boltonboy77

I am a UK citizen by birth and have lived in USA for last 40 years. My wife is a US citizen and we are both retired. One of our adult daughters lives in London (she's UK citizen) and recently had a baby. So we want to return to UK and possibly stay for longer than 6 months to help out. My wife originally applied for a "long term visitor" visa and was refused! With no right of appeal etc.

So we now think she should apply for a "family of a settled person" visa - even though we will not be dependent on our daughter etc. We have income and savings etc.

These forms are not always very clear and I'm thinking we might be better off paying for a visa services company to help out - any recommendations here?

And are we on the right track for this new visa application? Thanks

BritInParis

You need to be more specifically about your "income and savings" - do you meet the financial requirements for a spouse? If not then your wife won't succeed in obtaining a spouse visa. If you do meet the requirements, what are your intentions? A spouse visa is designed for someone who wants to live permanently in the UK. If you want to spend extended periods of time in the UK but not live there permanently then a spouse visa may not be for you..

SanDiegogirl

There is no long term visitor visa. There is a visa you can hold for 5 or 10 years which allows you to visit for up to 6 months, and this is usually given to people who have reason to visit the UK frequently.

The "family of settled person" is a visa for someone who is the partner/spouse etc of a British citizen who wishes to enter the UK and live permanently with said British citizen.

BritInParis

To concur with SanDiegogirl's comment - if your wife stated her intentions in applying for a visitor visa were to stay for more than six months at a time then that is why it was refused. You cannot remain in the UK for longer than six months on any visitor visa as you then would be spending the majority of your time in the UK and therefore would be considered to be resident not visiting.

boltonboy77

Well it would have been nice if the immigration official had spelled this out and the forms/website was more clear. Since my wife is a USA citizen I'm pretty sure she can visit for up to six months without a visa - why didn't the official explain this in email or the refusal letter we received and advise us to apply for other kind of visa!!! I'm just frustrated by this and the loss of >$1200! Boosting the UK economy I hope.

So now I think she should apply for "family of a settled person" visa - the "settled in the UK" person being our adult working daughter and her baby (our grandchild). Money should not be an issue - my wife has generous teacher's pension and I have US SS pension and we have savings etc.

The annoying thing about the first refusal - we were scolded for not submitting any documentation of our finances - when on the form and instructions - I don't remember being told this. Just fill in the boxes with amounts. Oh well, now I know!

btw - this is a great forum and thanks to all the contributors.

boltonboy77

And now as I attempt to read carefully the Visa4UK site and "quiz" - I'm not sure my wife qualifies for "family of a settled person" since I don't live in the UK permanently and our adult daughter is not dependent on us....

If that is the case and she stays legally for <6months - how long before she can return? (so could one do a visa run to Paris or Ireland for a few days and return for another stay?)

SanDiegogirl

Yes, she can visit for up to 6 months without a visa, which is why, whatever visa it was you were trying to apply for, would have been refused.

Immigration officials don't usually provide info or advise

With regard the "apply to join family living permanently in the UK" visa, the family living permanently in the UK is YOU - it's terrible wording, but the person who is sponsoring the immigrant - ie. YOU the British citizen- is considered permanently settled once they return to the UK.

To obtain this visa YOU need to sponsor your wife - although savings/investments and pensions can be used by either of the couple.

You need to read the following document carefully to see how you qualify:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ugust_2015.pdf

You need to prove financial, relationship, and accommodation requirements.

Since you do not appear to be intending to live permanently in the UK
I'm not sure this is the most relevant visa for you.

The visa is provided for people who are expected to live in the UK on a permanent basis; it is issued for 2.5 years and when renewal comes up there might be additional questioning and perhaps extentions required if you have been out of the UK for a considerable length of time.

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk

Vadio

No - a visitor visa (which is the stamp she gets in her passport at the border) allows up to 6 months in any 12 month period. So the 'time clock' does not reset after a trip to Ireland or even back to the USA.

Also, be aware, that with a visa refusal of any type, she may need to apply for a visitor visa in advance. I'm not totally familiar with this particular area, but someone else will likely post with the specific links.

Many people (including me) have paid a lot of money applying for a visa for which we didn't qualify. In my case, it was a returning resident visa, which was rightly refused. The language is ambiguous, but at the end of the day, it's a 'tick box' set of requirements. If you meet the requirements for the category, you get the visa. No immigration lawyer or firm can do anything to change that.

The important thing is to read everything - especially guidance notes, the relevant appendix, supporting documentation etc. It's all on the UKVI webside, but their logical presentation may not seem logical to me or to you.

SanDiegogirl

No, you cannot leave for a few days and then return to the UK and try and re-set the clock for another 6 months. That is trying to live in the UK on a visitor visa, and could result in you being refused entry.

The "rule of thumb" is that you are allowed to visit for 6 months in 12. So you have to leave for 6 months and then return.