Wife Settlement Nightmare

[sunshineusa]

We already made a massive mistake before we sent it off. So now we are redoing the application 15 days later. We are 5.4B, so we need to provide the LAST 12 MONTHS PRIOR of income that proves £18,600. In our calculations we made it at £20,598.00.


My spouse has different jobs in media and we lived in AUS which put us in that category.

But we cant seem to figure out the way they are counting the last 12 months. Our date of application is May 25, 2017.

So are they counting this may at all cuz its not finished?

or is it something like May 1- 2016 TO May 25, 2017. or April 1, 2016 - April 30, 2017.


Thanks?

[SimonS]

Hi Sunshine,

it's really not clear which stage of the process you are at. In terms of settlement, is this the first spouse visa, flr or ilr? Are you applying as salaried or self employed? You certainly seem to be suggesting combined income to meet the threshold.

Typically for salaried it's only the last 6 months which when accompained by letter from employer stating permanent employee and dated within 28 days of application etc April would be fine.

What is 5.4b? What mistake do you believe you made?

[sunshineusa]

Hi,

Thanks for the Answer, its my first spouse visa! the 33 month one.
My husband is the sponsor. we already paid for the visa and all.. so i dont wanna change all the stuff again.

5.4B means he was outside of the UK, we lived in australia until may 4, 2017.

He made 21k pounds in the last 12 months if we calculate May 25, 2017 - May 1, 2016.

Don't think i did it right. How can we calculate the last 12 months.

[SimonS]

I'm not an expert but I think that if your sponsor is salaried and you make the application part way through a month it will be understood that the month is not closed and you will rely on the data from the previous month as the latest evidence.

The threshold is £18,600 pa. As long as you meet or even exceed this and your housing costs are not so great that you fail on the A-B >= C component you will meet the requirement. Also, if you converted AUS$ to GBP£, I believe it is the Oanda spot rate on date of application that will be applied for the conversion when they do the calculation.

If your application meets all of the other criteria and it is clear you have been honest but they need further evidence, they do have the discretion to contact you, request it, and give you reasonable time to send it in.

Hope that gives you some comfort.

Good luck
Simon

[sunshineusa]

Simon,.


Hi thanks again. I calculated april - april and we made 22k. salaired.
and 20 k non salary - family trust investments


thanks again for the advice. how was your visa experience?

[SimonS]

Stressful!! Still not over. Applied 19th April priority, biometrics 21st and submitted documents 5th May. Entering week 6 and not heard anything. There are many people contributing on here in similar situation and quite a few who have been waiting even longer. Hopefully we'll all hear soon.

Cheers
Simon

[Casa]

Did your husband have a confirmed offer of employment to start within 3 months of arriving in the UK, again meeting the minimum earnings of £18,600 p.a

Where was the spouse settlement visa submitted and where are you both now?

[sunshineusa]

Hi Casa,

Both lived in Aus. For the application i went back to my home country.
I am in the US, and he went to the UK to get a job before we applied. so when we he arrived and secured his job we applied. we made the previous mistake that we had no idea he had to have a job at the date of applciation or start one within 3 months! We had nothing at all!!


He makes 150.00 P a day, so about 32k a year.

Make sure the offer is there at the date of application.

( my mistake ahah)


Best,

Soleil

[sunshineusa]

Simon,


From what the consulate recently told me is send stuff 5 days AFTER biometircs... it says on there a 10 day cap i think? I think its a new rule that people arent clear about. Im sure alot of people dont even know. dont stress, youll be fine.. you need to call back the consulate cuz you paid priority and thats way too long.
we are going to pay it as well. What country are you coming from?

[SimonS]

Hi Soleil,

I read somewhere it is 10 working days after biometrics. They arrived in Sheffield on 9th working day by special delivery.

I've been following the India and Pakistan timeline threads and to be honest it all seems a bit of a lottery as to when you hear back or receive documents back. Some get their documents in 5-12 days but no decision, some have heard nothing. Judging by people who have had a decision recently, Sheffield seems to be up to processing some applications on priority from March and early April. For example, on the India timeline (p5), aimu123 applied 29th March with priority and was advised the decision was made on 12th May (28 working days) but only after escalation. For us today is working day 25 after biometrics, discounting Bank Holidays.

Since our application is around mid-April I'm trying to remain hopeful we'll hear soon. I decided to make a status update enquiry using the web form this morning, but I don't expect to get anything back other than the disapppointing generic email everybody seems to recieve. Still, the first step towards escalation.

One thing that does worry me a little is that I have seen 3 different addresses advised as to where to send documents!!!

I'm in the UK but we applied from Russia (my wife is Russian) and were told to send documents to

Settlement Applications, International Operations and Visas, 6 Millsands, Vulcan House, Sheffield, S3 8NH.

Neosprin - India timeline p5 - was given a different address and then told they had not recieved them. Then given a completely different address to send them to. Absolute chaos!

Out of interest, where did you send yours?

Thanks
Simon

[sunshineusa]

Simon,


My lord, thats a long bloody time! i am coming from the US and my husband is the UK citizen. also around this time of year is a very busy time. hang in there!

[pixelrage09]

The whole settlement visa process has been a nightmare for us too. My husband applied at the end of January and we have crossed the 12 week processing time frame and still no decision on our application.

A lot of people are speculating etc, but I think it is really a matter of luck when it comes to processing times right now. I'm not sure if the HO is bound to give a response in 24 weeks because now I'm afraid it might take more than 24 weeks

[sunshineusa]

Hi Pixel,

Did you even pay priority? WE didnt want to fork out $700, but if we didnt, it would drive us crazy you know?? so we are sending it off june 2. ive heard of some cases, that people will get theirs a few days later. Or even people paying priority that took longer than the suggested time. Did you feel unsure about a section you did wrong? Maybe they investigated for a longer period to solve the answer?

[pixelrage09]

Hi Pixel,

Did you even pay priority? WE didnt want to fork out $700, but if we didnt, it would drive us crazy you know?? so we are sending it off june 2. ive heard of some cases, that people will get theirs a few days later. Or even people paying priority that took longer than the suggested time. Did you feel unsure about a section you did wrong? Maybe they investigated for a longer period to solve the answer?

Hey sunshine,

There is no point in paying priority. If it goes to Sheffield (unlike some countries where it's dealt with at the local BHC) then expect delays.

I know this because my colleague at work applied priority for her husband just 2 days after our application and she's been waiting almost as long as us now.

The reason for this delay is because of brexit as I was told by my MP. The HO are dealing with close to half a million applications for settlements from EU citizens currently residing in the UK. I also read on the Telegraph that UKVI is hiring additional 5,000 caseworkers to deal with this issue.

I hope this helps..

[sunshineusa]

Hi,

That's actually insane I had no idea that was going on. Unfortunately with settlement ones we have no choice.
I've heard of a recent friend from AU who did not even pay priority got her settlement in 2-3 weeks. I think it's a case by case and at this point if you're lucky they'll start working on your first. Also, I spoke with a consulate member and he said that honestly there are some case workers who go exactly by the book and some are more easy going than others. That can really delay your application! Also I'm assuming that people who just get the job aren't as experience and they can delay the process.