changing wife's visa status

[Bibas]

Dear all,

Currently I m in IGS status until it expires on March 09. I m considering to move on Tier 1 category later somewhere in Jan -Feb 09. My wife is in student status at the moment and we r planning to change her status to my dependent as it will involve more flexibity for her study n work as well. Everything is movin fine but we r in dilemma about changing her visa status to my dependent because her dependent visa was rejected once back home so she had to apply as student to be with me n continue her study as well.

Now my concern is, would that issue(her visa rejection) be a problem for us now to change her status to my dependent (IGS status). for your info, she has been in UK as student since May 2007 and we are living in the same address since she came here in the UK as student. The reason I m telling you abt living together is in the same address is that, it was one of the reasons that her visa was rejected mentioning that she may not live with me if given her entry clearance..

We are looking into 2 options right now,

1. Changing her student visa status to my dependent right now before I change my visa status to Tier 1 (former HSMP)

OR

2. The other option we are considering at the moment is, as she still has got her student visa until July 2009, we should plan to change her student visa status to my dependent once I convert my status IGS to Tier 1 (formerly HSMP).

Any honest OPION/ experience/ suggestion, pls as we are exteramly stressed because of this issue in our life.

Thank you

Regards,

[justice_will_reign]

We are looking into 2 options right now,

1. Changing her student visa status to my dependent right now before I change my visa status to Tier 1 (former HSMP)

OR

2. The other option we are considering at the moment is, as she still has got her student visa until July 2009, we should plan to change her student visa status to my dependent once I convert my status IGS to Tier 1 (formerly HSMP).

Not too sure why her visa was refused the other time, are you guys married and have any legal paper to prove that you're married/partners? I used to be on student visa way back in 2003, my wife was also on student visa then and when we got married here in UK we changed her status to my dependent and she was able to work f/t. she later changed to hsmp in 2004 and I became dependent till now.

Your last option seems okay to me, will be good to be sure that you can switch to Tier 1. If the assurance is there and you stand a great chance, you can both put in the application while you're main applicant and she the dependent. Whatever the outcome of that application, her status as a student still stands in case of the worst senerio.

[Bibas]

Thanks justice_will_reign for your prompt response.

The legal documents we have concernng our marriage is, marriage registration documents issued by government body back home and wedding photographs.

Do you think, while we apply for her visa status change, can they still make an issue why we did not change her visa status to my dependent when she came here in May 08.

As I have mentioned earlier in the post that I am currently in IGS status, do you have any idea which application form should we fill up for changing her visa status? Is there any specific form or we should still use the FLR(IGS) form for changing her status?

Many thanks for your response.

[geriatrix]

Since there is no IGS anymore, you will have to switch to Tier 1 (post study work) as and when your current leave is about to expire.

If you have queries regarding Tier 1 (PSW), post them here

regards

[Bibas]

Since there is no IGS anymore, you will have to switch to Tier 1 (post study work) as and when your current leave is about to expire.

If you have queries regarding Tier 1 (PSW), post them here

regards

Hi Sushdmehta,

Thanks for reminding me that there no provision for IGS anymore but need to transfer status to PSW as transition for IGS. I have gone through website to PSW and I will be eligible to transfer for PSW but the whole issue is still the same. When I went through, Dependant application form for Tier 1 (Dependant) Section 2 D1 in page 13 http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... tsform.pdf , it has mentioned that

In order to qualify for further leave to remain in the UK as dependant of a person under the point based system, the individual must have either travelled to UK with entry clearance as the dependant of the main applicant

or

have been last granted leave to remain as a dependant of the main applicant in a qualifying category.

If the dependant does not meet either of these criteria it is likely that his/her application will be refused.

As I have mentioned in my earlier post that my wife is in student status at the moment, but we are married couple and have marriage certificate issued by the governement body back home, on top of that we have got wedding photos as well.

Now, my query is, is there any provision that we could change her student status to my PSW depedant here in the UK or we need to go back home and apply again as my dependant ???

Has anyone come across this problem after June 08.

[geriatrix]

Reading this will be useful.

is there any provision that we could change her student status to my PSW depedant here in the UK

No.

Irrespective of whether you switch to Tier 1 (PSW) or Tier 1 (General), and also irrespective of whether your spouse changes to IGS dependent now or Tier 1 (General / PSW) dependent later, the immigration laws *do not* allow your spouse to switch from student to dependent (status) from within the UK. Dependent application (first-time) is an out-country application!

As for Tier 1 schemes, the following webpages make it evidently clear: Tier 1 (General) - Switching into the dependent route and Tier 1 (PSW) - Switching into the dependent route. As for IGS scheme, read para 196A(v) of the Immigration rules.


regards