Does wife UK-taught Master's degree meet Spousal visa

[Muchan02]

Does wife UK-taught Master's degree meet English Lang requirement for Spousal visa?

Hi all,

My wife, a Japanese Citizen and I, a British Citizen are preparing documentation for an application to 'Join Family Living Permanently in the UK' i.e the Spousal visa.

We're unsure whether she meets the Knowledge of English Language requirement. She has a Master's Degree taught in English from United Kingdom.
The Home office states "You can prove your knowledge of English by either:

1. Passing an approved English language test with at least CEFR level A1 in speaking and listening OR

2. having an academic qualification that was taught in English and is recognised by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree"


Do you think my wife's Master's degree taught in the UK meets the knowledge of English? It is unclear to me whether her UK Master's Degree will be accepted as it isn't "equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree".

Thanks

MS

[julian1972]

A UK degree meets the English Language requirement.

[Muchan02]

Any UK degree?

May I ask are you speaking from experience ? It doesn't say 'any UK degree' but 'equivalent to a Bachelor's degree' or doesn't say 'Equivalent to a Bachelor's Degree and above'...?

[Rayking]

But obviously your wife had a degree before starting a master program, isn't it? then that can be accessed by naric if it's equivalent to UK degree or your wife can do the English test.

[julian1972]

But obviously your wife had a degree before starting a master program, isn't it? then that can be accessed by naric if it's equivalent to UK degree or your wife can do the English test.

The OP's question was: "Does wife UK-taught Master's degree meet English Lang requirement for Spousal visa?" This implies that the wife was awarded her Masters degree from a UK university. If that's the case, her degree meets the required English language test, she does not have to take the English test.

[TheBigBean]

I'm in exactly the same position as the OP, so I'm interested to know the conclusion.

I e-mailed UKVI to ask this question as the text (quoted below) is not clear. They did not respond to this point.

It is clear from the text below that if the course was in the UK it is assumed to have been in English, and that a Master's degree is also suitable. It is not clear whether any Master's awarded in the UK is "equivalent to the standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the UK;", but I think we are going to assume it is.

I did look at whether it was worth spending a few quid on the English language test for the belt and braces approach, but it's not that easy to work out which test and how much it is, so I think will just rely on the UK Msc.

Annex FM 1.21 states the following:

4.1 Which qualifications are accepted as evidence that the applicant meets the English language requirement?
The applicant will meet the English language requirement if they:
- have obtained an academic qualification recognised by the National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the UK (UK NARIC) to be equivalent to the standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the UK; and
- provide the specified evidence to show that they have the qualification and that it was taught or researched in English.
If the qualification was taken in one of these countries we will assume that it was taught or researched in English: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK, the USA. Please note that Canada is not on this list.