noogin87

My wife is Japanese but she has a degree in English, which should mean she doesn't need to take an English test.

However, NARIC say they need a "Medium of Instruction" letter, stating, from the university, that the degree was taught in English. The university say they can't provide this because a very small part of the degree was taught by Japanese English professors, speaking Japanese.

Has anyone else dealt with this? It's frustrating that my wife has an English degree that potentially won't be taken into consideration.

Thanks

knighstrike

If you can't provide a 'medium of instruction' letter then I'm afraid that nothing can be done except for her to take a IELTS test (English test).

Unless, of course if she studied in the UK or the university she studied is recognised by the UK.

noogin87

It's bullshit how they can't look at things individually now. I mean she has an English Degree. Just another hurdle then. Thanks for your help.

Dorothy

Is it really? If they make an exception for you then why wouldn't they have to make exceptions for everyone? Or every other thing people want to complain about. Fortunately the rules are in place and apply to ALL applicants.

noogin87

Read it again. I said it's bullshit how they can't do it NOW. Former employees for the immigration service have stated that in the past they were allowed to use their own judgement when considering peoples cases. They can't do that now. I'm pretty sure if an officer was allowed to use their common sense they would agree having a degree in English shows more than enough competence for a spouse visa.

knighstrike

The UK is very strict nowadays because of recent events like Jihadist attacks, unemployed immigrants abusing dole, secessionists, etc. They're cleaning themselves up.

Going back to your case, that rule was set in place because they want to ascertain that people such as your wife could really communicate in English, will be able to find a good job in the UK, and would not be a 'Dole abuser' when she comes to the UK.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but even though your wife is an English degree graduate, it doesn't automatically mean she can communicate very well in English. Especially since your wife is Japanese and as you said, she was taught by Japanese professors while using Japanese/Nihonggo as lingua franca.

noogin87

Ignoring the political/personal opinions of your reply, I didn't say the English requirement was or wasn't a good thing. But to imply that my wife's financial success rests on her ability to understand English when she is coming here on a spouse visa which already requires me to earn a certain amount of money is excessive. The government line is that it helps with "assimilation", which does not mean financial success.

And also, to pass an English test set by the home office all she has to do is score "weak" at the easiest English test (A1) and that's it. She can even fail the reading and writing. Are you seriously telling me that "passing" that test proves someone can communicate in English? Compared to a English degree where 90% of the course was taught in English and only the cultural modules were in Japanese?

All I'm saying is that many peoples frustrations about the new application process is due to the "Computer says no" attitude that has caught many eligible applicants short.

Tr1boy

The two situations in that paragraph are not mutually exclusive. Your wife could find financial success (in her own right) by not having to communicate in English (and I'm not saying she can't, as clearly she has a good command of written English), for example if she worked for a Japanese company.

However, financial success does not equate to 'life success' in a country where the language is not your native one. I wouldn't put in such cold hard terms as 'assimilation' but the life experience and interaction with others will be all the better for good language skills.

I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation, especially as the degree was taken in Japan. Why not have her just take the test? Is it prohibitively expensive?

spouse of scouse

Doesn't hurt to have a spray about the rules now and then, I think most of us do it I remember when I first started researching the spouse visa (for me, Australian) I was getting all huffy that a place 3 of my grandparents were born in (let alone my husband!) seemed to be treating me like an undesirable alien.

But once we've had our sprays, we have no option but to tick the boxes, dot every I and cross every T. Conserve your energy, you'll need it to pack Best of luck with it all.