Colombian wife requires uk visa

[dontloseit]

Hi,

first of all i hope i have the right forum!

My wife and i married 3 weeks ago in Colombia. We have been together since meeting in Colombia 2 and a half years ago. She came over to England on an 15 month student visa that ended in December last year. At first she lived close to her University in London, then for the last 9 months she lived with me on the south coast. We had no joint bills or anything, even her mobile was pay-as-you-go.. so no bills. Unfortunately she actually failed her course, due to the vastly incompetent, bargain basement teaching she received. In December i returned to Colombia shortly before her visa was due to expire and we had Christmas together. I returned to the UK mid January. I then traveled out there again in March for our marriage. Whilst out there we got a two copies of our marriage certificate. I also had my copy translated by an officially registered English translator. I have both my Spanish and English copy with me in the UK. I have collected together my last 6 months pay slips and ordered original Bank statements for the same time frame. My wage exceeds the £18600 required. My wife has Colombian Bachelors degree in microbiology and paid for a UK naric whilst here. She also had an IELTS with an overall score of 6 but sadly this lapsed in June 2014. Obviously her English has improved significantly since her original test in June 2012.

My questions are just general really... do we have all the bases covered? Who submits my payslips and are copies acceptable? Im not keen on sending any original documentation for her to send back if i can send it myself or copies are allowed. Would the copies need to be legalised by me or her? I'm also living in my fathers house right now.. would he have to provide any evidence that the house is big enough etc..? Should i employ a lawyer to make our application and check it's ok? Colombian lawyers appear to not be terribly knowledgeable or helpful when asked and specialize more on US emigration. Is it possible for me to make the application from here (UK)?

Thanks in advance for any help