Re-Applying spouse visa

[hamakhaa]

Hi everyone,
I need a bit of advice.

I am British national. I have 2 kids both british national. My wife is not a british national. Its been a year when we moved back to Pakistan. She was in the UK for less than 3 years on a spouse visa, that got expired as we got moved back due to family reasons.

My question is if we want to move back to the UK now, do we need need to process everything again for her? Like giving IELTS again and the application again. For the last year, I am not employed as well so wondering what options do I have to show the financial requirements etc.

Please can any expert suggest what is the best way to go back with my wife and kids having a residence visa? Thanks.

[CR001]

do we need need to process everything again for her?

Yes.

Like giving IELTS again and the application again.

She MIGHT be able to use her previous test but it is risky.

For the last year, I am not employed as well so wondering what options do I have to show the financial requirements etc.

Come back to the UK, find a job and wait 6 months to apply when you meet the financial requirements. Unless you have £62,000 in savings.

[hamakhaa]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Is there a way where I find a good paying job here in Pakistan that can help me fulfilling the finanicial requirements along with combination of cash? Is this doable do you think ?

[CR001]

You can only use your overseas income if it meets the £18,600pa requirement for a minimum of 6 months AND you have a confirmed job in the UK at the requirement financial requirement to start within 3 months of arriving (and UKVI will check this is genuine).

What you should have done was renew the spouse visa BEFORE leaving the UK as this would not have reset her clock to zero and a new 5 year period she will now require.

Any cash savings of £16,000 and below are not counted by the way.

[hamakhaa]

Thanks, CR001.

Is there a way I can take my wife with me temporarily while I look for a job and do the job for 6 months? I am thinking of getting a 6-month visit visa for her. Leaving the kids and family abroad for 6-8 months is really tough so wondering if we can utilize the visit visa as an alternative.

Once I am ready to apply my wife can come back and apply for the spouse visa. By then her visit visa will get expired of course. In this way at least I will be with my family. Do you see any implications in it?

[AmazonianX]

Thanks, CR001.

Is there a way I can take my wife with me temporarily while I look for a job and do the job for 6 months? I am thinking of getting a 6-month visit visa for her. Leaving the kids and family abroad for 6-8 months is really tough so wondering if we can utilize the visit visa as an alternative.

Once I am ready to apply my wife can come back and apply for the spouse visa. By then her visit visa will get expired of course. In this way at least I will be with my family. Do you see any implications in it?

While there is no guarantee in most cases, the chances of a visit visa probably slimmer from my perspective.
Look at it from the perspective of the HO CW, why would the wife wife want to leave UK to her home country to apply spouse visa when she is already in the UK with her husband and children?

[hamakhaa]

Because the visit visa is for 6 months and then it will be expired. She will go back before that and apply for the spouse visa to come back.

If anyone can visit UK using the visit visa why cant wife and mother UK national visit using visit visa while waiting to be eligible for spouse visa. To be honest I dont see any logic of denying visa. But CW may have other reasons to refuse. Therefore I was looking for any advice on this if anyone has tried this before.

[AmazonianX]

Because the visit visa is for 6 months and then it will be expired. She will go back before that and apply for the spouse visa to come back.

If anyone can visit UK using the visit visa why cant wife and mother UK national visit using visit visa while waiting to be eligible for spouse visa. To be honest I dont see any logic of denying visa. Clearly understood by you and I however its the CW that you will need to convince of the plan. But CW may have other reasons to refuse. Therefore I was looking for any advice on this if anyone has tried this before.

Had case of getting a visit visa while appeal for settlement visa was in progress. Presented incontrovertible evidence of being a genuine visitor and not breaching immigration rules during previous lengthy stays in UK. Application for visitor visa was successful.

[secret.simon]

If anyone can visit UK using the visit visa why cant wife and mother UK national visit using visit visa while waiting to be eligible for spouse visa. To be honest I dont see any logic of denying visa.

Because of cases like this and this, where, after the parent/partner arrives in the UK on a visit visa, they develop such a longing to stay with their family members that they don't leave. Therefore the easier option is to treat such visitors with more heightened suspicion before they arrive in the UK. It is the few bad apples that spoil the cart and cause all the apples to be thrown away.

And the above two are just two self-reported cases on these forums in the past few weeks. I imagine the Home Office sees far more of such cases.

[hamakhaa]

Ok, seems like there is a consensus that this option is not a recommended one. I will look for alternatives then. thanks.

[AmazonianX]

Ok, seems like there is a consensus that this option is not a recommended one. I will look for alternatives then. thanks.

Better to listen to reason n you may clarify on the forum on any alternatives you come up with. This is what UK immigration has made family and settlement routes a la other visas to be like.

[hamakhaa]

Hello everyone,
Could anyone of you please advise on the following if this fulfills the financial requirements for a spouse visa under "Category B: Less than 6 months with current employer – person residing in the UK"

Based on the financial requirement document, the document suggests anyone applying under category B needs to prove evidence in two parts. The first part is:

First, where the applicant’s partner and/or the applicant (if they are in the UK with
permission to work) is in salaried employment at the date of application and has
been with the same employer, or earning the amount relied upon, for less than the
last 6 months, they can count the gross annual salary at the date of application
towards the financial requirement. There is no required minimum period for this
current employment, provided that the requirements for specified evidence under
paragraph 2 of Appendix FM-SE can be met in respect of it.

I have now a job offer with an annual gross salary of £80k. I believe I have fulfilled this requirement as it is way above the amount of 18K.

For the 2nd part, the document suggests:

Second, the person must in addition have received in the 12 months prior to the date
of application the level of income required to meet the financial requirement, based
on:
• the gross amount of salaried or non-salaried employment income of the
applicant’s partner (in the UK or overseas) and/or the applicant (if they are in
the UK with permission to work)

I will start this job start of February (currently I am out of UK currently and planning to be in the UK in January). Based on the salary of 80k my monthly salary will be £6,666.67. This means in 3 months' time the actual salary I have earned would be more than £18000 (6,666.67 x 3 = £20000). I believe after 3 months I would have fulfilled the second part of Category B. So after April, I would have fulfilled the financial requirement.

The question is, based on the above do I fulfill the financial requirements to apply for my spouse under Category B?

Any thoughts from anyone? Please correct me if this totally incorrect and my understanding is wrong. Thanks in advance.

[hamakhaa]

Hello Everyone,
Please can anyone of the expert shed light and confirm if the above is right assumption? And I should go forward with applying under category B based on the details I have provided.

Do you see anything in the description which doesn't make sense, please? Your reply would be highly appreciated.

[AmazonianX]

Hello Everyone,
Please can anyone of the expert shed light and confirm if the above is right assumption? And I should go forward with applying under category B based on the details I have provided.

Do you see anything in the description which doesn't make sense, please? Your reply would be highly appreciated.

You have not stated if currently working for past months leading to your belief that 3months in your new employment will make you qualify.
It is not about earning to meet the requirements only but also over what time period for HO to see consistency. Hence Cat A is based on 6months earnings and Cat B over a 12months period.

[hamakhaa]

Thanks for responding.

I have worked for about 5 months also in the last 12 months. I can include that. But why is that mandatory I am not sure based on my understanding. For e.g below is one of the example from the document:

Example (a)
The applicant’s partner works in the UK. She started a new job 3 months prior to the
date of application and her gross annual salary is £22,000. She meets part (1) of the
calculation for Category B because she is in salaried employment at the date of
application and her gross annual salary at the date of application meets the financial
requirement.
In addition, she must have received in the 12 months prior to the application the
level of income required to meet part (2) of the calculation for Category B. Before
starting her new job, she worked for another company for 7 months during the last
12 months. Including her current and previous job, the total amount she has earned
from employment in the last 12 months is £20,000.
The financial requirement is met under Category B because the applicant’s partner is
currently in a job paying at least £18,600 a year and has earned more than £18,600
from employment in the last 12 months.

The person hasnt worked for full 12 months in the example above and there is nowhere mentioned atleast how many months are required.

I take this that as long as the total amount of salary you have earned is above 18k in the last months regardless of how many months, the person will qualify for the 2nd part of it. Its confusing as seems like you are suggesting that I need to work for 12 months consecutively to apply under category b but couldnt find such thing in the documentation.

[Ticktack]

Thanks for responding.

I have worked for about 5 months also in the last 12 months. I can include that. But why is that mandatory I am not sure based on my understanding. For e.g below is one of the example from the document:

Example (a)
The applicant’s partner works in the UK. She started a new job 3 months prior to the
date of application and her gross annual salary is £22,000. She meets part (1) of the
calculation for Category B because she is in salaried employment at the date of
application and her gross annual salary at the date of application meets the financial
requirement.
In addition, she must have received in the 12 months prior to the application the
level of income required to meet part (2) of the calculation for Category B. Before
starting her new job, she worked for another company for 7 months during the last
12 months. Including her current and previous job, the total amount she has earned
from employment in the last 12 months is £20,000.
The financial requirement is met under Category B because the applicant’s partner is
currently in a job paying at least £18,600 a year and has earned more than £18,600
from employment in the last 12 months.

The person hasnt worked for full 12 months in the example above and there is nowhere mentioned atleast how many months are required.

I take this that as long as the total amount of salary you have earned is above 18k in the last months regardless of how many months, the person will qualify for the 2nd part of it. Its confusing as seems like you are suggesting that I need to work for 12 months consecutively to apply under category b but couldnt find such thing in the documentation.

Look at the highlighted part of your quote.

[hamakhaa]

Hi thanks for highlighting.

But the example suggest that the person has not worked the full 12 months but 7 months along with 3 months in the current role. So in total the person has worked for 10 months, surely that's less than 12 months which suggests that there are no strict requirements of working 12 months.

Based on this I am assuming that as long as the minimum amount is met it is irrelevant how many months the person has worked in the last 12 months. The person can use any of the month from the last 12 months to meet the evidence though.

At least that's how I see this example. Is this not right?

[Ticktack]

Hi thanks for highlighting.

But the example suggest that the person has not worked the full 12 months but 7 months along with 3 months in the current role. So in total the person has worked for 10 months, surely that's less than 12 months which suggests that there are no strict requirements of working 12 months.

Based on this I am assuming that as long as the minimum amount is met it is irrelevant how many months the person has worked in the last 12 months. The person can use any of the month from the last 12 months to meet the evidence though.

At least that's how I see this example. Is this not right?

You might be right, but what you've failed to realise is that it isn't all about the money. They need to know that the sponsor has a constant job and means of earning, in order to support the spouse without resulting to public funds.

[Korekt]

I take this that as long as the total amount of salary you have earned is above 18k in the last months regardless of how many months, the person will qualify for the 2nd part of it.

This is my understanding.

If in the 12 months prior to the date of application, the threshold for part B is met, it is fine, regardless of how many months in those 12 months it was earned.

[hamakhaa]

Thanks Korekt for replying.

It makes things more confusing as you are agreeing with what my understanding is, but our respected member on the forum suggested otherwise above.

I think the question is has anyone tried this out in the past, where someone has applied successfully and got the visa or someone has applied and the visa was refused because there were less than 12 months of payslips being used?

[hamakhaa]

Hello Everyone,
I will be applying for my spouse in a few months and at this stage gathering information for future visa prep.

This is the second time we will be applying for a visa. My wife got a dependant visa in June 2019 and we were living in the UK until September 2021. Then we had to travel back to Pakistan for family support. The visa expired in March 2022, therefore we now have to re-apply again. We have 2 kids both having British passports.

Based on the above situation, I have a few questions:

1. When we applied in 2019, there were requirements for docs like bank statements, accommodation letter etc not to be older than 28 days. Does this limit of 28 days still applies? Or has it changed in any way in the last 3-4 years?

2. During the application submission, I remember going into one of the UKVACS centers in the UK to submit copies of all the supporting docs. The question is, is it still the same process where you can either submit a copy of supporting documents in the UKVACS center or can upload them online?
I remember trying submitting online but there were some issues with the system. Based on the forum posts, it seems most of the people are submitting online now, is it now the only way to do it? Has their system matured over time and there are no issues in uploading? Please suggest what is the common practice at the moment.

3. We also paid IHS fees when we applied, do we have to pay the fees again?

4. What are the implications of re-applying after the visa got expired as we went back to Pakistan for 16-17 months? Do we need to tell them the reason? If yes, is any documentary evidence required? We went because we have to support our mother due to her health.

5. Is the financial requirement going to be £18600 and not more considering my kids are British nationals?

6. Is there anything that changed during the last 3-4 years that is important to know?

Regards,
Hamakhaa

[CR001]

1. When we applied in 2019, there were requirements for docs like bank statements, accommodation letter etc not to be older than 28 days. Does this limit of 28 days still applies? Or has it changed in any way in the last 3-4 years?

Nothing has changed. It is still 28 days.

2. During the application submission, I remember going into one of the UKVACS centers in the UK to submit copies of all the supporting docs. The question is, is it still the same process where you can either submit a copy of supporting documents in the UKVACS center or can upload them online?
I remember trying submitting online but there were some issues with the system. Based on the forum posts, it seems most of the people are submitting online now, is it now the only way to do it? Has their system matured over time and there are no issues in uploading? Please suggest what is the common practice at the moment.

Documents are uploaded digitally.

3. We also paid IHS fees when we applied, do we have to pay the fees again?

Yes, you have to pay IHS again.

4. What are the implications of re-applying after the visa got expired as we went back to Pakistan for 16-17 months? Do we need to tell them the reason? If yes, is any documentary evidence required? We went because we have to support our mother due to her health.

No implications. You are overthinking.

5. Is the financial requirement going to be £18600 and not more considering my kids are British nationals?

Yes, for just your spouse, the financial requirement is £18,600pa. Have you returned to the UK to work for a UK company to prove you meet the financial requirments?

6. Is there anything that changed during the last 3-4 years that is important to know?

Nothing has changed.

You were given a lot of advice when you previously asked in December. I have merged your topics now.

[hamakhaa]

Thanks CR001.

Yes I am in the UK now and starting my employment from next week. Based on the advice here, I will have to wait for 6 months and then apply so it will be around September when I can apply.

Regards,
Hammad.