RoqVodster

Hi all - as ever appreciate the quality of advice provided in these forums, and thank you in advance.

I'm doing the first pass of my spouse renewal application, saving as I go. There are several questions related to whether I could return to my birth country if my renewal was declined, and whether my spouse and I could live in another country, etc. What is your advice on answering these questions honestly?

My wife and I have the legal right to live and work in my birth country, and would not face persecution, false imprisonment, etc., and I do have family there still. However being forced to return to my birth country at short notice when our lives, careers, house, dog, and my wife's family, are all in the U.K., would obviously be incredibly disruptive to our relationship, careers, finances, mental health, etc.

Is the purpose of these questions to screen if there are legitimate reasons a person may have to fear returning to their birth country (e.g. persecution/human rights, no family support, no ability to work, risk of being stateless, etc., none of which would apply to us), or does the significant financial and mental burden (etc.) still count as an acceptable reason to answer "No" to these questions - i.e. do they add any weight to the application?

SanDiegogirl

AS you are from New Zealand you could not, in all honesty, answer no to the question.

As I understand it, the answer to this question is only considered when your application has been seriously found to be ineligible i.e fraud.; and where the case worker is considering refusing the application and indeed, even considering, deportation.

(even those who do not fulfill the financial requirements are not usually refused their visa, but are put onto either the 10 year route or some other form of process)

If your application is straight forward and you fulfill the necessary requirements, personally I would answer yes, and then add on how this would be emotionally and financially difficult as you now consider the UK your home, you have built up your career, you have family here etc etc etc.

Pulaski

Yeah, that's my understanding too - if your application has fundamental failings, that could lead to removal from the UK, that question is an attempt to create a safety net, to avoid serious harm to the physical or mental well-being of the applicant and/or their family.

So to the matter of the question - I agree, for someone from a country like NZ, answering "no" would be absurd at best, and could open up a can of worms at worst (though I doubt it would lead to denial of an FLR application; but why take the risk?)

RoqVodster

Thank you both for your advice and prompt response, it's really helpful to understand the intended purpose of these questions!