Help we don't want to separate after i'm deported from US

[elewi12000]

Hi I am a male (UK citizen) living in the US with my wife (US citizen),we were married in the US 17 months ago, our marriage has been aproved by the INS however my adjustment of status was denied. I'm to leave the US due to deportation proceedings at the beginning of Jan and neither my wife or I have access to any money after we buy my 1 way ticket. She and I do not wish to seperate, she needs lots of medication due to anaemia/asthma/stomach ulcers, she will not be able to afford our apartment and medication after I leave the US. We do not intend to or wish to be a burdon on the UK govmn't and would work with the first given opportunity, our love is genuine and seperation is not going to do either of us any good.
I know now I should have just asked her to move to the UK 1.5 yrs ago and saved her the pain this is causing as I was in a good job which I may be able to return to in 2005 but that is still under negotiation. That what I get for listening to the attorney we had.
Upon my return to the UK, my parents who own their own house have offered that we can stay with them until I can find work and accomodation. Their income is not sufficient for sponsorship as my father does not yet get his full pension. However as I have been working and living in the US I cannot financially sponsor her/provide UK employer wageslips/UK bank statements. Does anyone have any ideas as to what we should or can do as a couple to remain together. Or can anyone give me an idea of how long we may have to live apart for... I need to reassure my wife we will be together again and I doubt that would be in the US after my removal. Is there anything we can do?
Thanks in advance for any info anyone can give.

[John]

Hi, in order your your wife to get a UK spouse visa it will need to be shown that her will not need to claim Public Funds as defined. You say your father cannot help but he can confirm that the accommodation is available to you and your wife until the two of you get yourselves properly sorted out.

But if funds are so short that after one one-way ticket is bought your wife will not be able to afford the circa 260 pounds application fee for a spouse visa ... well that could be a problem.

Cannot you alone come back to the UK, get a job, and then rapidly get your wife to submit her application for spouse visa? Of course the two of you do not want to be separated but visa systems often mean enforced separation. At least applications in the USA are dealt with rapidly.

[elewi12000]

I do intend to find work immediately upon my return to the UK, my concern is that as I am probably going to end up working for an employment agency again in the UK (I am unqualified and leaving the US means walking away from the Criminal Justice degree I was working towards), we can probably file for her spousal visa at the beginning of february. However is there not a min income that the government would look for? Would she would only be granted the Visa once I've been working for a certain period of time eg 6-24 months or more? I do have one more question, posed towards anyone in the forum. My wife's mother is a bank manager for a large US bank, can she sponsor her daughter in any way or does the sponsor have to be from the UK since we are married? So many questions I apologise that i didn't research this more before we made the decision for me to go to the US.

[try-one]

Apply for the visa now from the US, use your US payslips, income and details, they could grant the visa for her and then you will be able to solve the situation once you are here in the UK.

You can prove that you were married 17 months ago, she can apply for a spouse visa, will get a work permit and maybe government support

[John]

I agree with try-one, file now! There is no specific minimum income figure that they are looking for. It depends upon the circumstances and if your family are provding rent-free accommodation initially obviously that requirement is reduced.

Go for it!

[elewi12000]

If it's legal to do that then it sounds like a good idea but if the consulate asks to see my passport, it has already been confiscated by the INS...

[John]

Hi, go to :-

Application Forms

-: and download a VAF2 form. You will see that it incorporates guidance.

To get you wife a spouse visa I think she will need to prove she is married to a British Citizen ... not unreasonably. If passport not available then there are other documents that are acceptable. Or get whoever has your passport now to supply you with a certified copy of the name and pic page, and any other page with stamps or visas on it.

[Kayalami]

elewi,

2 issues here:

1. INS (legacy) now USCIS
You say they approved your marriage then in the same line you say they rejected AOS and you are under deportation proceedings - do you mean voluntary departure or has an immigration judge actually given deportation orders? How did it come to this? Did you VWP then marry and was there a period of overstay? Still seems a bit drastic - did you have a Napier Stokes interview? It is worth resolving the US issue unless you never intend to return there.

2. Relocating to the UK with your spouse
Your spouse must meet the requirements of the immigration rules. The main issue is one pertaining to income and accomodation - it appears you meet the other requirements. Such income and accomodation should ideally be of your own either jointly or individually. The visa officer can accept support from third party sources especially family and where such support is short term but this is usually discretionary and tends to be where its one (accomodation or income) or the other as opposed to both as in your case.

You have been advised to use details of your US income/ job history to support the application - yet you state you are in a position where you have just enough to pay for a 1 way ticket (by the way it is cheaper to buy a return). The visa officer will ask you for bank statements, salary slips and potentially tax returns - will you be in a position to provide this or have there been issues around EAD status in the US. He/she will also request details pertaining to your spouses qualfications and work experience. No disrespect meant but am I correct in assuming you are a young couple (mid 20's)?

Based on the details you give me your case has some holes that the visa officer may dig into - being honest may or may not backfire especially if details about your wifes medical condition raise concerns. Ultimatley there is no harm in trying for the visa except that there is a hefty fee to pay.

Does your wife have some family to support her in your absence were you to consider the (statistically better chance of success based on you getting back on your feet but emotionally not ideal) option of preceeding her to the UK?

[Squirrel]

You might want to consider joining www.americanexpats.co.uk

The UK Immigration authorities will not care about your wife's medical requirements (for the moment anyway--unless the Tories have their way)!
It seems reasonable that your father is offering you a room with him until you get on your feet so the only problem is proving your wife won't need public funds. Could a brother or sister co-sponsor you? This has been tried successfully with other US/UK couples where the US citizen is coming to the UK. Or you could try emailing your British Consulate to see if your mother-in-law can co-sponsor her daughter. And no there isn't a certain amount of time you have to work before you can apply for your wife's visa. The British Consulate will not usually reject your application outright (thereby losing you the money) but will request a co-sponsor and if they are not suitable they'll request another. They usually try to work with you to get a solution as they don't want to keep couples apart.

See www.britainusa.com for the consulate that serves your area. Postal applications take about 5 working days. Providing your wife's CV and/or qualifications to prove she is employable in the UK would also be useful.

[Cosmopol]

As an interim solution, may I suggest that she comes with you to the UK as a visitor? I think she can stay for up to 6 months, and being a USC doesn't require a visa. Presuming you are able to place both feet on the ground in the UK, economically speaking, maybe it would be much easier to revisit the issue of her status adjustment at that time?

[Squirrel]

Be aware that if you bring your wife to the UK as a visitor then she stands a good chance of being denied entry for having immigrant intent. Lying and saying you are just on holiday is not a good idea, and as a visitor she can't work. And she cannot adjust status to that of spouse while in the UK on a visitor status, she'd have to go back to the US to do it anyway. So you may as well get her the correct visa before she comes to the UK.

[Cosmopol]

While there are some of such angles to it, she doesn't have to adjust status in the UK, nor to lie that she is on holiday. Visiting her husband is a legitimate visit; they don't have to decide where to live, for the purposes of this discussion, they may as wel be planning to go to the States 3 months later.

The goal here is not to cheat the system, but to be together for as long as legally possible.

[John]

Given the medical state of health of the wife, isn't there a problem if she succeeds in getting into the UK as a mere visitor? That is, she will not be permitted full use of the NHS! In her circumstances that is surely a big drawback in her plan to come here as a visitor.

A visitor's rights to NHS treatment in the UK? Summed up by this scenario ... someone say injured in a road accident .... roadside treatment by paramedics ...free ... ambulance trip to hospital .... free .... treatment in the A&E department (ER) .... free ..... followed by transfer to theatre and/or ward for in-patient treatment ... not free! In other words, when it starts getting really expensive the treatment needs to be paid for.

Accordingly, if she is going to try to get into the UK as a visitor she really does need to get Travel Insurance .... but with her medical background that is not going to be cheap, if it is available at all.