Spouse visa questions

Just some general questions about spouse visas.
My partner and I plan to marry in Australia (my home country) with him on a tourist visa and while he is there apply for a spouse visa for me back to the UK so I can either accompany him back or follow soon after.

I've been able to find very little information online about spouse visas and applying for them.

I know that I could go back to Australia and apply for a fiancee visa and get married in the UK but we want to get married in Australia because it's where my family is. However, this means I will be applying for the spouse visa very soon after the wedding (as soon as possible). Is this likely to be a problem?
At the time of the wedding we will have known each other for about 9 months and spent about 8 months of that time together.

What kind of supporting evidence for our relationship will we need to provide? The official website is not clear on this.

How long does a spouse visa take to come through? We will be applying in Australia. We are confident we satisfy all the other criteria.

Thanks in advance!

I am not sure where you have been looking but there is lots of information on the Visa page of the BHC, Canberra, website.

From that webpage you can get to Visa Section - Settlement in the UK. Thus you will see that the application form to use is the VAF2 and that the application fee is currently :-

Application fee $637.00 and return courier postage $15.00

Lots more information for you to dig out on those webpages and their links.

You ask :-

I will be applying for the spouse visa very soon after the wedding (as soon as possible). Is this likely to be a problem?

No, not at all. My wife got her spouse visa a mere 17 days after our marriage was legally registered, and indeed just 12 days after our big religious wedding. Admittedly that was not in Australia but the country the visa application will make no difference as regards how long the couple have been married.

Finally Naiad, because you do not say so, can I ask, is your partner a British Citizen, or if not, what is his immigration status in the UK? And your current immigration status in the UK?

Hi John,

Thanks for your response. I'll check out the link and see what else I can find out.

Yes, my partner is a British citizen by birth. He is well 'present and settled' here in that he has a good job and his own house.

I'm currently in the UK on a tourist visa but it expires in March. Like everyone in our situation we are trying to work out the best way to minimise our time of separation.

So that sounds like your wife's visa came through in only about 5 days? Wow, that's quick. Is that usual?

Naiad wrote:
I've been able to find very little information online about spouse visas and applying for them.

Have you tried http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

So that sounds like your wife's visa came through in only about 5 days?

No actually .. much longer than that. You need to appreciate that the waiting time varies considerably around the world. I notice that the website of BHC Canberra is talking about 5 days, which is great.

But in Bangkok, back in 2001, the waiting time for a settlement visa interview was about 8 weeks. (It is now more like 3 to 4 months!) But after contacting the Embassy in Bangkok they said that the application for the spouse visa could be submitted before the marriage had occurred. So it was submitted mid-January and a visa interview allocated for mid-March, even though the legal marriage did not happen until late February. That is, we knew exactly when the visa interview would be even before the marriage had happened.

In Australia, with only a 5 day delay it is clearly unnecessary to think about submitting a visa application before the marriage has occurred. But the "evidence folder" could be substantially complete ... the marriage certificate added .. then the visa application made a day or two after the marriage .. then get on with the honeymoon ... then hopefully good news before it ends.

So what kind of supporting documentation do you have to include. What goes in your 'evidence folder'?

Naiad wrote:So what kind of supporting documentation do you have to include. What goes in your 'evidence folder'?

Those links I gave you? The link given to you by JAJ? Have you looked there for the answer to your question?

I ask because the information is there. If after reading that information you have any specific query then don't hesitate to post again.

Thanks, John. Yes, I did look at those links and it mostly looks straightforward.

The only thing I'm not really clear on is the bit where it says
"letters from you and your sponsor that are relevant to your application"
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front ... 067257#Q12

We are already filling a 2-ring binder with correspondence, photos, documents, you-name-it for my partner's Australian visa application but it doesn't seem like the UK application requires all of this.

Niaid wrote:"letters from you and your sponsor that are relevant to your application"

Look upon those letters as an opportunity to mention anything not dealt with by the application form or the other evidence that you think might help paint a good picture.

For example, when my wife applied for her spouse visa, my letter mentioned my professional qualification, that I was on a School Governing Body, and Chair of the local Community Health Council.

My wife's letter mentioned how she had been converted to Christianity by a missionary at the age of 16, and how she was a Sunday School Teacher in her Church.

In other words those letters should in effect be saying .... hey, what a good person I am ... of course the visa should be granted!

By definition, exactly what might be mentioned in those letters will vary considerably from person to person.

The evidence in the folder? It certainly needs to cover financial details, to show that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds, accommodation details, to show that the accommodation you will occupy is "suitable" and certainly not overcrowded, and also "evidence of contact", to prove that the relationship is real and not a "marriage of convenience".

We also submitted a two-ring binder, all the evidence contained within A4 transparent pockets.