Visitor visa for Spouse

Hello,
I am British citizen and my wife is Indian. I was in India for a long time but returned last month to the UK. It is going to take me a few months before I satisfy the 29K finance requirement rule for me to be able to apply for my wife's spouse visa. (I have started a contract work in the UK which will pay me more than 29K PA required in the next 4 months).

Till the time I reach this 29k threshold, would UKVI have any problems if I apply visitor visa for my wife to come and stay with me? If possible I want to plan that when I satisfy the 29k requirement, my wife would go back to India and apply for the dependent visa and come back again. Is there a risk that UKVI would reject a visitor visa because she plans to come back on dependent visa later or because she is already married to me?

To get a visit visa, she would need to demonstrate stronger ties to her country of habitual residence than she has to the UK, where her husband resides.

What such ties exist, which will ensure, at least to the UKVI caseworker, that she will leave the UK before the expiry of her visit visa, and not just simply become illegally resident in the UK, supported by her husband?

Also, to be frank, that does not sound like a "visit". It sounds like a residence in the UK and not a visit.

Paragraph 4.2(b) of Appendix V (for visitors) of the UK Immigration Rules states that the applicant "will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home. I do not think a UKVI caseworker will be satisfied that your wife will meet this requirement, especially if her husband is in the UK.

I think it would be safest for her to remain in her country of habitual residence and apply for a spousal visa when she qualifies, BUT also make sure you keep a log of regularly keeping in touch to meet the "genuine and sustained relationship" requirement of a spousal visa.

Thanks for the reply. It seems prudent to wait based on your clarification. I guess a refusal for visitor visa would also make it difficult with spouse visa application later on if they get a bit unhappy about having a visa refusal history.

helpme2025 wrote: ↑

Sun May 04, 2025 11:08 am

Thanks for the reply. It seems prudent to wait based on your clarification. I guess a refusal for visitor visa would also make it difficult with spouse visa application later on if they get a bit unhappy about having a visa refusal history.

They are 2 different sections. A denial for a visit visa would have no bearing on a spouse visa at a later date.
But a denial of a spouse visa "might" have a significant influence on a visit visa on a different day.