richexp017

Hi all, I'm in the early planning stages for a possible extended move back to the UK maybe next year hopefully with my girlfriend and soon to be born child.

I'm a British national who's lived in Brazil for roughly 8 years and we have a Stable Union certificate for this period.

I would like to apply for a ‘family of a settled person’ visa for my partner.

From what I can tell, the major obstacle is to be able to prove that I can financially sponsor my partner by means proof of employment or savings to the sum of £62,500.

I would like to know due to the fact that I'm returning to the UK and currently have no full time employment, is the savings route the only option in order to prove financial eligibility?

If I could line up a job ready for me to start as soon as soon as I arrived would I still need to work 6 months before applying to prove financial income or would a letter from my employer showing start date and salary be enough?

How exactly does this visa work? Is the duration 2.5 years and then we can keep extending it until we are eligible to settle permanently? And with each extension I will have to prove that financially I can continue to support her?

Thanks.

BritInParis

Unless you have another means of income, then generally speaking, yes.

Not unless you had been working in Brazil for the last six months earning a minimum of £18,600 pa. Otherwise you would need to work in the UK for six months before your girlfriend could apply for her visa as you state.

The initial Leave to Remain is for 2.5 years, followed by Further Leave to Remain for another 2.5 years and finally Indefinite Leave to Remain at the 5 year mark. At each stage you'll need to meet the financial requirements however for FLR and ILR your girlfriend's income can be taken into consideration. Once she has ILR then she'll need a further year's residence before becoming eligible for naturalisation as a British citizen unless you marry in the meantime in which she would become eligible immediately.

richexp017

Thanks for the clarification.

If I can prove that I have been employed for the last 6 months in Brazil would the people assessing the application need to see proof of continuation of employment upon arrival in the UK in order to satisfy the yearly requirement of 18,600? Or only 6 months of employment in a foreign country is necessary.

It seems that the financial requirements are more geared towards British citizens currently stationed in the UK with full time employment.

Do you think a possible route could be to show savings for initial Leave to Remain visa and then 2.5 years later for Further Leave to Remain visa I could use full time employment in order to meet the requirements?

My girlfriend is in full time employment in Brazil, can this also count towards financial acceptance? Or is it solely my responsibility as I am effectively sponsoring her?

Regarding naturalisation you mentioned she would be eligible immediately if we were to marry during this time. It mentions the in the following link that If you’re married to a British citizen, you can apply for citizenship if you've lived in the UK for the past 3 years.
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-britis...ritish-citizen

So an application for British citizenship can only happen after qualifying for a Further Leave to Remain visa (2.5 years after initial Leave to Remain visa)?

BritInParis

Six months salaried employment in Brazil earning at least £18,600 p.a. and a job offer in the UK starting within three months also earning at least £18,600 p.a. would mean your girlfriend could apply for her visa from Brazil and accompany you to the UK without any period of separation.

Yes, you can change the category you apply under at each stage. If you have £62,500 of cash savings then you can meet the financial requirements through savings alone and employment, either in Brazil or the UK, is not required. Your girlfriend's salaried income cannot be included in her initial application for Leave to Remain but her savings can. Her income can be included in her applications for FLR and ILR.

In theory it's three years for a spouse of a British citizen but that spouse also needs to be free from immigration control and it now takes five years to achieve ILR as a spouse.

SanDiegogirl

Read the following documents carefully to see what category you can qualify under, and what documentation you have to show to prove income/employment:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigrat...ified-evidence

For the initial entry its only YOUR income/employment which is eligible.

You can however, use joint savings/investments.

richexp017

Thanks, could this employment be from 2 different companies without any affiliation ie. 6 months being bus driver in Brazil and a job offer to be a stock broker in the UK - please forgive my crude examples.

I was wondering if you had any knowledge regarding self employment or non-salaried employment, as i personally do receive an income and meet the threshold however I am a freelancer but can supply Brazilian bank statements to prove regular income.

This is where I'm not sure about the requirements regarding spouse or non-spouse. From what I can tell there appears to be no difference with regards to your marital status as you still need to have an Indefinite Leave to Remain visa and either way that takes 5 years, and is this when you become free from immigration control?

Before we go ahead and try the visa application is it worth hiring an immigration lawyer to check 100% to see if we have all the documentation in order and have done everything we could before applying as i believe if you are denied you cannot try again for another 3 years.

One other question, are these rules likely to change in the near future?

Many thanks.

richexp017

Thanks, tonnes to read

For the initial entry I'm trying to see if there's a way if I can combine savings with self employment income.

Also I think in theory we could combine our savings on paper, for instance show to two bank statements mine and hers which i believe would satisfy the saving requirements, however would those who are assessing the application prefer the qualifying funds to be in one account or does it not matter?

BritInParis

The jobs do not need to be related. The only deciding factor is the salary.

Self-employment is acceptable. Refer to the links that SanDiegogirl provided for detailed information.

Correct. The advantage of being a spouse is that you can naturalised immediately after receiving ILR; a non-spouse would need to wait for a further year.

You can apply as many times as you like. There's no restriction on lodging applications - the British government wants your money. An immigration adviser is not necessary.