Family Visitor queries

[farrellcoleman]

Hi, firstly I apologise if I posted in the wrong forum, I couldn't see a section specifically for visitor visa enquiries.

My wife and I got married in January in South Africa, she is a South African citizen and I am British, we met online a few years ago and after many visits to South Africa I stayed there for 6 months and we got married.

We had been planning a marriage visa application for months, my wife just got her English test results back and police clearance... Then we found out my dad (who was going to be the sponsor as I am a student) lost his job and now we know nobody who earns over £18k.

As I am going to be a student as of October 1st I am hoping my wife can come and stay with me for 6 months. Here are my questions:

1) My wife is currently unemployed and living with family, we have absolutely no intentions of her overstaying the visa, I am in fact hoping to move to South Africa after I have finished university (which I will include in my letter) but will this be acceptable proof that my wife intends to leave the country at the end of her visit?

2) I have accommodation, I rented a 3 bedroom flat with a friend and got my wife's name on the lease while we were still planning for the marriage visa, so accommodation should be ok.

3) My main form of income is my student loan, I have worked out a budget and I am sure we will have enough money to cover expenses during my wife's stay comfortably, but how much roughly are they looking for to approve maintenance? Is my student loan and grants likely to be enough evidence?

4) would it help my case if I attach a letter from my mother stating that our family home is also an option if it was needed.


Thank you for your time.

[Lucapooka]

You should be fine if you can show that you have funds for the visit and her motivation to return. I could not say with any certainty if this visa will be approved as you have not said what she has in SA that she will not readily abandon to live in the UK with you. If she is not at the lower end of the socio -economic pyramid, and has good ties, she should have no problems

[farrellcoleman]

she stays with her family who are very important to her, however she isn't currently working or in education, and she owns no property in South Africa.

Which is what we have been told before might stop the visa being accepted.

Would it help our case if she were to enrol in a course of study prior to applying for the visa?

[farrellcoleman]

my other question would be how do I go about doing the sponsorship and accommodation


1) I wont be moving into my flat until september 17th (staying with a friend atm) will sending a copy of the lease suffice?

2) I can't send payslips because I haven't been employed in my lead up to University, would my student finance documents suffice?

3) To pay for the visa and flights I would have to go into my student overdraft as I don't get my student loan through until October 2nd... Is this going to be an issue if they want to see my bank details? Obviously I'd go back out of my overdraft when the student loans all come through.

[farrellcoleman]

Don't mean to bump this for attention, I phoned Named OISC advisors today to see if they could give me any advice or if they think it could work, but I've phoned them a few times now and they never really seem confident in anything they're saying and they always sound like they're walking and talking on their mobiles.

All I really need to know is with my student loan as support and my wife having strong family ties back in South Africa and me planning to go to her when I finish University, is this enough to get us a visitor visa?

[batleykhan]

Don't mean to bump this for attention, I phoned Named OISC advisors today to see if they could give me any advice or if they think it could work, but I've phoned them a few times now and they never really seem confident in anything they're saying and they always sound like they're walking and talking on their mobiles.

All I really need to know is with my student loan as support and my wife having strong family ties back in South Africa and me planning to go to her when I finish University, is this enough to get us a visitor visa?

If you want my opinion, I would say No.

The reasons being:

1. Your only source of income is your student loan
2. She is your wife and may decide to settle here with you for good
3. She has no job and therefore no incentive to return home
4.Most visitors who are married and want to visit their spouses/partners on a visitors visa are usually refused because in most cases the ECO does not believe they will go back. They would prefer them to apply for teh spouse visa

I know its not what you may want to hear,but at least you've got is straight from the horses mouth.

[farrellcoleman]

if we were to apply and be turned down would this hinder any later applications for visitor / spouse or any kind of visa...

The £100 ish visa fee's aren't too bad, it might be worth trying for it even if it is unlikely they will say yes... but obviously if it will be held against us if they say no, then it's a much harder decision

[batleykhan]

if we were to apply and be turned down would this hinder any later applications for visitor / spouse or any kind of visa...

The £100 ish visa fee's aren't too bad, it might be worth trying for it even if it is unlikely they will say yes... but obviously if it will be held against us if they say no, then it's a much harder decision

A refusal may cause a problem if and when you apply for a spouse visa,particularly if you state one thing in one visa application and then something else in a different application a few months down line

[farrellcoleman]

if we were to apply and be turned down would this hinder any later applications for visitor / spouse or any kind of visa...

The £100 ish visa fee's aren't too bad, it might be worth trying for it even if it is unlikely they will say yes... but obviously if it will be held against us if they say no, then it's a much harder decision

A refusal may cause a problem if and when you apply for a spouse visa,particularly if you state one thing in one visa application and then something else in a different application a few months down line

Ok but if we get refused say because im at uni and don't have the funds, then later on we apply for the spouse visa and we do have the funds, (maybe after i've finished uni) ... that shouldn't affect it right?