Spouse visa - please help

[DannyNK]

All,
I recently obtained ILR (Late May 2013). Prior to this, I was on the Tier 1 post-study work visa. My wife was therefore here as a PBS Tier 1 dependent and she is back to Kenya. She returned coz her visa was close to expiring. I stayed on coz my ILR application was still with the home office. Now that it is out, I wish to have her return and we are currently working on applying - then I read this from the UKBA website:

" You cannot apply in a partner category if you:
are the spouse or partner of a person who is settled in the UK or has British citizenship if their most recent permission to stay was under tiers 1, 2, or 5 of the points-based system; and
you do not qualify for settlement yet.
Instead, you must apply as a dependant under the relevant category of points-based system. "

That is confusing ! What it implies is that she can't apply simply because I was previously on the Tier 1 scheme and she does not qualify for settlement. It furthe implies that the only application she can make is as a dependant on a points-based system - of which I am no longer part of.

Could someone please shed some light on this issue ? I was of the school of thought that she would apply for a spouse visa - until I read that.

Thanks.

Dan.

[reabs]

Please see this earlier topic which covers similar ground.

[CR001]

She needs to apply for spouse visa - VAF4A if her previous T1 PSW dependent visa has expired.

It could have been much easier if she had not left the UK before her visa expired and rather stayed here and applied to extend her visa (depending on which route you did to ILR - 5 years or 10 years) as she would have probably been covered by the pre 9 July 2012 rules (depending on when she got a visa and arrived in UK).

She will now fall under the new more difficult rules and will have to wait 5 years for ILR.

[DannyNK]

She needs to apply for spouse visa - VAF4A if her previous T1 PSW dependent visa has expired.

It could have been much easier if she had not left the UK before her visa expired and rather stayed here and applied to extend her visa (depending on which route you did to ILR - 5 years or 10 years) as she would have probably been covered by the pre 9 July 2012 rules (depending on when she got a visa and arrived in UK).

She will now fall under the new more difficult rules and will have to wait 5 years for ILR.

Thanks for the response.

Either way, she would have fallen under the 5 years rule - she only got her visa on Nov 2012 and by late May 2013 when it was expiring, my ILR was not out yet - so she had to return (otherwise she would have overstayed).
Here is a hypothetical question - if by, say, April 2013 my ILR was out and we applied for her spouse visa here in England, would she have been under pre July 2012 rules and if so, why ?

[DannyNK]

She needs to apply for spouse visa - VAF4A if her previous T1 PSW dependent visa has expired.

It could have been much easier if she had not left the UK before her visa expired and rather stayed here and applied to extend her visa (depending on which route you did to ILR - 5 years or 10 years) as she would have probably been covered by the pre 9 July 2012 rules (depending on when she got a visa and arrived in UK).

She will now fall under the new more difficult rules and will have to wait 5 years for ILR.

Having thought about it a bit more, I don't understand how she possibly could have been covered by pre 9 July 2012 rules when her spouse visa application is happening post 9 July 2012 irrespective of when she got her dependant visa and irrespective of my ILR route. Could you please clarify this ? Because what I am understanding from your response is that it is possible to be covered by pre 9 July 2012 rules even when you are submitting a spouse visa application post 9 July - how ?
In the interests of objectivity, let me not mention when she got her visa or my ILR route for now.

[CR001]

In the absence of you posting the dates of her visa and entry to the UK, you will note that I used the words 'probably' and 'depending on when...'

If she only came in November 2012 (assuming her visa was issued more or less around this time), then yes, she will fall under the new rules of 5 years before ILR.

[DannyNK]

In the absence of you posting the dates of her visa and entry to the UK, you will note that I used the words 'probably' and 'depending on when...'

If she only came in November 2012 (assuming her visa was issued more or less around this time), then yes, she will fall under the new rules of 5 years before ILR.

Thanyou Sage.

[DannyNK]

In the absence of you posting the dates of her visa and entry to the UK, you will note that I used the words 'probably' and 'depending on when...'

If she only came in November 2012 (assuming her visa was issued more or less around this time), then yes, she will fall under the new rules of 5 years before ILR.

New question sage:

I sent my wife (in Kenya) docs to apply for her spouse visa.
As proof of accomodation, I sent only an original water bill but no tenancy agreement. The address shown on my bank statements and water bill (which I both sent to my wife) is the same as that on my tenancy agreement - only that I never sent the tenancy agreement - coz I thought the water bill (original + copy) was enough.
Was I wrong (to exclude the tenancy agreement) ?
Please help.