Barryjones69

We want to get back to the UK as fast as possible due to my mother going blind. I have to finish off work here in the US which will wrap up at the end of June.
I am British with a green card? My better half and I have been living together for 5 years and have the paper work to prove that. How ever we have decided to get married as it seems to be the best way to do things.
We were looking at the types of visas, can anybody help us out to determine which is best to apply for her
Apply for a family visa while in the UK, or apply for a spousal visa now.
My mother is 91 and living by herself, so there is some urgency for medical reasons but I do not want my wife to have to return to the US any time soon to sort out paper work that we could have done before leaving. She is also a Family Nurse Practitioner, highly qualified, but as in the US cannot take a job from a UK citizen unless there is a need for it.

On the forms to get married in the US it asks for the date of divorce if you were married. We both were, I even have the certificate for marriage I just cannot find the divorce date, and it seems like the county where it was filed has gone bankrupt and it maybe some time before I can get the exact date!! Does anybody know how important that is, because we are unable to go through with the marriage paper work. We have tried many paying sites to get this info but you can only get this info from from the court house (California). There is a part of me that just wants to guesstimate it so that we can just file the marriage paper work. Any thoughts, ideas, would be sincerely helpful.
Best Wishes Barry

SanDiegogirl

Assuming that your wife is a US citizen you need to apply for a spouse visa for her.

(Since you have been living together for 5 years you could, if you wish, apply for an unmarried partner visa - much the same process as a spouse visa. Both require the same financial requirements)

This can be done from the US - she needs the visa before entering the UK or she will just receive a visitor stamp in her passport and be given up to 6 months in the country.

Go here for financial requirements to qualify for a spouse/unmarried partner visa:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...5/IDI6.doc.pdf

Go here for how to apply for spouse/unmarried partner visa:

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk

Sorry, can't help with the divorce papers, but you do need all the documentation/proof of divorce for the spouse/unmarried partner application too.

(As a US citizen she can visit the UK for up to 6 months without a visa; but she would need to leave the country again to apply for spouse/unmarried partner visa if you go this route)

Barryjones69

Many thanks for that information. I do not have the required 18 thousand plus pounds in my account right now, but will have by the end of June.
We want to move over as soon as my contract finishes in June but will not be able if we cannot show proof of income to apply for a visa for my US wife.
My mother is prepared to create a joint account, or even transfer those funds to my UK account UK ( we have the same bank in the UK ) Does it matter if it was done this way as I am sure the date of transfer is readily available for any authority that needs that information.
We are not trying to hide anything, but need to expedite things due to her blindness.
I guess the question I am asking does it matter as long as you can show those funds exist?
Best Wishes Barry

SanDiegogirl

You need to read the document I linked very carefully.

The 18k you refer to is the amount you need to show as minimum annual income, not an amount in your bank account; and the income level is 18,600 GBP per annum.

Since you have been working in the US you need to figure our whether you are able to apply under Cat A or Cat B.

Basically if you have been earning over 18,600 GBP per annum for past 6 months AND have a job to go to in the UK again earning over 18,600 then you can apply now for the visa.

If you have no job to go to in the UK and/or have not been earning 18,600 for the past 6 months, then you need to enter the UK get a job paying 18,600, hold it for 6 months and THEN apply for the visa for your partner.

If you have no income then you need savings/investments of 62,500 GBP; and you need to hold it under your control for 6 months before applying.

Barryjones69

Do you live in San Diego right now ? We are in La Costa.
So it looks like, even though we are married, I will still have to meet the financial requirements, as it should be.
So if she comes out on a 6 months visitors visa, she will have to leave the UK. Is there a time period that she will have to wait to apply again, or can she quite literally arrive back in the US and apply again. If so I presume that could take up to a couple of months.
Can she re apply while in the UK?
Could she reapply in another European country
It seems like what ever happens she will have to leave the country!
If she was offered a job as a nurse practitioner while in England, would it make things any easier?
Sorry for all of the questions. I presume I would have to show my US earnings via bank statements. Even if I could show the amount required I would still have to have a job to go to that was offering to pay the required amount.
I am an independent contractor ( entertainer) and even if I feel confident on Getting gigs I would still have to have six months of UK earnings before I could apply for her visa.
It's getting quite complicated!
Best Wishes Barry

SanDiegogirl

As an American citizen your wife does not need a visa to visit the UK.

If she enters the UK on a visitors visa then she may get the full 6 months to visit, she may not. She may get some questions at Immigration as to her intention to overstay in the UK especially with you entering to live and remain in the UK.

She cannot apply for a spouse visa while in the UK; she cannot apply for a spouse visa from a European country

She won't be offered a job in the UK because she does not have a work permit.

- You either go to the UK, get a job and after 6 months apply for the visa OR
- if you have a current job earning over 18,600 you use this, PLUS a job to go to within three months of returning to the UK OR
- you use savings/investments.

All the various categories under which you may qualify are in that document I gave you.

englishguygoinghome

And she may well be considered to be bypassing the spousal visa requirement through consecutive visits, at which point she'll be turned away at the border and deported

Barryjones69

Looks like we are going to take spousal route. If she were going to go across on a six month visitors visa, and decided that she wanted to stay longer, does she have to leave the UK and go back to the US or could she go to another European country and apply for another extension from their. I presume even if she could it would take some time!
Many thanks Barry

BritInParis

She would only be able to apply from a country of which is a national or a legal resident. She would most likely then have to return to apply from the US.

Does your wife have any recent British/Irish/European ancestry? If so she may be eligible for a EEA/EU passport which would allow to reside in the UK without a visa.

WEBlue

She can't stay longer than six months (out of twelve) on the tourist/visitor visa that she receives as a stamp at the airport port of entry to the UK. There is no extending that tourist/visitor time, whether from her home country (the US) or any other country. Trying to do that has a high possibility to earn her a black mark on her immigration record, which will cause any proper settlement visa application to take longer to process.

To apply for the spouse settlement visa, she must return to her country of residence (which would be the US) and apply there. If you (her British sponsor) can meet the salary requirements for your 6 months of work in the UK, or if you can make up a shortfall with savings or other income, it should be approved.

Here's the page on processing times - put USA in the box and click, then look for 'Settlement Visas'.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...cessing-times/

JAJ

As others have said, there's no way in general for a spouse to go to the U.K. as a tourist and switch status in-country. Normally an admission period of more than 6 months is required to allow an in-country switch. So she either needs a spouse visa, or (if she found a sponsoring employer) could possibly go to the U.K. with a work visa and then switch to spouse status in country. See an immigration solicitor to confirm these options and review in case anything is missed.

You have a green card, what's your plan for that? Are you intending to try to keep it, or abandon it?




Are her nursing qualifications recognized in relevant part of the United Kingdom?

You're unlikely to get the exact answer from a free forum, but in general, you should have copies of all previous marriage and divorce certificates. The county has gone bankrupt - so have they destroyed all their civil records, or made them inaccessible? If not, why not just make an application to the county concerned.

Barryjones69

Well we did get married, but also proof of living together for 5 years, rental agreements joint accounts etc etc. So are contemplating on applying for a family visit visa now as it seems it could come ALOT faster.
We were going to apply for the family of a settled person visa, immediately but it costs 851 pounds if we do it from here vs 478 doing it from the UK.
Are there any problems doing it this way, it seems like financially it is better plus we can get over faster for my mother.
Best Wishes Barry

englishguygoinghome

Your wife will need very strong ties to her home country in order to persuade the UKVI that she will return there. The best way is if you are still both living there with jobs.

BritInParis

Family visit visas are for visa nationals (i.e. people who can't travel to the UK for any purpose without a visa) who want to visit their family on a regular basis so they don't have to repeatedly apply for a visa for every trip.

As your wife is a US citizen she can visit the UK for up to six months as a visitor without a visa so this would not be suitable for your purposes.

SanDiegogirl

You are looking at a visitor visa - so absolutely no use for your purposes.

In order for your wife to enter the UK and live there she needs a spouse visa - your wife needs to apply for it from the US.