Extending spouse visa

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:33 am

Hi all. my wife arrived here in march. she has the standard 2 year spouse visa. but i have alittle problem. in order for her to remain her indefinatley she needs to have completed her esol course. sge cant start her esol course until ashe has been here fopr a year. that means she will start her esol in march 2009 and her visa runs outr in march 2010.

i can only apply for her IDL when she has completed her esol course does this means that i need to extend her visa.

Post by **John** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:50 am

If when the time to get her a new visa arrives, she has not got either a pass certificate from the Life in the UK Citizenship test, nor a completion certificate from a combined ESOL/Citizenship course, yes she would need to apply for a further 2-year spouse visa.

So this begs the question, how good is her English at the moment? Speaking/listening? Reading/writing?

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:55 am

her reading is good, comprehension is good and speaking is getting better and better by tghe day. she has only been her three months and already we have basic conversations inenglish. she has textbooks that she works from etc...

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:55 am

whatsthe cost for extendingf the visa

Post by **John** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:26 am

her reading is good

One option would be to try to put her through the test. I say that because effectively reading is the only skill involved as regards the test. That is, the study book needs to be read, and when taking the test the questions are read on screen, and as test is multi-choice, it is "just" a question of selecting the correct answer.

The study book is not expensive. Why not buy it and then see how she gets on reading it? She has a lot of time to go before the test would need to be passed, so it really would not matter if she studies the book for a year or more, before attempting the test.

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:50 am

thinking about ti that way, could be a good option. i want her to learn english also. so i might get her to pass the etst and learn english anyway, gonna check for local centres and see whatteh rules are for booking the test

Post by **John** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:56 am

whatsthe cost for extendingf the visa

Currently the fees are Â£395 by post, or Â£595 in person at a PEO. But no guarantee what the fees might be in say 20 months time.

gonna check for local centres and see whatteh rules are for booking the test

Absolutely no need for that now. As said before, it really does not matter is she studies the book for a year or more. Clearly you will only put her in for the test when you think she has a good chance of passing it.

The main thing now is to buy the book in the near future, so she can start studying it.

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:26 am

yeah thats cool. i just wanted to see what the procdure would be. do you have any idea what the cost of the test. a freind of mine said his wife passed the test and said her level of english wasnt that good. he said as its multiple choice it more memory than most things.

but yeah im gonna find out the test ansd get the wife to prepare for it.

The Confused One · Post by **The Confused One** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:40 pm

My husband is also here on a Spouse Visa and like you i was unable to get him onto an ESOL Course until after 1 year. So we went to Waterstones and picked up some nooks on the test, he then studied the books (his reading is good and english speaking is getting better) and then he registed on the webste www.lifeintheuk.net which enabled him to practice tests for free (because if you have the book you dont have to pay to use the net).

He practiced for about 1 month and then took his test and passed first time, i dont think its necessary to enrol on to an ESOL Course for the purpose of passing the test although im sure it helps some people.

The Confused One

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:54 pm

hi there. wow sounds yoyur hubby was very fast, passingti one month. i bought the book from waterstones also just today. im hoping the nrs can study for a god few months and take the test around winter. i want her and she also wants to take the ESOL as itr will improve her engl;ish wich is something that she defo wants to do.

But wowyour story has really made me smile

Sammie · Post by **Sammie** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:13 pm

Does anyone have the ISBN Number & full title of the book that is recommended by the Gov to study for the LUK test. There's so many sites and peeps all recommending different books. Which one is the "Officially Recommended" one?..

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:19 pm

Hi sammie, how are you. there isnt one that is official recommended by the goverment except for their own book but that such an onslaught of information it would be to much,. i bought the following book which is good because you can register with the life in the uk test website and recieve free study material with this book via the code on the back of the book

just go to waterstones and fine the green life in the uk test. there will three one red, green and blue. you want the green one

The Confused One · Post by **The Confused One** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:24 pm

Hi There,

Yes my husband also got the 'green book'. He had the book for about 9 months which he studeied on and off but studied religiouly for about 1 month, he then registered on the website www.lifeintheuk.net and got free practice tests (beacuse you have to regiter the book you bought from Waterstones).

Once he was doing the tests with ease (1 month) then i booked him in for a test at our local LearnDirect place - because there is no limit on how many tests you can take i thought he may as well take the test and see how he gets on....and luckily he passed first time! much to my surprise

I think you will have to go through the process of explainng things and how they work i.e the education system, politics etc

Good Luck

The Confused One

Sammie · Post by **Sammie** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:28 pm

Is this the one that is recommended by the home office?

Sammie · Post by **Sammie** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:31 pm

looking at the lifeintheuktest.gov.uk site, they recommend this one...

ali541 · Post by **ali541** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:20 pm

salaam sammie. the first pic that you posted is the one that everyone uses and is the ebst selling one over 200,000 copies sold. its by far the ebst one to use. the other one pic that you posted is the official one by the home office but it is filled with so much information i myself found it hard to digest so you can think what it will belike for someone from abroad. stick with the first one as it has test questions in theback of the book and other usefull resources that can be accesed online on the life in the uk test website

Sammie · Post by **Sammie** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:46 pm

Cheers Ali!

How you doing anyway? Mrs Ali doing well too?

I hope you've been keeping all letters addressed to the lovely Mrs Ali ready for your ILR application in 2010...? I'm literally keeping EVERYTHING with his name, date and address on. Don't want to risk having too little, lol...!

Sammie · Post by **Sammie** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:18 pm

Sammie wrote:

Does anyone know which edition of the above book is the correct one? There appears to be several editions. Or even better, does anyone have the ISBN number of the correct book/edition?

Thanks

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Extending spouse visa

Extending spouse visa