Is agency work a problem for a uk visitor visa ?

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:02 pm

My boyfriend is Albanian but lives and works in Italy. He wants to apply for a visitor visa so he can visit me here but I am concerned his work situation could be a problem. He currently has a 2 year resident visa for Italy which allows him to work. It will run out in August 2012 but he is confident he will be able to get it renewed (as he has done this before) as he always has a lot of work in Summer. He lives in a tourist location and works through an employment agency so at the moment he is only working sometimes 2/3 days a week but works 6/7 days during summer. Will his current amount of work count against him when applying for a visitor visa ? I am worried that just a couple of days work per week will not be seen as a good reason to return to Italy. I will be able to act as a sponser and provide him with a place to stay and can show savings to support him while he is here but just worry that without a full time job in Italy he might not get the visa. Also, is working through an agency likely to be a problem as work is not guaranteed as in a permanent job ?

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:47 am

Visitors to the UK don't need to be employed in order for a visa to be issued. An applicant's complete circumstances are reviewed to see if this person represents a risk of non-return or working illegally. If it's clear that this person intends to visit the UK and then leave, rather than abandon his current situation, and he has the general means to fund his visit, he visa should be granted.

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:04 am

Thank you so much for your reply but I am still a bit concerned as you say his complete circumstances would be looked at and he has no other reason to return to Italy other than his part time agency job. I have read on other posts that a reason to return is a very important deciding factor and also that family i.e. children or husband/wife, can be seen as a reason to return aside from employment but this does not apply to my boyfriend - all he has in Italy as a reason to return is a part time agency job.
I am concerned that if he applies for a visitor visa and is refused because he is not considered to have a strong enough reason to return to Italy then this could jeopardise our future plans to marry and settle in the UK. A friend of mine has told me that a refusal now could make it harder to get a spouse visa in the future and thinks I should just marry him now and apply for a spouse visa and forget about the visitor visa. This is an option we would consider but ideally I would like him to be able to visit London first to see if he likes it here before we take this step, but if a refusal on a visitor visa could jeopardise long term plans then maybe it would be a sifter option to just marry now and apply for the marriage visa. I have a permanent job with a decent salary in London so do not foresee a problem with the marriage visa.
Any advice or experience people have had in my situation would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:16 am

You can't change his situation. All you can do is apply for the visa and allow the ECO to make a judgement on his suitability for a visa. If he is refused he has lost 76 pounds and it will not affect any applications in a settlement category.

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:42 am

Thank you. It is a relief to hear that a refusal now would not affect future applications. I suppose now we just need to discuss what to do from here and decide whether or not we want to delay getting married and being together properly. Currently I visit Italy for 3/4 days at a time and if he gets the visa he will be able to do the same here. The problem is it is very hard for a relationship to progress this way.
When we do marry would we be able to do it in Italy or would we have to go to Albania ? Which would make the visa application easier and quicker ?

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:54 am

A marriage that is recognised as legal in any country will also be recognised by the UK. It does not matter where you get married.

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:16 pm

Could we get married in UK while he is here on holiday if he gets the visitor visa, or would we need a fiance visa for this ?

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:29 pm

If he has the premeditated intention to enter the UK and marry, he would need to apply in advance for marriage-visit visa (or fiancee visa if he wished to remain in the UK and settle immediately after the marriage).

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:54 pm

I have looked into fiance and marriage visas on the uk border control website and the problem we have is that he does not speak english and so would not pass the english language test at the moment. We are both confident that if he could spend some time in the uk he would pick up the language quickly. I suppose we need to just apply for the visitor visa and hope he gets it. Then if he can spend as much time visiting the uk as possible he will hopefully learn enough to pass the test. Does anyone know how difficult the language test is at spouse visa level ? I could only find one website on this and it was a bit confusing about the levels and looked very difficult.

Post by **Casa** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:21 pm

Why not look for an English language class in Italy in the meantime?

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:42 pm

He said he will try to learn but he finds it very difficult to go to college classes as he has to be always available for work and works odd hours - usually night time security work in bars and clubs. I am going to suggest he uses the same method I used to learn Italian but it Is only spoken on CD's and my written italian is not good. Am I correct to think that to pass the english language test at spouse level he only needs to be able to speak and understand very basic english and will not need to read or write anything ?

pennylessinindia · Post by **pennylessinindia** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:58 am

the level of english is A1 which is very low, how do you communicated is it English if so should be easy to pass for him .
I think you will have a hard time showing he will return with a visit visa and you should have a plan B.

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:02 pm

He does not speak any English - maybe 10 words. We communicate in Italian. He has lived there for a number of years and I speak some Italian, although not fluently, as I have visited regularly with friends for holidays and since meeting my boyfriend I visit each month. I have tried to explain to him the importance of learning to speak english before he comes as at some point we plan to marry but he seems to think he will learn better when he is here.

After hearing the latest immigration plans today from Damian Green MP, I am now thinking he needs to learn English ASAP as I now think maybe we should avoid wasting time applying for a visitor visa that he has virtually no chance of getting, and just go straight for the marriage visa before that becomes even harder with the new selective policy they are planning. I have read online articles from newspapers today where Damian Green's plans are outlined but they do not give any timeframe. I just hope we can get married and get a visa before he has to be a doctor or neuroscientist in order to get a visa. How hard are they going to keep making this ????? Sorry for having a rant but all I want to do is be with the man I love and at some point in the future have a family but the UK government seemed determined to make this as difficult as possible. Does anyone have any idea when this new policy would be likely to be put in place ?

pennylessinindia · Post by **pennylessinindia** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:12 pm

changes likely to be April but detail not clear
Nothing to stop you going to Italy to work and then applying Surinder Singh route

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:00 pm

April is so soon !!!! Another problem we have is that I have been married before and only started divorce precedings recently. My ex-husband and I separated almost 4 years ago but was not in a particular rush to divorce as we have remained friends and it was just something we knew would be sad and kept putting off doing. I have only just started the divorce and expect it to be finished by the end of May. I was hoping to be able to marry my boyfriend in June, who would have hopefully be able to speak enough english to pass the test by then so we could apply for a spouse visa before this new policy came into play. Do you know where I could find out more about this, and particularly the timings ? I am googling it and reading newspaper articles but they didn't mention when it will happen.

I will look into the Surinder Singh route, but don't really want to give up my job here as there is no guarantee I could get a job at the same salary on my return and therefore could not support the two of us and prove this for the marriage visa.

christine44 · Post by **christine44** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:36 pm

Just been looking into this new policy a bit more online and read that "The government is also proposing to set a minimum income level for any sponsor seeking to bring in a foreign spouse – and said the recommended level was between £18,600 and £25,700."

Does this mean that if my salary exceeds £25,700, which thankfully it does, then it would be ok for my future spouse to be "unskilled" as I can afford to support us both if necessary ?

Also, does anyone know how this would affect people already here on fiance visa's ? We could potentially apply for a fiance visa, I believe, 6 weeks before my divorce is finalised as long as I am in the final stages. Would this make any difference to his liklehood of getting a spouse visa under the new rules if he had been given a fiance visa before the new rules were implemented ?

nnj10 · Post by **nnj10** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:39 am

These are all recommendation, not sure how many of them will be implemented and whether they will apply to people already in UK or for newcomers we dont know.

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Is agency work a problem for a uk visitor visa ?

Is agency work a problem for a uk visitor visa ?

New Selective Immigration Policy