Spouse visa for Cambodian fiancée

[beeandalex]

Hi, I'm Alex (24) and my fiancée is called Bee (25). We met 15 months ago in Cambodia while I was travelling, she's here in the UK on a tourist visa at the moment and to cut a long story short are now trying to settle in the UK. We think we've got a plan figured out, and were just hoping you kind folks might be able to identify any potential pitfalls we haven't seen coming, or just offer general advice.

Stage 1 - I get a job earning above the £18,600 threshold. Progress: applications
Stage 2 - Bee returns to Cambodia when her tourist visa expires in early May
Stage 3 - I take leave to visit Cambodia and marry Bee; at this stage it will be a basic office ceremony. So you don't think I'm a complete unromantic, Balinese beaches would be our choice but money is tight! Progress: interview booked to obtain Certificate of No Impediment from my local registry office
Stage 4 - Apply for spouse visa. Progress: not begun, but still have all the evidence we collected when applying for tourist visa
Stage 5 - If successful, great. If unsuccessful, try the Surinder Singh Route.

Simplified I know. As I say any general advice is gratefully received, however I do have some specific questions:

• 1. With regards to the minimum income, is a contract and a payslip enough proof?
  2. Will they continue checking my income after granting the visa?
  3. How long will I need to be in Cambodia for us to get married? I understand obtaining the CONI in advance shaves off a few weeks, but beyond that, my knowledge is limited.
  4. Will the marriage be recognised in the UK?
  5. Which categorisation does a spouse visa come under on the visa4uk application process?
  6. How many years should we apply for?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to hearing back!

[Wanderer]

1. Contract and six payslips - need to have earned £18,600 pa for six months
2. You'll need to pass this test again in 2.5 years time for spouse visa extension.
3. No idea. That will be subject the the law in Cambodia.
4. If it's a legal marriage in Cambodia, yes.
5. To join family in UK I think
6. You can't choose - it's 2.5 years, extend another 2.5 years to make five, then ILR, then Naturalise.

[beeandalex]

Fantastic, thanks so much for the clear response. Just one follow-up question: is the 6 months of payslips a requirement or a recommendation? Obviously I want to make it solid if I'm spending nearly £1000 on applying, but if there's any flexibility I can exploit it's worth knowing about at least.

[Wanderer]

Fantastic, thanks so much for the clear response. Just one follow-up question: is the 6 months of payslips a requirement or a recommendation? Obviously I want to make it solid if I'm spending nearly £1000 on applying, but if there's any flexibility I can exploit it's worth knowing about at least.

Requirement (for salaried employment) if you are not salaried and earnings fluctuate there are special rules in place, and I think you need 12 months payslips then.

Easiest route is to earn a salary of £18,600 a year, i.e. £1550 a month for six months at least, all the other methods are more complex and need a longer period.

Expect if you have savings of over £16,000, you can use those to reduce the £18,600 requirement, with a weird formula that you'd need to google for. If you have £62,500 in savings (and held those savings for six months or more) you don't need to fulfil the earnings requirement.

[SoHopeful]

The only flexibility with Category A or B is in non salaried to be honest. As mentioned they allow for fluctuation as long as the average amount earned is £9300 over 6 months or £18600 over 12.

[beeandalex]

Mine will just be a standard salary with the kind of work I'm looking for, but thank you for the clarification. We have two months more in the UK together and I'm job-hunting as hard as I can. Going back to living 6000 miles apart for 6 months is a pretty bleak prospect though, so do you think SS'ing via Ireland might be a better/easier choice in our case? I know there's another forum for those, but as I understand it:

1. I move to Ireland and get a job
2. Bee joins me under EU family reunion rules
3. Obtain residence cards for Ireland
... 6 months living in Ireland later ...
4. Apply for EEA Family Permit
5. Gain entry, obtain UK residence card
... 5 years living in UK later ...
6. Apply for naturalisation

Am I right in thinking that this route affords more freedoms once Bee is here? For example if we wished to travel Europe together, or if Bee wanted to study at university in the UK, if we want to apply for a mortgage together etc..

Thanks for your patience with my questions, we just really want to make sure our next step is the right one for us long-term.

[Wanderer]

Mine will just be a standard salary with the kind of work I'm looking for, but thank you for the clarification. We have two months more in the UK together and I'm job-hunting as hard as I can. Going back to living 6000 miles apart for 6 months is a pretty bleak prospect though, so do you think SS'ing via Ireland might be a better/easier choice in our case? I know there's another forum for those, but as I understand it:

1. I move to Ireland and get a job
2. Bee joins me under EU family reunion rules
3. Obtain residence cards for Ireland
... 6 months living in Ireland later ...
4. Apply for EEA Family Permit
5. Gain entry, obtain UK residence card
... 5 years living in UK later ...
6. Apply for naturalisation

Am I right in thinking that this route affords more freedoms once Bee is here? For example if we wished to travel Europe together, or if Bee wanted to study at university in the UK, if we want to apply for a mortgage together etc..

Thanks for your patience with my questions, we just really want to make sure our next step is the right one for us long-term.

SS route is being actively closed by UKVI, the rule at the moment is to 'shift your centre of life' for 12 months which might not be hard for a single young man, and it's fair enough, it is being abused and is 'circumventing the UK immigration rules' that cannot be denied.

Ireland isn't much fun - did 12 months there myself, Dublin is vibrant but you need deep pockets and jobs aren't easy to find, and I was earning huge coin. If I were you I'd do what I did - do it proper, takes ages but without issue and you know it's clean from end to end.

It will cost, be prepared to pay or battle - one for the other.

U need to be married too for EEA route generally.

[beeandalex]

It's 12 months now? Wow, that window is closing fast. Moving centre of life and getting married are both fine, but I'd be gutted if I lived abroad for a year to then find the route was unavailable to us. Thanks again for all the advice, much appreciated

[Wanderer]

It's 12 months now? Wow, that window is closing fast. Moving centre of life and getting married are both fine, but I'd be gutted if I lived abroad for a year to then find the route was unavailable to us. Thanks again for all the advice, much appreciated

Think it will still be a valid route, but to fit the purpose it was designed for - i.e. people who genuinely are residing in the EU and can't use local or their own states immigration routes. It's obvious now it's being used by those who don't qualify via the UK route to circumvent that.

I'd say go for it - live a little but don't use it as a route to to get back to UK asap!

[beeandalex]

Quick follow-up question: will it hurt our chances if my job contract is temporary? Assuming the annual salary is above £18,600 of course.

[beeandalex]

STATUS UPDATE - questions in bold

Good news! Since my last post my wife and I (married two weeks ago in Cambodia, beautiful day; check out this photo if you're interested - http://imgur.com/CAaiCFe) have made great strides forward and are now nearly in a position to apply for a Spouse Visa. Marriage certificate is pending but we should receive it before November is out.

I started a new job earning £25,400pa on 15th June and will be receiving my 6th payslip from this employer on 18th December, meaning we hope to get our application in to VFS Global in Cambodia on 21st December. My contract is temporary (fixed-term until 31st August 2016), and is likely to continue past that date - I understand from reading around that this shouldn't hold the application back; could someone please confirm this?

Regarding supporting documents, I have been working from these guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... lement.pdf - I believe it details everything that should be in the application pack? Aside from collating documents and relationship evidence like photos and message logs, letters I think I need are:

- employer letter confirming start date, gross salary and contract length (if I got this next week, will it still be considered valid by the time we apply?)
- letter from myself explaining our personal circumstances
- letter from my parents inviting my wife to stay in their home and proof that there is enough space in the house

Again, please let me know if I'm wrong. Finally, I wanted to ask; is it worth including anything about my wife's current employment (she's a Reward Club Executive in Phnom Penh's largest casino/hotel complex) in the application pack, perhaps to demonstrate that she is employable and won't be looking to collect public funds?

Thanks very much in advance, as your all know with these application the stakes are high and margin for error non-existent so any help and advice is very gratefully received.


Alex and Bee