Spouse Visa Requirements

[Rahul79]

Hi All,

I am a British Citizen and my girlfriend currently is on a student Tier 4 visa (expiring in 11 months time).

We wish to get married but I would like to get a better understanding of the requirements to ensure we can then apply for a spouse visa for her smoothly. I've listed a few points I'm currently not certain about so any help you could provide on these would be greatly appreciated.

1. In order to get married, I understand you have to give at least 28 days notice to the registrar. But this notice period could be extended to 70 days if someone has immigration limitation. I assume my girlfriend would fall under someone with immigration limitation so is it safe to assume that I have to comply with 70 days notice?

2. After our marriage, we will put through an application for the Spouse Visa. However is there such a rule saying that my girlfriend needs to have a minimum of X number of months of visa left in order to apply? I have read at least 6 months left on her visa on a few sites but then also reading contradictory information.

3. As per point 2, suppose 6 months rule does apply. Then would it be OK as long as I make the spouse visa application when she still has 6 months left on her visa, even if the Home Office then takes a few weeks to reply (by which time she may have less than 6 months visa).

4. I understand there is same day premium service where you will get decision on the same day. Any advantage to using that as opposed to the postal service? It is extra £400 but if the benefit outweighs the cons of spending the extra money then of course makes sense to use this service.

5. And finally any additional information you could provide that you think may be useful to me would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for all your help

[Casa]

Hi All,

I am a British Citizen and my girlfriend currently is on a student Tier 4 visa (expiring in 11 months time).

We wish to get married but I would like to get a better understanding of the requirements to ensure we can then apply for a spouse visa for her smoothly. I've listed a few points I'm currently not certain about so any help you could provide on these would be greatly appreciated.

1. In order to get married, I understand you have to give at least 28 days notice to the registrar. But this notice period could be extended to 70 days if someone has immigration limitation. I assume my girlfriend would fall under someone with immigration limitation so is it safe to assume that I have to comply with 70 days notice? Correct

2. After our marriage, we will put through an application for the Spouse Visa. However is there such a rule saying that my girlfriend needs to have a minimum of X number of months of visa left in order to apply? I have read at least 6 months left on her visa on a few sites but then also reading contradictory information. No such rule

3. As per point 2, suppose 6 months rule does apply. Then would it be OK as long as I make the spouse visa application when she still has 6 months left on her visa, even if the Home Office then takes a few weeks to reply (by which time she may have less than 6 months visa). Not applicable, see point 2. However, once the application is submitted your fiancee will retain her legal residence while the application is being processed.

4. I understand there is same day premium service where you will get decision on the same day. Any advantage to using that as opposed to the postal service? It is extra £400 but if the benefit outweighs the cons of spending the extra money then of course makes sense to use this service. Yes at a PSC (formally known as a PEO). Your wife would be able to work without restriction once her FLR(M) visa is granted. Postal applications can take up to 12 weeks to process, an in-person application is generally decided on the same day.

5. And finally any additional information you could provide that you think may be useful to me would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for all your help

You will have to show minimum income of £18,600 p.a but joint earnings will qualify. A1 level English required. You are also required to pay the NHS surcharge of £500 online before submitting the visa application.
https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family/apply

[Rahul79]

Thank you very much casa for your prompt reply. All very useful.

Just 3 follow up questions if that's OK:

1. Regarding your comment "However, once the application is submitted your fiancee will retain her legal residence while the application is being processed" - can I just confirm I understand this correct. Does this mean that suppose we submit the application while she still has time left on her visa but while the application is being considered, the visa runs out, will she still be allowed to stay in the country as the application is still being considered?

2. How would I provide proof of A1 level English my fiancee? Is there a certain test that I would need to do before submitting my application?

3. I think I will use the premium same day service. We would rather spend extra £400 than having weeks of sleepless nights while we wait for the reply if postal service is used. But had one question about this...
While I don't think this will happen as I will try my best to meet all the requirements before applying - suppose the application does get rejected for some reason. Perhaps insufficient proof etc. Then would they give me a chance to provide proof of these or will the application just be rejected outright?
And suppose the application gets rejected (not for lack of proof that could be resubmitted but for some reason we did not meet certain requirements). Then what is the follow on process from there? Presumably appeal the decision? Just wanted to check that my wife would not then need to go back to her country while the appeal is being considered? Of course, if this does happen then I would get a solicitor involved but just wanted to prepare myself for the worst case scenario at the moment. I hope we will not have to go through this as I feel that currently we will meet all the requirements - including the min income you have mentioned.

Thanks once again for all your help. Much appreciated!

[Wanderer]

The same day service is for rubber stamp jobs only, if there's anything wrong or unsure at all, the application will go to the back off with all the postal ones and the £400 premium wasted.

[Rahul79]

Thanks Wanderer.

So would you say for something like my Spouse Visa application where there undoubtedly will be a few checks to be made on the other side (in terms of checking genuineness of the relationship as well as the paperworks provided), this definitely is not a rubber stamp job? So most likely it will be pushed through the normal postal pile anyway?

Thanks

[Casa]

It's your responsibility to submit all the evidence necessary to prove you meet the required income level and that you are in a subsisting relationship. I suggest you read thoroughly through the link I posted on guidance for FLR(M) applications.

Here's a link to the approved A1 English tests and test providers.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... uage-tests

[Rahul79]

It's your responsibility to submit all the evidence necessary to prove you meet the required income level and that you are in a subsisting relationship. I suggest you read thoroughly through the link I posted on guidance for FLR(M) applications.

Here's a link to the approved A1 English tests and test providers.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... uage-tests

Thanks Casa for your help.

Will read through the links thoroughly.

[Rahul79]

Btw Casa, regarding one of my questions below:

2. After our marriage, we will put through an application for the Spouse Visa. However is there such a rule saying that my girlfriend needs to have a minimum of X number of months of visa left in order to apply? I have read at least 6 months left on her visa on a few sites but then also reading contradictory information. No such rule

The below link in fact confirms that in order to be eligible, my fiancee would need to have at least 6 months left in her visa.

https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family/eligibility

You can apply to extend or switch in any of these routes if you’re eligible, except if you have permission to be in the UK:

as a visitor
for less than 6 months - unless you got your visa to get married or become civil partners or you got your visa to wait for the outcome of a family court or divorce

Just wanted to include it for anyone who may read this forum in the future. But would also appreciate it if you could have a read Casa and see if you agree?

Thanks again

[Casa]

You've misunderstood, although admittedly it's misleading.
"except if you have permission to be in the UK: for less than 6 months" - This means if she was issued with a visa for less than 6 months. Not if she has only 6 months remaining on her current visa.
She can switch to FLR(M) at any time before her student visa expires...assuming you have married.

[Rahul79]

You've misunderstood, although admittedly it's misleading.
"except if you have permission to be in the UK: for less than 6 months" - This means if she was issued with a visa for less than 6 months. Not if she has only 6 months remaining on her current visa.
She can switch to FLR(M) at any time before her student visa expires...assuming you have married.

Ahh I see. Ok understood! Huge relief.

Thank you

[Rahul79]

Hi All,

I'm close to submitting my FLR (M) application for the initial spouse visa. I have a few questions that I wish to clarify - would greatly appreciate if anyone could help.

1. I booked a same-day premium service appointment for mid September. Now I would like to reschedule it to a date in October. But when I login to do so, the site always just shows the next 10 appointments. Doesn't matter which date I choose - it will just show me next 10 appointments which happens to be around mid September still. I've called them and their reply was you can only reschedule online. My question is whether this is a known thing or a potential issue with the system?

2. My wife and I got married a few weeks ago after which time she moved in with me. Assuming I can't change the appointment date above, we have our premium service appointment next week. I had asked her to start moving her address over to mine before our wedding (i.e, her move-in date) to make the transition smooth. Now the problem is with 6 x address proof. I am going to state in the form that she moved in after our wedding but at the moment we have the address proof with some dates BEFORE the wedding/move-in date and some AFTER. How strict are they with the dates on the address proof? Would they be understanding that people may change address before moving in or do they strictly need them to be dated after the move-in date?

3. Genuineness of the relationship - We have been together for nearly 2 years so no question about the genuineness. But just wondering how best to prove it? Photos while we were dating, photos from the wedding, photos with the family/friends? Bday cards? Also a lot of our conversation that we could show proof of has been through whatsapp, so should I be providing screenshots of some of our conversation? (note that both my wife and I have always lived in the UK and it is relationship where we dated normally - whatsapp convo proof is purely to show that). Anything else you would recommend that will help?

4. Accommodation - My wife and I now live in a 5-bed house with my parents and my brother. So plenty of space. In order to prove that there is plenty of space, I plan to take the estate agent leaflet advertising the house on sale (which confirms 5 beds) when we bought it as well as screenshot from zoopla confirming it is 5-bed property. Is that enough? Or do I need to get an independent property inspection?

5. Bank statement - I've come across a lot of people having an issue with online statements. I have the same. I'm with Natwest with online statement. I plan to print it all and ask if the bank could stamp it but from reading other forums, Natwest/banks are generally reluctant to stamp. Any suggestion if these couldn't be stamped?

Sorry for the long email. Just wanted to make sure I included all the info.

Many thanks in advance

[Rahul79]

Just an update from me..

Just went to my local Natwest bank to ask them to print 6 months worth of statement and stamp them, and they did this without any problem. I did give them a slight background about needing it for an immigration application and they've asked for so and so. So one thing sorted for me there.

Still other questions outstanding if anyone out there is able to answer any of them please?

Thanks in advance

[Rahul79]

Sorry for chasing again guys - wonder if anyone had any answer to the above pls as my appointment is fast approaching.

Thanks in advance