Accommodation requirement for Spouse Settlement Visa
 

I have another question on the Spouse Settlement visa application process.

Both of us are living in Thailand and I plan to obtain evidence of staying with family short-term. However I would also like to consider a short-term tenancy agreement as an alternative for the application.

Being out of the country for so long (19 years) and with limited credit record it may prove problematic but if I was able to sort out a tenancy agreement before starting the visa application what are the documentary requirements and other requirements? For other requirements must the tenancy agreement effective start date be before the visa application is made or can it start say one month into the application? Also do I have to be physically in the UK when the tenancy starts?

Thanks.

Re: Accommodation requirement for Spouse Settlement Visa
 

The tenancy agreement must include both your names and have a start date no later than your proposed arrival date which you select on the initial page of the application form. You should provide a signed copy of the tenancy agreement with your application as evidence.

Re: Accommodation requirement for Spouse Settlement Visa
 

Actually you will find that it is impossible to get a tenancy in both of your names because:

1) landlords are no longer allowed to rent people who do not have legal status within the UK. Therefore if your spouse does not actually have a Visa – if you are still applying or in the process of waiting for one – no landlord ought to put spouse on a tenancy; the penalty for the landlord is a fine of £100,000.

2) if the tenancy is in your name alone, there ought to be no problem as long from the agreement is living with you. This is what I did and I had no problems with the Home Office accepting this.

Re: Accommodation requirement for Spouse Settlement Visa
 

It's good that your spouse's application was accepted on the basis of the evidence she supplied, but you might have been a bit lucky. The safest way for a tenancy in the Brit's name to meet the accommodation requirements is to have a signed letter from the landlord, stating there's no objection to the tenant's spouse's name being added to the tenancy subject to a successful Right to Rent check (ie when the applicant obtains their visa).

Re: Accommodation requirement for Spouse Settlement Visa
 

If the person concerned is outside the UK then the changes brought in under the Immigration Act 2014 regarding the 'right to rent' won't apply because they do not have a UK immigration status. If they enter the UK without the right to rent and occupy the property, whether their name is on the tenancy agreement or not, then the landlord will have broken the law.