manny1980

Hope this information helps you but if you and your wife have been married for over 4 years then you can apply for her permanent residence as soon as you land in the UK. The 27 months option only applies to couple who have been married for less than 4 years, where they have to wait for 2 years before applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain visa.

johnh009

This is true and it is hard to determine from their rather confusing website. Even when I phoned their call centre in the UK, the staff there were not aware of this.

I have just sponsered my wife from Canada. Generally it went quite smoothly and quick (3 weeks). Regarding the funds the OP mentioned, I believe there is no definitive amount stated, they just want to make sure the person being sponsored will not have to rely on government funds for the period you mentioned. They will however get full entitlement to the NHS.

johnh009

The whole process has become so bloody complex that you will get a different answer depending who you speak to from their staff in the call centre in the UK. No doubt it is all buried in their web site somewhere.

johnh009

Do you know if this has this finally been decided or is it still cast in jelly?

pennylessinindia

Cast in jelly no I doubt it, government consultations have the habit of already being decided or almost. So cast in stone more likely.
It could be part of the great political game - announce it really bad "consult" and then not make it quite so bad and everyone (well politicians think we all fall for it) thinks they have listened and cause it is not quite so bad as first thought we all feel so much happier!!

I for one am looking at it as done and dusted so trying to get a speedy return to the UK before changes.

I believe it is a bit of a back lash to the wide open door we had and now it is being firmly shut and may be sometime in a couple of years it will be a little ajar!

I think if you have been married a number of years and getting a bit older and think you may return in the next couple of years it may be worth looking carefully to see if you can go earlier?

Boodles

Hi Everyone, Trotty asked me what did we do to get my husband's visa issued successfully. I thought I would post the information here in case anyone else is going through the same process.

Firstly, all documents must be originals or official certified copies.

The form required is Settlement VAF4A which, along with the Guidance notes, can be downloaded from the UKBA website. I filled out the forms manually before doing it online just to make sure we had all the required documentation.

I was the sponsor of my husband. We sent in Husbands current and previous passports. Birth certificate, husband is an American living in Canada..so proof of his legal residence here. Our marriage certificate and all previous divorce documents. Husbands discharge papers from the US Marines to prove he was honourably discharged after seving his country for 4 years (they do ask for information regarding service in the armed forces) My British birth certificate and British passport, to prove my citizenship. An officially certified copy of the information page of my Irish passport. US and Canadian Tax records going back 10 years, lease/rental agreements for same time period to prove co-habitation. 6 months bank records for both of us. Financial information showing what our income will be, pension statements etc. Proof of accommodation in the UK..letter from landlord along with their proof of ownership of property. We also included a letter outlining our projected budget for food, utilities and rent for the foreseeable future. You have to show proof that after paying rent/mortgage and council tax that you have at least 105pounds 95pence for two people to live on per week. I think that just about covers it, but, and this is important. Make sure you ask for the correct visa. We asked for ILE without any conditions based on the length of our marriage and the fact that as my husband is 65 no KOL is required at this time. He will have to take it later when he applys for citizenship but for now he does not have to worry about it. Asking for this is important because it will save you money, firstly no fee for KOL, secondly no future requirement for more permissions. Your visa will expire when your passport does, and you must request the Foreign Office in the UK to transfer it to your new passport, there is no charge for this as far as I know.

I pretty sure this covers everything we did, if anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them and if I have forgotten anything I will post when remembered.

Good luck to anyone going through this, it really is a simple process if you gather all the documents and stay calm. Elizabeth

Boodles

Just one more thought, Visas are given, or refused, based on the information sent in at the time of application. So if a visa is refused, say because of no proof of marriage, you cannot now send in proof of marriage and ask them to change their minds, well, you can ask, but the chances of them changing the ruling is slim to none. The best thing is to bite the bullet, re-apply with all the necessary documentation and have your visa in a couple of weeks. Our timeline was very fast, within a week we received an email saying the visa was issued and three days later it arrived via courier. By the way, add to the previous information a passport sized photo of my husband was included, this is used on the visa when granted. Elizabeth

Boodles

Yes, they will have to send you a letter saying it is OK for you to stay there and also they must provide proof that they are the legal owners of the property, a mortgage payment slip or council tax bill, utilities bills would be fine as proof. The letter must state number of rooms other than bathrooms or kitchens. This is to show that accommodating you and your husband will not create an overcrowding situation.

Pollyana

I've gathered some posts together which contain information about Spouse Visas for the UK. A couple of the posts are really informative and will be useful to other people so I thought we should make them more prominent so the info can be found easily. The original posts from the "Over 50s thread" are still in that thread, I've just copied them to here. If anyone has any more info or links that would help applicants for UK Spouse Visas in the future, please add to the thread Although BE doesn't really aim to provide info on UK visas, many people moving back are trying to bring a Spouse or Partner with them, and hopefully this thread will help a little.

Pollyana

Visa for Husband, Wife or Civil Partner of British citizen or settled National
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...led/spouse-cp/ tells you where and how to apply.

Documents required:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...-cp/documents/

This section describes the documents that you should send us to support your application to enter or remain in the UK as the husband, wife or civil partner of a British citizen or a person settled here.

All supporting documents must be originals, not copies.

If you do not send us all the documents we need when you make your application, we may refuse your application because of insufficient evidence, and your fee will not be refunded.

You must send:

2 recent passport photographs and your passport - see the Photographs and passport page
evidence of your age and your partner's age
your marriage or civil partnership certificate
evidence that you were both free to marry or enter your civil partnership, if either of you was previously married or in a civil partnership
evidence that you have met
evidence of your English language ability - see the English language page
evidence that you can can maintain yourselves and any dependants adequately without needing public funds - see the Maintenance (funds) page
evidence of your accommodation

Can you apply?
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...can-you-apply/

If you apply but cannot meet all the requirements for this category, you will be refused and your application fee will not be refunded.

Your husband, wife or civil partner must be:

currently living and settled in the UK; or
returning to the UK with you to live here permanently (if you are currently outside the UK).

sophieshu10

This is a really useful thread, thank you everyone for your responses. My husband has just decided that he doesn't want to stay in America for much longer, after a recent trip back to England (he is the american). So Im trying to find out the process for us going back there, as he has a potential job offer in England.

Does anyone know where I can find out the processing times for this visa? We have only been married a year and a half, so I see that he will be on the temporary one.

Any help truely appreciated!

sophieshu10

Oh and once you get the visa, how soon after do you have to move? I know that when I moved to the US, I had to move here within 3 months of getting it.

Thanks!

roaringmouse

You can see recent processing times here - once you've selected location of application, you're then looking for the last visa type in the list (settlement). Days to process on the resulting page are business days.
The visa is currently issued for 27 months, presuming it's granted. Currently the visa holder can apply for indefinite leave to remain up to 28 days before their 2 year anniversary of arriving in the UK on the initial visa. So this means you have around 3 months or so to get there.

However - this is likely to change in April 2012 (there's a consultation open on family visas which is just about to close). After that time the current "probation" period of 2 years is likely to increase to 5 years to match other visa types, but it is unclear whether or not this will apply to those already holding a 27-month visa.

sophieshu10

Wow thank you for all this info, exactly what I was after, thanks!

sophieshu10

Wow thank you for all this info! Exactly what I was after, thanks