Spouse Visa - English exemption due to Sponsor medical history

[Nitintier1]

Dear Members

I am asking this for someone I know who wants to sponsor his wife to UK on Family Visa

Sponsor Details
============
Entry Visa: Tier 2 (Clergy)
Entry Year: 2007
Visa Status: ILR since 2016
Age: 62
Financial Requirements of £18,600 income a year meeting: Yes
Currently suffering Chronic Kidney Disease. To be put on Dialisys in coming weeks.

Applicant
============
Citizenship: Indian
Age: 52
English Requirements met? : No


The Applicant, wife of sponsor, is not educated in english and is unable to pass B1 test required to apply Familiy Visa to join her partner.

The sponsor is living on his own for last 15 years in UK and does not have any extended family for support. He has recenly been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease and is due to be put on Dialysis. In this critical phase of his life, he is longing for family support and has wished for his wife to join him in UK to support him during his time on life support(dialysis).

I will appreciate if the learned members of this forum provide some guidance on applying a visa for the spouse to join sponsor, with mediical needs, in UK to provide emotional support and help cope with stress of being on life support.

The key concern we have is that the applicant does not meeting the english requirements and we do not want to apply if this is an absolute grounds of rejection. I am aware of a few circumstances which can be used to claim xemption for this test such as learning disability but applicant does not have any such condition.

Is there a way to claim exemption on english requiements on humanitarian grounds as the sponsor is need of physical and emotiion support due to health concerns. What are the chances of geting a Family visa approved in such cases?

Thanks for taking time to read this post and for your thoughts.

[Casa]

Your friend's wife doesn't require B1 level English for the first Spouse visa application, only A1 level. Even at the 2.5 year stage when applying for her first extension, she will only need A2 level. Both tests are very basic spoken English.

[secret.simon]

There is scope for discretion to be exercised if the applicant is suffering from a physical or medical condition, which has been certified by a qualified medical professional. See Pages 8-10 of the Knowledge of language and life in the UK caseworker guidance.

I don't see any provision for the discretion to be exercised due to the sponsor suffering from a physical or medical condition. Because it is a non-standard request, it may take longer to process as it may need to be escalated to a higher level to process.

Also, "physical and emotiion support" is unlikely to be accepted as a good enough reason. That would effectively torpedo the Immigration Rules below the waterline because that can be argued for bringing any and all family members and would effectively negate the Immigration Rules. So it is unlikely to fly with the Home Office.

And lastly, given that the sponsor moved to the UK in 2007, why did they not sponsor the spouse to the UK before now, 15 years after moving here?

[Nitintier1]

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I knew it is going to be diffcult pleading exemption on "physical and emotiion support" but wanted to hear an external validation.

It took him 12 years to get ILR himself and since then, he has not been able to invite his wife due to english requirements. Now that his personal circumstances are becoming difficult, it has made his desparate.

Thanks again.