michali

This one was just refused the RR visa but does admit they did not maintain ties with UK. It seems the Home Office are getting stricter and stricter about issuing visas!
FM 5 year route both applicant n sponsor outside uk : Immigration for family members • Immigrationboards.com

snufkinette

Thank you for sharing this. I see the poster didn't visit the UK during the three years away, but travelled to India instead. I suppose that although I haven't been back to the UK (due to limited funds rather than a lack of desire, for certain!), either, I also haven't travelled out of the United States at all, which will be apparent in my passport pages. I am hoping that the fact that my MIL has visited annually and that we are in touch with her roughly twice a week, usually Skyping weekly, could prove strong enough. We've also kept in touch with other family and friends via Skype, phone, email, FB, etc. I think BritInParis is right that it is worth a try, if nothing else.

Still wondering whether anyone can share experiences of remote job interviews in case my husband wants/needed to do that before we departed. Thank you all for reading.

ruri

Hi how are you?

My husband did manage to secure a Job in Aberdeen before going back to the UK at the end of 2014. He had been living with us for a year here in Malaysia so he could only do Interviews via phone, emails, and Skype.

He explained his situation in every of his application for jobs available (which was quite tough because there wasn't much job posting for Architectural at that time) and also explained that he could only do Skype interviews.

It all went well and he eventually managed to secure a position for £27k p.a after a couple of months.

As soon as his contract was emailed to him the three of us left all together to the UK, of course with me and our daughter as visitors at that time.

snufkinette

Thank you for sharing your story, Ruri! Congratulations, and I hope all has gone well since then. I'm sure it was helpful that your husband was very clear about his needs. You mention that you and your daughter entered the UK as visitors. Does that mean you subsequently returned to your home country to apply for a visa?

ruri

Yes, we returned to my home country last year. We purchased a return ticket for both me and our daughter and stayed for 6 months in the UK. We told everything clearly to the immigration officer at Heathrow as our tickets clearly showed that we would be staying there for half a year. After checking my passport and my 2 old passports he said "OK, good luck with your visa application later", and let us in.

Everything went well so far but due to me having a young child on my own here in my home country, things have gone a little slow than we planned. We are only going to submit my visa application in 2 weeks time from now and my husband has already purchased a return ticket to come back here too.

It was hard being apart for months but life was so busy too that I almost didn't realise how fast time flies. I just hope the visa application will go well that now we have everything required for the application. But preparing it is not an easy part either!

Vadio

There are multiple members of the UK-Yankee forum who UNSUCCESSFULLY applied for a returning resident visa - I am one of them. I got ILR in 1993, but lost it after we returned to the US and I was out of the UK for >2 years. The fact that my then 71-year old husband's entire family was in the UK made zero difference. It's YOUR ties that are evaluated.

Another UK-Yankee member lived in the UK for >20 years, and had dual national kids. She returned to the US to care for aging parents, but stayed more than 2 years....and when she applied for a RR visa, it was refused.

My advice from a 'been there, done that' perspective is....don't go that route; the likelihood of approval is slim, remote, and pretty much none.

I too read, re-read and pondered all the RR criteria. I was thoroughly convinced that I fit into the 'close ties' category, and since we had far more money than was needed to prove the saving route AND we owned a house in the UK, I thought 'no problem'. When the refusal came, I was devastated. Time wasted, money wasted, and a lot of tears shed.

I then applied for the spouse visa (old rules), took the LIUK test, and got ILR 3 months after my return. I'm now a dual national, and thank my lucky stars that I no longer have to pass scrutiny when I enter the UK.

I would recommend that you peruse the UK-Yankee forum, and pose the same questions there.

snufkinette

That is nice that you were able to spend the first six months of your husband's time back in the UK together. Do you have a good support network there in Malaysia, i.e. family and/or friends? Just wondering because we are without family nearby, and although I do have some friends, they can't be there for me in the way family would, so I think that would make the separation harder. Certainly doable, though!

Good luck with your visa application! Well done on getting it together.

snufkinette

Thank you for sharing. Yes, I have been on the UK-Yankee forum and read quite a few stories of unsuccessful RR apps, but I've also read a couple of success stories on the same forum that feature similar circumstances to my own, i.e. the significant ties were in-laws and the applicant's spouse and children. That is part of my reason for thinking it is worth a try. Unlike you, I would be approaching it simply with hope, not with a conviction that I will succeed, so I can't imagine that I would be shedding many tears, just progressing on to submit the spouse visa app. Thanks.

ruri

Thank you!

I certainly do have a good support from family and friends but not all the time as we all stay far away from each other. Even though some of my uncles, aunts, and siblings are working in the same city, we can't always see each other due to the hot weather, I don't drive, distance, and also they are all working most with government agencies.

Often my daughter and I travel to another cities to visit different friends or we sometimes go back to village which is 3 hours by car to see my mum, elder sister, and youngest brother when the city become too boring for us.

Vadio

snufkinette, I strongly recommend you read this: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?...927#msg1124927, and pay particular attention to reply#19 by ksand24. The things she lists are spot on - if the ECO doesn't think you qualify, you will be refused. Once you have a visa refusal, it makes the process for approval of any subsequent visa longer.

It's obviously your decision, but I would think long and hard before applying for an RR visa.

snufkinette

Oh, my, that is a long way to travel to see family, but how wonderful that you can go and stay with family. My nearest relations are about eight hours away by car. Hope you and your daughter aren't missing her daddy too much and that you will be reunited soon! Thank you again for sharing your story.

formula

As you have been intereseted about being in the UK as a visitor for a few months with a British husband who has returned to live in the UK, a failed RR application could mean that they might not grant you entry into the UK as a visitor after that. Visitors have to show they have no intention of remaining in the UK and you will have already declared to UKVI on your RR application, that you want to live in the UK with your British husband and British children.


Just in case you were thinking of being a visitor in the UK before May (when you baby is due) I assume you already know that visitors to the UK must pay in full to use the NHS? Just a straightfoward birth with the NHS starts about 3k.

All things to think about and the choice is yours to make.

snufkinette

Absolutely no intention of travelling between now and May! Yes, I am aware of the NHS guarding against health tourism. Thanks.