marriage before ILR

I will be applying for ILR shortly within a couple of weeks. I will also be getting married soon and wanted to know how long it would take to bring my wife to the UK from india.

I am currently on HSMP and have heard that if I apply for a spouse visa now from india i may get it within a week whereas it may take a couple of months or more if a UK citizen applies for the same. I wanted to know wether this is the same if a person with ILR applies for a spouse visa. In that case would it be advisable to get married first apply for the spouse visa and then go for ILR ???

Thanks in advance

Let's clear some things here. Firstly, only settlement visas given to ILR holders and British citizens are called spouse visas. In your case if she apply before you get your ILR, it is called a dependant visa.

I do not think there is any difference in the time taken by a particular embassy in processing the spouse visa or the dependant visa. ie- if a British embassy takes 1 week to process a dependant visa, then that is the time it will take to process the spouse visa as well.

In any case, it is advisable to your wife's settlement visa sorted out before you apply for the ILR as it contains a hidden bonus.She can successfully get her ILR along with you if you succeed and she has a pass certificate in her Life in UK test... which is not something anyone can complain about as you can save the hassle and expense of applying for her ILR in 2 years time!

thank you so much docterror,

that does clarify a lot,

I have also heard that while it normal to get a dependant visa on application it usually takes an interview in the case of settlement/spouse visa. This is to make sure that the parties concerned are genuine and intend to live together. It is this date for an interview that might be well over a month (in India that is). Is this true ..??

appreciate your help

regards

Just beg to disagree, there is difference in processing times between dependent and spouse visas. For example in Pakistan it takes five working days for dependent visas (work permit, hsmp) and three months for a spouse visa. Totally agree with the advise given though, you should go for a HSMP dependent visa and apply together for ILR. You wife does not have to spend a minimum time on a dependent visa before she can get ILR. Hope it helps.

Rgds

thanks guys,

you have been very helpful indeed

best regards

Hi tribalboy,

Can you please confirm if went along with the advice and your wife got the ILR alongwith you?
I have a similar situation where my wife is on dependant visa and I do not know whether she is eligible for ILR having spend less than 5 months on dependant visa?

You can include your wife as your dependent when you apply for ILR as long as she is here on a dependent visa. It does not matter how much time she has spent in UK.

Don't forget that before she may included in the settlement application, she will also need to satisfy the Knowledge of language and life in the United Kingdom requirements.