My wife submitted her IELTS test cetificate as proof of english profeciency last month. She had an overall score of 3.5 and we recived the VisaSo i Guess it is good news for those people who were worried if less than 4 was required.The UKBA website is far from being clear with regards to this, When I went to submit my documents in Liverpool the UKBA were themself confused, as they could not see any mark for IELTS below B1 standard. However the requirement is A1 and there was no IELTS score on thier spreadsheet which correlated to anythnig below B1.They accepted my documents, and my email printout from UKBA general enquiries where it was confirmed the score was sufficient, and they told they would do a policy review and get back to me.All Praise to Allah my wife recieved her Biometric Visa card.Hope this helps all those who were a bit confused on this issue
This is a copy of the response below to help you
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----Original Message-----
From: Public Visa Enqs
publicvisaenqs@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Sent: 10/02/2011 12:16:49 pm
Subject: RE: Question
Thank you for the follow on enquiry.
An IELTS test score of 3.5 is equivalent to a BI level which exceeds the basic AI level of English required for a settlement visa application. Your spouse may therefore lodge her IELTS test score as evidence of herEnglish language competence.
Sent by:
Public Enquiries [J],Customer Services,
Visa Services Directorate, International Group,
UK Border Agency, c/o Lunar House,
40 Wellesley Road, Croydon CR9 2BY
Web-site:
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas