Spouse to Student Visa

Hi, I am due to get married to my US fiancée in August (COVID permitting!). She is then due to start a two-year Masters course in the UK in September.  Owing to the short turnaround, she was planning to apply for the student visa, and then she would switch to the spouse visa once we had settled down in the UK.

I’ve read over the rules and it appears that this is not forbidden. However, might it look a little fishy?  Also, how long would you recommend waiting before submitting the application to switch? We’d ideally like to start clocking up the 5 years ASAP.

If you can prove your relationship is genuine and subsisted before she moved to the UK, it won't look fishy at all. She can apply to switch to the FLR(M) spousal visa at any time after arriving in the UK on her student visa.

The only time it can look fishy is if she is single when she moves to the UK, then suddenly meets someone, gets married and applies to switch to the spousal visa right before her student visa expires... because that can look like she is only marrying for a visa and can arouse suspicion that the relationship is a fraud.

In your case though, you are already in a relationship and will (hopefully) already be married when she moves to the UK... and she will have a genuine reason for applying for the student visa first instead of applying for a spousal visa (the short turnaround time).

So, you shouldn't have anything to worry about and can just apply to switch her visa to FLR(M) as soon as you are ready.

Any particular reason you aren’t choosing the spouse visa over the Tier 4?

Any particular reason you aren’t choosing the spouse visa over the Tier 4?

They mention above that her UK masters degree starts in September.

So, I understood it that they are going for the Tier 4 because if they are marrying in August, there won’t be enough time for her to apply for and receive the spousal visa before she has to be in the UK to start her degree course


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