freerskier

Apologies for the long title and for what I'm sure is a post where most, if not all, of the questions have been asked and answered before. Anyway, here goes...

I’m from the UK but been a US resident (LPR) for a number of years. With my US partner and her US born son we are thinking of moving back to the UK – Scotland to be precise. There’re a few ‘things’ to, er, iron out, that could complicate the move. I’ll touch on a one lower down, but done a fare bit of research on this forum, especially the excellent Wiki: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spouse_Immigration-UK and on the .gov.uk site.

I’ve seen scenarios where the UK resident returns, leaving the spouse in their original country to send off the visa docs, wait for clearance, then join the Limey in the UK. There is also the scenario of us all leaving together – that is our chosen path.

So, with that in mind I’ll start the simple/dumb questions then…

1) What are the basic requirements to achieve all leaving at the same time?
2) We aren’t married at the moment – does this matter? As the .gov.uk and wiki mention ‘spouse’ – not married. IF its Ok not to be married, what documentation is required to show that you are legit partners: Bank statements, utility bills etc.? We do however intend to get married.
3) It looks like if I go the savings route then I need GBP72k… but no job lined up? Or do you need both the cash and an GBP18.6k (at least) job. Not sure if it’s both just the 72k. Ok, a fair bit of dosh but I can’t think it’s that simple …is it? Across a couple of accounts, I have that and could transfer it to my UK NatWest current account etc. You don’t have to show, in addition, for instance, that you have somewhere to live? …bought a house, renting etc.? In any event we’d stay at my sisters palatial bothy initially!
4) Health care – If it all goes to plan would my spouse/wife and the boy be entitled to the NHS on arrival, prescriptions that sort of thing. If all the paperwork is good, t’s dotted and i’s crossed, do they get NI numbers or is there a waiting period?
5) Bankruptcy – My spouse/wife will have declared bankruptcy in the USA and will have discharged any debts as a result before we move. Is this a factor that’s cared about in the visa process? Longshot question so appreciate if there are no takers.
6) Employment – For ‘Initial Entry Clearance’ I assume they are referring to the job I currently hold in the USA not my spouse/wife – so far so good. I’m struggling understanding the ‘Limited Leave to Remain for a further 2.5 years’ statement. Does LLTR begin after the 2.5 year ‘initial entry clearance’ period or, can you apply for LLTR at the outset? Reason for the question is in the wiki it states ‘When applying for limited leave to remain from within the UK’ the income of both parties is considered.
7) Further bit on LLTR – 1) supposing my spouse/partner doesn’t work now – she’s a full-time mum and b) does not work in the UK – again being a mum.

Once again, apologies if all this has been covered already but it'd be great to get any feedback from recent returnees or advice from those who are 'in process' at the moment. Cheers!

BritInParis

1) Being able to meet the financial and accommodation requirements from the US will determine this.

2) Your spouse is your husband or wife. You don’t need to be married if you have lived in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years and can prove it but getting married does make the paperwork much easier.

3) If you wish to meet the financial requirements exclusively though cash savings then you don’t need a job in either the US or the UK but you would need to hold the funds for at least six months prior to application. If you don’t intend to move for at least six months then transferring the funds in a UK NatWest account is a good idea. The accommodation requirement is separate to the financial requirements and you’ll need to show evidence that you meet both to be granted the visa.

4) Both will have access to free NHS care from day one. NINOs are only required if they intend to work and will need to be applied for separately once they are living in the UK.

5) Not for the visa process.

6) The initial visa will be valid for 33 months. After 30 months you can apply for Further Leave to Remain as a spouse. This will be valid for 30 months and both salaried incomes can now be used to meet the financial requirements. After 60 months (five years) your partner will become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain providing you can again meet the financial and accommodation requirements.

7) She’s not obliged to work but collectively you’ll still need to meet the financial requirements at the 30 and 60 month marks.

freerskier

Thanks for the comprehensive reply BrtitInParis - have you gone down this route before?

Just a follow up for a bit of clarification really...

1) On 'meeting the financial and accommodation requirements' from the USA, I guess this means if I have the GBP72k in the bank in the UK at the time of application? But still do not need a job lined up in the UK at all. I ask this as it seems from other threads that you need to meet the savings requirement, in my case GBP72,000 BUT, have a job as well. i.e. Not just have the cash.

6) I assume that per 1) above if I have the GBP72k then We've met the initial entry clearance. Following on from that for limited leave to remain I get that a combination of savings and both our salaries would be taken into account. We'd probably then use the 72k to put down on a house so probably have no savings by the time the initial 30 months is up. BUT I have a pension (not that great) or 2 kicking in from (potentially) 60 - I'm 56 now. I guess private pensions count as savings?

Also, if I retire - chance will be a fine thing - I wonder if the UK state pension counts as eligible savings as well.

Thanks again.


Retired?

BritInParis

Not personally.

Yes, and held it at least that level for at least six months prior to application. It doesn’t need to be in a UK account but parking the money in a single UK bank account and not touching it for six months is the easiest way to go about it.

Not as savings but you can use pension income to meet the £22,400 pa threshold.

Not for at least another 35 years.

SanDiegogirl

If I read your question correctly, IF you have 72K GBP in savings, then you do NOT need to prove any employment in the UK. You will be applying based solely on your savings.