TomInHongKong

Hi All. With a big thanks to these boards and their knowledgable regulars, my wife just got her ILE, today. It is, however, different from what we were expecting.

We wrote on her appilcation that we were applying for 'Settlement Spouse/CP: ILE', on the basis of having been married and living together for four years outside the UK and having passed the 'Life in the UK' test.

In the end she received 'Settlement to Join/Acc Partner - (MY NAME), ILE'.

Looking at the list of endorsements, here, there seems to be no difference between the two.

For 'Settlement Spouse/CP', the column on the left says "Settlement Spouse/CP for 4 years passed KOL".

For 'Settlement to Join/Acc Partner - ', the column on the left says "Settlement - partner 4 years KOL taken".

Is it just me or are these two really no different? The important question, of course, is whether there is any difference in the way they affect us. They're both 'ILE', but are there any practical implications for us in having this endorsement rather than the other?

TomInHongKong

Just reading around the subject on other pages (like this one), I think the 'partner' thing (instead of 'spouse') means they don't recognise our marriage!

The link, above, mentions 'Settlement to Join/Acc Partner (KOL Req)', and clearly that's not exactly us as my wife already has KOL and so we got 'Settlement to Join/Acc Partner : ILE'. But still, the rest of it's the same, and the section is about unmarried and same-sex partners!

My wife has previously been given UK family visit visas on the basis of our marriage, and we submitted our marriage certificates AGAIN, with certified translations AGAIN, this time. So do we need to take it back and get it 'fixed'? Are there any legal implications (rights, benefits, inheritence, tax etc.) to being not recognised as my 'spouse'?

TomInHongKong

Well, I've sent off an e-mail to the VAC in Manila. Not happy about this at all. Wife's letter of application clearly stated that she was applying under rules 281 and 282, and that she should get Settlement Spouse/CP.

Settlement to Join/Acc Partner is given under rule 295 or something like that. I don't even know why the ECO went that far in the rule book. We included our marriage certificate, certified translation, photos of our wedding, joint tax return filed as a legally married couple, and, of course, the two previous visas that were granted to my wife by the VAC in Manila on the basis of being my spouse.

Would love to know what they were thinking. Would also love to know if they're going to change it.

roaringmouse

My wife's entry clearance has "Settlement Spouse/CP (My Name)" and further down by Obsrv. it has "Indefinite leave to enter the UK". Does your wife's have that second bit on the entry clearance?

TomInHongKong

Yes, it has the 'Indefinite leave to enter the UK' bit. No problem there.

It really is just the difference between 'Spouse/CP' and 'to join/acc partner'.

TomInHongKong

One problem we've found is that my wife will be eligible to apply for naturalisation after having lived in the UK for three years, only if she is the spouse or civil partner of a UK citizen (me). As the unmarried partner of a UK citizen, she'll have to wait five years. We really must get this fixed. I'm fuming, right now. Just cannot understand how they screwed this up.

Red-Sea-Angel

I was all set to congratulate you and your wife when i read "got our visa", then i read all of your posts.....

So, a half-hearted congrats on getting a visa, and sympathies for the situation you now find yourselves in I hope you get some prompt answers from VAC in Manila!

Is it easy to correct or amend a visa? Does anyone have experience with this?

Good luck Tom.

englishguygoinghome

Good Luck Tom! Glad to here you got the ILE even if they did manage to screw up your relationship. BTW it was Manilla who so wonderfully refused to exist that rule 282c even existed in our case! As usual when you phone them up, tell them you're British and get to talk to someone they are wonderful and very helpful - give it a try, better than just an email.

TomInHongKong

Thanks, guys. It is good to have got the 'ILE' decision, and I'm glad about that. Will definitely 'phone the VAC in Manila, and also go back to the Consulate in Hong Kong this afternoon to ask them to contact Manila formally.

And best of luck to all those still in the process!

bigals

Congrats on getting your visa,I am having a hell of a time getting my unmarried partners visa and cant email or talk to anyone at the US embassy to get it sorted ,I would be pulling my hair out if I had any

TomInHongKong

I know. The British Consulate in Hong Kong gives you 'phone number for Shanghai (where visa advice is generic and quite often delivered by LE staff with quite poor spoken English (had to use a fair bit of Mandarin, last time I called them)), and the VAC in Manila (which handles applications from Hong Kong) gives out a local number that I am having a hard time connecting to, internationally. And even then they advise on their website that they'll be able to talk about visas only in very general terms. Absolutely no way to talk to anyone even remotely involved in the actual visa process. Now you could say the same for a lot of big corporates, but that doesn't really make us feel any less frustrated or annoyed as customers.

roaringmouse

It will have no bearing on the 3 year eligibility for naturalisation, presuming the 3 years for spouses still exists at that time.

A person applying for naturalisation based on marriage to a British citizen only has to have ILR on the day they apply - how they have ILR (i.e. which visa route etc.) does not matter. Nor is it a requirement for the applicant to have been married for the 3 years to the British citizen (only on the day of application).

When applying for naturalisation on the basis of marriage to a British citizen, the applicant needs to include the spouses passport or birth certificate, and the marriage certificate as part of the application.

TomInHongKong

Really? Oh, well that's not too bad, then. I had been led to believe that my wife would have needed to have had spousal ILE for 3 years.

Still think we should get it corrected, though. Are there any specific benefits (legal, financial or otherwise) that could be denied to my wife by our being recognised only as 'unmarried partners'? I can't help but imagine there'd be a few.

TomInHongKong

All right, final up-date. I went with my wife to the Consulate last Thursday afternoon and explained the mistake. The staff were very apologetic, took my wife's passport and promised to get it back with the visa fixed within twenty-four hours. Almost precisely twenty-four hours later they telephoned to say that it was ready to collect. That's not bad at all, considering the round trip to Manila and everything. They must have really pulled out all the stops.

Well, we couldn't get there in time on Friday, but today I went down to the Consulate and picked up the passport. This time the visa is correct.

Settlement Spouse/CP, Indefinite leave to enter the UK.

Now to book the flights!

Red-Sea-Angel

Wow, that's excellent news, congratulations! I'm so pleased you were able to get this successfully resolved so quickly