Spouse Visa Application

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:17 pm

Hi there, my Tier 1 General visa has been refused based on insufficient maintenance funds not being available during 3 days out of 90 days requires. I now want to marry my long term partner and apply for a souse visa within the UK. What are the chances that my spouse visa will be refused, given that my visa has already expired here in the UK? Many thanks

Post by **Casa** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:41 pm

If your previous visa is no longer valid you will have to apply for a Spouse visa from your home country after the wedding. This is assuming you have been living together for a minimum of 2 years and have evidence of this.

Post by **Greenie** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:46 pm

Casa wrote:If your previous visa is no longer valid you will have to apply for a Spouse visa from your home country after the wedding. This is assuming you have been living together for a minimum of 2 years and have evidence of this.

if they get married and she applies for the spouse visa then she doesn't need to show two years cohabitation - it's only if she applies for the unmarried partner visa that she will need to prove cohabitation for two years.

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:54 pm

Does my partner need to come to my home country for the spouse visa application or do we register our marriage here and I go back to apply from home in my own?
We met in February 2008 and have been living together for more than 2 years and I have our flat lease agreement dated January 2010 on both our names and council tax bills first dated March 2010. I also have my correspondence, i.e. bank statements etc on the same address as his since November 2009.
Is it going to affect my spouse visa application the fact that I have overstayed here in the UK? I only overstayed because I have applied for a reconsideration of my Tier 1 General refusal, as advised by my lawyer, and it took 5 months for the second refusal to finally come through. Many thanks for your advise

Post by **batleykhan** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:23 pm

Greenie is right, you don't need to show proof of cohabitation for a spouse visa.

You partner will need to return to your country, and after the marriage ceremony , apply from that country.It will therefore mean some separation for you both till the visa is issued and she is able to return to the UK.Furthermore she will need to sit and pass an English test as well now

If she leaves the UK voluntarily, then it will have no effect on the spouse visa, but if she was deported or the applicant has â€œpreviously contrived in a significant way to frustrate the intentions of the Immigration Rules.â€

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:28 pm

Is my partner obliged to come to my home country for the application? Is this a UKBA requirement? The visa process could take a long time and he could not possibly take so much time off work? What to do please?
Also, regarding the English test...I have a finance honours degree from a UK reputable university - is the test still necessary? Thanks a lot for your advise, much appreciated

Post by **geriatrix** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:35 pm

Anastasia_743 wrote:Is my partner obliged to come to my home country for the application? Is this a UKBA requirement?

No and No. I guess Batleykhan missed noting that you are the applicant for spouse visa, and not your partner.

Anastasia_743 wrote:Also, regarding the English test...I have a finance honours degree from a UK reputable university - is the test still necessary?

No.

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:39 pm

I think there's some confusion!

Anastasia, you need to return to your home country after the wedding in order to apply for the spouse visa. When does your current leave in the UK expire?

There is no requirement for your husband to accompany you.

What is his status in the UK? ILR or British Citizen?

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:46 pm

That' s good news, thanks for your reply.
One more thing please, could I try and apply for a spouse visa from within UK at all, my lawyer keeps saying that you could argue with UKBA that the application process is going to be the same if you apply from UK or go home, so I should get him (the lawyer) involved to represent me and try to get a spouse visa from here in the UK without having to go through the separation time with my partner. Should I try this or is it more than likely to be refused? Would this complicate things even more?
Also, if I apply from my home country is my application likely to be refused because I overstayed in the UK due to my Tier 1 general decision taking so long to come through. Thanks again for your advise.

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:50 pm

Kitty, my partner is British national. I have applied for my Tier 1 General in November 2011, but it has been refuse due to UK maintenance funds not being available for 3 days in my UK bank account, I submitted a reconsideration request in Feb 2011 showing further savings in my home country bank account, but it still has been refused today... So essentially, my UK visa is expired since November 2011.

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:51 pm

Apologies, UK visa expired in Nov 2010..

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:11 pm

Hi there again. I noticed that you guys say that I could apply for the spouse visa after the wedding. Does it have to be a actual wedding, we were thinking to register our marriage at a register office here in London, then I solve the visa issue, then in the next 6 to 8 months we will do a proper wedding celebration with both families etc. It takes months to organise properly a wedding and we wouldn't want to rush it all for the sake of my visa. Or is this necessary, i.e. do we have to provide wedding pictures and proof of wedding celebration to the authorities in order for me to be granted the spouse visa? Apologies if this sounds like a silly question, I am very new to this bureaucratic world since my Tier1 has been rejected so I really don't know the ways to do this... Thanks a lot again for your advise!

Post by **geriatrix** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:26 pm

How can you register the marriage without wedding your partner? Associated celebrations (that lead to the impression / assumption of "proper wedding") are irrelevant.

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:37 pm

Apologies, but this doesn't answer my question. I will marry my partner and we will register our marriage at a local register office followed by a very small gathering of close friends perhaps at our home, but we plan to do the actual ''big wedding'' celebration with guests, family, church etc in 6 to 8 months time when we have time to plan everything properly, i.e. venue, food, guests list, honeymoon etc. Meanwhile I'd like to get my spouse visa to be able to return back to my partner in the UK, back to supporting our home and back to my work in the City.
My question again is: is it a UKBA requirement to provide wedding pictures in white bride dress in the church etc in order to be granted my spouse visa with my partner? Or what else is necessary to prove that we are in a proper relation, and I am not marrying him for the sake of a visa? thanks

Post by **Casa** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:01 pm

Apologies for my mention of 2 year co-habitation which others picked up as an error. I focused on the 'long term partner' and forgot about the intended wedding. Busy day in the office!

You don't need to show photos of a white wedding (as it's known here).
You will be expected to submit evidence of a genuine relationship ..although you will also have to do this for the Registrar now that the COA has been abolished. The registrar is duty bound to interview you both before the marriage takes place.

Post by **batleykhan** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:35 pm

I have never seen so many people confused by one post. We'll get there somehow in the end

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:12 pm

Also, Anastasia, the exemption in Rule 320(7C) means that you cannot be refused a spouse visa just for overstaying (under 320(7B)).

However, please make sure that you are squeaky clean in terms of not working, using the NHS other than in an emergency, claiming benefits etc. These may be considered "aggravating" factors which could lead to a refusal under 320(11).

elv15 · Post by **elv15** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:05 am

You also have evidence of living together for more than 2 years, if you meet the other requirments you could apply for the unmarried partner visa if you dont want to marry just yet, but i think that would be out of country application.

Anastasia_743 · Post by **Anastasia_743** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 4:05 am

Many thanks for your response everyone, things are sort of becoming a little clearer now... Thank you!

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Spouse Visa Application

Spouse Visa Application