Financial Requirement question

[mtebbit]

Hi all, thanks for your help so far with my previous questions.

I have a query about the financial requirement, I unfortunately may not be continuing in my current employment due to a change in circumstances. To ensure that I don't have gaps in my earning for the 6 months leading up to applying for my wife's visa I am considering taking temporary employment to tide me over until I find something permanent. If I'm in temporary employment when applying for the visa will this affect the decision making process or is all that matters the fact that I have been earning enough for the 6 month period?

Thanks again, Matt.

[SoHopeful]

You could either wait until you have been in the temp post for 6 months (Cat A) or if you have been earning enough in your present/last job you could apply under Cat B for the last 12 months prior to application.You would be able to do that straight away if you were in your last job long enough.

[mtebbit]

Ok, that really throws a spanner in the works. I hadn't read the regs properly and I can see it does state that if you haven't been employed for 6 months I need to provide 12 months of payslips.

Time to look in to Plan B, just hope it won't come to that.

[mtebbit]

Is there somewhere to find out about visitor visas on the forums? My wife's visa will expire at the end of Nov, what's the earliest she can come back to the UK on a visitor visa? The government website isn't 100% clear.

[Casa]

Is there somewhere to find out about visitor visas on the forums? My wife's visa will expire at the end of Nov, what's the earliest she can come back to the UK on a visitor visa? The government website isn't 100% clear.

Do you mean your wife is currently here on visitor visa? If so, she can't be seen to be spending more time in the UK than she is in her home country. The general guidance is no more than 6 months within a rolling 12 month period. If she submits another visitor visa immediately after the expiry of the current one, the application is likely to be refused as the ECO will consider that she is using visitor visas to reside in the UK, not to visit.
How much time did she state she intended to stay in the UK on this visitor visa?

[mtebbit]

Our situation is complicated - we intended to come come back for 3 months just to visit my sick mother. Because of her health primarily, I didn't want to return to my wife's country of origin and decided it would be best to settle here with my wife and daughter. I found work, my wife was planning to return and stay a short while there and then apply for residency.

It looks like my job won't go the course though and so when my wife returns at the end of the 6 months we probably won't be able to meet the financial requirement for quite some time. So that my daughter and wife aren't seperated for any length of time I want her to come back on another visitor visa whilst I work towards meeting the financial requirement.

I know each case is taken on a discretionary basis and I was aware of the requirement that my wife isn't seen to be making a home here. I hope this isn't going to be a major issue.

[Casa]

I don't want to appear overly pessimistic, but your wife will be extremely lucky to be granted a visitor visa immediately following the expiry of the current one.
Even more so as you are resident in the UK and your wife may now be considered to have stronger ties to the UK than she has in her home country.

[mtebbit]

If she were to return for a period of months (2-3), would something like that affect the decision? There must be similar cases where families are seperated but can't meet the financial requirement straight away.

These regulations are so cumbersome it's beyond belief really. I guess I'm just going to have to hope that I can keep my job for another 2 months.

[Casa]

If she only returns for 2-3 months with the intention to return as a visitor immediately after this as a visitor, she will have spend more time within the rolling 12 month period than she will have spent in her home country...as I mentioned earlier. It would be obvious to the ECO that she is using the visitor visa to reside with you in the UK.
Regrettably, families are forced to spend often a considerable time apart due to the strict finance and/or language rules. Compassion doesn't figure in the UKVI decisions, ECOs simply follow the rule book.

[mtebbit]

Thanks Casa, here's hoping it won't come to that.

[secret.simon]

I know each case is taken on a discretionary basis...

Err, no. It is not discretionary. Each case would be based on the Rules.

Even more so as you are resident in the UK and your wife may now be considered to have stronger ties to the UK than she has in her home country.

One of the rules explicitly states that the person should not appear to be residing in the UK in the guise of visit visas. Your wife was very lucky to get a visit visa in spite of having a UK resident spouse.

Indeed, this is exactly the kind of case that the UKV&I/Home Office is trying to prevent by tightening the rules on visit visas. Your application would likely be scrutinised with extra care as it would appear to them that your wife and you are attempting to frustrate the Immigration Rules by circumventing the rules on family migration and living in the UK on visit visas.

Be aware that breaching the immigration rules by either not stating the facts in any visa application or by overstaying a visa will have implications for any future citizenship applications.

If you are a British citizen, have you looked at the Surinder Singh route?

[mtebbit]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm aware of the Surinder Singh route. I think the easiest route will be for my wife and I to bite the bullet, have some time seperated and apply for residency once everything is in place.

My wife got the visitor visa when our circumstances were different. We never intended to settle in the UK when we applied.