Anyone have a good understanding of spouse visas?
My sister would like to come back to the UK with her australian husband but they are finding the Border Agency website baffling and I have to say, it is not designed for ease of use.
They cannot work out what they/he needs to do to be allowed to live here with her and their children.
The kids are apparently not too much of an issue as their mother is a UK citizen, but her husband really has had so many different versions from immigration, he has no idea what is right. He is especially unclear about the sponser requirements and the financials.
He is trying to get a list of what he needs but is struggling to get a clear idea.
Any advice appreciated.
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Depending on where you live the good old Citizen's Advice Bureau are identified by UKBA as "Advisers" - they have nominated advisers that are trained to a particular level. It's a hugely complex area. MPs have specific methods of access to UKBA officials as well.
Last edited by: R.P. on Sun 16 Dec 12 at 22:26
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Don't be tempted to pay for help, there are a load of thieving scamming ****** out there that will rob you blind and perform open wallet surgery when the information is freely available - keep your credit card sin your wallet.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 2 Jan 13 at 00:40
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I did suggest that and I will again thanks.
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>> www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/IDIs/chp8-annex/section-FM-1.7.pdf?view=Binary
>>
>> This is apparently the border agency being clear.
To be fair Stu that's their internal guidance to staff on how the system is applied. It's not designed to be a layman's guide to the top level principles which is what you need now.
As others say CAB or the UK High Commission in Canberra are likley to be more useful. There's a questionnairre here on Visas which my identify the oddity that means your BiL appears unable to use the normal 'visit up to six months = no visa needed' presumption for Ozzies visiting UK.
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>> identify the oddity that means your BiL appears unable to use the normal 'visit up to six months = no visa needed'
On the other hand it appears he's here right now, so I guess he can.
As you say, proper advice required.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 17 Dec 12 at 12:11
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What prevents them from contacting the British High Commission or Consulate in Oz or wherever they are? - if not in a Commonwealth country it will be an Embassy of course.
They should get a clear explanation from the British HC or Consulate. That's what they are there for.
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>>What prevents them from contacting the British High Commission or Consulate in Oz or wherever they are? <<
They are both in the UK at the moment so they thought there might be better info available here.
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Don't use the website if it's crap. Talk to someone.
May take an hour or two listening to muzak on the phone, or a lot of queuing at the appropriate place. But when you speak to someone who really knows, all becomes clear. Clearer anyway. Email can work but you have to have an individual's name.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sun 16 Dec 12 at 23:51
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>> >>What prevents them from contacting the British High Commission or Consulate in Oz or wherever
>> they are? <<
>>
>> They are both in the UK at the moment so they thought there might be
>> better info available here.
>>
1. What is his immigration status at the moment?
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/applying-in-uk/
"Applying from inside the UK
You cannot apply to extend your leave to remain if you are in the UK: ..... "
2. financial requirements:
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/can-you-apply/financial/
Isn't that clear enough?
3. I thought you have said previously that your sister's husband was Indian.
(Edit: For sme reason, my links are appearing blank on my screen?)
Last edited by: John H on Sun 16 Dec 12 at 23:58
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>>You cannot apply to extend your leave to remain if you are in the UK: ..... <<
He isnt trying to.
>>Isn't that clear enough?<<
No. How is one supposed to move to a country and already have an income? Is it just a job offer? Does it include their equity in their home which would become cash on the sale?
So no, it isnt in the slightest.
>>3. I thought you have said previously that your sister's husband was Indian <<
Since when did being of Indian birth should exclude you from becoming an australian citizen? What an odd thing to say.
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Well, how were they intending to support themselves when they got here? Because the financial requirements are pretty low.
And of course a job offer is sufficient, provided its firm and provable. How do you think any of us migrate from one country to another legally?
And I've been through the process in the UK and its simple, obvious, fair and reasonable albeit a bit slow and laborious.
Paraphrasing the official wording including only the bits seemingly relevant........
you must meet the financial requirement when you apply to come to, or stay, in the UK as the partner of :
a British citizen;
You must meet a financial requirement if you are applying for entry to the UK, permission to stay here or for settlement.
If you have children that are not British citizens or settled here that you want to live with you in the UK, you will need to meet a higher financial requirement.
You can meet the financial requirement through:
- the income from employment or self employment of your sponsor;
- the income from your employment or self employment if you are in the UK;
- certain income from sources other than employment, such as rent from property;
state or private pensions of you and your sponsor;
- maternity allowances or bereavement benefits received in the UK; or
- cash savings over a certain level (the amount of savings that you need to have will depend the level of other income that you and your sponsor have . If you are applying to enter the UK, you will need to have a higher level of savings than if you are applying to extend your stay).
How much income do I need to have?
- You must have an income of at least £18,600.
If you are sponsoring a child as well as a partner you will need an income of at least £22,400.
For each additional child being sponsored you will need an additional income of £2,400. For example, if you are you are bringing 2 children with you to the United Kingdom, you must have and income of £22,400 and £2,400 for the additional child, so a total of £24,800.
You will be required to provide documents to show that you can meet the financial requirement.
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>>Well, how were they intending to support themselves when they got here? Because the financial requirements are pretty low.
And of course a job offer is sufficient, provided its firm and provable. How do you think any of us migrate from one country to another legally?<<
Eventually work, but my parents will put them up for a year so they have time to sort themselves out.
They have two children that are aussie but my sister says it is not too difficult to make them British, so really he just needs a job offer for £19k then? Or can they sell their home and release the £50k they have in that - my BIL said there are all sorts of timescales attached to the money in the bank criteria.
He also asked how one goes about applying for jobs from the other side of the planet as while he is a graduate with a wide range of experience, he isnt special.
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The first thing is that I am not the person to advise you or them. The consulates and embassies are the place.
I have always found them to be helpful, willing and usually knowledgeable.
My experience is that with any country the information available for migrating to that country is more readily available from such establishments than it is once you are in the UK.
The financial requirement is simply a threshold. Your Mother, as their sponsor, can show that she has that money/income to support them and that should be acceptable.
Savings of £50k should also be acceptable.
>>He also asked how one goes about applying for jobs from the other side of the planet
It is no different to applying for jobs from anywhere. The only challenge is the interviews. Frequently people fly to the destination country temporarily on a short stay or tourist visa having had a number of interviews set up already.
I;d suggest that they plan this before doing anything. If they have homes/jobs etc where they are, it might be better to get the same sorted out before they come here. And since is is in the UK now, is he going for interviews and applying for jobs? If not, why not?
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>>I;d suggest that they plan this before doing anything. If they have homes/jobs etc where they are, it might be better to get the same sorted out before they come here. And since is is in the UK now, is he going for interviews and applying for jobs? If not, why not?<<
They are not on any timescale and at the moment they are trying to reach the point where they understand exactly what they need to do.
He is in the UK for Christmas with my sister and their children on holiday. The aspiration is to make the move perhaps in the next two years before their eldest reaches school age.
They previously paid out on a visa application to get married in teh UK so family and friends could attend but he was refused as they wernet convinced he would go back to oz, despite having a well paid job and a home there, so he is skeptical about the process and wants to have a good understanding of it before trying to move here.
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>They previously paid out on a visa application to get married in teh UK so family and friends could attend but he was refused as they wernet convinced he would go back to oz
An Australian does not need a visa to visit the UK.
This is a case where you need official advice, there's is clearly something a bit out of the ordinary.
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>> there's is clearly something a bit
>> out of the ordinary.
>>
Such as apparently having lost, in under 2 years, half of £100k equity in the house in Oz.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=4745&m=103709&v=e
>> They are not on any timescale and at the moment >>
Yep, true, as confirmed by your previous posts.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=1064&v=f
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=4745&v=f
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=7317&v=f
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>>An Australian does not need a visa to visit the UK.<<
No but you do if you are coming to the UK to get married, it is a specific visa. He travels on his Australian passport although he has both Indian and Australian citizenship, he hasnt lived in India for 15 years and only returns to visit his parents once a year.
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>> >>An Australian does not need a visa to visit the UK.<<
>>
>> No but you do if you are coming to the UK to get married, it
>> is a specific visa. He travels on his Australian passport although he has both Indian
>> and Australian citizenship,
He wont be wanting a UK passport to make up the trio will he? Your hero Nigel wont like that at all. Roger the UKIP heavy will be round to sort you out.
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>>He wont be wanting a UK passport to make up the trio will he? Your hero Nigel wont like that at all. Roger the UKIP heavy will be round to sort you out. <<
Only if he needed one to remain here. Actually UKIP support a points based system, which is exactly what non-EEA citizens already have to go through, so UKIP would make no difference on my BIL.
Incidentally we were dicussing UK immigration last night and he thought the open borders in the EU was crazy, he couldnt understand the motivation, nor the lack of knowledge about who was in the country. He respects the need for immigration control, he just wants to understand what he needs to do.
Their only reason for wanting to return to the UK is family, especially now they have two children and their hopes of a local support network near some of his family in Adelaide hasnt materialised. My BIL likes the UK, he prefers the weather as he grew up in the mountains and does much like the climate in oz and he said oz is massively regulated in some ways.
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>>a points based system,
>> which is exactly what non-EEA citizens already have to go through, so UKIP would make
>> no difference on my BIL.
>>
Yep, as you said last year "I know he enquired about a work visa and apparently he gets more than enough points to be allowed in, so thats not an issue."
So your BiL can get in to Britain on a work visa and/or a spouse visa. It is only a question of when he gets around to making up his mind where he wants to live - in the USA, India, Oz, or here.
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>>So your BiL can get in to Britain on a work visa and/or a spouse visa <<
A work visa and a spouse visa are not the same and he was told they take a dim view of coming here on a work visa for a job, then deciding to stay with your wife and kids, they were warned off doing so.
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My last word on this saga is to repeat that nothing is better, or frankly easier, then advice from the consulate in Australia or from the website indicated if you're here.
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>> >>He wont be wanting a UK passport to make up the trio will he? Your
>> hero Nigel wont like that at all. Roger the UKIP heavy will be round to
>> sort you out. <<
>>
>> Only if he needed one to remain here. Actually UKIP support a points based system,
>> which is exactly what non-EEA citizens already have to go through, so UKIP would make
>> no difference on my BIL.
Oy - I'm not so heavy - I've lost 10 kilos in the last three months!
Seriously, though, as FoR says UKIP is not against immigration, per se, only uncontrolled immigration.
If an immigrant (from anywhere) has skills which we, as a country need, UKIP welcomes him/her.
What we do not want are masses of unskilled immigrants, many of whom (although obviously not all) are likely to have social & health needs unsupported by their contributions to the UK's finances.
A points system, similar to that which is used in Australia and New Zealand would be reasonable, to ensure that we only take on board those people who will by their presence, add to the country's prosperity.
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>>to ensure that we only take on board those people who will by their presence, add to the country's prosperity.<<
Shame we cant throw a few overboard that were already here, id start with Clegg who thinks he lives in Arc Manche :-)
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"What we do not want are masses of unskilled immigrants"
Wrong I'm afraid.
Actually its' the low paid unskilled jobs that employers find it so difficult to fill and which are readily taken by immigrants. Many of our industries like the hotel trade, catering and agriculture need exactly that class of worker. We have plenty of unemployed graduates and a shortage of waiters, catering assistants , fruit vegetable packers and care assistants.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Mon 17 Dec 12 at 20:11
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>>We have plenty of unemployed graduates and a shortage of waiters, catering assistants , fruit vegetable packers and care assistants.<<
I would have thought, though I may be wrong, that a graduate can be a waiter or pack fruit and if those jobs are available, they should be taking them up, end of.
I had to diversify when my income dropped and I now have four different jobs. It seems the rational thing to do. If someone waves a tenner at me, I will be there if I can do the work, no questions asked.
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"I would have thought, though I may be wrong, that a graduate can be a waiter or pack fruit and if those jobs are available, they should be taking them up, end of."
Well perhaps they can and should but they don't. There are plenty of low paid jobs out there open to all. The vacancies can often only be filled by immigrant labour.
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>> I would have thought, though I may be wrong, that a graduate can be a waiter or pack fruit
>> and if those jobs are available, they should be taking them up, end of.
They'll be wanting more than that in many cases to justify to themselves why they paid too much for a degree that might not be worth the debt. A proper graduate type job (of which there are few) pays fairly well with training/development provide. The work most graduates end up doing did not need a degree.
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>>Well perhaps they can and should but they don't<<
Then they need more encouragement. There is far too much employment snobbery in this country and if graduates wont do the jobs available, they need to get a grip on reality. The economy aint gonna turn around much in the next half decade, life isnt fair and toilets always need cleaning :-)
>>They'll be wanting more than that in many cases to justify to themselves why they paid too much for a degree that might not be worth the debt. A proper graduate type job (of which there are few) pays fairly well with training/development provide. The work most graduates end up doing did not need a degree.<<
If they dont earn enough they wont pay anything anyway, it is not a debt in the traditional sense. We dont all get what we want, we dont live in an employment utopia. I dont want to mow lawns, or sweep peoples garages, but if someone asks, I will because I have bills to pay and ill be darned if I am going to sit on my backside waiting for the perfect job to come along.
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>> "What we do not want are masses of unskilled immigrants"
>>
>> Wrong I'm afraid.
>>
>> Actually its' the low paid unskilled jobs that employers find it so difficult to fill
>> and which are readily taken by immigrants. Many of our industries like the hotel trade,
>> catering and agriculture need exactly that class of worker. We have plenty of unemployed graduates
>> and a shortage of waiters, catering assistants , fruit vegetable packers and care assistants.
>>
Perhaps it's because there are immigrants to fill these low paid jobs is the reason these low paid jobs ARE low paid?
The law of supply and demand surely applies to worker's wages, as well as commodities?
If there is a shortage of supply, i.e workers, the demand for workers should lead to a price being paid for labour which will attract the unemployed, whatever their inclination about job snobbery?
A judicious tweaking of the JSA might help, too.
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"The law of supply and demand surely applies to worker's wages, as well as commodities?"
It surely does and in case you haven't notices we're in the middle of the worst recession since the thirties. Remove the cheap labour and a lot of businesses will fold. Like it or not large sectors of the UK industry and services are dependant on immigrant labour to survive, a fact that UKIP conveniently forgets.
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>> Perhaps it's because there are immigrants to fill these low paid jobs is the reason
>> these low paid jobs ARE low paid?
>> The law of supply and demand surely applies to worker's wages, as well as commodities?
>> If there is a shortage of supply, i.e workers, the demand for workers should lead
>> to a price being paid for labour which will attract the unemployed, whatever their inclination
>> about job snobbery?
>> A judicious tweaking of the JSA might help, too.
You'd soon be whining when the cost of everything went up to pay the higher wages.
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I don't know if the laws have changed, Stu, but your sister's situation sounds similar to mine when I got married. My wife-to-be was a non-EU citizen, and moved here on a working visa, as she'd been offered a job in the UK. We then got married in the UK, and she had to return to her country of origin when her work visa expired, as she had to reapply through her home British embassy for a spouse visa. This was granted as a formality within a day. If she'd have moved here on a spouse/partner visa in the first place, the trip back home wouldn't have been necessary. Three years (I think) later, she spplied for and received her British passport.
Since then we have received over £30k per annum in benefits and live in a 6 bedroom gated property worth £7m in Notting Hill, at the council's expense.
;-)
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>> >> Since then we have received over £30k per annum in benefits and live in a
>> 6 bedroom gated property worth £7m in Notting Hill, at the council's expense.
I hope the council are maintaining and cleaning the pool to your satisfaction?
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>>
>> >> >> Since then we have received over £30k per annum in benefits and live
>> in a
>> >> 6 bedroom gated property worth £7m in Notting Hill, at the council's expense.
>>
>> I hope the council are maintaining and cleaning the pool to your satisfaction?
>>
Well, there was a leaf in it this morning. Thanks for reminding me, I'll just get on to my benefits funded iPhone 5 to them about it. Or one of my cash-in-hand Romanian staff will.
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>>(Edit: For sme reason, my links are appearing blank on my screen?)
Work fine for me.
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>> >>(Edit: For sme reason, my links are appearing blank on my screen?)
>>
>> Work fine for me.
>>
Thanks. Back to normal now. Your post at Sun 16 Dec 12 23:02 has also appeared completely blank last night. Must have been drunk or something.
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>>They are both in the UK at the moment so they thought there might be better info available here.
Its dead easy and you can do a lot of it on line. Follow the link I gave above. And I think its all pretty clear and straight forward.
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>>rob you blind
Isn't that a Pratchett, Nac Mac Feegle character?
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If I was them I would be flying back to Aus and staying there, then thinking about coming back in 5 years time.
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If someone is EU citizen, bringing spouse to UK is very easy.
Just a spouse visa needs to be applied in the country where applicant is resident (Australia in OP's case).
Then after staying in UK for 3 years non-EU spouse can apply for settlement visa in UK.
Last edited by: movilogo on Mon 17 Dec 12 at 12:38
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>> Then after staying in UK for 3 years non-EU spouse can apply for settlement visa
>> in UK.
>>
3 years? Not too sure if that is true now.
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>>If someone is EU citizen, bringing spouse to UK is very easy <<
The only hurdle seems to be the financial requirements. He is a graduate and well qualified, but the savings requirements are a bit beyond them ( atleast £16k held for 6 months ).
Apparently you cannot rely on other people to support you even if they are willing like my parents.
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>> He is a graduate and well qualified,
>>
Good to know the BiL has improved his situation in that regard since Mapmaker's summary
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=7317&m=162596&v=e
>> but the savings requirements are a bit beyond them ( atleast £16k held for
>> 6 months ).
What happened to the £100k?
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=4745&m=103709&v=e
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>> If I was them I would be flying back to Aus and staying there, then
>> thinking about coming back in 5 years time.
>>
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=7317&m=162605&v=e
" Zero Thu 28 Jul 11 10:44
The wierdos told him that yesterday "
yesterday seventeen months ago.
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Spouse visa - R.P.
