Family Visit Visa for Husband

[Lornaabigail]

Hi there

Just asking for some opinions really, as we've already made the application so there's nothing I can do to change the outcome now. I applied for a family visit visa for my husband to come to the UK to see me and visit my family etc. We asked for one week in August as it corresponds with his holiday from work. We submitted all of the correct paperwork etc, he has a job with an international, well-known company where he has been working for 9 years and has had a schengen visa before.

However, I was just browsing the internet and have seen several people say that it is almost impossible to get a family visit visa for a partner/spouse because of the perceived risk of overstaying when their wife lives in the UK. The reason we are choosing to apply for a visit visa rather than a spouse visa is because i do not yet make the financial requirement (£18600), so our plan is to continue to visit each other until i get a better paying job. Of course I could continue to visit his country (and I will do), but him visiting the UK is really the only opportunity for him to meet my family and friends as it would be difficult for them to travel right now (my mom doesn't have a passport currently for example and with her work commitments it would be unlikely she could travel anyway.) I did not explain all of this on the application form though! I am sponsoring him for the week so I obviously included my payslips so the ECO should see that I don't make £18600 so I'm hoping that they will deduce from that why we have not applied for the spouse visa if they are wondering.

Anyway, I was just after some opinions really. Based on what I've said what chance do you think we have or will they just see "wife based in the UK" and automatically assume that he will overstay because we have not explicitly addressed in the application why we are currently living in separate countries.

Honest answers please!

Thank you in advance for your time

[bob-russell]

As long as your husband qualifies for a visa and can demonstrate it clearly in the application then he will be issued with a visa.

If the visa is for a genuine reason, is affordable and there are good reasons to return before the visa runs out then there is no reason at all for a refusal.

It is possible that the ECO may be watching for applicants that might be attempting to bypass immigration rules especially settlement but they do need evidence to suggest this.

Someone trying to stay for 5 months will raise eyebrows as not many employers will allow this sort of absence but even this may not result in a refusal if a careful and comprehensive application is submitted.

Many family visas are issued!

[Lornaabigail]

As long as your husband qualifies for a visa and can demonstrate it clearly in the application then he will be issued with a visa.

If the visa is for a genuine reason, is affordable and there are good reasons to return before the visa runs out then there is no reason at all for a refusal.

It is possible that the ECO may be watching for applicants that might be attempting to bypass immigration rules especially settlement but they do need evidence to suggest this.

Someone trying to stay for 5 months will raise eyebrows as not many employers will allow this sort of absence but even this may not result in a refusal if a careful and comprehensive application is submitted.

Many family visas are issued!

Thanks Bob for your reply. That's what I thought but then I (probably stupidly) started to google family visit visas for husbands and saw lots of responses saying that they never issue family visit visas to spouses because they assume that as their husband/wife is based in the UK they will overstay.

I would say that the visa is for a genuine reason as I want him to meet my family, we are only asking for 7 days and I have provided adequate proof that it is affordable for the time requested, and he has a job that he has worked at for 9 years to go back to, as well as his mom and sisters who he is very close with. Of course, I'm not saying that we would never want to relocate to the UK in the future, but we have no concrete plans and if we were to decide on it, we would of course only apply at a time when I would be eligible to bring him on a spouse visa.

Hopefully it's just a lot of scaremongering on the internet because after reading some of the replies on other forums I had given up all hope that we would have a chance...

Thanks again so much for your reply, you've really made me feel a lot better

[Lornaabigail]

Ok so we still don't have any response...it's just past the 15 days that they say you normally get a response by...

Does anyone else have any opinions on our application? I just wish they would let us know either way

Thanks in advance