Spouse visa questions/help...

[markworton]

I have been searching through this board for about 1 hour or so and I guess each case is different so here is my situation.

I will be completing the application online and are looking to get it submitted next week. In the meantime I would appreciate any help on the following points for the VAF4A application.

Background
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My wife is ecuadorian (Spanish speaking country).

First started talking in June 2007...We first met in Jan 2008... speak everyday for about 4 hours in skype on webcam. I have visited her county about 8 times in the last 3 years and she has been here 4 times. a total of about 7 months together in 3 years.

We got married in July 2010 in the UK so we have that in English. We also completed the papers in her country as to show our commitment to her country.

She currently has no work in Ecuador and therefore I send her monthly payments (£600 per month) for rent and food/living costs. Obviously i state that i give her this cash every month in the application, but when she is living with me this cash will be freed up as i will not be paying for 2 houses and 2 cars.

Questions
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1. Do you think I would need to explain this fact in my application at the end, or would the embassy be intelligent enough to know that i will have this money free for supporting her in my country when she gets here as i dont need to send money to ecuador anymore?

2. There is a question for the intending to work when coming to the UK... she does want to start work asap but currently has no job lined up. We will be putting that it is true she wishes to work and she has no job to go to straight away, but i thought it would be a good idea here to list her past employment experiences... i.e she works in logistics and sales. Is this ok, or do i just need to put in yes she will be looking for work in the UK when she gets here?

this is what our answer will be:
I currently do not have work set up but I will be looking for employment. I have experience in logistics/air cargo and sales. I hope to find work as soon as I arrive in the UK.

3. continuing on from no 2, would it be wise as she has no job to go to, to submit her CV in with the evidence and to show suitable jobs where i live?

4. I have read that ORIGINAL documents must be sent. I take it that these get sent back to her. i.e marriage certificate, English test certificates, bank statements wedding cards etc...?

5. She is currently in Ecuador with a valid 2 year Visitor visa as she thought she wouldn't pass the KET test, nervous I guess but she passed a month after me getting the bloody thing... oh well £400 down the pan,... do I need to let the embassy know to cancel this, or would they know to do this anyway... basically, i deal with a lot of stupid people everyday who cant seem to think for themselves... do i need to write obvious things like this in my covering letter.?

6. She is divorced (after a 7 year marriage) as her ex had an affair and she found out... will this go against her that she is in her 2nd marriage? I am not explaining this, but do I need to? she has the divorce document in spanish translated to english as we used it to get married in the UK.

7. My monthly pay... it fluctuates every month. The embassy ask "What is their total monthly income from all sources of employment or occupation after tax" - I have put down my minimum I have ever got per month which is £1750 but some months it can be £2500, one month in the last 4 months has been £3200. Should i explain this in my covering letter? my baseline is £21,000 after tax, but on my P60 for 2009 it was £22,000 (bearing in mind i was on £25,000 in 2009) and goes up every year.
Last year it was £24000 so £3000 more. should they take the P60 into consideration or what i answer as my minimum for the month? This is a big oncern for me as my monthly outgoings are £1150 per month which only leaves £600 left of which sometimes there is about £400 more some months.

Dont know if this helps, but i have £5430 in a taxfree ISA. will they think... "Oh ok, so he only needs to support her for 12 months after this has run out?"

8. My house is valued at £142,500. I paid £30,000 deposit so does this count as equity for a visa? my mortgage is for only £110,000

Many thanks for your time and i hope that im just another one of those people being over cautious..

Cheers...

[sakman]

Just to clarify a little further, when you say

"she has been here 4 times. a total of about 7 months together in 3 years."

With what visa did she get over to UK?

You may want to write down what visa had been issued to her in the past and whether she overstayed or not.

[markworton]

Thanks for the quick reply... here is UK there is Ecuador.. so she has had 4 visas in the last 3 years... not overstayed... was here for 3 months for the wedding then went back there and came back here 3 months later on a new visitor visa.

[bridge1]

I'm not an ECO or immigration lawyer but from what you have said you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure there is enough evidence that the relationship is subsisting and I would imagine this will be one of the more straightforward spouse visa applications the UKBA gets. Your finances are enough - the £600 per month you give her already would be enough to support her in the UK - make sure you specify this though - that this £600 is now freed up to support your wife, never assume the ECOs will figure it out unless expressly stated that this is the case.

[markworton]

Ok thanks. this is our answer for the additional comments box at the end...

Mark will no longer need to send money to Ecuador every month after I join him in the UK as the current amount of 600GBP that he sends will be saved in our account. I would not need to rent a house as my husband currently has a mortgage.

[markworton]

Just want to add on to this,

Does anyone know the amount of time from the evidence to sending in the application? Our evidence was collected and signed on 26th October (bank statements to about 19th October) but the application will be sent 22nd November due to the biometrics being available once every 3 weeks.
Is this too long a gap or should we explain this in the form?

[markworton]

Ok bearing in mind the evidence was collected the day before i paid the online fee (and i can only see what date the biometrics appointment is AFTER you pay this fee) I have found this info on UKBA website.. "The date of your application is the date when your application fee is paid to us"
....Meaning our evidence should be about 2 days old even if we submit it on the 22nd Nov?

What I want to know is do they consider the evidence as of the date the fee was paid or when they get it is their hands..(about 4 weeks from paid date)