Opinions Wanted on Wife's Settlement Visa Application

Hi All,

I am a British citizen by birth and permanently resident in the UK. I have recently returned from India where I got married to my fiancee to whom I was engaged for 3 years.

Our wedding took place in Gujarat at the end of December 2007. We lived together in India from then till me return to the UK on 11th January 2008. I originally wanted to bring my wife back with me to the UK. We even attempted to submit her application at the VFS Application Centre in Mumbai South immediately after the wedding. But their staff would not take her application in as she had henna/mehndi on her hands (normal for newly wedded Asian brides), so they couldn't take her fingerprints. I had read about the introduction of the new fingerprinting rule in India in December, but wasn't aware that mehndi isn't allowed for fingerprinting. If I knew about that from before, I would have asked my wife not to apply the mehndi on her hands in the first place!

But anyway, the mehndi finally faded away properly a few days ago, after my return to the UK. My wife submitted her application on 23rd January at VFS (Mumbai South) and the online tracking service states that it has been forwarded to the British High Commission. My wife was advised by VFS staff that the form and all the evidence she submitted seemed to be complete, so she could expect to hear back within a week or so. I have been advised a similar timescale by the Deputy British High Commission in Mumbai too, upon emailing them.

But I was looking for further opinions from anyone out there who may have had similar experiences - particularly in relation to timescales for EC/settlement applications at VFS, Mumbai South, such as this one.

I believe our case is a very straightforward settlement case. Both of us are genuine people and neither of us have ever had any trouble with the law or any immigration issues. I have read the basic requirements for a spouse visa and am confident that we, as a couple, satisfy all of them (unless anyone else out there can advise otherwise?).

My wife is 19 years old, is an Indian national and is unemployed in India. She has no income or savings of her own and is financially supported by her father who is self-employed. She lived with her family up until our wedding. From the day of the wedding till my departure from India, she was living with me. After that she went to live with her family again as she couldn't fly back with me as she doesn't have a visa yet. But she plans to come to the UK immediately after she is issued with a visa.

I am a 24 year-old, British citizen by birth and permanently resident in the UK. I graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from Loughborough University in summer 2006 and have been working in data management for a large, international, pharmaceuticals company since then. I live with my family (parents, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, plus 1 brother's wife and niece) in a large, fully extended, terraced house (5 bedrooms (inc 2 large, 2 medium-sized, 1 small), 2 other rooms, 1 Spam, 2 bathrooms), which I purchased in 2006 on a joint-mortgage with my brother.

Below I have listed all the supporting documents that we have submitted with the application. Please could you advise whether you feel it is a strong enough case to be granted a settlement visa and entry clearance and roughly how quickly such a case could be processed.

1. Relationship & Contact
* Two photographs from our engagement ceremony held in India in 2004 (†)
* Photocopy of the photograph page from my British passport confirming my nationality status
* Photocopies of the pages from my passport showing Indian visas I was issued with so that I could visit India in November 2004 and December 2007
* Screenshots of some of the email exchanges between my wife and I, between November 2004 and December 2007
* An example of a letter and greeting card my wife sent to me between November 2004 and December 2007 (†)
* Our civil marriage and ‘Nikah’ certificates issued in December 2007 after our wedding which took place in India (†)
* A sample of the wedding invitation cards distributed amongst our friends and family showing the date of each ceremony and details of the venue at which each was held
* A few photographs from some of the ceremonies of our wedding which took place in India in December 2007 (†)
* Receipt(s) obtained from the hotel(s) that my wife and I resided at since our wedding in December 2007 till my departure from India on 11th January 2008
* Receipt(s) obtained as a result of booking some of the venues to hold the ceremonies of our wedding in December 2007

2. Financial Status
* A copy of my CV describing my settled status in the UK including academic background, qualifications and work experience
* My monthly itemised bank statements covering the period from May 2007 till November 2007 inclusive (†)
* My monthly payslips received from my current employer covering the period from June 2007 till November 2007 inclusive
* My latest P60 certificate covering the tax year from April 2006 till April 2007 showing my income, tax and national insurance contributions (†)
* A letter received from my current employer confirming my employment status
* A statement from National Savings & Investments confirming the savings I currently hold in the form of Premium Bonds

3. Accommodation Status
* My latest mortgage statement confirming I have purchased the property at which I currently live, where my wife also intends to live, on mortgage (†)
* An availability of Accommodation Certificate issued by the local council confirming that the property where my wife will reside with me and my family will not be overcrowded (†)
* A letter from me confirming our relationship and that I would like my wife to live with him at my residence with my family
* A letter from my brother, who is the joint-owner of the aforementioned property, confirming that he has no objection to my wife also living at that address

Key
(†) – We have enclosed photocopies of the original documents marked as such in the above list for their records so that they can retain these photocopies for reference if required, and return the originals to us along with my wife's passport

P.S: Apologies for the long message - I just thought I should include details of all my and my wife's personal circumstances so that people can advise properly. If anyone needs any more details to help give a more definitive response, then please ask.

Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks for reading

Anyone?

Well upon enquiring with the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, I have been advised that my wife is required to attend an interview and bring the civil marriage certificate with her although we submitted this with the application! Any ideas why they would do this? I'm half tempted to ask them directly but am worried that this may adversely affect our case.

Not heard anything from VFS yet - this is direct correspondence from the Deputy British High Commission in Mumbai by email.

Well my wife has been given an appointment for interview on 15th February.

Any ideas as to why the BHC would want to interview her given that all the paperwork was valid, complete and up-to-date?

Thanks

It looks like you have all the documents you need.
It's normal for interviews to take place with settlement visas

Thanks Malcolm!

She passed the interview stage this morning. There was a few concerns we had before hand (see here).

I tried to help her prepare as much as possible using the interview questions found in previous posts on this forum and the one at www.ukresident.com. But she was asked only one question from them (why did she want to come to the UK.) Then she was asked for the original memorandum of marriage. She gave the other true copy we had without saying anything. The ECO said that is not the original, to which my wife answered that we've been told it is. The ECO claimed that the original should have a green stamp on it but this one didn't. My wife was really worried at this point as the ECO said it wouldn't be accepted. The ECO asked my wife where we had obtained the memorandum of marriage from and she explained that it was obtained from the registry office in the town in which we got married. The ECO said she would check with her manager. After 15 mins, the ECO returned and congratulated my wife on passing the interview stage!

My wife tells me the interview went really well and that they have given her all the supporting documents back. She has been asked by the Deputy British High Commission in Mumbai to have some medical checks done now before Entry Clearance can be granted and all being well she can collect her passport from the VFS application centre 10-12 working days after the medical checks.

Does anyone know if the checks are supposed to be done at 2 different clinics in Mumbai? That's what my wife has been told. If so, does she have to pay the fees for the medical checks twice and complete 2 sets of forms. How is it handled after that? Does the doctor report the outcome of the medical checks directly to the British High Commission's visa section?

Thanks in advance

Just to conclude this thread - I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my posts and help out. My wife picked up her passport yesterday with EC granted after interview and medical checks. She's booked herself onto a flight to the UK this Sunday too!

Huge relief! Thanks again everyone