Moving to the UK - family or work visa?

[acover4422]

Hello all, I apologise for the vague title but I don't really know what else to say, as our situation is a little unusual.

I am a British citizen who came to the US in April 2011 under a K-1 visa. For those of you who aren't aware, that's a fiance visa: I was required to marry my US citizen spouse within 90 days, which I did; and we then filed for my permanent residency and work permit (green card). Neither of those have arrived yet (although I do have a temporary work permit), even though it's been almost a year; and between me not being able to work; my husband losing a well-paid job; and us having our first child three months ago; we're in a very dire financial situation. Neither of us can find jobs, and when I say we're broke I'm talking "we live on canned food and we haven't paid our rent this month" broke.

An incredible opportunity has arisen for us in the UK. My parents own a second house, which they're currently renting, and the tenants wish to buy it. At the same time (funny enough, literally the same day), the local pub has come up for sale for the same amount of money that they could sell the second house for. They're going to sell the house and buy the pub, and have my husband and I live there and run it.

So, now that you know the situation, my questions are these:

- Would my US Citizen husband need a family visa, or a work visa?
I'm struggling with this one because, since I currently live in the US with the UK, I don't know whether he is 'joining family' (that implies that I'm already there). Obviously he is my family, but at the same time, he will be working when he's in the UK.


- Which visa will my husband need?
Where do we start?


- Am I right in thinking that our daughter is a British Citizen by Descent, and therefore won't need a visa?
My source is Wikipedia, so of course I could be wrong.


- Will my husband need a sponsor, and if so, who will that be?
My father will own the pub. On paper, we will be working for him. Would he be the sponsor? Would it be me? If so, we're in trouble, because I'm very literally penniless.


- Regarding sponsors...
We already know with reasonable accuracy what we will be making once the pub is in our hands. Can the sponsor (whether that's me or my dad) use that for the financial/proof of support aspect of all this?

Thanks all, and sorry for the long post. I know it would be best if we talked to an immigration lawyer but unfortunately that's absolutely impossible financially.

[geriatrix]

1. Settlement visa as spouse of a British citizen (under the family migration route). For a work visa your spouse will need a registered sponsor (employer) to sponsor his employment in the UK, on the basis of which he may apply for entry clearance (visa).

2. As above.

3. If you are a British citizen otherwise than by descent then your child is British by descent (section 2(1)(a)).

4. If he applies for settlement visa, you. If he applies for work visa, a registered employer.

5. For settlement visa, you (as the sponsor) will need to provide documentary evidence of gross annual income of GBP 18600 to sponsor a spouse / partner or, in absence of any income, savings of GBP 62500 held at least for 6 months preceding the application. The details about financial requirements for settlement visa are explained in this document.

[acover4422]

5. For settlement visa, you (as the sponsor) will need to provide documentary evidence of gross annual income of GBP 18600 to sponsor a spouse / partner or, in absence of any income, savings to the tune of GBP 62500 held at least for 6 months preceding the application. The details about financial requirements for settlement visa are explained in this document.

I was afraid of this. Since I don't have anything close to that amount of money, is it best for my husband to do the work visa route, with my dad as his sponsoring employer?

I don't understand any of this. I've been looking at the points-based visa system, and it seems that my husband only fits under one of two visa categories: tier 1, as an entrepreneur; or tier 2, as a general/skilled worker. But for both of these, he needs to meet a financial requirement of £900. He doesn't have anywhere near that much money!

What can we do? I just can't accept that we might be stuck here in the US with no jobs and no money. Surely no one can expect me to come back to the UK without him? Surely they can't just split a married couple (with a young baby!) apart like that?

[Greenie]

He wouldn't qualify as an entrepreneur because he would need £200k to invest in a UK business.

I don't think tier 2 would be a viable option either as the job would have to be skilled to graduate level which i am not sure it would be, even if this is wrong, your father would have to show that no other settled worker could do the job which seems unlikely. The process of setting up as a tier 2 sponsor is also a long one and he doesn't even own the business yet.

I see two possible solutions:

Your parents could give you could £62500 from the sale of their house which you would need to keep in an account for at least 6 months after which time you could rely on this to apply for the spouse visa.


You could return to The UK and start working in the business and your husband could apply for the visa once you have worked there for 6 months.

In the meantime he could enter the UK as a visitor (for which he does not need a visa) although he would need to leave the UK to apply for the spouse visa and convince the immigration officer of his intention to return.