Spouse settlement visa

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:12 am

Hi,

I am the husband of a British national, currently residing outside the UK.

I would like to know whether one can apply for a Spouse settlement visa from within the UK.

Like if I was to apply for a "visit" visa (for example),and enter the UK, can I then apply for a spouse settlement visa from within the country?

Please confirm.

Thank you in advance.

Post by **vinny** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:42 am

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:49 am

As vinny says, you can't apply for leave to remain as a spouse if you are in the UK on a 6-month visit visa.

You can "switch" from categories where you have been given more than 6 months' entry clearance (for example, as a Tier 4 student, or Tier 2 worker).

But why don't you want to apply for a spouse settlement visa for entry to the UK?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:45 am

Kitty wrote:
But why don't you want to apply for a spouse settlement visa for entry to the UK?

Hi, thank you both for your replies.

The reason is because a visitor visa seems much more straight forward and seems to be quicker to process, and we're quite confused about the "spouse settlement" visa.

Here's the situation:

My wife and I have been married for almost 2 years, and throughout this period, I have been the one that that's working, and my wife is a house wife, so she's not earning. In order for me to apply for a spouse settlement visa, is my wife required to be working in the UK, and does she need to show proof of income, or is that for another visa type? (dependent?)

Basically, neither of us have been to the UK for the past 1 year and 9 months, and as I mentioned, I'm working, and my wife isn't, so to apply for the spouse settlement visa, is it acceptable that I am working, and have sufficient savings to prove that we would not need to resort to public funds?

Please help!!

Thank you!

ElenaW · Post by **ElenaW** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:12 am

Your wife's earnings don't matter since you will be the sponsor. Your situation sounds fine but make sure you also have sufficient accommodation for both of you before she applies for a spouse visa.

Post by **John** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:38 am

ElenaW, the OP has posted "I am the husband of a British national". So it is clearly the wife who will be the sponsor.

Mohammad24 wrote:The reason is because a visitor visa seems much more straight forward and seems to be quicker to process, and we're quite confused about the "spouse settlement" visa.

It was for that reason that the Government of the time introduced a "no switching" rule as long ago as 01.04.03, effectively stopping visitor visas being switched to spouse visas in the UK, except in really exceptional circumstances.

The Government effectively got fed up with the sheer numbers of visitors to the UK making such applications in the UK, so blocked the route.

As regards the financial test it needs to be shown that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds. Can I ask, how much savings do you and your wife have? Also, assuming the spouse visa is granted, what sort of job would you hope to get in the UK? And any idea how much you m ight earn in the UK?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:57 am

John wrote:ElenaW, the OP has posted "I am the husband of a British national". So it is clearly the wife who will be the sponsor.

Mohammad24 wrote:The reason is because a visitor visa seems much more straight forward and seems to be quicker to process, and we're quite confused about the "spouse settlement" visa.
It was for that reason that the Government of the time introduced a "no switching" rule as long ago as 01.04.03, effectively stopping visitor visas being switched to spouse visas in the UK, except in really exceptional circumstances.

The Government effectively got fed up with the sheer numbers of visitors to the UK making such applications in the UK, so blocked the route.

As regards the financial test it needs to be shown that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds. Can I ask, how much savings do you and your wife have? Also, assuming the spouse visa is granted, what sort of job would you hope to get in the UK? And any idea how much you m ight earn in the UK?

Thank you for your replies.

Elena-John's right, it's my wife that's British.

John-I see, I never knew that was the case.

To answer your question, we have about 6k GBP at the moment, and I'm hoping to work as a SAP consultant (I'm a certified SAP consultant). A SAP consultant can earn between 50-80k GBP per annum-it all depends on where the job is. If it's in Birmingham, then it'll probably be around 45-65K, and if it's in London, then it'll probably range from 60-80k.

Most of my savings are in my bank account in my home country, although I also have savings in my bank account here in the Philippines, which is the account that my salary gets paid in to.

With regards to the savings in my home country bank account, will a bank statement be sufficient evidence of my savings?

Thank you for all your help.

Post by **John** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:08 am

With that level of potential earnings I would not expect you to have a problem getting the spouse visa. However, as regards the savings, those savings clearly need to be available, in order to prevent you needing to claim certain Public Funds.

Another aspect .... accommodation. Assuming the spouse visa is granted, on the family moving to the UK, where will you all live? What is the plan?

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:55 am

John wrote:With that level of potential earnings I would not expect you to have a problem getting the spouse visa. However, as regards the savings, those savings clearly need to be available, in order to prevent you needing to claim certain Public Funds.

Another aspect .... accommodation. Assuming the spouse visa is granted, on the family moving to the UK, where will you all live? What is the plan?

OK thank you, so am I correct in my understanding that it doesn't matter that my wife is the actual sponsor, but that it I who is actually earning, and not her?

Yes, those funds are available-they are in my personal account, and should we need to dip into the savings, we can easily arrange for the funds to be transferred-so is a bank statement sufficient evidence to show our savings?

With regards to accommodation-my brother in law has his own house, which he shares with his wife. They have an extra vacant bedroom in that house, which we would be able to use. They would be able to write a letter confirming that we could stay with them, and we can also get the mortgage statements to prove that the house belongs to them. Would this be sufficient? (it's just my wife and I, we don't have any children).

Thank you so much John!

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:02 pm

See:

MAA13 Adequacy of Accommodation

MAA14 Overcrowding

You will need evidence that your BIL owns the property, or has permission from the landlord for you to stay.

You also need evidence of the size of the property: for example, many people use their local council's propert survey service to satisfy this requirement (although there is loikely to be a fee).

Mohammad24 · Post by **Mohammad24** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:40 pm

Kitty wrote:See:

MAA13 Adequacy of Accommodation

MAA14 Overcrowding

You will need evidence that your BIL owns the property, or has permission from the landlord for you to stay.

You also need evidence of the size of the property: for example, many people use their local council's propert survey service to satisfy this requirement (although there is loikely to be a fee).

What evidence will be required from the landlord?

Will a tenancy agreement between us and the landlord be sufficient evidence for the accommodation criteria, or do we require further evidence?

Thank you for all your help, and sorry to come back to this so late!

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Spouse settlement visa

Spouse settlement visa