Work Visa for spouse of non-working (new) citizen?

My wife is in the process of getting her UK citizenship since her mother was born in England. My wife does not work and I support the family, so I'm wondering if there is any advantage to being married to a citizen when it comes to work? I've found a lot of resources on new citizens finding work or people moving to the UK with no connections and needing an offer of employment, but not anything that specifically mentions my situation. I understand I may fit into the category of simply needing an offer of employment, but was hoping my wife's citizenship might give me at least *some* advantage? Anyone have any info that might pertain to this scenario? Thanks for any help.

If your wife is a UK citizen and you wish to move to the UK together, you may be able to qualify for a UK spousal visa. This visa would allow you to work in the UK without needing a work visa, based on your marriage to a UK citizen.

However, you would have to meet the strict financial requirements in order to qualify for it - and most of the financial requirement is based on your wife's income that she is or will be earning IN the UK.

Your current US or future UK income cannot be considered towards the financial requirements unless you have a visa that gives you permission to work in the UK (either a spousal visa or a work visa).

There are several ways to meet the financial requirement for a spousal visa:

Category A: Current UK Employment - more than 6 months
Your wife has been working in the UK, earning a minimum salary of £18,600 per year (approx. $31,000) for at least 6 months.

Category B: Current UK Employment - less than 6 months
Your wife has been earning a minimum salary of £18,600 in the UK for less than 6 months AND she has also earned at least £18,600 in the previous 12 months before applying for the visa.
or
Your wife has a guaranteed job offer in the UK earning at least £18,600 and starting within 3 months of you moving to the UK together AND she has also earned at least £18,600 in the US in the previous 12 months before applying for the visa

Category C: Non-employment income
Either you or your wife have current non-employment income totalling £18,600 per more per year, you have been receiving it for at least 12 months, and it will continue while you are in the UK. For example, rent from property you own, income from dividends, stocks and shares, interest from savings etc.,

Category D: Cash Savings
If your wife is not/will not be working in the UK, you need to have £62,500 (approx. $100,000) in cash savings to meet the requirement, and the entire amount must have been held in your personal bank account(s) for at least 6 months before you can apply for the visa.

Category E: Pension
Pensions received by you or your wife for at least 28 days and totalling at least £18,600 per year

Category F and G: Self-Employment Income
Your wife is self-employed and has earned an average of either £18,600 in the last financial year (Category F) or last 2 financial years (Category G).

_________________________________________________ ___

If you can't meet any of these Category requirements, then basically your only option to move to the UK would be to qualify for a skilled work visa.

Then, you could work in the UK (but your visa would be tied to that specific job) and once you could meet one of the spousal visa financial requirements with your UK income, you could apply to switch to a spousal visa from inside the UK.

Work visas unfortunately can be extremely difficult to qualify for.

The company would have to prove that either the job was listed on the Tier 2 Skills Shortage List or that they had advertised the job across the UK and EU for a certain length of time and found no suitable applicants, before they could hire you... and with 500 million people in the EU and unemployment still high, it would have to be a very highly skilled or unusual job in order for there to be no one at all, except you, qualified to do it.

Alternatively, if you work for a US company with offices in the UK, you may be able to transfer on an Intra-Company Transfer work visa - but there are specific requirements for that too (length of service, your position within the company etc.).

See here for more information about spousal visas:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/
and work visas:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier2/general/
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier2/ict/

If you have children, they may qualify for UK citizenship, but they may not.  If they do not qualify, the financial requirements will increase.

I read the original post to mean that the poster is a UK citizen and his wife is getting UK citizenship via her mother. Are you asking if her having citizenship will benefit YOU getting a job in the UK? No. If she wasn't getting citizenship and you found a job in the UK, you would be responsible for sponsoring her visa, not the company. If you're both UK citizens, you shouldn't need an offer of employment to move to the UK. If you needed to sponsor your wife's visa, then that's totally different and you would have to meet the various financial requirements listed by Ksand24.

I read the original post to mean that the poster is a UK citizen and his wife is getting UK citizenship via her mother.

Ahh, now I'm confused.

I read it that:

- the wife is a UK citizen through her mother.

- the husband is a not a UK citizen.

As the topic is titled: Work visa for Spouse of new UK Citizen, I assumed that he is asking if his wife's newly acquired UK citizenship will help HIM get a job in the UK as a non-UK citizen, or if he will have to get a work visa to move there.

But now looking at it again, perhaps I read it wrong and he is saying that they are now both UK citizens.

justerson:

Both UK citizens
If both you and your wife are UK citizens, then you just need to make sure you both have valid UK passports and you can move to the UK whenever you want without having to do anything at all. You can just get on a plane and move. You don't need jobs lined up, or visas, or anything.

Only one of you is a UK citizen
If only one of you is a UK citizen, then to move to the UK the non-UK citizen would either need to qualify for a spousal visa, meeting the income requirements I posted above (only the UK citizen's employment income will count), or if they can't they will need a work visa.

Ahh, now I'm confused.

I read it that:

- the wife is a UK citizen through her mother.

- the husband is a not a UK citizen.

As the topic is titled: Work visa for Spouse of new UK Citizen, I assumed that he is asking if his wife's newly acquired UK citizenship will help HIM get a job in the UK as a non-UK citizen, or if he will have to get a work visa to move there.

But now looking at it again, perhaps I read it wrong and he is saying that they are now both UK citizens.

justerson:

Both UK citizens
If both you and your wife are UK citizens, then you just need to make sure you both have valid UK passports and you can move to the UK whenever you want without having to do anything at all. You can just get on a plane and move. You don't need jobs lined up, or visas, or anything.

Only one of you is a UK citizen
If only one of you is a UK citizen, then to move to the UK the non-UK citizen would either need to qualify for a spousal visa, meeting the income requirements I posted above (only the UK citizen's employment income will count), or if they can't they will need a work visa.

Ah! Maybe I'm the one who's confused! Regardless, I think KSand spelled out what you need to do here.

Sorry to confuse, but ksand24 got it right. I can see how it could be taken either way. My wife and I are both born and raised in the US and her mother was the only one who had British citizenship. My wife is eligible for citizenship by descent (even though my mother-in-law renounced her citizenship in the 60's). I am the one looking for work as I am in IT and she has been a stay at home mom (hard work, but no £18,600 salary involved). Thanks for the replies and the first post by ksand24 is very informative. This is exactly the information I was looking for, even though not hoping for

I am the one looking for work as I am in IT and she has been a stay at home mom (hard work, but no £18,600 salary involved). Thanks for the replies and the first post by ksand24 is very informative. This is exactly the information I was looking for, even though not hoping for

No problem .

If you have kids then, they will not be UK citizens (as you can only pass UK citizenship down to one generation abroad - and that generation was your wife) and so this changes the amount of money you will need for a spousal visa. You will also need to get visas for your child(ren)

Going the spousal visa route (each visa is £851), if you have one child, then the amount you need to show is:

- a UK job paying £22,400 per year
or
- savings of £72,000
(the amount savings required is calculated as £16,000 + (2.5 x income requirement))

For every extra child, the amount of income goes up by £2,400, so if you have 2 children, it's a UK income of £24,800 or savings of £78,000. With 3 children, it's a UK income of £27,200 or savings of £84,000.

If you were to get a work visa, you would need to also get dependent visas for your child(ren), which would be tied to your work visa, and then once you were able to qualify for a spousal visa (when you had earned the minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months), you would also need to apply for a family dependent visa for each child as well.

If you were to get a work visa, you would need to also get dependent visas for your child(ren), which would be tied to your work visa, and then once you were able to qualify for a spousal visa (when you had earned the minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months), you would also need to apply for a family dependent visa for each child as well.

So now I'm confused. I got the point that my non-working, newly-UK-citizen-by-descent-wife won't benefit my job hunting possibilities (that's a mouthful), but the dependent visa is a new one to me. I also got the added financial burden of having a child in the mix. What I don't get is the reference to "when you had earned the minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months" that you mentioned. If my wife is a citizen and I am sponsored (with the dependent visa attached to that sponsorship), what is the "minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months"? I guess I thought that my wife gets citizenship and I get a job/work visa and kiddo comes along for the ride. What other income requirements do I have to meet?

So now I'm confused. I got the point that my non-working, newly-UK-citizen-by-descent-wife won't benefit my job hunting possibilities (that's a mouthful), but the dependent visa is a new one to me. I also got the added financial burden of having a child in the mix. What I don't get is the reference to "when you had earned the minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months" that you mentioned. If my wife is a citizen and I am sponsored (with the dependent visa attached to that sponsorship), what is the "minimum requirement in the UK for 6 months"? I guess I thought that my wife gets citizenship and I get a job/work visa and kiddo comes along for the ride. What other income requirements do I have to meet?

Okay, I'm talking about two different types of visas here: spousal visa and work visa.

Which one you can qualify for depends on your wife's income situation.

Also, whichever visa you can qualify for, your children will also need visas to move to the UK because they are not UK citizens.

Your ideal option would be a 'spouse of a UK citizen' visa for you and 'child dependent of a UK citizen' visas for your children. However, in order to qualify for these visas from the US, your wife has to meet a minimum income requirement:

- Your wife must have a guaranteed job offer in the UK paying at least the amount I stated above (£22,400 if you have one child, £24,800 if you have two children etc.) and starting within 3 months of arriving in the UK AND she must have earned at least this amount in the US in the last 12 months before applying.

As she has not been working, you cannot apply for a spousal visa/child dependant visas from the US, because you cannot meet the minimum income requirement.

However, if you were to get yourself a work visa for the UK, you could move to the UK on that work visa (and your children would also need 'child dependant of a work visa holder' visas as they can't qualify for family visas due to the income requirement).

Then once you had been working in the UK for 6 months, earning the minimum salary that your wife can't meet, you could use YOUR income in the UK to meet the spousal visa income and then you and your children could switch to the spousal/family visa category from the work visa category from inside the UK.

That's where the working for 6 months comes in - it's a means of qualifying for the spousal visa using YOUR UK income, not your wife's income (as your income can be used if you have permission to work in the UK)... but it involves you getting a work visa first, working in the UK for 6 months, and then switching to a spousal visa. It's essentially a last resort if you cannot get a spousal visa, but you can get work visa sponsorship.

So, your visa journey would look like this:

- Qualify for a work visa by being sponsored by a UK company

- Apply for a work visa for yourself plus dependant child work visas for your children (as long as the company will sponsor them all)

- Move to the UK on the work visa/dependant work visas, along with your wife (who doesn't need a visa)

- If your UK job pays at least the required income for the spousal visa (£22,400 with one child, £24,800 with two children etc.), you can work in your UK job for at least 6 months and then switch to a spousal visa and child dependent family visas (these visas are called FLR(M) if you apply from inside the UK) once you meet the income requirement.

- Then you can live in the UK for the next few years on the family visas, not the work visas. This way your visas would now be tied to your wife's UK citizenship, not your job.

Requirements for a spousal visa/child dependant family visas are here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/can-you-apply/

Requirements for a work visa/child dependant work visas are here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier2/general/eligibility/

Thanks ksand24, your information is very helpful. I understand now what you were saying about 6 months of income. This, however, opens up more questions:

• If I move to the UK and continue working for a US company (being paid in US dollars), do I need a work visa or any other type of visa just to be allowed to work while in the UK, and how would sponsorship work in that case?
• If it is possible to work for a US company while living in the UK, would the money that I make working for that US company apply toward the income requirements for qualification for a spousal visa? What I mean is that if I move to the UK with my wife and work remotely for a US company and make $100k US annually, the 6 months of salary ($50k US) is well above the income requirements you mentioned previously.
• If all that is possible, then theoretically after 6 months of working remotely for a US company (and I applied for and received the spousal visa) then I would be free to work for whomever would hire me in the UK without needing sponsorship?

I know this is a long shot and is definitely not an ideal situation as the dollar to pound conversion would make my income feel a lot lower than I am used to, but if it was only for the initial 6 months it might make things bearable in the long run.

Thanks again for all of the helpful information- I'm getting a clearer picture of what the visa requirements are in my situation.

You need a Tier 2 visa to work in the UK.  (If you don't qualify for any other visa which allows you to work) A US company can't sponsor you to work remotely.  You need to be sponsored by a UK employer.

• If I move to the UK and continue working for a US company (being paid in US dollars), do I need a work visa or any other type of visa just to be allowed to work while in the UK, and how would sponsorship work in that case?

You can't move to the UK until you have a visa that allows you to work and you can't qualify for a 'work visa' to work remotely for a US company because a US company cannot sponsor you.

The only way to continue working for a US company while in the UK is either:

a) Move to the UK on a spousal visa (but you can't because your wife doesn't meet the income requirement)

b) Get transferred to a UK branch of your US company on a Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer work visa and have the UK branch sponsor you. But there are certain job position, job role and salary requirements you have to meet for this - you can't just decide you want to work for the UK branch and move.

• If it is possible to work for a US company while living in the UK, would the money that I make working for that US company apply toward the income requirements for qualification for a spousal visa? What I mean is that if I move to the UK with my wife and work remotely for a US company and make $100k US annually, the 6 months of salary ($50k US) is well above the income requirements you mentioned previously.

It could count if you had the spousal visa alread- for example, if you could qualify for the spousal visa from the US using your wife's income, then your UK income can be used for the next visa after 2.5 years -  or if you were already in the UK on a student visa and were doing part-time work for your old US company.

But you can't get a work visa unless you are employed by a UK company.

• If all that is possible, then theoretically after 6 months of working remotely for a US company (and I applied for and received the spousal visa) then I would be free to work for whomever would hire me in the UK without needing sponsorship?

Once you have a spousal visa, then yes, you can work for any company (hence the reason I suggested switching to a spousal visa after working in the UK for 6 months).

But unless you have a spousal visa, you cannot move to the UK to work without getting sponsored for a work visa.