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Advice please - Settlement Spouse Visa

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Marriage | Unmarried Partners | Fiancé/e | Ancestry

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srrooms
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Advice please - Settlement Spouse Visa

Post by srrooms » Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:09 am

Hi Folks,

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for all the information and advice on this forum. It certainly has made my planning for settling in the UK with my family a lot easier.

A bit background before I start. I am a British Citizen by birth and not by descent. My children are British citizens by descent and my wife is a non EU citizen. We have been married for 6 years and have lived together for 7 years and have 3 children together.

I have a few questions now but I am sure I will have more questions later regarding my wife's settlement spouse visa application. We will only be applying for the Spouse settlement visa and not the ILE as my wife has not passed the KOL test.

Reading some great advice from other posts I have put together a file for my wife's visa application. We do not plan on going to the UK until the summer of 2011 but I thought it would be wise to prepare well in advance.

So my first question is does my index for my application look ok and have I covered everything? I will add a letter from myself (the sponsor) on most of the main headings to explain our circumstances clearly.

Index

1. Application Form/Statements

• Application Form
• Statement Letter (from Spouse)
• Statement Letter (from Sponsor)
• TB Certificate

2. Passports and Identification

• Birth Certificates (Spouse, Sponsor and Children)
• Passport/Copies (Spouse, Sponsor and Children)
• Spouse’s Previous UK Visit Visa (Copy from Passport)

3. Finances and Funds

• Letter from Sponsor
• Bank Statement
• Monthly Expenditures
• Sponsors C.V

4. Our Accommodation

• Letter from Sponsor
• Home Details
• Letter from Sponsor’s Mother


5. Our Relationship

• Letter from Sponsor
• Marriage Certificate
• Joint Bank Statement (Copy as original above)
• Rental Agreement for Business in Cambodia
• Websites Addresses (Proof of Business in Cambodia)
• Sponsor Letters


Unfortunately, we do not have any utility bills because we rent a business property from a landlord. The utility bills are in the landlords name but we do have a contract agreement with the landlord to say we live and manage the property together.

Also, we do not have birthday cards, Christmas cards or any other kind of greeting cards to show as proof of living together. It is not custom to do this in my wife's country which we live in now.

The proof of our relationship is mainly the rental agreement of the business we run, our joint bank account, marriage certificate and our 3 children! We have lots of family photos though. Will this be enough?

Thanks in advance for all your replies.

Phil

Kitty
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Post by Kitty » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:35 am

The main thinkg I would say is to keep your file up to date under the headings you have listed. Enclose joint bank statements and any other financial documentation for 6 months prior to your application date.

It also appears that there will be an English language requirement for your wife by the time she comes to apply. Keep checking the UKBA and UK Visas websites for information about acceptable courses and qualifications.

mrlookforward
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Post by mrlookforward » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:33 pm

You can apply for ILE without Kol test. The visa will be endorsed as "KoL required". Once she is in UK, she can pass the KoL, no need to do the whole ILR process again.

John
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Post by John » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:45 pm

You can apply for ILE without Kol test.
In a sense no one applies for ILE. I would put it this way. The person applies for a spouse visa, and if that is granted it is issued either for 27 months or, rarely these days, as ILE.

srrooms, in the covering letter specifically point out that the two of you have been married in excess of four years and have lived together outside the UK. Also ask that the "KOL REQ" endorsement be put on the 27 month visa.
Once she is in UK, she can pass the KoL, no need to do the whole ILR process again.
Unfortunately that is not the way it works. That is, once she passes the Life in the UK Citizenship test then she can apply for ILR straight away, without having to wait until nearly 2 years in the UK.
John

srrooms
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Location: Cambodia

Post by srrooms » Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:12 am

Thanks for your replies.

John, so basically my wife applies for the spouse visa on the VAF4a settlement visa form. She then needs to say she would like the "KOL RQD" endorsement added to to the 27 month visa because we have been married over 4 years but lived ouside the UK.

Is there anything else that is very important that MUST be added in the covering letter for the visa application?

Thanks again,

Phil

John
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Post by John » Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:57 am

Phil, it is not compulsory that the "KOL REQ" matter is mentioned in the letter, but the point is this. That endorsement should be given automatically if the relevant circumstances apply. However because that endorsement applies rarely it is often the case that the ECO dealing with the visa application often fails to realise it is due.

So mentioning it in the covering letter is a good idea, to ensure that the point is not overlooked.

Generally about the covering letter? I think it is an opportunity to mention matters that are not mentioned elsewhere, on the application form or other supporting evidence. For example, when my own wife applied for her spouse visa we mentioned the fact that she was a Sunday School teacher is her country, and also had a University degree, and my professional qualification was also mentioned.

So I think the covering letter should vary considerably from one applicant to another.
John

srrooms
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Post by srrooms » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:39 am

Hi John,

Thanks for the great advice above. Much appreciated.

Regarding Finances and Funds:

I am a bit concerned that my wife's visa application will be harder to get because I as the husband and sponsor do not have a job to go to in the UK.

Because I do not have a job to go to I thought adding an expenditure list would be the best way forward? So on an expenditure list is it best to add all monthly expenses or to only put down our accommodation costs, council tax and utility bills with 105 pounds extra for each week for other expenses such as food etc?

I thought it would be good to show the ECO that we have enough money to cover the above expenses for the duration of the 27 month spouse visa as I do not have a job to go too?

I have also been advised by someone else on the forum to add in our expenditures that our children will be entitled to around 200 pounds per month in Child benefits. Does this sound ok to add this to my incomings? I am a bit frightened to add Child benefit as an income as it will not look good.

Any other tips on this area would be great.

Thanks,

Phil

John
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Post by John » Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:33 am

I have also been advised by someone else on the forum to add in our expenditures that our children will be entitled to around 200 pounds per month in Child benefits. Does this sound ok to add this to my incomings? I am a bit frightened to add Child benefit as an income as it will not look good.
No it does not sound OK. Para 6C of the Immigration Rules specifically deals with this matter. That is it prevents potential benefits, if the visas are granted, from being taken into account in deciding whether the financial test is passed, or not.

Roughly how much savings do you have? And where do you intend to live when you first get to the UK?
John

srrooms
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Post by srrooms » Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:22 am

Hi John,

Thanks for the advice.

So I do NOT add child benefit to the expenditures as an income. I would be able to claim in my own right for my children as the sponsor who is British? My wife will NOT be enititled to claim on behalf of the children that have British Birth certificates?

By the way do you have a link you can give me for the actual immigrations rules? Thanks.

We intend on living with my Mam for the first 6 months or until I find a job. My Mam's house is big enough with 4 bedrooms and a living room and she lives by herself. We will be paying all the bills for my Mam while we are living there including utility bills, council tax, food etc but do we need to say we are paying my Mam rent?

Once I find a job then we will be renting a home first before buying one. We will not be renting a house straight away because we do not know where we will be living in the UK as my job experience is in Hotel/Retail management so I could be working anywhere in the UK.

As for cash then I will have somewhere in the region of 15k to 25k. This depends on what assets I can sell off before we apply for the visa to add my current savings. We have a business and a number of land investments. We thought it would be much easier showing cash rather than showing land deeds which are not in English.

Thanks

Phil

John
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Post by John » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:54 pm

So I do NOT add child benefit to the expenditures as an income. I would be able to claim in my own right for my children as the sponsor who is British? My wife will NOT be enititled to claim on behalf of the children that have British Birth certificates?
The expression used earlier was "Child benefits", which I took to mean both Child Benefits and Tax Credits, and what I am just about to write applies to both.

The children are not currently in the UK, so whilst both benefits will be payable when they are in the UK, because of para 6C of the Immigration Rules you cannot take that potential income into account, when working out if the financial test is passed.

So the point relates to where the children are, not their nationality.

When the whole family is in the UK, the Child Benefit (claimed by one person only) can be claimed by either you or your wife, and the Tax Credits must be claimed by the two of you jointly.
By the way do you have a link you can give me for the actual immigrations rules?
Click here.
As for cash then I will have somewhere in the region of 15k to 25k.
That sounds OK, particularly as you will clearly be seeking employment, and also because your housing costs will be Nil or low until you get that employment.

So I would say, go for it! As you will be aware, the visa application will be decided in Bangkok.

Finally, given you seem to have been outside the UK for quite a few years, you may not be aware of Tax Credits, which started in 2003. Click here for more detail.
John

srrooms
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Post by srrooms » Fri Jun 18, 2010 1:59 pm

Hi John,

Thanks for the info. I thought it did not sound correct adding child benefit as an income on my expenditures.

If the visa granted is 27 months then do we need to show we have enough funds to last this length of time if neither of us have a job to go to when we arrive? If not how long for?

Regarding accommodation: Is there anything in particular that my Mam needs to put in a letter to say we can stay with her? Is it best to put dates or to put that we can stay with her idefinitely?

Also regarding the actual visa application. I know the visa is actually processed in Bangkok but after filling in the online application they tell you to deliver the written application including any documents to the Embassy in Phnom Penh. Would it not be best to go straight to Bangkok to apply directly with the Embassy there rather than fill in an online application?

Lastly, I am also a bit concerned about showing proof of our relationship. Because we run a guesthouse in a rented building the utility bills are either in the owners name, my name or my wife name but we have nothing in joint names. Our bank statement is in joint names as is the rental agreement for the guesthouse. We have plenty of photos but no birthday cards or Christmas cards as neither are celebrated in Cambodia. Obviously you would think having 3 kids together would be enough proof but I saw on another thread that a lady that has been married for more than 4 years, has a child and her husband had a job to go too got her visa refused because no joint utility bills.

Thanks for the link regarding tax benefits.

Thanks,

Phil

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