britishbillinusa

Hello all,
Glad i found this forum! I'll try to keep this as simple as possible.
I am a dual British/American citizen. Born and raised in UK 1986-2011. Moved to USA 2011 - present. Met my American fiancee here. We have a wedding planned in Italy for May, however due to weird Italian wedding laws we are actually getting married in the USA before that and the Italian ceremony is just for fun. We would like to move to the UK after the Italy trip. I meet the financial requirements (been in my current job over 2 years, earning over the minimum) and am pretty sure I can get a job offer lined up. Our main problem is getting our passports back in time to go to Italy in May. If we got married this week in the USA and submitted all relevant forms within a month, whats a realistic return time for our passports?
Thanks so much for your help!!

BritInParis

You would need to have a confirmed job offer in the UK before you apply in order to meet the financial requirements.

See the link for processing times. In November last year 86% of settlement visa decisions were made in 15 days or less.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/co...e=UK%20English

britishbillinusa

Thanks so much for that link and info. Really helpful.

RE the job offer; what sort of paperwork does the future employer have to produce? just a written offer?

Thanks again!!

BritInParis

A letter on headed paper signed, dated and from an authorised person outlining the job title, salary, contract type and duration and your start date. It would also be a good idea for them to include a contact telephone number and email address so an ECO can confirm the offer is genuine if needs be. Alternatively a signed contract of employment would be also fine.

ncoomber

Hello,
Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread but perhaps it might be useful info for both the original poster and me?
The process as I understand it for the Spouse visa is:
1. Apply on Line
2. They send you email about getting biometrics done - appointment - get bios done.
3. Then you send all supporting docs, bios and a copy of the online form to them.
Is this correct or do you send supporting docs etc before getting the biometrics done?
When is day one? Is it when they receive the online form or when they get the supporting docs etc? (I want to maximize the three months before you leave rule)
Cheers
Nigel

michali

You appear to be aware of the correct procedures. But no, you send the supporting documents along with the proof of biometrics done.

Your question regarding day one is interesting and I would need to know that too. I am allowing three months for approval as I send our docs to Jamaica and it seems that that is the normal time frame for approval. We would not be able to relocate sooner than three months as our accommodation would not be available before that time has elapsed. Can we ask for a postdated visa if it were to be that the date of application is used as day one and our application were to be approved sooner? If any of that makes sense!!

ncoomber

Hi michali,
I had asked a similar question on a post I started a few weeks ago and you can find the answer there about applying before the three months. You cant. And if you travel after the three months you will have problems with the visa expiring in 2.5 yrs. You will have to extend your visa.
Not sure how to link the thread but its dated Dec 11th 2013, 5:26 pm in this forum section.
Cheers
Nigel

michali

Thanks Nigel. Yes, I had seen that post and it is clear but I was just concerned that they might approve the visa from the date of online application which would be too soon for us, but I understand that is not how it works. So all is well on that issue.

ncoomber

Hi michali,
As I understand it - they do approve the visa from the application date but what I was told was that they add three months to the 2.5yrs and give you a visa for 33months (2.5yrs + 3months).
Cheers
Nigel

michali

Really? Well, we will see. On another forum they say it is either from the date of processing or from the date the applicant has stated as date of travel. It can go either way. They certainly give you three months to move.

michali

I think my point is that if they took three months to process and approve and then back dated the visa to the date of online application three months earlier, you would lose the three months you are allowed to relocate! That does not make sense!