Pulaski

You're welcome.

Lovedupbrit

Hello everyone.

I have another question. This one will probably not have a definitive answer but here goes.

My girlfriend is an American citizen. She works in care and her job is good in the sense that she can pretty much take whatever time she wants off and still have a job. I am an engineer and earn a fairly decent wage but I'm pretty much stuck with my 4 weeks paid holiday. Until we can get a spouse visa in the near as possible future, I would like some advice or people's opinions on the best way to see each other as much as possible without breaking laws or upsetting immigration at either end.

I'm visiting her in the US at the end of March for 2 weeks. She came to visit me in the UK back in October and went back in January, she spent a about 2.5 months here. Id just like people's opinions on how often we could do the back and forth.

I understand that as always the final decision lies with the person on the border but other long distance couples have survived and id just like to hear about how people went about the whole visiting thing. We both obviously miss each other terribly and are both looking for ways to not have to spend huge amounts of time apart if we can. It's such a shame that the world has got to the point where we are not free to fall in love and be together without bending over backwards and jumping through hoops.

Anyone's input on this would be wonderful.

Thank you

Alex

Bobjon

I don't think this will hurt your immigration process actually it will strengthen it because you are seeing each other more often thus proving its a genuine relationship. However, you must make sure that visiting your girlfriend does not affect your pay, you don't want to miss the threshold of income required for the spouse visa. Other than that you can visit your girlfriend as much as you want. Its not illagal to visit and spend time with the person you love.

BritInParis

It will obviously depend on your available leave. It sounds like your girlfriend will have a lot more opportunity to visit you than vice versa but I would exercise caution. It's unusual for Americans to have more than two weeks paid leave a year. Spending months at a time in the UK repeatedly is going to increase the risk of raising a red flag at the border.

When did you start working in your current position with your current salary?

Pulaski

Well with only four weeks annually, you couldn't visit the US often enough and/or long enough to raise a red flag even if you wanted to, but I would suggest that your girlfriend limits herself to 4-6 weeks visits to the UK, two or three times a year. She might get away with more, but the closer she gets to spending 50% of the year in the UK, the more likely she is to be prevented from entering, and 3×6 weeks is already more than one third of a year, so I would think of that as an upper limit.

Lovedupbrit

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I knew that we were not going to be able to see each other as often as we would like for now but at least now I have some idea on how to go about it.

I have been in this job for nearly 6 months now but I have had a few weeks and days off here and there during this period while she was here. Therefore the first few months won't count towards the 6 month financial requirement.

My back story in a nutshell is that I am currently going through a drawn out divorce. I won't go into any more detail about it as its irrelevant but really until my decree absolute comes through I'm stuffed anyway. Fingers firmly crossed its only a matter of weeks now until its finally over. Its been a nightmare to say the least.

I hope it all works itself out soon as I had such a bad marriage that I want to settle down with the girl in question that honestly has kept me going through all of this.

Thank you again for everyone's help. I may have more questions along the way and I'll make sure to keep everyone updated with any information that other people might find useful in the future.

Everyone keep their fingers crossed for me hopefully I'm nearly in the clear.

Thank you again,

Alex

Lovedupbrit

Hello everyone!

ANOTHER question....

At work, I am paid weekly. I don't have a real contract but we are given a guaranteed 40 hours a week plus as much overtime as we are prepared to work.

How does the eco calculate wages paid in this way. I'm not sure what catagory is best to apply with. My wages do fluctuate week to week for example last month was..

Week 1 - £500 gross
Week 2 - £422 gross
Week 3 - £422 gross
Week 4 - £360 gross

Added together that is £1704

That X12 is £20448

Thing is, what if during one month I have 2 weeks off to visit. Can I work really hard for the weeks either side of the trip to make up for the few days they may not pay me for?

Sorry if I'm not being clear. If anyone is confused I'll do my best to clarify.

Thank you

Alex

Pulaski

It's averaged over six months, and a month is not 4 weeks, so in your case above, if that pattern of pay was repeated for every 4 week period of the year, you would multiply by 13, not 12, to get your annual pay.

In your case, if you are paid weekly, then it would be the pay for 26 consecutive weeks that you would use to calculate your pay for the purpose of meeting the income requirement. In other words, you would have to earn £9,300 in 26 weeks, which means an average of £358/wk, or £388/wk if you include 2 weeks when you earned nothing.

Lovedupbrit

Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me again.
I'm really not trying to to be thick about this I'm pulling my hair out trying to find a way to meet the requirement and be able to see her at least a few times while I'm earning the money. I know that it is what it is but I'm sure that with careful planning I should be able to pull this off.

Thank you again for the advice. I hope I've cleared up any confusion as to what I want to achieve!

Alex

Lovedupbrit

Hi there

Got another one.

So, I have been employed at my current job for 5 months. I know that you need to show that you have been employed with the same employer for 6 months for the purpose of the financial requirement. I realise that there is the other option of showing 12 months if not employed for 6 but I cannot do that.

My question is this, can I use 3 months of my 5 months employment in the total 6 months? So as of next month I'll have been there 6 will the previous months count?

I'm sorry if I haven't been clear enough.

Alex