Spouse Visa - will this be classed as straightforward?

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:35 pm

Hope someone can help

In short: Are spouse applications from people who entered the UK without a visa automatically considered to be not straight forward?

In full: I'm a British citizen and my husband is Chinese. He entered the UK around 7 years ago without a visa and we married in June of last year. We applied outside immigration rules in April last year as he couldn't travel home due to covid restrictions, however in September we got a refusal letter after escalating to our MP. They agreed our relationship was geniune and that I met the financial criteria, however as the border was now open he could return to China and apply from there.

He returned at his own cost (wow - it's expensive at the moment - £2000 one way!), and we applied on Dec 13th. Note he's not ever been in contact with the police or immigration enforcement while in the UK, and has only ever accessed primary NHS services, which I understand won't affect his application.

We're using a solicitor for the application, but even aside from that the cost is staggering at over £10,000 to get him back to China, through three weeks of hotel quarantine and to pay for the application, although we did go priority.

We're now pretty much broke, and he's now wondering if he should get a job but we don't have any idea how long the applicaiton will take. I understand that if his application is considered "straightforward" then we should expect it later this month, but if not it could be another few months.

Does anyone know if the application will be considered not straight forward because of his illegal entry to the UK?

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:35 pm

Hope someone can help

In short: Are spouse applications from people who entered the UK without a visa automatically considered to be not straight forward?

In full: I'm a British citizen and my husband is Chinese. He entered the UK around 7 years ago without a visa and we married in June of last year. We applied outside immigration rules in April last year as he couldn't travel home due to covid restrictions, however in September we got a refusal letter after escalating to our MP. They agreed our relationship was geniune and that I met the financial criteria, however as the border was now open he could return to China and apply from there.

He returned at his own cost (wow - it's expensive at the moment - £2000 one way!), and we applied on Dec 13th. Note he's not ever been in contact with the police or immigration enforcement while in the UK, and has only ever accessed primary NHS services, which I understand won't affect his application.

We're using a solicitor for the application, but even aside from that the cost is staggering at over £10,000 to get him back to China, through three weeks of hotel quarantine and to pay for the application, although we did go priority.

We're now pretty much broke, and he's now wondering if he should get a job but we don't have any idea how long the applicaiton will take. I understand that if his application is considered "straightforward" then we should expect it later this month, but if not it could be another few months.

Does anyone know if the application will be considered not straight forward because of his illegal entry to the UK?

TODMATT wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:49 am

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:35 pm

Hope someone can help

In short: Are spouse applications from people who entered the UK without a visa automatically considered to be not straight forward?

In full: I'm a British citizen and my husband is Chinese. He entered the UK around 7 years ago without a visa and we married in June of last year. We applied outside immigration rules in April last year as he couldn't travel home due to covid restrictions, however in September we got a refusal letter after escalating to our MP. They agreed our relationship was geniune and that I met the financial criteria, however as the border was now open he could return to China and apply from there.

He returned at his own cost (wow - it's expensive at the moment - £2000 one way!), and we applied on Dec 13th. Note he's not ever been in contact with the police or immigration enforcement while in the UK, and has only ever accessed primary NHS services, which I understand won't affect his application.

We're using a solicitor for the application, but even aside from that the cost is staggering at over £10,000 to get him back to China, through three weeks of hotel quarantine and to pay for the application, although we did go priority.

We're now pretty much broke, and he's now wondering if he should get a job but we don't have any idea how long the applicaiton will take. I understand that if his application is considered "straightforward" then we should expect it later this month, but if not it could be another few months.

Does anyone know if the application will be considered not straight forward because of his illegal entry to the UK?

Your solicitor shouldn't even recommend you to apply via priority because it is clear the application is not straightforward.

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 1:31 am

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. Our solicitor did advise us that we may be wasting our time with the premium service, but we went for it anyway to try and shorten our time apart.

Re marriage, when we gave notice the registry office informed the Home Office due to lack of visa. We heard nothing and married two months later. Our marriage is fully legal I can assure you!

He arrived via Ireland, got a coach over the border after obtaining a Schengen visa.

My next question would be, assuming the application isn't straightforward, would we get any notification of this within the 30 day period? I presume because we went priority they'll at least tell us that the case isn't straightforward within the 30 days?

Thanks!

He arrived via Ireland, got a coach over the border after obtaining a Schengen visa.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:48 am

He arrived via Ireland, got a coach over the border after obtaining a Schengen visa.

Not relevant really, as neither the UK or Ireland are part of the Schengen agreement.

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:40 am

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:48 am

He arrived via Ireland, got a coach over the border after obtaining a Schengen visa.

Not relevant really, as neither the UK or Ireland are part of the Schengen agreement.

Yes, you're right. His route was China > Malta > Spain > Ireland > Northern Ireland > England

JB007 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:28 am

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:40 am

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:48 am

He arrived via Ireland, got a coach over the border after obtaining a Schengen visa.

Not relevant really, as neither the UK or Ireland are part of the Schengen agreement.

Yes, you're right. His route was China > Malta > Spain > Ireland > Northern Ireland > England

He needed to apply and be granted, a visitor visa to enter The Republic of Ireland legally.
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-cont ... ntries.pdf

That visa would have allowed a total of a 3 month visit to visit RoI and the UK.

zuiderzee wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:54 pm

His visa arrived today, so 32 working days with the decion letter dated 29 working days since biometrics. We didn't get any decision email, just a notification that the documents were out for delivery.

My solicitor also had another client in similar circumstances (overstayed visa) and they also chose prioirty (against advice) and were granted it at around 5 weeks.

So it looks like for those on a spouse visa who overstayed/had no visa (and no other complications) - the priority route does work. Our solicitor made it clear that it might not work, so they're also a little suprised!

Hope this helps someone else in similar circumstances.