dontheturner

I'm Positive that it is.

englishguygoinghome

Appendix FM on this page:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/po...igrationrules/

are the official rules. Don't think there have been any more changes since July but I've not been 100% on top of things so woudl be interested to be contradicted

Also - see the Statement of Intent (5th link on the right) which explains how this should be implemented with lots of very scary examples:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...mily-migration

Hmm - if you are planning on sponsoring via employment then the job offer has to start within 3 months of the application. Otherwsie I don't think there is anything in there BUT you will need to reapply 2.5 years after the visa starts and will need to have fulfilled the residency requirements for that (see the links above)

brissybee

Thanks englishguygoinghome... the following is a link I stumbled upon today regarding what I think are ammendments made to the new changes in the last few weeks... (change on change already?!).

These ammended changes seem to take effect this month and last.

There seem to be many little tweaks of wording which may not amount to much, but there are other paragraphs which to my cursory glance appear to slightly tighten some screws just that little bit more.

I did have my head around the original July version but cannot locate anything which incorporates these latest ammendments as a smooth reading document.

I'm probably going to have to call a $12 number to speak to someone (who probably isn't up to date on all the changes. )

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

Former Laowai

It's so hard to read all those amendments and cross reference with everything else... my head hurts

callowman

I had to call the 900 number - and talk really fast to get some answers before my credit card maxed out its 3 bucks a minute

after you get the visa they told me 24 months to use it.
wife -non eu - need 18k Pounds in the bank -dont matter what bank or where it is

add on non EU children and then it starts to get beyond the realm of normal people savings- you could end up needing over 60k

All our money was tied up in the house which of course has now vanished so its savings time.
and Im lucky- myself and kids have brit passports just the 1 Yank wife- I feel for someone who has foreign spouise AND kids

we really have been thrown under the bus by OUR government- i DO understand why they did it- newcomers claiming benefits and using the NHS without putting a penny in -I get that - for Inidia/pakistan arranged marriages and africans etc but what about all the eastern europeans thanks to the EU?

and should there not be a clause if you been married or more than a certain amount of years (15 for me) that the money thing dont count?

roaringmouse

Doesn't look like those changes are anything to do with the partner visa.

englishguygoinghome

Looks like you should be asking for a refund of the money. 18k is the earnings required; you need 16k in the bank PLUS 2.5 times the earnings shortfall - so 60k plus just for a wife. It needs to have been in cash in a bank for 6 months.

dontheturner

Another aspect, no one mentions, is that you have to PROVE, you have actually been 'cohabiting' all that time. _ So you guys, need to switch your camera, so that it records the date, on each shot, and you also need to be in the shots ''together''.

Perhaps, get a camera installed over the bed!!!

We have slipped up, in that regard. Only shots we have of us ''together'' was at our Wedding ceremony, and on my Birthday (in Thailand). -- as seen in my Avatar. Don

Giantaxe

Dates on most cameras "prove" nothing given most allow you to set the current date to almost anything you like.

Former Laowai

Don, I don't think you HAVE to have been cohabiting for the last 6 months, in fact (if you're relying on proof of minimum 6 months work in the UK earning 18,600 pa) this would only be possible if your partner was in the UK on a visitor visa.
S/he would then need to return to their home country before applying to re-enter as a spouse.
It's still a good point to make though because, although I have stacks of pictures of my wife and boys together, almost none include me since I'm always the one behind the camera!
This is a fairly rare one and was taken the night before my wife had to leave the UK...
Sigh, we all miss her so much

[IMG][/IMG]

MrMuffin

Regarding your second question, from what I've read elsewhere you have three months to move over after the visa issue date. BUT I also have read that you can request a delayed start and I *think* the delay is up to three months. So in other words if you applied today and requested a visa start date of January 12, 2013 then you'd then have until April 12, 2013 to move before the visa expires. But I am not 100% sure of that. Maybe someone else with more solid info can confirm or correct??

EDIT: Oops sorry I didn't see the additional page of replies. Ignore me

callowman

Would be nice If we could get someone on here from UK borders to give us the rules from the horses mouth but if they did that they wouldnt be making 3 bucks a minute

and for me according to my call with the 900# my wife (perm disabled) has guarenteed income that we can live off comfortably and so she or I do not have to work and Im still confused

Former Laowai

Callowman you're right to want info from the UKBA horses mouth since it's clear that they have their own guidelines which are not actually written anywhere on the UKBA website and/or in law.
I mentioned this earlier regards how often spouses are allowed to "visit". It's not clarified anywhere however UKBA staff apply their own rule that you can't visit again within 6 months of a previous visit

roaringmouse

Internal guidance notes can be found on the UKBA website here.

Former Laowai

Thanks RM, this is very useful.

The family visit issue though remains a grey area open to interpretation:

"It is reasonable, however, for the ECO to consider the stated purpose of the visit in the light of the length of time that has elapsed since previous visits. A visitor should not, for example, normally spend more that 6 out of any 12 months in the UK (but see guidance relating to visitors for private medical treatment).

My argument is that most normal people would normally want to visit their partner and kids more than 6 months out of every 12.

Those who do not earn enough money to sponsor a spouse are denied from doing so on financial grounds. Even though you might well be able to support your partner on say 15k, you're not given the chance because there's still a danger that your money might be insufficient so you might end up needing benefits of some kind (public funds). Spouse visa applicants cannot waive their right to public funds and sign a document promising never to spend a penny of UK taxpayers money, because that would be a breach of their human rights.

Hmm, OK, fair enough I suppose, EXCEPT that visitors do not have recourse to public funds, but instead have to be sponsored financially for the max 6 months of their stay.

So, provided the sponsor (which can be other family members by the way) can cover the cost of the visit, why can't a spouse visit as often as they like?

It's because the UKBA staff consider this to be "not normal". Not normal to want to spend as much time as possible with your family???