snowbeard

Hopefully this is the right section.

I am a british citizen, my partner from the USA is in the UK on a tier 4 visa with 10 months til expiry (end of Feb 2019)

We have been together 18 months, and are engaged. We have had our Home office notice period for marriage, which we passed after 14 days (no investigation). So we have set a date for the wedding, July this year.

I am a UK citizen born and bred, we live together, and I earn over the required income threshold by some margin.

Now the wedding plans are sorted we are looking towards the process of switching my partner from her T4 visa to a spouse visa, as she wants to work for a year before applying for her PhD, and we plan on staying in the UK for the next 5 years at least. Info I can find online is conflicting at best, so I have a few questions.

-Is it easier/preferential for my OH to change her name on her passport before or after we apply for the spouse visa?

-Does there need to be a specific amount of time left on her visa for us to apply safely? I've seen 6 months banded around, but also as little as 28 days.

-Should we use a law firm as we are applying from in the UK, or is this a safe route to just DIY the application?

I'm sure I have more questions, but these are for starters. Thanks!

BritInParis

1. Not essential but if your fiancée intends to change her name then it's a good idea to change her passport before applying for her spouse visa to keep things consistent going forward and also as it is her primary identity document and will enable her to change her bank accounts, driving licence, etc..

2. She merely needs to lodge an application before it expires.

3. Some people hire an immigration adviser to help with the paperwork but you don't need legal representation.

snowbeard

I think we are leaning toward her changing it beforehand, our worry was the amount of time it may take and how it would impact the spouse visa application timeline.

If we can avoid using legal rep it would certainly save some money, I guess i'm worried that we would get refused for some reason (although there is no practical reason I can think of).

BritInParis

That would obviously depend on the passport in question and the efficiency of its issuing authority.

The financial requirements are where most people fall down; there is no room to fudge anything. If you don't meet them then the application will be refused. It can be as simple as one incorrect or missing payslip for instance. For that reason some people prefer to have the reassurance of a professional to review their application, but many will be granted a visa by completing everything themselves.

snowbeard

fortunately i've worked for the same company for 7 years, so will have payslips coming out of my ears at the time of applying.