Tier 4 to Further Leave to Remain as Spouse Queries

[Sawdon1]

My partner and I have been together for over 5 years (most of this overseas and long distance but for the last year and a half in the UK); he is from the States and is currently in his second year of postgraduate study here in London, thus has a Tier 4 visa which runs out at the end of Jan 2016.

We got married in Feb 2015 and are hoping to switch into a Further Leave to Remain for a spouse/family person (5 year route) at the end of the year. By the time we apply for a visa we will have lived in the UK for two years. I earn over the minimum financial requirement (now at £34k and at the time of application I will be on £41k) needed as his sponsor and are able to demonstrate this – bank statements for the last 6 months and payslips prior to the application.

My first query is in relation to when we should apply for this visa, we were going to apply in October/November 2015 as we will have been in the UK for 2 years at that point, however as we are now married and my husband is already in the UK on Tier 4 visa we have heard that we could apply now and that the 2 year rule only applies to those who are ‘unmarried’. Is this correct?

Also on the application form it lists which documents you need to provide to prove your relationship is genuine, I’m a bit confused by the number of docs needed.

The application form states that we need six items of correspondence ‘addressed to you and your partner at the same address’ – we don’t have this number in joint names, we only have 3 – which will be our tenancy agreement, joint bank account and joint saving account.

The rest of our documentation would be from documents addressed to us as individuals. So how many do we need to provide?

The example given states ‘Four items of correspondence in joint names to the same address and two items addressed to each partner at the address. In total eight items would need to be submitted. If you and your partner have no bills or correspondence in joint names, you will need to submit twelve items (six each) of correspondence, evidencing that you reside together at the same address’

So for us I am thinking we would need to give 3 joint documents and 3 individual documents (each). For example:

• Tenancy agreement (with letter from our landlord), joint bank account and joint savings account.
• My bank statement, mobile phone bill and DVLA letter
• Husband’s bank statement, NHS letter and DWP letter

We live in shared rented house and so don’t have utility or council tax bills in our names, this are included in our monthly rent.

It sounds like we would need to spread these over the beginning, middle and end of the two year period from October 2013-October 2015 – as I’m assuming I wouldn’t need to supply all my e.g. bank statements say over that two year period (except the preceding 6 month period to the application for the financial requirement). Is this correct?

I’ve also read that we need to prove that we have met our partner’s family and that our families have also met (which they a couple of times) – I can’t seem to locate the list of documents needed for this and only on forums which each state different items. Would someone be able to point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance for your help – it’s so confusing and really quite stressful not being 100% sure on what is needed.

[CR001]

My first query is in relation to when we should apply for this visa, we were going to apply in October/November 2015 as we will have been in the UK for 2 years at that point, however as we are now married and my husband is already in the UK on Tier 4 visa we have heard that we could apply now and that the 2 year rule only applies to those who are ‘unmarried’. Is this correct? He can apply to switch now. Two year rule to 'live in a relationship akin to marriage' is indeed for unmarried partner visas.

Also on the application form it lists which documents you need to provide to prove your relationship is genuine, I’m a bit confused by the number of docs needed.

The application form states that we need six items of correspondence ‘addressed to you and your partner at the same address’ – we don’t have this number in joint names, we only have 3 – which will be our tenancy agreement, joint bank account and joint saving account. This is proof that you and he live together, so any cohab docs covering the period you have since living together in the UK will be fine, must be from be from at least 4 different sources either addressed jointly or individually at the same address

The rest of our documentation would be from documents addressed to us as individuals. So how many do we need to provide?

The example given states ‘Four items of correspondence in joint names to the same address and two items addressed to each partner at the address. In total eight items would need to be submitted. If you and your partner have no bills or correspondence in joint names, you will need to submit twelve items (six each) of correspondence, evidencing that you reside together at the same address’

So for us I am thinking we would need to give 3 joint documents and 3 individual documents (each). For example:

• Tenancy agreement (with letter from our landlord), joint bank account and joint savings account.
• My bank statement, mobile phone bill and DVLA letter
• Husband’s bank statement, NHS letter and DWP letter
Documents should be fine.

We live in shared rented house and so don’t have utility or council tax bills in our names, this are included in our monthly rent. Should not be an issue if your tenancy agreement and letter from landlord states bills are included

It sounds like we would need to spread these over the beginning, middle and end of the two year period from October 2013-October 2015 – as I’m assuming I wouldn’t need to supply all my e.g. bank statements say over that two year period (except the preceding 6 month period to the application for the financial requirement). Is this correct? Correct yes

I’ve also read that we need to prove that we have met our partner’s family and that our families have also met (which they a couple of times) – I can’t seem to locate the list of documents needed for this and only on forums which each state different items. Would someone be able to point me in the right direction? Not required as far as I am aware.

Thanks in advance for your help – it’s so confusing and really quite stressful not being 100% sure on what is needed.

Besides the visa fee, depending on whether you apply by post or apply for a same day decision which costs a bit more, he will also have to pay the new NHS surcharge of £500 which is £200 per year and payable upfront for the duration of his visa.

[Sawdon1]

Many thanks for your answers Casa they were really helpful - please accept my apologies for the belated reply.

I also have another query regarding our documents. For the first year my husband was in the UK we lived with our landlord, so we had a lodgers agreement rather than a tenancy agreement. We will submit this with our application as well as a signed letter from the landlord confirming this. As our landlord has now moved out, we share the house with 2 others and have a tenancy agreement valid until late 2016. Again we'll submit the tenancy agreement with the application .

Is a lodgers agreement sufficient to submit?

Our joint documents - bank account and savings were set up June 2014 (as this is when we got engaged and set this up in preparation for wedding costs etc). So by the time we apply we'll have over a year's worth of joint documents, does it matter that we won't have a full two years' worth? Our savings account is used very regularly but the cash card account less so - does this matter?

Thanks in advance