Uxbridge219

Hi guys,
Been browsing around on and off on the net looking for some information regarding my situation. Glad that finally found this excellent forum, and hopefully someone can share/give some ideas/thoughts. So, here it is …..(pls excuse me for this lengthy post oops!)

Background info:-
My fiancé : Naturalised as British Citizen in the 80s and now working and living in Hong Kong. She is divorced without any children.

Myself : -
BNO passport holder, completed O-, A- levels in the UK and obtained a degree from a UK uni. Now working and living in Hong Kong. I have a son (13 y.o born in Hong kong holding a HKSAR passport) from my previous marriage and my ex-wife has custody of him. This custody right is stated on the divorce papers.

Ourselves :-
Met each other in 2008 & one year later started living together til now, and will get married in Jan 2017. We are planning to move to the UK may be Q3 2018 and hopefully my son will/can come with us via the Spouse visa.

We bought a one bedroom flat in West London Q4 2015 and are receiving rental income of GBP 1,150/mth (GBP 13,800/yr). The property is under our names with a 20 yrs mortgage [note: Rental rec’d minus mortgage payment minus agent commission fee = negative cashflows. So, we are covering the deficit which is around GBP 220/mth].

We have 2 joint bank accounts – a local Hong Kong bank savings a/c with statements dated back 2012 and a UK joint bank account (current a/c) for sorting out UK mortgage payments and receiving rentals. Both account statements sent to our Hong Kong home address.

My questions are (breaking it into different cats/Req’ts)

Financial requirements – decided to use the cash savings route for Initial Entry Clearance for both myself and my son. The minimum requirement of GBP 72k in cash form already met.
a. Can I still combine the rental income with cash savings even though the rental amount does not cover the total of mortgage + agent’s fee?
b. If a is yes, the cash savings sum will reduce to GBP 37.5k. Am I correct?
c. And this sum (whether it is 72k or 37.5k) is untouchable throughout the 1st 2.5 years leading to “Further leave to remain” application? I ask this question for “just_in_case”. Obviously, we will be seeking employment once we get there

Evidence of accommodation – thinking of using our UK flat’s address as residential proof.
d. When I read the home office guideline, it appears to me that we must have at least a 2 bedroom place to accommodate all 3 of us in order to fulfil the minimum residential requirement. Am I correct?
e. If d is yes, then I guess we have to sell the current one and buy a 2-bedrooms flat to fulfil the requirement.
f. Hm hm ….just come across my mine… this is a bit contradictory cos if I used our current UK flat as accommodation, we would have to kick the tenant out. By then, there will be no rental income to combine into the cash savings in order to lower the grand total needed. Am I correct?

Relationship evidence – as mentioned above, we will get married in Jan 2017. Marriage certificate in Hong Kong is written in English, so no translation is needed (1 less hassle).
g. Assuming I apply the Spouse Visa in May 2018, that means our marriage is shorter than the 2 year’s requirement. Will that affect my visa application?
h. From various posts in particular http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...-route-883103/ ,is it a must to include screenshots from social media?
Problem is I don’t have a facebook account (don’t laugh! I just don’t like the idea of sharing my personal life on the net) but she does. She, though, doesn’t post anything about us on her facebook account.
We use wechat. 95% of the time we communicated in English and remaining in Chinese. Do I need to translate those Chinese words into English for examination? How far back we must show? Cos we changed phones early this year and all previous dialogues lost without any backup.
i. Photos – we almost have zero photo together. When we went on holidays, I took photos of her and vice versa. 85% of the photos taken are about food and scenery (don’t laugh, pls!) Should I start taking photos now which has both of us in it in order to build up enough evidence for our relationship? This may sound silly …… we never come across of this until now……….
j. Luckily, I DO keep all boarding passes when we went on holidays together which date back 2012 upto now. Would this be a good evidence?
k. Also, bank statements as mentioned above, showing both our names would be a good relationship evidence?
l. I am thinking…. we have a lawyer friend, perhaps have him to write a letter stating that he knows us since 2009 and we have been in a genuine relationship until now. Would this be a good proof amongst others?

My son’s situation – this may be a tricky one. My son and I are in pretty good relationship even though I only see him every Sunday (divorce papers do not state/limit when I can see him). When I don’t get to see him on week days, we chat on whatsapp. I pay maintenance every month to my ex-wife without a single day of delay. On top of that i.e. more than what the divorce papers state, I pay for his school fees, private tuition fees. I attend all parent-teacher days with my son. And doing all the preparations for his examinations. When he has basketball games for inter-school competitions, I will make the time to watch him playing. There are much more to list down, again there is no photo proof whatsoever………..

m. I read a few posts and gather that I must have a written consent from my ex-wife. But someone told me not only do I need that written consent, I must demonstrate that I have sole responsibility for him at the time of application. Any ideas or successful case(s) here would be appreciated?
n. Also, this someone said this written consent must be agreed and dated a considerable amount of time before our visa application to avoid the authority questioning the motive behind is not a genuine one ……. I am really puzzled about this advice!


I think that’s about it really.

Again, sorry for such a lengthy one. I just want to make sure my case is as apparent as possible so that anyone reading this post understands all the facts about my case. Thanks in advance

Uxbridge219

typo "..... my case is as transparent as possible...."

SanDiegogirl

Just responding to the relationship question:

You are marrying in 2017 and applying for visa in 2018. For spouse visa you need to produce marriage certificate and paperwork which shows you have lived together as man and wife from date of marriage. (There is no 2 year criteria for a married couple).

You should provide something like joint utility bills, joint rental/mortgage documents, bank accounts, maybe insurance policies with each other as beneficiaries etc etc.

sera345

If your ex-wife has sole custody of your son, do you have her permission to take him out of the country without her? I don't know about HK laws but generally it gets problematic to move overseas with a child when the other parent is not 100% supportive.

BritInParis

A couple of answers/observations.

If you meet the financial requirements through cash savings then that is by far the easiest way to do it. Don't over-complicate matters by including other income if you are already over the threshold. At the end of the 2.5 year period then you can meet the financial requirements using any of the available options. If you choose cash savings again then the rules are the same; the balance needs to be over the threshold for the entire six months before application. If you can keep it above the threshold for the whole 5 year period then that would be preferable for ease of application but not essential.

You don't have to own the property to fulfil the accommodation. Renting is fine. If your son doesn't accompany you (see my comment below) then a one bedroom flat would be fine. You'll need to give your tenant two months' notice so factor that into the timing of your application.

Don't worry too much about the relationship evidence if you about to marry. Many people do not live together before they marry and many also do not live together after they marry but before they have applied for their spouse visa (think arranged marriages). I would write a relationship statement each and support your claims with a few choice pieces of evidence but you don't need to include masses. Social media is pretty much worthless in the eyes of an ECO so only include one or two screenshots for colour. Bank statements or anything similar that is official in nature carries far more weight.

If your wife has sole custody of your son then I don't see how he can accompany you to the UK unless your wife is willing for you to take custody of him which I suspect would be unlikely?

Uxbridge219

Hi SDG,
you are right. I got confused with the criteria.... 'must be one of the following .... "married or civil partners", "living together in a relationship for 2 years"...... '
its an "or" rather than "and"
https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/eligibility

Uxbridge219

this is one BIG issue currently puzzling the both of us.......

Uxbridge219

As a bean-counter myself, really can't help to overthink or focus entirely on risks that may associate with all the issues that I mentioned

Son shows great interest to come with us, just that I havent spoken to my ex-wife about it yet. One would think this move will do more good to a youngster for his future sake.

Even though there is still some time ahead before we file our application, its better to plan ahead and 6Ps....!

I will keep posting here for future developments

thanks BIP for your advice.

PS. really learn a lot after reading every single post from p.1 and now on p.31 ....... :0)

Uxbridge219

Hi,

I am starting to prepare documents, and found my fiancé 's naturalisation certificate.
Top of the paper reads "British Nationality Act 1981. Certificate of registration as a British Citizen" , bottom right states "Section 4(2) British Citizen" .
Just out of curiosity... is she a naturalised British Citizen"?
Just that I read from old threads that there are some differences between "registered" and "naturalised" under different sections and subsection......

Cheers.

BritInParis

She was registered as a British citizen rather than naturalised as she was already a British national of some description (BDTC or BN(O)). It's slightly cheaper than naturalisation but the rest of the requirements are the same.

Uxbridge219

thanks BIP.

BritInParis

As a BN(O) passport holder I would recommend you complete the immigration on your BN(O) passport. This will give you the same cheaper registration option at the end of the five years and you'll also be considered a Commonwealth citizen and eligible to vote as soon as you arrive in the UK.

HKG3

If the OP holds a Hong Kong driving licence, he can exchange the Hong Kong driving licence to an UK one without the need of a driving test.

Uxbridge219

Hi everyone,
more questions from me.
1. I know I have to submit my application on-line, but am wondering if I can use this form to practice : https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...4029/VAF4A.pdf

2. Assume I have permission to remove my son from Hong Kong and come to UK with us.
Does he need a separate application? or I can include him in mine?

thanks,

BritInParis

You can but you'll find it's not quite the same. The online form allows you to save and alter as you go so there's nothing to stop you from using that instead.

You'll need to apply separately for him.