What Visa?

[pauldm21]

Hi,

I am trying to get as much information as possible before deciding what to apply for. Hopefully some kind folks on here can help?!

The visa will actually be for my girlfriend who is from Peru and I am just looking for some answers which will make it easier for us to decide which visa she should go for. We have been together for approx 10 months (basically I've spent about 8-9 weeks of this year on holday over there with here).

So far we have ruled out the following visas:
- Marriage
- Fiance (although tempting, as it does seem like the only easy option!)
- Work (purely because given the current job market in the uk, I think it would be near enough impossible to get an employed to sponsor her)
- Unmarried partners visa (not been together 2 years)
-Full-Time student visa (her english is basic so she would struggle to get a place on a college/university course)

As far as I'm aware, this leaves 3 ptions of Tourist Visa, Student Visitor Visa or Prospective Student Visa?

We are struggling to decide between these 3 options:
- tourist visit seems easier, cheaper and quicker to obtain.
- student visa, has the advantage of her being able to stay longer than 6 months and also being to to apply for other visas whilst she is here.

Hopefully someone can help with the following questions.....
- With the student visitor visa, am I correct in saying she can enter the UK first, then arrange her studies once here?
With the tourist visa, would she be able to attend privately arranged english study courses or other short study courses?
- do either the student visitor visa or prospective student visa come with any working entitlement?
- cost-wise, what is the difference between a tourist visa and a student visa?
- is it worthwhile using a company to assist with the application?
- with a student visa, would she have to provide evidence of funds to support herself whilst here (despite the fact I could support her during her stay?)

Okay, apologies for the long post. Basically we both want her to be living over here as soon as possible. I realise the best option for this is the tourist visa but I am concerned she would get bored if she spent 6 months here and couldnt study or work!

Thanks in advance for any responses!!

[MPH80]

Hola,

Mi esposa es Peruana

- student visa, has the advantage of her being able to stay longer than 6 months and also being to to apply for other visas whilst she is here.

No ... a student visitor visa is exactly that - a short term visitor visa. It cannot be extended or transferred in country.

I fear you've been confusing the student visitor and full student (tier 4) visas.

Hopefully someone can help with the following questions.....
- With the student visitor visa, am I correct in saying she can enter the UK first, then arrange her studies once here?

No - She must have been accepted onto a course first. See here:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... s#21552282.

She could come on the prospective student visa - but she has to be intending to be on a course for more than 6 months - and have a clear idea what she wants to study.

With the tourist visa, would she be able to attend privately arranged english study courses or other short study courses?

Technically no. I'm sure there are private companies who wouldn't care about her visa status though. But think about when she turns up at the border. The questions will be about what she's doing there ... and if she says she's here to study ... and a visitor here for the full 6 months always arouses suspicions.

- do either the student visitor visa or prospective student visa come with any working entitlement?

No. And the prospective student must be planning to move to a course that is more than 6 months in length under tier 4.

A *full* student visa (tier 4) does allow working 20 hours a week.

- cost-wise, what is the difference between a tourist visa and a student visa?

Costs are here: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... afeesvisit

A full student visa will cost just shy of £200 at the moment
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... afeesstudy

- is it worthwhile using a company to assist with the application?

It shouldn't be necessary.

- with a student visa, would she have to provide evidence of funds to support herself whilst here (despite the fact I could support her during her stay?)

The thing an ECO is looking for on a visitor visa (which is, I presume what you're meaning by student visa given you mention student visitor visa above) is whether or not the applicant will be returning. Strong financial ties, accommodation, a job, family are all good reasons someone would return.

If you are sponsoring her - you will need to show sufficient finances as well.

Remember - if this trip goes well - and she does want to stay - then she will, on all the visas you are suggesting (visitor, student visitor and prospective student) she will need to return for a fiancee or spouse visa. A prospective student can move to tier 4 in country. A full student could switch to Tier 1 or a spouse visa in country.

I would suggest that you consider just coming over a short term visitor visa for a month or two. Give her time to see how she adjusts to the UK. The culture is *very* different and takes some getting used to. She'll also be very isolated if she doesn't speak much English. But if while she's here she wants to extend her trip - then providing the ECO gives her the full 6 months at the border (and there's no reason why not) then she can extend her trip.

If you do decide that fiancee is the right route - I can offer further advice down that road. For info - current costs on the fiancee route (to british citizenship) will total about £4k over 3 years - allowing for flights to the UK, visa fees and minimum wedding costs.

M.

[MPH80]

I just want to drop some further thoughts in here based on my experience.

6 months is a long time with little to do - even with a course say 2-3 days a week.

Remember - if your GF speaks little english then a good number of basic entertainments are out:

No TV - there's no spanish subtitles available
No cinema - there's no choice of dubbed/VO like in Peru.
No drinks out - except with you/spanish speakers.
No driving - it's unlikely she'll feel confident enough
No books - unless you have a repository of spanish books

My wife's family situation is complex - she has a sister in the USA and her brother is still in Peru. But I know her mother feels isolated each time she travels to see either sister. She can't drive, can't get herself around, and with family working all the time - there's little to do but sit around the house and watch TV - which she can't understand! We generally consider a month or two at most enough for her.

M.

[ElenaW]

Sorry no easy way in this case. I suggest visiting back and forth unitl you're ready for marriage (fiance visa). Normally I would say tier 4 but if she's not able to secure a place in higher education then that's impossible in your situation.

[pauldm21]

Thanks so much for the detailed replies and links.

I may have been slightly confused over the differences between the Student Visitor Visa and and Tier 4 Student Visa.... purely due to reading so many different websites about them in the last week or so!

At the moment we just want to spend as long as possible together. Hence, why we were looking at 6 months. If this is likely to raise suspicion on a tourist visa, then we would reduce this to maybe 2 months and she hopefully she can extend her stay up to 6 months as desired?

I was only really considering the student option so she would have something to do and have the option to extend once on a course. Realistically, she would be studying English at first though. Can she get a Prospective Student Visa, study english for a couple of months and then enroll on a another college course (a 6month+ one) and extend the visa then?

One other question, if on a tourist or Student Visitor Visa, can she leave and re-enter the UK within the 6 months? We are hoping to take 2 trips out of the UK (one to visit friends in Ireland, and the other to hopefully attend a friends wedding in Mexico).

[John]

Do you appreciate just how expensive it would be for her to study in the UK? Before thinking about going down that route it would be best to establish that.

[MPH80]

Can she get a Prospective Student Visa, study english for a couple of months and then enroll on a another college course (a 6month+ one) and extend the visa then?

Reading the prospective student visa carefully - you find this:

You should have a clear idea of the type and purpose of the studies and should already have been in touch with educational institutions in the UK. For example, you may already have been provisionally accepted at an establishment with final acceptance dependent on an interview. A vague intention to study for qualifications or to enter an unspecified university or other institution is insufficient.

It appears to show that you have to be fairly far down the line of finding the institution. So I think she'd have to be fairly clear on what she's going to study in advance and where. She'd probably already have to have been in contact with them and know the costs. Which brings us to John's comment ...

Do you appreciate just how expensive it would be for her to study in the UK?

It's not impossible to do a foundation intense English course if it's a pre-req of your course. You can find this in the Tier 4 guidance. But you really need to decide on what she'd like to study and look at the costs for it.

This might be a silly question - but what's stopping you from going to Peru?

M.

[pauldm21]

John - I'm aware it is going to be quite expensive for her to study here. Probably to expensive in all honesty at the moment. She's alos just finished 4 years of studying in Peru and isn't that keen on the idea of another year of it. It just seemed like the next best option once we realised how difficult it would be for her to come over here and work.

M - I have used up my annual leave visiting Peru 3 times this year.... and she is quite keen to come here after . In the long run, we see ourselves living here as opposed to Peru (basically beacuse it is easier to have a level of income here that will allow us to visit her family Peru regularly as opposed to vice versa). Just out of interest, did you marry in the UK?? That is interesting to hear about the issues encountered with family visits... that hadn't really occured to me.

would it be possibly to get a Prospective Student Visa if she was just going to come here and study english? Or does it have to be a more specific course of study?

One other question, if on a tourist or Student Visitor Visa, can she leave and re-enter the UK within the 6 months? We are hoping to take 2 trips out of the UK (one to visit friends in Ireland, and the other to hopefully attend a friends wedding in Mexico).

[MPH80]

One other question, if on a tourist or Student Visitor Visa, can she leave and re-enter the UK within the 6 months? We are hoping to take 2 trips out of the UK (one to visit friends in Ireland, and the other to hopefully attend a friends wedding in Mexico).

Typically - these visas are multi-entry - and indeed - my (then) gf and I left and went on holiday and came back together.

However, you are aware she'll need a visa for IE and Mexico right? Some places require that you apply from your country of residence.

Just out of interest, did you marry in the UK?? That is interesting to hear about the issues encountered with family visits... that hadn't really occured to me.

Yes we did ... and then a spiritual ceremony in Peru ... and then again at the consulate in London ... and then a further spiritual ceremony in Peru (don't ask further - it's too complicated )

Preparing for family visits can get quite complicated - we do carefully prepare all the documents as we don't want any visas refused for my wife's family. This is particularly true because of incomes there.

However, my wife's family have only been over for the wedding so far (which was 2.5 years ago). We are preparing now to get her mum over for the birth of our first little one.

In the long run, we see ourselves living here as opposed to Peru (basically beacuse it is easier to have a level of income here that will allow us to visit her family Peru regularly as opposed to vice versa)

I would strongly advise going for the short (1-2 months) trip here first. So many things are different here to Peru that my wife has struggled at times to adjust.

Little things - the temperature (she was constantly wrapped in blankets her first winter), the food is relatively bland (we get mexican chilli sauce which goes on all her food) and we've only found 2-3 peruvian restaurants so far, the breakfasts (my wife found the concept of just toast for breakfast very odd), the multi-cultural nature of Britain, open homosexuality, doing washing/cleaning (a lot of middle class families in Peru have maids/help), not just being able to get the drugs you need from a pharmacy, just feeling like a stranger - there's not a big peruvian society here, people being more private and the sheer cost of everything - my wife felt bad spending money.

I don't want to put you off - you just need to be aware what a big leap it is being here. This all seems 'normal' to us. At times - it's been hard work. At others - it's been a simple joy being together. It's been worth every second - including those where we've been thousands of miles apart.

I'd let her spend that short time here and let her go back. See how she feels once she's returned to Peru.

M.

[John]

Just out of interest, did you marry in the UK??

No, we married in my wife's country of origin, Thailand. Following that marriage she applied for and got a spouse visa, and so moved to the UK. She has been a British Citizen since 2004.

As regards getting a Tier 4 visa, the Government has (and in my opinion with total justification) tightened up on such visas. Do appreciate that Tier 4 is part of the points-based system, and it is impossible to get enough points unless the prospective student has CAS issued by the college that they wish to study at. Have a read of this UKBA webpage, but appreciate that the page is given in the direction of a college. So it is telling a college what they need to do, in particular :-

Once you have assigned a CAS, you must give the unique CAS reference number to the migrant so that they can apply to us for permission to stay in the UK as a Tier 4 (General) student. You should also give information from the CAS (such as the fees paid to date and the qualifications assessed) to the migrant, to help with their application to us.

[pauldm21]

Thanks so much for the info folks. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to go with a Tourist Visa for now and give her a couple of months here to see if she likes it enough to live here! So I'm pretty sure thats what we'll go for at the moment.

Does anyone have experience applying for this on behalf of someone else? My girlfriend will be paying for her flights and I will be paying for her Visa and supporting her whilst she is here. Is this quite a straight forward application process? Can I do the bulk of the application from my end?

I have contacted a couple of online companies (migrationexpert.com and ukvisasandimmigration.com) about this and have been quoted in the region of £600 for them to basically handle everything for me and guarantee a visa. This seems like a lot of money but it seems like the easy option. Is this the going rate for a company to handle this sort of application?

Thanks again. It really helps hearing about people who have been through a similar process!!

[John]

Before you go down the visitor visa route, do consider what you are up against. That is in order to get a visitor visa your girlfriend will to show "reason to return". So, a blunt question, how will she go about doing that, proving that there are good reasons to return?

[pauldm21]

Hi John, I am hoping a return flight (possibly an open-ended return), family ties and a letter from her employer would suffice for this.

[John]

The letter from the employer would say what? Yes confirm that she is still an employee, and that she will be on holiday, but what about holiday from (stated date) until (stated date)? And if there is a stated return date, why would it be an open return ticket?

But in fact the Embassy will not expect the air ticket to be purchased before the visa is granted, and indeed there is specific advice saying words to the effect of ... "Don't buy your ticket before you have your visa.".

[vinny]

Similar to visitors to the USA, visitors to the UK should show strong ties to their home country, or somewhere other than the UK.