Expat returning to the UK - question about spouse visa

[McB2017]

I am a British citizen who has been living in the US for almost nine years. I have been married to my wife (an American citizen) for eight years. We are planning to return to the UK to live permanently in the summer. Most of our preparations are complete, but we can't start the application for my wife's 'Family Of A Settled Person' visa until I secure employment.

As far as getting a job goes, I'm not too worried in the long run. There is fairly high demand for people in my field, and once employed I will be over the minimum £18,600 salary limit. I am actively applying for jobs right now and have a few interviews lined up. I need to be realistic, however, and consider the possibility that I may not secure a job by the time we need to leave the US (and we don't have a lot of flexibility regarding when we leave).

If this happens, I'm wondering what my best course of action is. Is there an alternative, shorter visa that we could apply for that would be appropriate in my circumstances? If so, and if I do find work shortly after arrival, would my wife be better off applying for the 'Family Of A Settled Person' visa from within the UK, or returning to the US to apply from outside? Maybe there are other factors I'm not even considering? I've tried to research the answers to these questions online, but I'm not convinced I'm getting the most reliable, up-to-date information. It's a minefield!

I'm hoping one of you good, good people can shed some light on this for me. Thank you in advance!

[CR001]

She could enter as a visitor, providing she can convince the IO she is genuinely visiting for a short period and not planning to live in the UK. She is unable to switch to the spouse visa within the UK as a visitor. For your information you should be aware that US citizens are well known for doing exactly this and believing they can apply within the UK for a spouse visa, which then leads to a world of pain. So arriving with you, her British husband moving back, is likely to be scrutinised.

You need to prove you meet the financial requirement, using either UK income or USA income. If the latter, you also need to provide evidence of having a job to start in the UK within 3 months of arrival.

You could also use savings to meet the requirement if you have £62,500 or the equivalent, held for a minimum of 6 months, or less if proceeds from a property sale.

[Casa]

I am a British citizen who has been living in the US for almost nine years. I have been married to my wife (an American citizen) for eight years. We are planning to return to the UK to live permanently in the summer. Most of our preparations are complete, but we can't start the application for my wife's 'Family Of A Settled Person' visa until I secure employment.

As far as getting a job goes, I'm not too worried in the long run. There is fairly high demand for people in my field, and once employed I will be over the minimum £18,600 salary limit. I am actively applying for jobs right now and have a few interviews lined up. I need to be realistic, however, and consider the possibility that I may not secure a job by the time we need to leave the US (and we don't have a lot of flexibility regarding when we leave).

If this happens, I'm wondering what my best course of action is. Is there an alternative, shorter visa that we could apply for that would be appropriate in my circumstances? If so, and if I do find work shortly after arrival, would my wife be better off applying for the 'Family Of A Settled Person' visa from within the UK, or returning to the US to apply from outside? Maybe there are other factors I'm not even considering? I've tried to research the answers to these questions online, but I'm not convinced I'm getting the most reliable, up-to-date information. It's a minefield!

I'm hoping one of you good, good people can shed some light on this for me. Thank you in advance!

There is no 'shorter route' visa applicable to your situation and you wife will be unable to apply for a Spouse Settlement visa from within the UK.

You have 3 options:
1. If you are able to secure a job in the UK starting within 3 months of your arrival which meets the minimum annual income of £18,600 AND
you can show that you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 p.a in the US for the 6 months prior to submitting your wife's application you would be able to return to the UK together.
2. Travel ahead of your wife and once you have been employed for 6 months on a salary of £18,600 p.a submit the application for your wife to join you.
3. Rely on savings, which would have to be at least £62,500 held in an accessible account for 6 months unless this is from the proceeds of a property sale.

Your wife could enter as a visitor and then return to the US to apply before her visa expires, but the IO at the UK point of entry may need to be convinced that she won't overstay.

Edit: Beaten by Miss Speedy Fingers, CR001

[McB2017]

Thank you so much! This is all great information.

I won't have any problems proving my US earnings, so I guess the best thing for me to do is just re-double my efforts on the UK job hunting front.

I am curious about the visitor visa scenario, though. Are there any hard and fast rules about how each individual is assessed? Obviously, my wife remaining is our ultimate end goal, but how do we actually prove that we're going to go about it in the proper way? Is having a return plane ticket enough? Would the fact that we have kids affect anything? They are already British nationals by default, but there is no way we're going to do anything to even remotely jeopardize our family situation.

Also, I seem to remember reading that the process could be expedited (with a hefty fee increase, obviously). If so, and if my wife was in the UK on a visitor's visa, could she technically pop over to a US embassy in Ireland to apply once I got a job? We have friends over there, so she'd have somewhere to stay if it took a couple of weeks.

[Wanderer]

Some bullet points:

1. Need to show she's visiting, not filling a residency gap.

2. USA citizens are no.1 abusers of visit visas

3. Return tickets can be cancelled, prove nothing.

4. She'd need to apply for spouse visa where she is legally resident, rising Ireland isn't being resident there.

[CR001]

I am curious about the visitor visa scenario, though. Are there any hard and fast rules about how each individual is assessed? Obviously, my wife remaining is our ultimate end goal, but how do we actually prove that we're going to go about it in the proper way? Is having a return plane ticket enough? Would the fact that we have kids affect anything? They are already British nationals by default, but there is no way we're going to do anything to even remotely jeopardize our family situation

Have British children and a husband returning to settle in the UK will likely not be viewed in her favour that she is a genuine visitor intending to leave the UK. As Wanderer has already stated, a return air ticket carries little weight as they can be changed or cancelled.

Also, I seem to remember reading that the process could be expedited (with a hefty fee increase, obviously). If so, and if my wife was in the UK on a visitor's visa, could she technically pop over to a US embassy in Ireland to apply once I got a job? We have friends over there, so she'd have somewhere to stay if it took a couple of weeks.

There is a priority service, but being processed as a priority is not always guaranteed. She cannot apply in Ireland as she has is not legally resident there.

[Casa]

Also bear in mind that being legally present in Ireland isn't the same as being legally resident.

[McB2017]

Thanks again, folks!

That sucks about having to apply for the spouse visa from the US. It's understandable, I guess, but I would have thought that just not being in the UK would be the most important thing.

So does anyone have any suggestions for how we go about proving we're not trying to abuse the system? It's weird to think that honestly stating our long term intentions will be met with suspicion (but again, understandable). I suppose I could just say that we're visiting my parents (which we do most years anyway), but it feels wrong to be misleading despite the fact that we will proceed to do everything through the official channels.

[Wanderer]

Thanks again, folks!

That sucks about having to apply for the spouse visa from the US. It's understandable, I guess, but I would have thought that just not being in the UK would be the most important thing.

So does anyone have any suggestions for how we go about proving we're not trying to abuse the system? It's weird to think that honestly stating our long term intentions will be met with suspicion (but again, understandable). I suppose I could just say that we're visiting my parents (which we do most years anyway), but it feels wrong to be misleading despite the fact that we will proceed to do everything through the official channels.

Flogging a dead horse really, so many people in the past have done the visit visa thing, and tried to regularise from that citing Human Rights etc so you can understand the difficulties in trying to arrange a visit with a spouse present in the UK, I'm afraid the worst is assumed.