Drewb7777

Hi everyone, I have one more question on this matter. We are now planning on going down the savings route by selling our house in the US. Once the funds from the sale are in our account we will apply for my partners spouse visa. Are we ALL as a family able to move to the UK and wait for the spouse visa to be approved? As in me and our kids as the UK citizen, and my partner as the US citizen? My US citizen spouse will not work, but be in the UK on a tourist visa for 90 days. Once the spouse visa is approved they will fly back to collect it and then fly back and enter the UK on the spouse visa.
Is this legally ok to do this?
Thanks in advance

BritInParis

Your spouse will be applying for Leave to Enter as a Spouse. If they are already in the UK with Leave to Enter as a Visitor when the Entry Clearance Officer looks to grant them their spouse visa then the application will either be refused or, if granted in error, would be null and void. Your spouse could enter the UK and leave before their visa is granted but since you have no idea of when that would be it’s a good idea to avoid the issue altogether by staying put.

Drewb7777

Thanks for clarifying. Best to avoid that!
Because we want to all move over to the UK as a family, do you know if every application, as long as they pay the 500 pounds extra, are eligible for the priority service so it only takes 5 days for a decision? I think this may be our best bet once we sell the house and are ready to apply.

BritInParis

It’s not guaranteed; it will depend on individual circumstances, the location you apply from and this year’s particular crisis but typically yes.

Drewb7777

HI BritinParis,

Thanks for your response to my questions. One more for you!
Once we apply on online and have paid the extra to have the priority visa service, how long can we expect it to take from application submitted to being able to leave the US with the visa in hand? I have read that we would have a decision within 5 business days, but I'm curious how long the entire process can take? We would have sold our house and be homeless, so hanging around while we wait for the visa to be approved is going to be a challenge with 2 young kids!
Thanks in advance

BritInParis

Settlement Priority applications should be processed within six weeks. You’ll probably want to add another two weeks to find the maximum overall time you’ll realistically be waiting.