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Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Hi all,
My wife started her 2nd 2.5 year Spouse visa in January 2023 with intentions to obtain UK citizenship after 5 complete years. We are currently on holiday; and whilst abroad we noticed that the home office have input my wife's name incorrectly on her BRP (Half of surname only, no forename). We completed an online form to notify the home office of the incorrect information and assumed it'd be dealt with upon return to the UK. Nope! The Home Office have sent an automated email advising that her current BRP has been cancelled with immediate effect and a new one will be received in the post over the next 6-7 working days. We're due back into the UK in 5 days and are considering multiple options, but would like to understand whether there are ramifications we may not be aware of. 1. Parcel arrives at home where somebody else is able to sign for / receive, then we express courier to our current location. 2. Parcel arrives at home where somebody else is able to sign for / receive, but due to time restraints we ask them to send us a photo of the new BRP (with new code) to be sent for us to display at border control... or they meet us at the airport with it. 3. We travel to the UK embassy (5 hours away) and obtain a 'single use sticker' for £150 4. My wife enters the UK as a tourist (no Visa required for her nationality) and then she flies out (to somewhere in Europe) and back in using her new BRP. Number 1 and 3 seem pretty safe without ramifications, however I have questions regarding options 2 and 4. - Is Option 2 viable, or will we be rejected at the border? - Is Option 4 viable, and would my wife even need to re-enter via BRP? Would the day or 2 spent in the UK using her 'tourist rights' invalidate our 5 year route to citizenship as she'll have spent a period of time (24 hours) in the UK on a different Visa? It's a weird situation, borne out of a Home Office mistake, however we just want to ensure that we don't mess up our 5-year route in trying to return to the UK. Thanks all, appreciate the continuing support from this forum. |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
What nationality passport does your wife hold?
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Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by BritInParis
(Post 13181327)
What nationality passport does your wife hold?
As an additional note: We looked at option 3 (Vignette) this morning. Prior to payment, the Home Office guidance is that decisions can take up to 14 days to be made... so we're essentially writing off that option. |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
4. My wife enters the UK as a tourist (no Visa required for her nationality) and then she flies out (to somewhere in Europe) and back in using her new BRP.
We spoke to UKVI this morning and they advised this shouldn't be a problem, though the advisor didn't fill me with confidence. Hoping there's somebody in this forum with experience of going through the 5-year route but having to enter the UK temporarily as a tourist, before re-entering via BRP! |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Whatever happens she does not want to enter as a tourist. That would cancel her existing visa. I would fly home, present the cancelled BRP to the Immigration Officer and explain the situation.
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Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by BritInParis
(Post 13181532)
Whatever happens she does not want to enter as a tourist. That would cancel her existing visa. I would fly home, present the cancelled BRP to the Immigration Officer and explain the situation.
Thank you for this advice - Do you believe there's a way I can get the new BRP through Border Control (i.e. from the outside, in) without taking a return flight that lands in the same terminal? |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by whysoconfused
(Post 13181537)
WOW! Is that for certain? I'm so glad I asked on this forum! Do you know of any similar cases I can refer to, to show my wife? As a precaution I recorded my phone conversation with the UKVI agent who told us it would not impact her existing visa at all. (I explained that we're c. 3 years into the 5 year route)
Thank you for this advice - Do you believe there's a way I can get the new BRP through Border Control (i.e. from the outside, in) without taking a return flight that lands in the same terminal? No one could get airside to pass your wife’s BRP to you without a flight of their own. Even then it’s debatable whether someone in Departures could reach you in Arrivals. You’d typically need to sign for a new BRP as they’re delivered by courier. Does anyone else have access to your home or is there someone you trust you can have it redelivered to? If not the only foolproof thing to do would be for you to fly home first, collect the BRP and then courier it to her in Mexico. Personally I think that’s likely to be overkill however. |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by BritInParis
(Post 13181541)
Your wife cannot hold two different leave to remain statuses concurrently ergo if she is admitted as a visitor then that renders her spouse visa null and void. Practically speaking you either need to get hold of the new BRP so she can present it on her return or return as is and explain the situation when you arrive at the border.
No one could get airside to pass your wife’s BRP to you without a flight of their own. Even then it’s debatable whether someone in Departures could reach you in Arrivals. You’d typically need to sign for a new BRP as they’re delivered by courier. Does anyone else have access to your home or is there someone you trust you can have it redelivered to? If not the only foolproof thing to do would be for you to fly home first, collect the BRP and then courier it to her in Mexico. Personally I think that’s likely to be overkill however. We do have people with access to our home that can obtain the new BRP; the problem is that the passport office have not sent us the email the item has been dispatched, so we doubt it'll arrive before Friday. Our flight lands on Tuesday and we could change my wife's to land on Thursday, however we'd still need me to find me a return flight that can arrive in the same terminal of Arrivals on the same day. We believe (would like to hear your thoughts) our best option now is to hope the new BRP arrives and is signed for by a family member. We can then assess using a next-day courier, or printing out: Confirmation of BRP error, new BRP issued and a copy of the new BRP, along with our 'old' physical BRP... which is actually only 4 months old and valid until 2025! |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by whysoconfused
(Post 13181542)
Thank you as always for your support in this forum!
We do have people with access to our home that can obtain the new BRP; the problem is that the passport office have not sent us the email the item has been dispatched, so we doubt it'll arrive before Friday. Our flight lands on Tuesday and we could change my wife's to land on Thursday, however we'd still need me to find me a return flight that can arrive in the same terminal of Arrivals on the same day. We believe (would like to hear your thoughts) our best option now is to hope the new BRP arrives and is signed for by a family member. We can then assess using a next-day courier, or printing out: Confirmation of BRP error, new BRP issued and a copy of the new BRP, along with our 'old' physical BRP... which is actually only 4 months old and valid until 2025! |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by BritInParis
(Post 13181541)
Your wife cannot hold two different leave to remain statuses concurrently ergo if she is admitted as a visitor then that renders her spouse visa null and void. Practically speaking you either need to get hold of the new BRP so she can present it on her return or return as is and explain the situation when you arrive at the border.
No one could get airside to pass your wife’s BRP to you without a flight of their own. Even then it’s debatable whether someone in Departures could reach you in Arrivals. You’d typically need to sign for a new BRP as they’re delivered by courier. Does anyone else have access to your home or is there someone you trust you can have it redelivered to? If not the only foolproof thing to do would be for you to fly home first, collect the BRP and then courier it to her in Mexico. Personally I think that’s likely to be overkill however.
Originally Posted by BritInParis
(Post 13181636)
I think the best plan is for a family member to send you a photo of the new BRP and you present this alongside the cancelled one at the border along with the HO correspondence.
After a couple of days of panicking about what was going to happen to us, I remembered that we actually know somebody who works for Border Force! They confirmed that whoever was working WOULD be able to view my wife's 'BRP active' status using their back office systems so therefore we needn't worry. Fast forward a few days and we managed to get through the Airport without much resistance; the officer was very understanding, reviewed (and compared against their side) the evidence we provided and we were able to pass! |
Re: Returning to UK without BRP... (Spouse Visa, 2nd stint)
Originally Posted by whysoconfused
(Post 13183258)
Bringing this thread to a close with my final post. Once again, thank you to BritInParis for your support - a credit to this forum!
After a couple of days of panicking about what was going to happen to us, I remembered that we actually know somebody who works for Border Force! They confirmed that whoever was working WOULD be able to view my wife's 'BRP active' status using their back office systems so therefore we needn't worry. Fast forward a few days and we managed to get through the Airport without much resistance; the officer was very understanding, reviewed (and compared against their side) the evidence we provided and we were able to pass! |
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