Spouse visa for pregnant wife

[Garysan]

Hi, this site appears to have the best information in relation to immigration queries and I'm hoping somebody can advise us.
My wife is from Japan, she came to the UK on a visitor visa (we were already married) and before the visa expired we applied using the Immigration Service online process. After 4 months she received a refusal on the grounds that it is not allowed to transfer from a visitor visa to a spouse visa (I have now seen that rule online, the application form didn’t tell us. We made a sad and costly mistake.)
It seems likely she will now have to return to Japan and apply for a spouse visa form there, however she is 21 weeks pregnant and I am wondering if they might use that against her – i.e. accuse her of coming here principally to use the NHS for her maternity care. We just want to be together for the birth and as a family, but some of the posts I’ve seen suggest that immigration decisions can be made on these grounds of suspicion of everybody. Even getting the visa will be very tight timewise, but another refusal would be hard to bear.
Thanks.

[Obie]

Was she not given a right of appeal?

You ought to have appreciated that person on visitors visa cannot switch to spouse

[Casa]

Is the intention for your wife to now return to Japan and give birth there? Generally airlines won't permit travelling after 36 weeks of the pregnancy, and some limit this to 28 weeks. Also bear in mind that your baby will need a passport in order to enter the UK.
https://www.gov.uk/register-british-cit ... outside-uk

There's no reason for the Spouse Settlement visa to be refused due the pregnancy. Do you meet the minimum income level of £18,600.

[Garysan]

Thanks for your replies. The refusal letter said she could only appeal from outside the UK; solicitor advised that an appeal would probably fail, because she was in UK on a visitor visa. She has now returned to Japan and just submitted an application from there.
I am aware that if the baby is born outside the UK it will need some kind of documentation to be allowed to come to the UK. There are various documents online (register a birth, register as a British citizen, apply for right of abode,...); like many things with the UK Home Office there are a lot of rules in various places, and potentially a lot of costs involved. I emailed the British embassy in Tokyo 3 weeks ago to ask if they could explain in simple terms what we would need to do to bring a child born in Japan in to the UK and they haven't answered. So another part of the UK government which doesn't have service as a priority.

[CR001]

Are you British born? If so, the baby is British by Descent and can apply directly for a passport.

If Japan doesn't allow dual nationality, you could also apply for a Japanese passport and then apply for Right of Abode.

[Dex44]

What happened with this in the end? Did your wife get her visa? Where was the baby born in the end? U.K. Or Japan? We're you present for the birth?

I'm in a very similar position. My wife, also from Japan, is hoping to get a U.K. Visa but is currently about 20 weeks pregnant. She's in Japan now and is hoping to give birth there and then come back over here. She's hoping to come back in February maybe. Does anyone know if it is too early to apply now?

I hope everything all turned out okay and you and your family are all together.

[Garysan]

Hi Dex44,
Our baby was born in Japan. The visa was issued shortly before the baby was born, so my wife couldn't travel (even though we asked the Home Office to process the application more quickly so she would be able to travel before the birth). I applied for, and got, a British passport for our baby from Japan (delivered by courier from the UK) and she entered the UK on that (entering on a Japanese passport is not a good idea). Japanese Immigration were not happy at the departure airport as they said she should have entry papers in her passport in order to be allowed to leave! But eventually they let her through.
Regarding your wife's visa application, it is probably better to wait until your baby has been born, or apply about 4 months before she wants to travel. If she is applying under the Human Rights Route (as opposed the Family Route) then the baby will need to have been born for her to qualify. Last year the Family Route visa processing times was about 4 months but the Human Rights visa processing times were over 12 months I think. The Windrush scandal may have taken Home Office staff off 'normal' visas and made the processes even slower.
She could possibly enter on a visitor visa and apply under the Human Rights route once here but I would advise you to get advice from an Immigration advisor before you do this. If your wife enters on a Japanese passport with a baby who has British passport she will probably get a hostile reception at the UK border, as they will suspect she will try to stay.