la-chica-irlandesa

hey all, I posted about bringing my foreign spouse back to the UK-thanks I got great responses.now I am a little confused about this- if you are married more than four years when you apply the for spouse visa you can automatically apply for the permanent residence??. o.k here's the thing, I believe to skip the spouse visa hubby would have to take the life in UK test. we won't have the opportunity to return to the UK for him to take this test, just wondering if this is the case and if anyway around it?? he also speaks english as his second language, I read somewhere that there is an ESL test or course he can take instead of the life in UK test. Not sure if this has to be taken in UK. any and all info welcome.

Thanks

Elvira

Have you checked out the immigration section of uk-yankee forum? They should have this information.

la-chica-irlandesa

no I actually haven't heard of that site. I will def check there. thanks

Donna Allan

We'd been married for 11 years when we applied for my South African husband's spousal visa and we weren't told anything about being able to apply immediately for permanent residence. My understanding is that before his visa expires (valid for 2 years) he will have to sit the Life Test and from there apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Of course all of these things will cost money and not pennies either.

Dave_Was

My understanding is that if you are married for four years outside of the UK you can apply directly for ILE. I believe that you do need to do the KOL test before the you can get it.. but I'm not 100% sure about it. I think that you have to apply for the spousal visa and specifically request the ILE/ILR.

I think that there are two ways to complete the KOL requirement, either the test or a course that you can do. Both the course and the test can only be done in the UK.

There is a specific book that details the KOL information and you can get that from Amazon.

la-chica-irlandesa

o.k thanks. is it hard to get the spouse visa? what kind of evidence or things do they require?

Dave_Was

From the link in the other thread you can get the information but this section gives pretty much what they need Question 2. Also the last paragraph of that section brings you more information about the 4 year rule and more information on that can be found at 13.15 - Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK. And actually in there is does give information on what happens in your situation where you have been married for four years but can't get the KOL done before the application.

Basically my understanding is that they want to see that the relationship is genuine and your husband wont be a burden on public funds.

So..

Proof of relationship.

Adequate accomadation on arrival into UK. So you need accomadation that is large enough for your family and it's for your use. So letter from landlord, tenancy agreement, etc.

Evidence of financial support. Jobs, bank statements, financials, future prospects in terms of CVs, etc.

and of course passports, etc.

la-chica-irlandesa

you really know a lot about this stuff dave_was, thanks so much for all this help!!!

Dave_Was

Really the thanks go to this and other boards. I will be in the situation in a while where my wife and I will move to England and I'll have to apply for a spousal visa for her, so have just been reading what I can, when I can and picking up what I can from these threads.

I've had a lot of information passed my way from Jaj, Vinny, Victoria, etc and many, many others, that embrassingly I can't recall right now.

My thanks goes to them too.

la-chica-irlandesa

well here here thanks to all!!!!!