Urgent Help for my wife please.

[kamul]

my wife and i (i am a british overseas citizen but all my parents are british citizen and the are living in the uk nearly all their life) have been living together for more than 20 years outside the UK, now we decided to come to England to settle. we both in the UK now, my wife came on her passport as a tourist, because she does not need a visa to come to visit england. while she is here, we got married this month (although we have live together for more than 20 years but we did not get married.)

my lawyer suggested us to apply a visa called FLR(FP) in here? because my wife only got 6 month to stay.

questions:
1. is this FLR (FP) visa the best way to do it?
2. Do we have to go back her country to apply marriage visa? because i was reading something like she can not change her status in the Uk because she didnt come here on marriage visa?
3. we were reading about the FLR(FP) form, it doesnt say i need to prove my income threshold £18600?
4. does she need to pass the english test A1?
Can anyone help please?
Thanks very much!

[Casa]

If you don't have children together a FLR(FP) application has little chance of success. Even more so if you have only recently relocated to the UK. It isn't possible to switch to any other category from a visitor visa and the quickest way to secure a settlement visa would be for your wife to return to her own country and apply for a spouse visa from there. You would have to meet the minimum income level of £18,600 per annum and your wife would have to pass the A1 English pre-entry test. She could take the test while she is here. It would be unwise to overstay her current visa as it will only complicate future visa applications.

[kamul]

If you don't have children together a FLR(FP) application has little chance of success. Even more so if you have only recently relocated to the UK. It isn't possible to switch to any other category from a visitor visa and the quickest way to secure a settlement visa would be for your wife to return to her own country and apply for a spouse visa from there. You would have to meet the minimum income level of £18,600 per annum and your wife would have to pass the A1 English pre-entry test. She could take the test while she is here. It would be unwise to overstay her current visa as it will only complicate future visa applications.

Thank you Casa for letting me know.
i cannt find any information about she can not switch her status to any other category on GOV.CO.UK. do you know where i can read it please?
and what is the little chance of success?

[Mauser1905]

Thank you Casa for letting me know.
i cannt find any information about she can not switch her status to any other category on GOV.CO.UK. do you know where i can read it please?
and what is the little chance of success?

You may be able to extend your visa as long as the total time you spend in the UK is less than 6 months - eg if you apply for a 3 month visa, you can apply to extend it for 3 more months.

This is what gov website states in regards to general visitor visa extension. It CATEGORICALLY does not state switching to any other visa as its NOT allowed. Think, why is there Marriage Visitor Visa to get married in the Uk and settle elsewhere? and fiancé visa to get married in the Uk and settle in the UK, also spouse visa?? Why would HO let you marry and switch on visit visa and still have visa form for marriage visa!

I am not sure of your marriage as being made invalid because of flauting the visit visa conditions, in view of home office?

[Mauser1905]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 5_0EXT.pdf

read page 5 and 6 of this document for general visitors.

The applicant must not intend to get marry or form a civil partnership.

So by marrying on visit visa you or your now spouse have breached the rules. About future visa applications, how this will be considered I am not sure of.

Also page 6, third from bottom row answers your original query of switching in this visa.

[Casa]

There is no penalty for marrying in the UK while on a visitor visa. The Home Office would have to prove that there was the 'intention' to marry when the application was submitted and plans to change. Don't be concerned that your marriage isn't valid.

[drinver]

If you are a British Overseas Citizen do YOU have the right to live and work in the UK?

The info on Gov.UK seems to say that you don't have this right https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nat ... as-citizen

Sorry don't mean to cause unnecessary concern but this does seem fairly clear

[kamul]

Thank you Casa for letting me know.
i cannt find any information about she can not switch her status to any other category on GOV.CO.UK. do you know where i can read it please?
and what is the little chance of success?

You may be able to extend your visa as long as the total time you spend in the UK is less than 6 months - eg if you apply for a 3 month visa, you can apply to extend it for 3 more months.

This is what gov website states in regards to general visitor visa extension. It CATEGORICALLY does not state switching to any other visa as its NOT allowed. Think, why is there Marriage Visitor Visa to get married in the Uk and settle elsewhere? and fiancé visa to get married in the Uk and settle in the UK, also spouse visa?? Why would HO let you marry and switch on visit visa and still have visa form for marriage visa!

I am not sure of your marriage as being made invalid because of flauting the visit visa conditions, in view of home office?

Thank you for telling me these information, really appreciated.

[kamul]

There is no penalty for marrying in the UK while on a visitor visa. The Home Office would have to prove that there was the 'intention' to marry when the application was submitted and plans to change. Don't be concerned that your marriage isn't valid.

we actually dont know what to do now.

[kamul]

If you are a British Overseas Citizen do YOU have the right to live and work in the UK?

The info on Gov.UK seems to say that you don't have this right https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nat ... as-citizen

Sorry don't mean to cause unnecessary concern but this does seem fairly clear

i was reading through the page you gave to me. i am not sure i fully understand.
does it mean i have to continue living here at least 5 years before i can apply british citizenship?
i was born before 1982 and i was not born in The qualifying territories:
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands

[drinver]

As well as have a British Overseas Citizen passport, do you have citizenship or nationality for any other country such as the country you have been living in?

[kamul]

As well as have a British Overseas Citizen passport, do you have citizenship or nationality for any other country such as the country you have been living in?

No. i do not have