Redundant

[adamandjoe]

Hello,

I am a UK citizen and I recently married my long-term Malaysian girlfriend who was here on a student visa.

We filled in and sent off the FLR(M) form mid-Jan so the process is underway and her student visa runs out in a month or so. I provided sponsorship as I am earning over £18,000 per year; however, it looks like I am going to be made redundant in the next month or two. Because of this, I should also get a sizable payout which would mean I would be able to meet the alternative savings requirement.

If I am made redundant before the process is complete, should I inform the UKBA? If so, is there any possibility that I could then switch my application to the savings based support without having to start the whole process again. If I have to restart the application, would that mean that my wife would have to leave the country and we would have to restart the application outside the UK?

I'm so worried that we're going to have to be forced apart for a while so soon after getting married...

[annacotta]

Hi,

I am not quite sure about your situation but let me try helping you

1. Is your wife going to switch her student visa to spouse visa? If so, you mentioned that her visa was about to expire in a few months so I don't think she can switch it. UKBA has a rule that you cannot switch your visa if you have a permission to stay for less than 6 months. Please see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... you-apply/

2. Sorry about the redundancy. If you would like to go for a saving option (after you get money from being made redundant), I think you can do that if you have enough saving in your account for at least 6 months (see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary page 27 and 28 to see how much saving you need).

I hope this helps.

[Casa]

Hi,

I am not quite sure about your situation but let me try helping you

1. Is your wife going to switch her student visa to spouse visa? If so, you mentioned that her visa was about to expire in a few months so I don't think she can switch it. UKBA has a rule that you cannot switch your visa if you have a permission to stay for less than 6 months. Please see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... you-apply/
[b]INCORRECT[/b] She can switch to FLR(M)
2. Sorry about the redundancy. If you would like to go for a saving option (after you get money from being made redundant), I think you can do that if you have enough saving in your account for at least 6 months (see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary page 27 and 28 to see how much saving you need).

I hope this helps.

[/b]

[Casa]

Regarding the savings, you may have a problem in that funds normally have to be held in the account for a minimum of 6 months. It may be wise to seek legal advise. At present, from your post it redundancy doesn't appear to be confirmed, but bear in mind that redundancy payments can take some time to be settled.