warrend

Hi everyone,

Bit of background - I'm a Brit, and my wife a NZer. We were living in NZ, but then I moved back to the UK (work reasons) in April. My OH joined me in May on a tourist visa - as I have to be in employment here for 6 months before she can apply for a UK spousal visa.

My wife will be able to apply for the spouse visa from October 1st, so she'll be flying back to NZ in late Sept.

And last night we discovered, my wife is pregnant. Obviously very exciting! But we're not sure if this changes things. A few main questions:

How does this change things, visa-wise?
Once my wife returns to NZ, is she 'allowed' to apply for a spousal visa, whilst pregnant?
Is my wife able to register with a doctor here (short-term, whilst on a tourist visa)?

Looking for some advice - any advice/similar experiences would be really helpful. I'm sure there's a million things to consider, so any thoughts anyone has are more than welcome.

Thanks in advance!

SanDiegogirl

Congratulations.

The pregnancy has no relevance when applying for the spouse visa.

Yes, she can apply for a visa while pregnant.

She is not eligible to use the NHS (being on a tourist visa) but that does not mean she cannot visit a doctor if necessary and pay for any treatment she may require. Emergency treatment is usually handled by an Emergency dept at a hospital and would be free of charge.

I would suggest, if you are able, to pay the extra money and get priority service. Cuts the processing time down considerably.

formula

Congratulations.

You will need to pay for all her NHS usage while she is a tourist, including any checks etc for her pregnancy, full rate for any prescriptions and pay for full private treatment at a dentist (don't use the 3 NHS dentist bands and don't let them treat her for free as she is pregnant as she isn't allowed this on a visitor visa). It is important that you do this to avoid any problems with her spouse visa.

Once she returns on a spouse visa, she can use the NHS for free, including free dentist treatment as she is pregnant. There is an NHS levy due to come in for visa applicants, but no date has been set for this yet.

Her being pregnant will not affect her spouse visa.

As a Brit, you will know that A&E is for people "with serious or life threatening conditions", not for pregnacy health checks or scans (which you will be billed for anyway as they are not carried out in the A&E department). Free treatment in A&E is due to end soon for visitors and short term visa holders, and they will be billed for their A&E treatment.

Basically, as soon as she gets that spouse visa, the cheaper it will be for you.

BritInParis

So long as your child will be entitled to a British passport (i.e. you were born in the UK) then it won't affect the visa process.