sarahcs

Hi
My husband is turkish and i am British . we have now been married for 4 fours. we applied for a settlement visa three years ago and were successful however we then decided that we would not in fact settle in the uk and remained in turkey instead. Now the visa has expired (one year ago) and we have now made the decision to live permenantly in the Uk. Will it be a problem to apply for a settlement visa again? I was told that it may be an issue but i dont really see how or why - but then what would i know?

can anyone shed any light?
thanks sarah

JAJ

Was it really a "settlement" visa (which would say "indefinite leave to enter")or was it a 2 year spouse visa. Look at the visa label and see what it says.

sarahcs

Hiya
it was a spouse visa valid for two years - apologies - i believe that now we have been married for 4 years he may be entitled to ILR immediately although i am not sure how that works with the Living in Britain test. I have tried to get him on an ESL level three course whic is the alternative option but i cant find anywhere in istanbul where this is offered.

hope you can help- our main concern is that he is able to live in the UK this time round!

JAJ

Life in the UK Test can only be done in the U.K.

Is any vacation to the U.K. planned soon?

sarahcs

Hi JAJ
i am going to the Uk for a month next week Omer is staying here. Do you know if we will have any difficulty getting another spouses visa or will we be able to get settlement on the basis we have been married for 4 years ??

All a bit stressy here as people tell you different things.

JAJ

Once again. Life in the UK Test is mandatory for settlement, unless exempted (eg by virtue of age).

Have you looked at http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk ?

sarahcs

Hi JAJ

I am sorry but the main point of the thread is to ask if anyone knows whether acquiring either ILR or a spouse visa is a problem if a spouse visa was issued before but not used. This is the question which i really need answering.

JAJ

I don't see why it should be a problem.

sarahcs

thank you for that. sarah

petally

Hi sarah,
Just wanted to add something, if that's OK. It may be a good idea for Omer to take a quick trip to the UK to take the Life in the UK Test. If he doesn't, you get a spouse visa and then, once in the UK, he'll have to take the test and pay an additional £750 to change from a spouse visa to indefinite leave. If you've been married 4+ years AND he's passed the Life in the UK test, you can apply for Indefinite Leave from the consulate - and that'll save you £750 down the road! I'm guessing that a ticket from Turkey to the UK will be far less than £750, so you might want to consider this path. We did it from the US (my husband flew to the UK for a few days just to take the test) - although our application is still with the consulate so I don't know yet if it paid off!!!

sarahcs

thank you so much that is very helpful information - i shall look into it - isnt it daft you cant take the test outside the UK as mentioned before i did loook to see if the ESOl alternative could be taken in Turkey but drew a blank.

sarah

AudsFrmSA

I'm just wondering about this 'Life in the UK Test', is it so easy to 'pass' that you can just leave your home country and go to the UK for a holiday and know enough about the UK to be able to 'pass' or did your hubby do some studying first? Also, how can you be so sure, that you will get an appointment to sit the test while you are on the trip to the UK, isn't there a waiting period?

petally

Well, firstly the test isn't difficult. My husband knew the handbook on which the test is based inside out and had taken practice tests and aced them all - so it was pretty sure he was going to pass. He did have to put time aside to learning the handbook and practicing the tests but it wasn't too onerous. There was no way we were going to pay for a flight to the UK if there was a chance he was going to failed. To make certain we booked him in at 3 centres one day after the next and just cancelled after he passed the first!! We booked the appointment from the US before he left because there is a waiting period of a week. They did ask for a contact number so we gave the UK number at my Mum's. It was pretty easy - although his application is still with the consulate so we don't know if it paid off yet!