Completely confused about which form to use?

I am a British Citizen, married to an American citizen (for 7 years) and with a 6 month old baby (also American citizen). We have been living in USA since getting married, but now would like to relocate back to UK with the baby to be closer to family. I've been looking at the Border Agency and visa4UK websites, but am utterly confused about what sort of visa my husband needs to apply for and what form to use....? The online form seems to be different from the paper ones. Also, when it asks for "Sponsor" who should that be? And if my husband doesn't have a job lined up (he can't get the job without the visa) and I don't have a job, are we even able to come. We intend to live with my family and get jobs once there.

Any help would be much appreciated!

You don't use a form...you apply online, there is a PDF form for guidance but you still have to apply online since you live in the US. Apply Here: http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/

Paper Form here: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/resources/en/docs/1903073/vaf4a

The paper form is different from the online form.

You are your husbands sponsor and the only person who can sponsor him.

Here is a good place to start with a Spousal Visa: www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/spouse/

and some official guidance about Spousal visas:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/settlement/spouses & http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/maintenanceaccommodation

Also you may want to look into getting a UK passport for your child as you may not need to get a visa for them as they may already be a British Citizen. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/othernationality/Britishcitizenship/bornoverseas/ and you can find the information on how to apply for a UK passport from the US here: http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/how-to-apply.

And since you've been married for 7 years he may qualify for Indefinite Leave to Enter if he can visit the UK and pass the Life in the UK test or he can request what is called the 'KOL Req' stamp which will allow him to immediately convert his temporary residence to permanent once he arrives in the UK and passes the test. This is very important because the immigration laws are changing and this will not be possible in 2 years.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/partnersandchildren/husbandwifecivilpartner/

In some cases, we can give your husband, wife or civil partner permission to live permanently in the United Kingdom as soon as he/she arrives. To qualify for this, you must:

■have married or formed a civil partnership four years or more ago;
■have spent those four years living together outside the United Kingdom;
■now be returning to the United Kingdom to settle here together; and
■your spouse/partner must (unless aged 65 or over) have sufficient knowledge of the English language and about life in the United Kingdom.

You don't use a form...you apply online, there is a PDF form for guidance but you still have to apply online since you live in the US. Apply Here: http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/ [nofollow]

Paper Form here: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/resources/en/docs/1903073/vaf4a [nofollow]

The paper form is different from the online form.

You are your husbands sponsor and the only person who can sponsor him.

Here is a good place to start with a Spousal Visa: www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/spouse/ [nofollow]

and some official guidance about Spousal visas:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/settlement/spouses [nofollow] & http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/maintenanceaccommodation [nofollow]

Also you may want to look into getting a UK passport for your child as you may not need to get a visa for them as they may already be a British Citizen. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/othernationality/Britishcitizenship/bornoverseas/ [nofollow] and you can find the information on how to apply for a UK passport from the US here: http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/how-to-apply [nofollow] .

And since you've been married for 7 years he may qualify for Indefinite Leave to Enter if he can visit the UK and pass the Life in the UK test or he can request what is called the 'KOL Req' stamp which will allow him to immediately convert his temporary residence to permanent once he arrives in the UK and passes the test. This is very important because the immigration laws are changing and this will not be possible in 2 years.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/partnersandchildren/husbandwifecivilpartner/ [nofollow]

Hi there I am knew to this forum, just very quickly , can you tell me how this law is to change in 2 years, Many Thanks,

Boodles

Hi there I am knew to this forum, just very quickly , can you tell me how this law is to change in 2 years, Many Thanks,

Boodles

Sure,  ILE/ILR is going away completely in July 2011 to be replaced by Probationary Citizenship as part of the new Earned Citizenship portion of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill that is currently awaiting Royal Assent. What that means is that if a person does not have ILR/ILE by the implementation date they will have to go through the new requirements and potentially have their temporary status (rather than having a permanent residence status with ILR/ILE) extended and this could end up being a total of 5 years in temporary status rather than the 2 years before you can get ILR.

This also means that said person would have to potentially qualify for citizenship on a Points Based System akin to those who apply under the Tier 1-5 visas. What this will look like exactly we do not know. We only know it is going to make the immigration & citizenship that much more difficult and expensive in the future.

Thank you WebyJ, first of all I want to apologize for the manner of my question I did not mean to be so abrupt; I was in a great hurry, as I had something to attend to briefly.

I am a British citizen, my husband is American, we want to retire back home and just as soon as we can get our finaces in order, I will sponser him. There are just to two of us, no children, pets etc to complicate things. And ,after reading all the hoops some people on this forum have to go through to live in the UK I am grateful my situation will be fairly straight forward.  At least that is under the present system, so, correct me if I am wrong, all that will change is that if my husband wants British citizenship he will have to wait much longer after 2011?

Thank you

Boodles

A couple of questions so I can get this right.

How long have you been married and where have you been living during the time of your marriage?

Generally speaking under the current rules in order for someone to get British Citizenship as a spouse of a British Citizen you must meet 2 qualifications -

1. Be in possession of ILR or ILE (Indefinite Leave to Remain or Indefinite Leave to Enter which requires the possession of the Life in the UK test certificate).
AND
2. Meet the 3 year residence requirement with no more than 270 days out of country during those 3 years.

Once July 2011 rolls around the ILR/ILE will not be issued after that date. However, all those that posses ILR/ILE will have until July 2013 to Naturalize as a British Citizen under the current conditions that I listed above.

So, if you & your husband have been married for 4 or more years and living together outside the UK for that period of time, he can visit the UK, take the LiUK test and then apply directly for ILE arrive in the UK no later than 29 June 2010 spend 3 years residence in the UK and then be able to qualify for British Citizenship on 30 June 2013 - the day before the proposed changes are set to take place.

However, if you've been married less than 4 years, he must get a normal spousal visa, enter and live in the UK for 2 years as your spouse in order to qualify for ILR, which means that you're already too late since even if you got the visa next month he still would not meet the 2 year residence requirement before July 2011. He would then be subject to the 'Earned Citizenship' provisions of the BCI and that could add an extra 2 years to the process totaling 5 years to Citizenship. Even then, he would still need enough 'Points' to see if he was worthy to become a British Citizen.

Kinda long winded but I hope that answers your question.

WebyJ-

My spouse visa was approved June 09, but I entered the UK on July 7, 09. I'm guessing the date I entered the UK is when my residency began. I heard the laws were changing, but had no idea how close to the cut off I was.

I'm sure these new changes are on-line somewhere- Where should I go to find out if I will make the cut off to get ILR/citizenship under the current laws?   

Is there anything I can do to make sure I get in under the current system?

You will be eligible to apply for ILR on June 9 2010 (28 days before the 2 year anniversary of your ENTRY into the UK). I would suggest an in person application at a PEO office nearest you which can usually be guaranteed same day processing. It will cost you an extra £200, however the extra potential costs if you decide to wait and then happen to fall under the new rules could be MUCH more time consuming and expensive.

Here's the page on the ILR application and the processes: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/settlement/applicationtypes/applicationformset(m)/ . I would start studying now for your LiUK test as you can take it at anytime and the pass certificate never expires, but you MUST have it to apply for ILR.