nathan70

Hi,

First posting here. If it's a dupe, please kindly redirect me.

I'll be returning to the UK with my Japanese wife in a couple of months' time and I'm wondering how long it should take to get a spouse visa (or "family of a settled person" visa, as they are now called.) Her old IELTS certificate has expired so she needs to redo the test which itself will take a month or so. Then there's the interview with VFS.

Given the time constraints and all, I'm wondering if it's just going to be simpler and safer that she enters the UK on a standard 6-month tourist visa and then applies to "remain in the UK with family" once there.

Incidentally, I noticed the following difference in cost:
"Apply to join family living permanently in the UK" = UKP 1195 plus healthcare surcharge
"Apply to remain in the UK with family" = UKP 811 plus health surcharge

That's a pretty big difference. Is there some advantage in choosing the former over the latter?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Nathan

InVinoVeritas

Hi Nathan and welcome to BE. I've moved your thread to the Moving Back to the UK forum as you're more likely to get some help there. Best of luck!

SanDiegogirl

She can't apply for any visa from within the UK while there on a visitor visa.

She has to apply from her home country.

She applies for settlement visa - join family in the UK

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

nathan70

Apologies and thanks!

nathan70

Thanks for the quick reply. Would you be able to point me to the page where it explicitly mentions this? I've been trawling through the gov.uk website but have so far not come across any such rule.

SanDiegogirl

Read the following Visitor website from the UKVI. Under Eligibility it specifically says " You must always show that":

You'll leave the UK at the end of your visit

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa/eligibility

Also, from a logical point of view what would be the point of allowing people to apply for other visas while in the country as a visitor. If refused, people would just stay would they not?

The process of applying and being approved for a visa would be completely undermined.

nathan70

Thanks. You're right; that wouldn't make much sense. But then I wonder why there is this option to "Apply to remain in the UK with family". I read that as implying that someone already in the UK on another type of visa could apply for a spouse visa while s/he is there. Or am I reading too much into it?

mikelincs

Well that is what you are doing, you are applying for a visa to come to the UK and remain with your family once there. People in the UK on work visas can apply to change to the spouse visa, but not those on visitor visas, in fact there is some anecdotal evidence that if the person already in the UK has a partner applying for a visit visa, then they are much more likely to be turned down as it may be thought that once in the UK they may just stay.

nathan70

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up. I just hope we can complete the visa application process in time.

The Sorceror

I don't want to be overly negative, but do not understimate the time needed to apply for a spouse visa. You need to read and fully understand the application process (no mean achievement!), then ensure that you collect all the information, prepare all your supporting documents, put it all together and double/triple check.

In my own case (my wife is Chinese), it took us around 4 months from start to finish, taking into account the complexity of getting all the third party confirmations etc. And during the two week period before submission, I did not set foot outside our apartment, I worked full time on the application.

You may be quicker, but my advice is not to set yourself a tight deadline, the risk is that you will make mistakes or cut corners, with the inevitable result.....

Good luck to you, of course !!

nathan70

Thanks for the advice, and I don't think it's overly negative. You're totally right in that the more time I can budget for this process the safer it would be. However, time is a luxury I just don't have. I'll begin a new job in the UK from September so I really want to be settled and have these things out of the way a month or so before then. Fingers crossed anyway...

angie_329

you may be able to pay extra for expedited processing.