Spouse Visa - Age Difference

Like most people I waited before getting married and delayed it.

Having gotten married to an India citizen the age difference is 11 years and I am 35. My question relates to will the ECO pick up on this and would it be a good idea for me to attend the interview? The only problem is that I may not be able to get the time off from work and there is no guarantee they will want to speak to me.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Hi

My wife is 12 years younger than me and was refused a visa at BHC Islamabad. They grilled her at the interview about the age issue, suggesting she only married me to come to UK. They wrote in the explanation that even though I had shown intentions of living with her, they were not satisfied with her intentions and did not beleive her. They said to her how could her parents do such a thing and get her married off to someone so old.

We have lodged an appeal and have a date set for July which has taken the best part of 8 mnoths to get.

Its best for your wife to know your likes/dislikes/hobbies, what you do for a living, what life is like in the country you live in, what the town is like, what your plans for the future are - all this was asked from my wife, although she answered most of the questions she said 'i dont know' to the question about what the town was like i lived in. Something we never spoke about.

They brought up the culture issue saying in pakistan its highly unlikely couples get married with such a big age gap.

As you say there is no garantee they will want to see you at the interview, even if they do there is a risk you both answer differently to the questions they ask, as they will certainly interview you separate if they do. You both must do your research in one another and make sure nothing is left uncovered.

Hope everything works out for you.

synapse321, I have read and re-read your post, but still don't know the answer to the query in my mind .... is your spouse 46, or 24?

Either way, no way should an ECO be taking an age difference into account when deciding if a marriage is real, or a marriage of convenience. That is, if the couple are happy with the age difference, will that is up to them.

You attending the interview? As you say, no guarantee they would agree to see you even if you were there.

My question relates to will the ECO pick up on this and would it be a good idea for me to attend the interview?

I agree with John's comment. Age difference is not an issue especially in countries like India where its very common to have this practise and the ECO is well aware of this. As long as you can prove that you are intending to live together as married couple, your wife will get a visa.
About you attending the interview? I don't think ECO would talk to you and as you said it might be just waste of time and money.

Thank you Shaf for being upfront with your answer.

My wife is 11-12 years younger than myself and it was an arranged marriage.

We fell in love after we met.

One point that seems to occur to me and it may be a silly question is how does the ECO verify the answers the wife gives about hobbies etc if he/she has never spoken or met me so to speak?

Regards.

Having met is a pre-condition of a spouse visa.

hi all

thanks synapse321 for your post,

accually i want to share my story with you, as Shaf said that his wife got refused at BHC Islamabad i was refused the same his wife cuz we had 10 years diffierent and the ECO asked me the same questions of Shaf's wife which they rely upon it and refused me with right of appeal.

synapse tell your wife to give as much information as she can about you and your both future plans to the ECO and as well as show them more level of contact from the day you both met each other, ( including emails, letter, and greeting cards ) cuz these things already happened to me and i got refused and i dont want you to be the same us,

and I appealed the desision it took about 1 year that the judge heard my appeal, and allowed, and im still waiting for the Embassy to contact me regarding my visa. i will let you know if there is something update.

and thanks alot John from your most amazing comments to us you are great,

thanks all

Well same thing happen to me. when did this happen. have you try to get some prove for court hearing and get a lawyer for this.

Send me in details hope fully i be able to advice further.

As long as you fulfil all of the criteria necessary for the spouse visa, then I do not see age difference will come into it. We had 10 year age gap and successfully got visa.

avjones wrote:Having met is a pre-condition of a spouse visa.

Amanda, I think that Synapse means, "if the ECO has never met me"!

I think age difference is not a reason why the visa will be refused. I have a friend here who got married and their age gap is 25 years and she was granted a visa. Important is that you should satisfy the ECO of the three things: financial evidence, accommodation and your realtionship.