British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic information.
 

The rules for bringing a spouse back to the UK were drastically altered on 9th July 2012.

In a nutshell the new rules require (in almost all cases) a guaranteed annual income of at least £18,600 or savings of over £64,000. IF you are abroad then you will also need to secure a job in the UK before applying for the visa.

Stages

Initial Entry Clearance is granted for 2.5 years
Limited Leave to Remain for a further 2.5 years
Indefinite Leave to Remain after a total of 5 years (or 10 years in some special cases)

Financial Requirements

The financial requirements are very strictly applied: if you fall short by 1p then you will be refused. The most common details are listed below.

There are no financial requirements for ILR.

You need adequate accomodation for the entire household.
Amounts
Income

The amount required is dependent upon the number of children in the family who are not British citizens or an EEA-citizens

For a foreign spouse only: £18,600 per year
For a foreign spouse and one child who is not a British citizen or an EEA citizen: £22,400 per year
For each additional child who is not a British citizen or an EEA citizen: a further £2,400 per year

Savings

If you are only using savings to fulfil the financial requirements you must show the following amounts, depending on the number of children who who are not

British citizens or an EEA citizens

For spouse only: £62,500
For one child: £72,000
For each each further child an additional: £6,000

Combined Savings and income

You can also combine savings with other income sources (although there are restirctions on the what youy can combine with self-employment income see FM-SE 13f) to meet the financial targets based on the following rules (E-ECP3.1(b) & E-LTRP3.1(b)):

£16,000 (considered the minimum savings you need for yourself) PLUS
Additional savings of 2.5 times any income shortfall (the Entry Clearance or Leave to Remain is valid for 2.5 years)

Some example calculations for a British citizen and foreign spouse with:

2 children who are British citizens with no valid income: 16000 + (2.5 * (18600-0)) = £62,500
no children and total income 17,500 p.a.: 16000 + (2.5 * (18600-17500)) = £18,750 (yes, that's £18,750 to cover a £500 per year income shortfall)
1 child who is not a British citizen, total income 12,000 p.a.: 16000 + (2.5 * (18600 + 3800 - 12000)) = £42,000

Salaried Employment
Requirements

When applying for initial entry clearance from outside the UK:
Only salaried employment related to the British citizen will be taken into account.
You have earned the equivalent of £18,600 (or more if required) per annum for the past 6 months
You have a guaranteed offer of a job in UK with an annual salary of at least £18,600 (or more if required) which will start within 3 months of your return to the UK
When applying for limited leave to remain from within the UK:
the income from both the British citizen and foreign spouse will be considered
If at the time of any application you have not been employed by your current employer for at least 6 months then you must prove that you have earned the relevant amount for the past 12 months.

MORE INFO HERE IN THE WIKI and on the UK IMMIGRATiON SITE

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(The previous sticky thread is HERE). It has been 'unstuck' fdue to much of the info being outdated now.


Please keep thie thread for the basic facts and changes to those facts, rtaher than discussion of individual case.

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Hey There,

The way I understand the requirements for ILR set out under 'section-FM-1.7' is that you are still required to meet financial requirements based on 1 year, rather than being times by 2.5. (This is related to the savings route as that is what i've been looking into. for salaried employment i'd imagine it was the same.)

so for example:

stage 1 = Entry Clearance - £18,600 x 2.5 = £46,500 + £16,000 brings you to the magic number of £62,500

Stage 2 = Leave to Remain - Same as above

Stage 3 = Indefinite Leave to Remain - £18,600 + £16,000 = £34,600

Like i said this is what you need to have in the bank to apply using only the savings method at each stage.

So for ILR you will need to still show financial requirements £34,600 if your using savings, or £18,600 worth of salaried employment for the year or a combination of the two..

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Biglittleben - This is confusing me a little as I thought that all we would need if taking the savings route only would be £62,500 for my Chinese Wife.

Are you therefore saying that we would need to have £159,600????
Or are you saying that we would need to have £62,500 remaining in the bank somewhere in the world, at stage 1 and stage 2 untouched and then a further £34,600 at stage 3?

This really worries me. We have, fortunately, plenty of savings, but the intention would be to buy a house with most of that upon entry.
I can't rely on finding a job as we are only considering moving to the UK because I'm struggling to find work out here in Asia for over a year now.
Quite dumbstruck that we are being forced to jump through such hoops whilst there are, according to many TV programmes, many pennyless foreigners just walking into the UK without an question (mainly from Eastern EU).

Appreciate your feedback, cheers!

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

As you will see I was quoting from the official docs. I have n personal knowledge of the ins and outs of UK Immigration, (and cannot give personal advice to the people who get sending me emails!)

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

As above, please keep this thread for reporting facts and changes to the law.

If you have a personal question/situation, you will get better answers if you tart a fresh thread :)

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

The £18,600 rule is completely unfair and biased towards the rich. For those of you who, like me, are British, with a non-EEA spouse, I want you to know that the Spouse Visa (with an unrealistic financial requirement) IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION.

There's also the option of moving to another European country with your spouse, living and working there for 3-6 months (the longer the better) and then applying for the EEA Family Permit through the Surinder Singh Route. Google it, and you'll find out more information.

Me and my Brazilian husband-to-be were thinking we were in such a sticky situation when we assumed the only option for us was saving a hell of a lot of money that just wasn't possible, but one day I was having a look around and stumbled across the Surinder Singh Route. Now, after weeks of research, we are moving to Portugal at the end of January, living there for a few months and applying for the EEA Family Permit.

Just thought I'd put that out there. :) good luck, guys!

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

We do have a fair few posters following the Surinder Singh route. Reading the threads recently suggests that you need to make ssure the "centre of your life" is in the new country, and that you are really living and settled there, not just there on a temporary basis. However there's a lot of people on here with more in depth knowledge than me, so I'll let them expand further.
Good luck with your own move :)

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

OP, to add - on top of the huge financial requirement, anyone going this route will also be hit with the various visa fees at each step - initial application fee to FLR then ILR, which for just a spouse/partner to the region of £3000

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...October_v1.pdf

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Hi there

I am new to this forum and have just read your post, sounds like you are in the same situation as us! Would love to know how you are getting on so far :O)
Emma

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

My situation is very similar too! My british husband and I have been living in North Cyprus which is non EEA country for over 5 years and we have a 3 yrs old British kid together. He moved back to UK 2 months ago and I am thinking of applying EEA residency card as family member.. Its much cheaper and considered under EU law rather than Uk immigration one.. ı dont know how much chance I ve got and dont know if its better to apply as a spouse visa immigration rule? Can anyone help please

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Interesting. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus isn't recognised by anyone but Turkey. This includes the UK, the EU/EEA and the Republic of Cyprus. That being said, as the RoC doesn't recognised the TRNC, it therefore still regards the land as its own territory de jure even if they are under the control of the TRNC de facto. As such it's certainly worth a go since an EEA Family Permit is free and a refusal does not count against your immigration history as technically it is is not a visa.

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Perhaps many are not aware of the recent changes in the UK system.?
An EEA/EU Residency Card is now acceptable for entry into the UK.
See:

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

Hi there,

I'm a British citizen living in Australia. My husband and I are hoping to move to the UK in January 2016. As my husband is not a UK citizen, he will be applying for a settlement visa.

I intend to use category A to meet the financial criteria, which involves my previous income in Australia and a confirmed job offer in the UK (start date within three months of entering).

I've tried to find some additional information about the job offer on the UK Visa website and advice forums with little success. I've also emailed the UK Visa service with my question. But I'm hoping someone here might also be able to help!

My questions are:

Am I under any obligation to actually take up the job offer once I'm in the UK?

Am I under any obligation to take up ANY work within three months of entering the UK?

I ask because my husband and I are planning a four month trip to South America. We were originally going to apply for the visa, fly from Australia to SA, and then straight onto the UK after four months of travel. But the three-month timeframe for applying for a visa and then entering the country makes this impossible.

Now, we're looking at entering the UK on January 10, then heading off to South America around January 15th. We'd be arriving back in the UK in Mid May.

The job offer I intend to submit is genuine, with a start date within three months of entering. But it is also very flexible. I intend to secure work as soon as I return to the UK in Mid May.

Obviously if not taking up a job offer jeopardises my husband's visa, we'll have to reassess our plans.

Any advice you can provide would be much appreciated!

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

So guys im in same situation with my american husband and we want to move go nortgern ireland. I need some advice as i currently hold irish passport and was wondering if we could do it the EAA way?
This is what i gathered i may be wrong someone pls correct me.

I just want to clarify somthing as my family are planning to move in Sept.

Am i correct in saying as i am an Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland never having owned a British passport, my husband (american) can apply for a EAA family permit (free of charge) once issued (could take 30 day) he can travel to N.I without me in November ( baby and myself will already be there with me hopefully working). Within the 6 months as the EAA permit is issued for 6 months he can obtain a job and can apply for a residence card £65. With this he is able to live and work in Northern Ireland with his family.

Does this all seem correct as i got the information from a member and done some research of my own.
Just wanting to make sure before we get all excited and sell everything to move. Thanks for all your help

Re: British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? See this thread for basic informat
 

In your previous posts you said you were eligible for a British passport- if this is the case you can only go the EEA permit route by renouncing your British citizenship.

Then you can apply as an Irish citizen wishing to take their US husband to live in Northern Ireland.