passthekimchi

Hello everyone. My husband and I are hopefully going to be putting in our spouse visa application in January so he can move to the UK from the US. I'd like to know in advance if any of these things will put a spanner in the works:

1) Since we got married in July '17, we haven't visited each other. We married July 18th and I went home about August 5th. We have visited each other in the past as girlfriend and boyfriend (in March '16, September '16, December '16, and May '17, before seeing each other again for the wedding). We only have about 3 boarding passes leftover from these flights (i.e. the March flight, the December flight, and the May flight). Should we visit each other again before we send off the application?

2) We have a Skype log going back to about May 2014. However for the past 6 months we have switched from Skype to another app. This new app doesn't log the call history, just the chat history. 99% of our contact is through calls, but there is still a bit of chat history on there (such as when he comes home from work, he asks "are you awake" before calling me on the app, and sometimes we send each other a link etc.), but I don't know if that counts as "regular contact" for the visa. We are switching back to Skype now, but will this lull in call history be a problem?

3) If we have doubts that they will see our relationship as genuine, would it be a good idea to have both of our best friends write a signed letter testifying to its genuineness? They were there when we first met (in an online call) and have met us both in person, and were also at the wedding.

I'm just terrified we'll get turned down and don't want to do anything to risk a refusal... Thanks for any help!

BritInParis

Why have you been apart so long after your wedding?

SanDiegogirl

There is a long story attached to this OP's application. See previous posts.

I would imagine her first problem is finances - in one of her earlier posts she said it was unlikely she and husband would visit after the wedding, since flights were so expensive.

Passthekimchi, do you now meet the financial requirements?

To answer today's question, letters from friends/family have little weight in an application.

passthekimchi

Thanks both for replying and for the info about letters. Yes finances are the issue here unfortunately. Technically we can afford to visit each other, just not comfortably - it would just put our application date back by a month or two, and we would like to avoid it if we can.

Since I am caring for my mother and brother at the moment I have recently applied for carer's allowance. If it is approved, I believe I can meet the adequate maintenance requirement.

londoner007

It hasn't even been an year since you last visited your wife, shouldn't be a major issue. Make sure you have call logs etc to cover the time apart.

All the best

spouse of scouse

The OP is the wife/sponsor.
She has said the there's a 6 month gap in the call history.
As the OP and her husband have not lived together at all since marriage, dismissing her concerns as not being 'a major issue' is a bit irresponsible.

londoner007

Not necessarily - there may be valid reasons which ECO will accept. Even though ECO are strict they do have discretion to use compassion. A strong cover letter explaining all situation is required.

We cannot down and out people, we need to encourage them too.

spouse of scouse

I agree that it's nice to encourage people, but that has to be balanced with realism if we want to give them the best information. It's entirely possible that the OP will be able to present a strong enough application to convince the ECO that her marriage is genuine. However, the OP's and her husband's application is not straightforward and will be subject to close scrutiny.

That to my mind is most certainly a major issue, and the OP is correctly seeking as much advice as she can in order to maximise the chances of the application being successful. While telling her that there's no major issue with her application, and just to provide call logs (that she doesn't have) may seem like the kind thing to do, pointing out the flaws and suggesting ways of strengthening the application is, in the long run, far kinder

londoner007

I agree and take back what i said. Apologies.

spouse of scouse

That's very nice of you and thank you, but really no need. We learn from each other, and your reminder about kindness is a good one.

passthekimchi

Thanks both. I understand this term "living together" just means being together in the same house, while visiting? Not necessarily having both names on the tenancy or anything like that

Situation is a bit sticky as I'm caring for my family and I can't actually leave the country. For my husband to visit me, he has to use his (limited) time off from work. Currently he has about 4 weeks that he can take off.

Could one month-long trip be enough to satisfy the ECO? Or should we make sure he visits me various times, e.g. two 2-week trips or 4 1-week trips. How much living-together time would usually suffice for this visa?

spouse of scouse

Hi passthekimchi (your user name always makes me smile). There isn't really a specified time that married couples need to live together. It's possible, and quite common, for a spouse visa to be granted immediately after marriage as long as the couple can satisfy the ECO that their relationship is genuine. As has been mentioned, the ECO will be looking for an explanation re why you haven't lived together since your marriage.

BiP and SanDiegogirl will be able to give you better advice re this, but what it really boils down to is you can't provide evidence that you haven't got, so it's just a case of doing the best with what you have.

passthekimchi

Ah, thank you That sounds like good news.

In terms of relationship evidence, we just have Skype history and photos of us together/wedding pics. Not sure of any additional evidence it would be possible to gather. If he visited me again we would make sure to take some pictures of us with my family, but stupidly we didn't take any when he was here the first time. I'm a scatterbrain.

SanDiegogirl

Are your mother and brother receiving disability benefits such as PIP, DLA etc?

passthekimchi

Thanks for replying. Yes, however only my mother receives the type of PIP that allows me to get carers allowance for looking after her. She is the primary person that I care for.