spouse visa problems

wookey22 · Post by **wookey22** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:17 pm

I met a girl online about 6 months ago, we have never met but have decided we love each other and want to be together. Just recently she flew into uk under the visa-less travel programme but was rejected at heathrow immigration and sent back to the usa so we still haven't met. I now plan to travel to the US to marry her. I am planning to do it under the Visa Waiver Program. I plan to enter the USA on VWP as a tourist and am not gonna mention anything about her to immigration so as not to ring any alarm bells. When in US i will marry her. I will only be in the USA for 3 weeks.

She will then apply for spouse visa. DO you think she will have trouble getting the spouse visa based on fact that she has refused entry into uk once and that we only met for 3 weeks and married then?

How do you go about proving that a marriage is genuine? what things can we do to make our situation look better.

SHe also has 2 children, the father lives in france and doesn't really have a say in their life but she doesn't officially have sole custody? Will obtaining visas for them be a problem?

Post by **John** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:37 pm

DO you think she will have trouble getting the spouse visa based on fact that she has refused entry into uk once and that we only met for 3 weeks and married then?

The fact she was refused should not be an issue, assuming (and you will appreciate I am just covering the possibility) she was not refused for terrorist or the like reasons.

The fact that the two of you have only been married say three weeks should also not be an issue. My wife got her spouse visa just 17 days after our legal marriage. But the fact that you have known each other for such a short while might possibly raise some concerns in the mind of the ECO dealing with the application. There needs to be proof, as far as it ever can be provided, that the couple do intend to live together and that the marriage has a reasonable chance of lasting.

SHe also has 2 children, the father lives in france and doesn't really have a say in their life but she doesn't officially have sole custody? Will obtaining visas for them be a problem?

Yes, unless she has Sole Custody of the children she will not get settlement visas for them. So getting that Sole Custody needs to be a priority unless she is going to leave the children behind in the States.

By the way, you realise the expense you are letting yourself in for? The application fee is £260 per settlement visa, payable in local currency, and the last time I looked that was defined as US$491. So given you need a total of three settlement visas that is an outlay of US$1473, just in application fees in the States.

And hope you can pass the financial and accommodation tests!

wookey22 · Post by **wookey22** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:05 am

i read somewhere that the children can get settlement visas without having sole custody as long as

" there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable, and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care"

Do you know what this means exactly, what do they consider to be compelling considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable. Do you think that the fact the father has moved from the US and now works illegally in France and that all of their relatives have now either left the USA or are not willing to care for them. We might even be able to get a letter of the father saying that he is willing to let the children move to the uk. Would you think that under these circumstances the kids would be allowed in.

P.S thank you for your response John

wookey22 · Post by **wookey22** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:09 am

in addition

In order to fulfil the 'sole responsibility' requirement of the Rules, a sponsoring parent must be able to show that he or she has been solely responsible for exercising parental care over the child for a substantial period. This is in contrast to the concept of the ordinary family unit where responsibility for the child's upbringing is shared between both parents.

Does anyone know what the definition of a 'substantial period of time' is

Post by **John** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:11 am

I have no first-hand knowledge of the way they might exercise the discretion about the children.

But surely here it is going to be far simpler and easier for your fiancée to get a Court Order giving her Sole Custody of the children. A letter of no objection from the father might speed along that process.

Armed with that Court Order giving her Sole Custody, and the fact that she has looked after the children since birth, I presume, I think she will not least cleared that hurdle.

Is it time for her to get legal advice in the States about getting the Sole Custody?

And also, if the children do not yet have passports, getting those passports for them.

MWazir · Post by **MWazir** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 2:11 pm

if the children do not yet have passports, getting those passports for them.

In some countries, obtaining passport for a minor requires the consent of both the parents where neither have sole custody. Not sure if it applies in the US, but worth getting confirmation.

Post by **John** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:04 pm

Mwazir, that thought had occurred to me but I also have no knowledge about whether that is the case in the US.

Certainly it applies in Thailand. My wife, who was a widow before she married me, needed to produce her late husband's death certificate in order to get a Thai passport for her daughter.

And when the applications for British Citizenship were made, we made a point of enclosing that death certificate to prove why the biological father could not sign to indicate approval of British Citizenship for his daughter.

wookey22 · Post by **wookey22** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:58 pm

hi, the father only left 6 months ago and so she has only been looking after them for 6 months. They do have passports already , yes it is hte case that you need consent from both parents.

How easy is it to obtain sole custody and how long does it take. Does the father have to pay maintanence still?

MWazir · Post by **MWazir** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:02 pm

John,

It applies in India as well. Recently there was a much publicised court case in Bombay and one of the points raised was consent of the father not been taken on the child's passport, thus invalidating it.

wookey22 · Post by **wookey22** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:14 am

Hello,

I have recently traveled to the USA and married the girl of my dreams. I am returning to the UK in january and my wife will be applying for a spouse visa. I would like to know how I can prove my ability to support my wife and her two children financially. I will have a job when I get back to the UK and will be renting a place that will accomadate all of us.

I would like to know how long I need to be working before applying for the visa, I have heard that you must provide at least 3 months of salary slips before applying. Is this true or would a letter from my employer suffice. Is there a figure that I need to be earning (it will be myself, my wife and her two children) as in an official figure. Would a certain amount of savings increase our chances.

After satisfying the visa officials what concerns should we have about getting through actual immigration at the port of entry. I have heard that even with a visa you can still be rejected.

Regarding the status of my new wife's children, she does not have sole custody of them but the father is willing to send any paperwork necessary to prove that she is the primary caretaker of them.

Thank you sincerely for any help you can provide

Post by **John** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 9:52 am

wookey22 wrote:Regarding the status of my new wife's children, she does not have sole custody of them but the father is willing to send any paperwork necessary to prove that she is the primary caretaker of them.

This is not the first time you have raised this matter! Personally I continue to doubt whether that will be sufficient, but why doesn't your wife ... congratulations on the marriage, by the way .... check that out with her nearest British Mission in the States.

If the British Mission say no, that is not sufficient ... a Court Order granting your wife Sole Custody of the children will presumably be needed ... then that puts the whole "moving to the UK" plan on hold until that aspect is sorted out.

If it the case that if a Court Order is needed and the natural father of the children raises no objection, indeed positively consents, then would it not be a very easy matter to get a Court Order for the Sole Custody?

You raise questions about the financial aspects. Quite deliberately the Immigration Rules do not specify a particular need, the main reason probably because housing costs can vary so considerably. Deliberate extreme exaggeration .... if you are renting a penthouse in a nice part of London at £25000 per week you clearly need more money than if your housing costs a mere £100 month. In practice your housing will cost somewhere between those extremes.

A job for three months? Nothing that definite. I know of someone whose wife has just got her spouse visa and the husband in the UK is unemployed! Why the visa was granted? Because of tens of thousands of savings made it abundantly clear that the wife would not need to claim certain Public Funds.

Accommodation? If you are rented, do ensure two things. Firstly that the accommodation will not be classed as overcrowded. Secondly the landlord or agent will issue a letter confirming that your wife and her children can move in to the accommodation. Without such a letter you may well have problems.

But back to the Sole Custody issue .. don't ignore it ... get it sorted!

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

spouse visa problems

spouse visa problems