Kady

My husband (British) & I (American) are planning on moving back to England April, 2012. I have several questions that I need an answer on because we think we cannot move back. We have been married almost 10 years and have lived in the US all this time. My questions are:

1) I will be getting a spouse visa but was wondering about a sponsor. My in-laws are old age pensioners but can they sponsor me? I cannot find any information on how much you need to make to sponsor someone.

2) My husband has no job waiting for him once we get back but will be looking for work once we have arrived. Will this matter?

3) We will be bringing money with us (not a lot) but will that help me get a visa and help the sponsor part of this?

4) Can a self employed person (my brother-in-law) sponsor me and if so, again, the salary requirements you need?

Bottom line is: how much does the salary requirement of a sponsor have to be?

Thanks for your help.

DDL

Hi Kady, and welcome.

I'm American, too. My British husband and I have been married for 7 years. We just moved back to the UK last August after living 6 years in the States.

Although I would be happy to help you out with your questions, I really highly recommend that you post your question over on the UK-Yankee forum. http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?board=17.0 I have used that forum extensively throughout my UK Visa (and now Citizenship) process.

You can also find out [almost] everything you need to know here: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/

Kady

Thanks, I will try the UK-Yankee forum. As far as the ukvisas, I have tried it and still cannot find the answers to my questions.

DDL

Your husband is actually the one who would be your sponsor. My husband was my sponsor, although he didn't have a job waiting for him here. We had some money in the bank (not a lot) and lived with his mum when we moved back.

All we needed from her was a statement saying that she was happy for us to live with her however long it took for us to find jobs/accommodation. I can provide you with the wording we used.

Kady

I would love that DDL. Your situation sounds a lot like ours. Can you PM me the wording? I really do appreciate your help.

Kady

Also forgot to say Number 5

5) I have just recently filed bankruptcy in the US. Will this cause problems going into the UK? I do have a job though here in the US.


Thanks for your help.

Bluegrass Lass

Shouldn't cause any problems for your visa at all. In saying that, if you plan to naturalize in the UK, the consensus on the UK-Yankee forum is that you will have to declare it (as the app form asks if you have filed BK). The bankruptcy process is different in the UK than here, and from what I understand you cannot have an undischarged BK at the time of filing for naturalization. However, it really isn't clear, IMHO, if that would pose a problem if you have an undischarged BK in the US. The reason they ask about BK's is because they seem to think it shows you aren't of good moral character, but that's really unfair as there are uncontrollable reasons why one may have to file a BK (esp in the US where medical bills are so high!).

I've been doing some research into this because we had to file Ch7 ourselves late last year (and got discharged in March) due to my job loss. I plan on asking advice from a solicitor when it comes time for me to naturalize.

Hope this helps.