URGENT!!! Sandwich-course possible overstay!?!?!?

[Mr Man]

Any help will be much appreciated.

I am English, my wife is not. She was first allowed here to do a degree which was a sandwhich course (has a year work placement). as a result, she was given a 4 year student visa. She couldn't find a placement and reverted to the 3 year course. Should she have gone home after finishing the course, or does the 4 year visa still stand?

It has now been 1 year since the end of her course and we are applying for Further Leave to Remain. She is still technically within the visa time, but hasn't been a student for a year. Do you think this will affect our application? She has only been working part-time and we meet the financial requirements.

Thank you very much

[Wanderer]

Any help will be much appreciated.

I am English, my wife is not. She was first allowed here to do a degree which was a sandwhich course (has a year work placement). as a result, she was given a 4 year student visa. She couldn't find a placement and reverted to the 3 year course. Should she have gone home after finishing the course, or does the 4 year visa still stand?

It has now been 1 year since the end of her course and we are applying for Further Leave to Remain. She is still technically within the visa time, but hasn't been a student for a year. Do you think this will affect our application? She has only been working part-time and we meet the financial requirements.

Thank you very much

She should have returned when she ceased to be a student. She is now an illegal immigrant. In fact, you should have applied for a spouse visa and there would have been no problem. Now she'll have to return to her home country and apply for one.

[Mr Man]

Anyone got any other advice? That was about the worst thing I could have heard!!!

[Wanderer]

Anyone got any other advice? That was about the worst thing I could have heard!!!

OK, give us her full immigration history, when you married and where (ie UK or not) and whether you have any other EU nationality, like Irish or Irish gramps. When does her current visa expire?

[Mr Man]

Anyone got any other advice? That was about the worst thing I could have heard!!!

OK, give us her full immigration history, when you married and where (ie UK or not) and whether you have any other EU nationality, like Irish or Irish gramps. When does her current visa expire?

She is Chinese, we've been married 1 and a half years and have lived together 4 years. We were married in the UK after receiving permission. I am British and have always been, as have my parents. Absolutely bog standard case in every other way.

She has had no immigration problems, she originally had a 1 year student visa to study English, then applied and received a a four year visa for the sandwhich degree, which she completed, only without the year placement. she has never worked full time and has always been registered with the police. As she is Chinese she has to register with the police, she told them she had finished her course, and they said it was not a problem with her staying until the end of her visa. We only thought this may be a problem a little while ago.

We have not tried to con anyone, we really just don't know the law surrounding this and thought the police's advice would be alright.

[Wanderer]

Anyone got any other advice? That was about the worst thing I could have heard!!!

OK, give us her full immigration history, when you married and where (ie UK or not) and whether you have any other EU nationality, like Irish or Irish gramps. When does her current visa expire?

She is Chinese, we've been married 1 and a half years in England, lived together 4 years, absolutely bog standard case in every other way.

Did you get a CoA (Certificate of Authority) to marry? Why didn't you switch to Spouse visa after you married? You'd be well on the way to ILR by now. Hindsight I know, it can be a killer....

Anyway my take on this is still the same - when the course is finished the visa is void I'm sure of that, irrespective of the length of visa. You can normally get away with a few months for graduation ceremonies etc but a year is too much. As such IMO she's an overstayer and there is no way to regularise her stay in-country, she'll have to return to China and apply for a spouse visa at the Brit Emb. If you can get her home before her visa officially expires I reckon you'll get away with it, no stamps on her passport since the visa would appear bona fide to immigration control.

If you formally apply in country with the checks the HO do now they may well cross check the student visa with attendance at uni and then u have to fear the worst.

I'm surprised no one else has chipped in with this, keep bumping it!

[Mr Man]

Anyone got any other advice? That was about the worst thing I could have heard!!!

OK, give us her full immigration history, when you married and where (ie UK or not) and whether you have any other EU nationality, like Irish or Irish gramps. When does her current visa expire?

She is Chinese, we've been married 1 and a half years in England, lived together 4 years, absolutely bog standard case in every other way.

Did you get a CoA (Certificate of Authority) to marry? Why didn't you switch to Spouse visa after you married? You'd be well on the way to ILR by now. Hindsight I know, it can be a killer....

Anyway my take on this is still the same - when the course is finished the visa is void I'm sure of that, irrespective of the length of visa. You can normally get away with a few months for graduation ceremonies etc but a year is too much. As such IMO she's an overstayer and there is no way to regularise her stay in-country, she'll have to return to China and apply for a spouse visa at the Brit Emb. If you can get her home before her visa officially expires I reckon you'll get away with it, no stamps on her passport since the visa would appear bona fide to immigration control.

If you formally apply in country with the checks the HO do now they may well cross check the student visa with attendance at uni and then u have to fear the worst.

I'm surprised no one else has chipped in with this, keep bumping it!

I went to visit a lawyer with specific immigration knowledege and he advised me to still go to the Home Office and apply. He believes that as there has actually been no attempt at wrong-doing and that it was really just an accident, and that we are in an actual marriage, the Home Office should see the merits of that and didn't seem all that worried!?!

I Think I'm being a bit like you, just thinking exactly to the letter of the law...he seemed to think things are a bit more fluid.

[VictoriaS]

Do you have in writing what the police said?

Victoria

[Mr Man]

Do you have in writing what the police said?

Victoria

Hi Victoria,

No nothing in writing. My wife just went down there to reregister and told them the situation a year ago or more, and they said it would be ok, so we thought that should be fine!!!!

What do you think???

[Wanderer]

Do you have in writing what the police said?

Victoria

Hi Victoria,

No nothing in writing. My wife just went down there to reregister and told them the situation a year ago or more, and they said it would be ok, so we thought that should be fine!!!!

What do you think???

When my student gf went to register with the Police they hadn't clue what to do, I think they see at as something they have to do which is not really in their realm.....

When exactly does her visa expire?

[Mr Man]

Do you have in writing what the police said?

Victoria

Hi Victoria,

No nothing in writing. My wife just went down there to reregister and told them the situation a year ago or more, and they said it would be ok, so we thought that should be fine!!!!

What do you think???

When my student gf went to register with the Police they hadn't clue what to do, I think they see at as something they have to do which is not really in their realm.....

When exactly does her visa expire?

Her visa expires December 31st this year, so her visa is still technically valid.

[jes2jes]

Mr Mann:

I do not know why you did not apply for a spousal visa when you got married to switch categories immediately after, but that is past and you need to deal with the present situation.

IMHO, the HO would grant a spousal visa without any fuss if your wife makes an application for a two-year spousal visa since her leave is still valid (technically).

Make the application by post and include a covering letter let them know there was no pressing need to switch at the time of marriage or you did not know you had to switch immediately (just tell them the truth since I am just speculating based on assumption).

The worst is for them to refuse but then you can still appeal or just fly her oversees to make the visa application.

Best of wishes.

[VictoriaS]

If you go in person your application will be refused.

if you apply by post it may still be refused as she has been in the UK for 12 months in breach of the immigration rules - she was not studying therefore she should have left the UK. You can make an argument for them to allow it on compassionate grounds, but whether or not it it approved depends entirely on the discretion of the Immigration Officer.

Victoria

[Mr Man]

If you go in person your application will be refused.

if you apply by post it may still be refused as she has been in the UK for 12 months in breach of the immigration rules - she was not studying therefore she should have left the UK. You can make an argument for them to allow it on compassionate grounds, but whether or not it it approved depends entirely on the discretion of the Immigration Officer.

Victoria

Hi Victoria, If I go in person why will it be refused? Surely if I can explain myself in more than just a couple of lines, that would be better would it not!?!?

Cheers

[Wanderer]

If you go in person your application will be refused.

if you apply by post it may still be refused as she has been in the UK for 12 months in breach of the immigration rules - she was not studying therefore she should have left the UK. You can make an argument for them to allow it on compassionate grounds, but whether or not it it approved depends entirely on the discretion of the Immigration Officer.

Victoria

Hi Victoria, If I go in person why will it be refused? Surely if I can explain myself in more than just a couple of lines, that would be better would it not!?!?

Cheers

Because in-person appointments are for straight-forward cases, for the muppets on the front desk to deal with. Ur's will just get passed to a caseworker with all the postal ones.

Plus it's ur wife who will be applying not you.

Is there a problem with her returning to China for a spouse visa? Pain in the arse but better than a refusal and a deportation.

[Mr Man]

So should she go home to China and apply for a spouse visa rather than go to the home office and make the application???? Or should we exhaust all channels here first, because compared to alot of cases on this forum, ours is a minor technicality I think and it would be quite harsh to kick her out.

If she gets asked to leave after exhausting all channels, would obtaining EC as my wife be hard to get or are we doomed to a life in China together?? As I do not want to be separated from my wife ('for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health...') can they not take into account that they are dooming me to a life abroad??? I don't know, call me naive. Our marriage has resulted in my wife being estranged from her family, so she would have no support in China...no where to live, no money to support herself! Does this not get taken into account.

How soon after a decision would she have to go if she had to?

Is it not a God given right to just be allowed to live with the person you love without another person having judgement over the rest of your life???

Thanks for any advice!!!!

[SYH]

So should she go home to China and apply for a spouse visa rather than go to the home office and make the application???? Or should we exhaust all channels here first, because compared to alot of cases on this forum, ours is a minor technicality I think and it would be quite harsh to kick her out.

If she gets asked to leave after exhausting all channels, would obtaining EC as my wife be hard to get or are we doomed to a life in China together?? As I do not want to be separated from my wife ('for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health...') can they not take into account that they are dooming me to a life abroad??? I don't know, call me naive. Our marriage has resulted in my wife being estranged from her family, so she would have no support in China...no where to live, no money to support herself! Does this not get taken into account.

How soon after a decision would she have to go if she had to?

Is it not a God given right to just be allowed to live with the person you love without another person having judgement over the rest of your life???

Thanks for any advice!!!!

No it is not a god given right, no point in getting righteous
I would take the path of least resistance and have her head back to China
There is no such thing as a mere technicality to the HO if you want to believe in fantasy then go for it but don't be surprised by the HO's none than pleasant attitude

[John]

I really don't understand why the 2-year spouse visa was not applied for as soon as the marriage had happened. If that had been applied for in a few months time she would be applying for ILR.

Having looked through this topic I think that some of the posts are too negative. By that I mean this. I wonder whether the fact that your wife has not been studying for about a year will even come up as an issue when form FLR(M) is used to convert the still-in-time student visa into a 2-year spouse visa. But I do agree that the application should be made by post .... cost £395 ... rather than in person ... cost £595.

That is, complete the form FLR(M), supply the information that such form asks for, and look forward to receiving your wife's passport back with a new shiny visa therein. And stop worrying!

[Mr Man]

I really don't understand why the 2-year spouse visa was not applied for as soon as the marriage had happened. If that had been applied for in a few months time she would be applying for ILR.

Having looked through this topic I think that some of the posts are too negative. By that I mean this. I wonder whether the fact that your wife has not been studying for about a year will even come up as an issue when form FLR(M) is used to convert the still-in-time student visa into a 2-year spouse visa. But I do agree that the application should be made by post .... cost £395 ... rather than in person ... cost £595.

That is, complete the form FLR(M), supply the information that such form asks for, and look forward to receiving your wife's passport back with a new shiny visa therein. And stop worrying!

So should I put any reference to this situation in the 'additional information' section, or just deal with that if they ask?

[nonothing]

i fail to see what the fuss is about.

i suppose a student visa is a student visa. i don't know if there's a specific visa type called 'sandwhich course student visa'. if there's not, since the visa of the op's wife is still valid, how could she become illegal?

my understanding is op's wife can apply spouse visa either in the uk or china. she should get it without any problem, as long as the marriage is legal and genuine.

i might be wrong, please do correct me if i am.

[John]

So should I put any reference to this situation in the 'additional information' section, or just deal with that if they ask?

No, don't draw their attention to it.

[limey]

MrMan: As long as you have been living together during your marriage then the HO cant really say that your marriage isn't genuine. As they are apt to do in some cases.

[jes2jes]

I want to second John's post and say that go for it. It will not cross their minds that you have done anything against the rules. There is no rule as to switching immediately to spousal visa immediately after you are married.

As I said in my earlier post, just apply by post as normal and when they come back with any questions then answer but in this thing called immigration, you never volunteer any information until asked.

All the best

[VictoriaS]

I suppose the question is whether or not they will ask for evidence of studies. The answer is probably not. But I still feel there is a risk, as they might. As long as you are aware of the potential problems, then you can make a decision on what to do.

Victoria

[Mr Man]

Just letting everybody know that we 'fessed up and told the Home Office everything and my Wife got the 2 year visa!!!! Honesty pays, these people are not animals if you are genuine!!!!


Thanks for all the help and good advice and 'up yours' to all the nay sayers who probably just like to sound important on this forum!!!

Thanks