of 6 months or have £62,500 held in savings for 6 months.

He must return when his visa expires, overstaying by more than 28 days will lead to serious problems when applying for future UK visas.

Spend some time reading this, it has all the info you need http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... spouse-cp/

Thank you for your reply; much appreciated.

Apologies, for clarification. He came in June 2011 on a 12 month visa. His visa expired in June 2012.

He is currently an over-stayer, i.e., in breach of his visa conditions by more than 7 months so far.

Please can someone advise the current consequences if he decided to marry in the UK, would it be valid since he is illegal over-stayer at the moment?

Secondly, if the marriage is not considered "legal", then would he need to return to Pakistan and the girl would need to go there for them to marry?

Many thanks for anyone dissecting this situation for me and providing some clarifiation on the matter.

Thank you forum members.

According to the circumstances, he cannot apply for any visa in-country either spouse or other coz he is an illegal person in UK and plus spouse must fulfil the financial requirement.

Once he left UK, there is very less chances to get into UK again on any visa, even spouse fulfil the financial requirement.

Actually, he has destroyed his all immigration history and UKBA are so strict now a days.

Firstly he will struggle to marry in the uk, most registrars will want to see a passport and they will spot that he's an overstayer and report it to the UKBA who will stop the marriage taking place.

As stated in the last post there is very little chance of any visa application being successful because of the overstay, and on top of that he fails the financial requirement anyway.

Thank you for your responses.

However, say he does go back. Then his fiancée also goes to Pakistan and get married there. Would that be acceptable?

Or would UKBA class that as a marriage of convenience and reject it stating that the marriage is a sham, conducted solely to get a British passport. Or would it be seen legitimately and he would get his spouse visa?

georgemcfly wrote:Thank you for your responses.

However, say he does go back. Then his fiancée also goes to Pakistan and get married there. Would that be acceptable?

Or would UKBA class that as a marriage of convenience and reject it stating that the marriage is a sham, conducted solely to get a British passport. Or would it be seen legitimately and he would get his spouse visa?

Yes, they will not call it sham marriage but they will defo put the case in 'marriage of convenience' regime. Plus they will take 6 months for refusal than Appeal take 6 months than Judicial Review will take 6-12 months.

I have seen 100z of same cases specially from Pakistan, Indian and Bangladesh region. Kids grown up but one of the parent still struggling for spouse visa.

I totally appreciate what you are saying and the odds are at present stacked against him.

I understand we have covered the 'cons' of the situation; however, how about the 'pros'? What I mean to say is that, the reason many post on this forum is to receive advice on any resolution or ideas towards one.

So, any suggestions on what strategies or routes he can take and the best way forward that is also practical for him to gain a spouse visa?

what should he do now is the question...

Thanks again for your help... to all here.


p.s., I suppose in the last couple of years many young men have arrived in the UK from India and Pakistan on student visas.... so to permanently settle down. Some as my brother, have become involved in relationships , albeit after their visa ran out..... so this situation applies to many many people here in the UK at present.

The only honest suggestion for your brother to leave this country ASAP. he is ILLEGAL and its against the LAW

if he caught he will be BAN for 10yrs, it can happen now as well but he is not been caught.

there is no harm in trying your luck. ask him to leave the country immediately and ask the girl to go back to pak get married and live there for while to show that the marriage is substantial and try to apply again from there.

if he is lucky he will get the visa otherwise no.

in this case don't compare your brother case with any one. what ever other has done they have done and because of those culprits every one is suffering(legit ppl) your brother has so far no right to live and extend his visa now.

speak to a solicitor and get a second opinion.

hope this reply will clear your questions.

Thank you for your reply; however, I don't think it is clear cut as that.

He, as many other students that have arrived, have been unfortunately caught on the wrong side of the fence, due to the fact that their Sponsor, the college they were enrolled at, has closed down and ceased to be an entity. He did not have any other funds to transfer to another college, even though he had a valid and current visa at the time.

In the interests of clarification, I have stated brother, i.e., a brother in faith not a blood brother.

Secondly, he stated that he was mugged and his money and passport were stolen; hence unable to return during the valid visa time.

In light of these circumstances that were outside his control he has become illegal and still remains so. He states he is an honest and upstanding individual who just wishes to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Any other suggestions or routes he can take to get married here legally would be appreciated.

not that I know, as I am not a lawyer. better to speak with a lawyer.

when his pp was mugged did he report the issue to police ??

if yes why didn't he applied for another passport ?

I have also asked him to get some professional advice; however, his predicament is, is that the professional advice is a 'paid-for' fee based service and he simply does not have the funds.

I did also ask him about the fact if he reported the mugging and stolen passport and funds to the police..... he said he didn't out of fear of deportation. even though he had a valid passport and visa, he stated that since his college had closed down and effectively "gobbled up" his "life savings" as he called it, he didn't have enough money to apply anywhere else, so upon detailed investigation by UKBA, he "may" have been deported..... a risk he was not prepared to take.

no funds to reapply for a replacement passport or a ticket back home. unfortunate really ;-(

Gosh!!

Is there anythnig positive in his circumstances?

There is no 'pros' in his life and you are asking us to add some 'pros'.

The only valid way is, girl and boy should do some hardwork and save some money. Than go back to home country with girl. Marry her and live there for six months. Than send wife back to UK. Wife need to find a job with £18.6k per anum. Than he can make visa application.

Its actually new UK visa rules and regulations where only 'cons' left for non-EU.

Hi Senior members, I have an enquiry. If you are on valid student visa but you could not enrol/register in the University due to financial problem but you still decide to stay on in the UK. Can one be refused entry if one leaves the UK and decide to re-enter in future with the same student visa since the visa is still valid?

If you could not enrol/register, then you may be refused re-entry due to changes in circumstances or purpose.

Hi all, i am currently on a 1year and 10months student visa and my visa remains valid till october this year. please am i eligible to get married to my paartner who is a british cos i only have five months remaining before my visa expires. please i need your feedback. Thanks

Kaykaykay5 wrote:Hi all, i am currently on a 1year and 10months student visa and my visa remains valid till october this year. please am i eligible to get married to my paartner who is a british cos i only have five months remaining before my visa expires. please i need your feedback. Thanks

Have you bothered to read the thread your are hijacking?

Let me introduce you to my cluebat; Does your partner fulfil the financial requirements above?

yes she does. @wanderer

Wanderer wrote:

Kaykaykay5 wrote:Hi all, i am currently on a 1year and 10months student visa and my visa remains valid till october this year. please am i eligible to get married to my paartner who is a british cos i only have five months remaining before my visa expires. please i need your feedback. Thanks

Have you bothered to read the thread your are hijacking?

Let me introduce you to my cluebat; Does your partner fulfil the financial requirements above?

Yes she does

In which case you can marry and then apply to switch to a spouse visa on form FLR(M). You'll have to pay the visa fee of £649 if the application is submitted by post or £1049 if applied for in person. You will also have to pay the NHS surcharge of £500 before submitting the application. You'll need to provide strong evidence of a genuine relationship as well as evidence that your fiancee is earning more than the minimum £18,600 per annum. You'll also need to show that you haven't been working in excess of your permitted 20 hours per week.

Casa wrote:In which case you can marry and then apply to switch to a spouse visa on form FLR(M). You'll have to pay the visa fee of £649 if the application is submitted by post or £1049 if applied for in person. You will also have to pay the NHS surcharge of £500 before submitting the application. You'll need to provide strong evidence of a genuine relationship as well as evidence that your fiancee is earning more than the minimum £18,600 per annum. You'll also need to show that you haven't been working in excess of your permitted 20 hours per week.

Thank you so much. You have been so helpful

Casa wrote:In which case you can marry and then apply to switch to a spouse visa on form FLR(M). You'll have to pay the visa fee of £649 if the application is submitted by post or £1049 if applied for in person. You will also have to pay the NHS surcharge of £500 before submitting the application. You'll need to provide strong evidence of a genuine relationship as well as evidence that your fiancee is earning more than the minimum £18,600 per annum. You'll also need to show that you haven't been working in excess of your permitted 20 hours per week.

Thank you so much. You have been so helpful

Hi,

I was reading the comments and was really thankful for all the information that been given.

My husband is switching from tier 4 student visa to spouse visa too. We're making the application and I'm self-employed and have earned above the financial threshold for last year (April 2014-April 2015).

On the flr(M) form there is a question:

2.3 Please indicate what stage of extension of leave you are applying for or why you are
choosing to extend your current leave in one of the above categories.

1) First period of leave to remain (following an initial period of entry clearance as a partner of a
settled person, or following an initial period of entry clearance as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil
partner of a settled person - 6 months)

2) Second period of leave to remain (following initial grant of leave to remain).
You are making a first application from within the UK but have not previously had leave to
enter/remain as a partner.

Or
3) You delayed your travel to the UK by more than 3 months after the issue of a visa, and have
not yet completed the relevant period of time in one of the categories at question 2.1
You require further leave to remain to obtain the relevant qualifications to meet the
Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK (KoLL) requirements to apply for indefinite leave
to remain.

4) You were granted entry as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, but have not yet married or
entered into a civil partnership. Please explain why in the box below and state when your
marriage or civil partnership will take place.

5) If you applying for any other reason - please explain below

Could anyone kindly help please?

Many thanks