Spouse Visa Application Question

Hello Everyone,
Just putting the finishing touches on my family visa to remain in the UK with my wife. I have completed everything up to the last section which is entitled, "Documents." There is one last question which states, "Do you have any other reasons for wanting to stay in the UK?"

Is this where you can put personal statements or desires for wanting to remain in the UK? Also, I am applying for PhD programs in both the US and UK, and am waiting for responses from the schools. If I get accepted to Oxford for doctoral studies, we will stay in the UK. Do I need to declare here that I am also applying fro school, but emphasize it is not my sole reason for applying to stay in the UK? Thanks!

Your use of the phrase "remain in the Uk" confused me, so I had to go look at your previous posts to sort out your story... you are Mr. anne.batman, the US husband who met his now-wife while on a Tier 4, which is expiring 'soon'.  Now you are applying for your first FLR(M) to remain here after your Tier 4 runs out.  Correct?

It really helps us if you keep questions in the same thread, so we understand your situation and know what advice you've already been given.

Specifically to answer your question, they're really looking for reasons you couldn't live in the US or another country (persecution, war, etc.), or reasons why you need to live in the UK, specifically (such as having a British child here).  If your application would fall to rejection on the basis of your sponsor's eligibility to sponsor you (such as not meeting the income requirement) UKVI could consider permitting you to stay under EU human rights grounds.

Your anticipated doctoral studies will not have any bearing on UKVI's consideration of your application.  You can put a personal statement in this space, but the types of things that would be relevant are fairly extreme.  I always left the box blank in my applications.

Edited to add:  As I'm sure you're aware, you should not submit or pay for your application until you are absolutely sure you are ready and you have every bit of your evidence already in hand.

Hello

Thank you for your reply and apologies for not adding this question to the original thread. I really appreciate the time and effort that you are taking to help me and my wife out.

Another question that came to mind was this one:

- We both now meet a the joint mutual income requirement and have earned over 18,500 in the past 12 months. That being said we do not have 12 months of payslips. We have 10. Would this have any bearing on the application so long as the requirement is met?

- We both now meet a the joint mutual income requirement and have earned over 18,500 in the past 12 months. That being said we do not have 12 months of payslips. We have 10. Would this have any bearing on the application so long as the requirement is met?

Just to note, the income requirement is £18,600, not £18,500 - in some cases, that £100 can be the difference between qualifying for the visa or not (I.e. you will qualify for the visa if you have earned £18,600, but your visa will be refused if you have only earned £18,550), so just wanted to make sure you were aware of it.

You do not need to have 12 full months of payslips if you have not been working for the entire 12 months. If you only worked for 10 months, then you will only have 10 months of payslips - the only thing that matters is that all the payslips added together come to £18,600 or more before tax.

For example, you might have been employed for 2 months and earned £8,000 between you, then unemployed for 3 months, then employed for 4 months and earned £4,000 between you, then unemployed for 1 month, then employed for 2 months and earned £7,000 between you. So, that would be £19,000 earned in the last 12 months, but only 8 months of actual employment. As long as you meet the £18,600 earned in the last 12 months, then it doesn't matter if you earned it all in the space, say 1 month or all 12 months.

So, you would provide all 10 months of payslips and then a full 12 months of bank statements from each of you.

Great. That's good to know.

We have earned over 18,600 so all is well in that department.

Is there anything else I need to know about the paperwork side of things? Would there be any reason for them not accepting paperwork? i.e. because of the way it has been printed.

Also will the fact that we only married in July 2019 affect the visa approval at all?

Also will the fact that we only married in July 2019 affect the visa approval at all?

No, not at all.

"Consent for the Home Office to request verification checks for joint accounts or third party support

Is the account with a bank or utility company for which you have supplied information and supporting documentation held jointly by you and other people? (Required)

Yes
 

No
Each of those others should download, sign and return the following declaration:

Declaration of third party consent for joint bank or utility account holders

You should download and print this declaration now. A copy will also be available to download once you have paid for your application.


I will provide a declaration signed by each of the other joint customers on an account with a bank or utility company

Does the account with the bank or utility company for which you have supplied information and supporting documentation relate to another person who is to provide you financial support?"

Can Anyone Explain this part of the application? Thank you!

If your sponsor (or anyone else) is jointly-named with you on any bank statements or utility bills that you are providing, then they must sign the relevant declaration.

If you are receiving third party financial support and that person is named on any statements you are providing, then they also have to sign the relevant declaration. However, you are not allowed to use third party support, so this one should not apply to you.


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Great. I love this forum. People are amazing Thank you so much.

One final question. The application is submitted and it is all paid. As my man's student visa expires February 01st, now that we have applied and he should be able to stay here until we have an answer (under section 3c?), does the biometric and scanning appointment date have any bearing on him being able to extend his stay?

Great. I love this forum. People are amazing Thank you so much.

One final question. The application is submitted and it is all paid. As my man's student visa expires February 01st, now that we have applied and he should be able to stay here until we have an answer (under section 3c?), does the biometric and scanning appointment date have any bearing on him being able to extend his stay?

Nope - the only date that matters is his official application date, which is the date he submits the online application and pays for the visa.

As long as he submits the online application before February 1st, it doesn't matter when the biometrics appointment is - if his Tier 4 visa expires before the FLR(M) has been issued (or even before he has attended biometrics), it will simply be extended under 3C leave until the FLR(M) has been processed (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/3c-and-3d-leave)

As long as he submits the online application before February 1st, it doesn't matter when the biometrics appointment is - if his Tier 4 visa expires before the FLR(M) has been issued (or even before he has attended biometrics), it will simply be extended under 3C leave until the FLR(M) has been processed (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/3c-and-3d-leave)

Thank you for this information. Sorry for being offline, but I have another question. So as an update, I have submitted my application and attended my Biometrics appointment with Sopra Steria. They uploaded everything and said I will receive a decision anytime between now and three months from now.

With regard to work, I know my current leave is extended. Am I okay to apply for new jobs whilst I await a decision, or do I have to remain at my current employment? Also my current employment asked for documents to prove Right to work and that my leave was extended. I never received any official letter from HO, but do have printouts of all email sent to me and the application proving I filed it and paid the fees. What are they looking for specifically?

Many thanks!

Thank you for this information. Sorry for being offline, but I have another question. So as an update, I have submitted my application and attended my Biometrics appointment with Sopra Steria. They uploaded everything and said I will receive a decision anytime between now and three months from now.

That's great . Fingers crossed it won't take too long, though the processing time should be no more than 8 weeks, so not sure why they said 3 months (that goes against their processing standards).

With regard to work, I know my current leave is extended. Am I okay to apply for new jobs whilst I await a decision, or do I have to remain at my current employment?

Are you using your current employment income to meet the financial requirement?

If you are using your income for the visa, then you should not leave your job until after the visa has been granted, because if you leave the job before you get the visa, you will no longer meet the financial requirement... and  if UKVI find out that you are no longer employed there, they can refuse the visa.

But if you are not using your income for the visa requirements, then you should be fine to leave the job and find a new one. However, you may find that employers won't want to hire you while you have a visa application pending, because they cannot be sure that the visa will be granted and you will be able to continue working in 2-3 months time.

Also my current employment asked for documents to prove Right to work and that my leave was extended. I never received any official letter from HO, but do have printouts of all email sent to me and the application proving I filed it and paid the fees. What are they looking for specifically?

If your current employer wants to check your right to work, this can be done online, but you need to give them a 'share code' so they can do so.
See here:
https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work (how you can prove your right to work)
and
https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work (how the employer can check your right to work)

Good to know. I didn't know getting a new job would invalidate the financial requirement, since I am using my employment for the visa.

Hopefully it won't take long, the assistant at Sopra Steria told me up to three months because there has been a significant surge of applications due to the Brexit situation. More people are going to get documents and immigration statuses adjusted/updated now. So thats understandable. Still a much shorter time than the US visa application!

Good to know. I didn't know getting a new job would invalidate the financial requirement, since I am using my employment for the visa.

Yeah, basically, while you have to show you meet the financial requirement at the time of application, you also need to be able to meet the financial requirement on the day the visa is issued as well, because they may check that you still qualify for the visa at that time.

For example, say you were applying for the first spousal visa from the US and your UK sponsor left their job before the visa was processed. When you then flew to the UK with the visa, the immigration officer (IO) should check that the visa was obtained legally and that nothing about your situation has changed since the application was submitted. If they find out that your sponsor no longer holds the job they relied on to meet the requirement, the IO has the right to cancel your visa and send you back to the US, based on the fact that you no longer meet the requirements for a spousal visa.

Hopefully it won't take long, the assistant at Sopra Steria told me up to three months because there has been a significant surge of applications due to the Brexit situation. More people are going to get documents and immigration statuses adjusted/updated now. So thats understandable. Still a much shorter time than the US visa application!

That’s interesting, because I don’t think the volume of EEA applications should affect the non-EEA visa application processing times... since I believe they are processed by different departments.

Also, since the mandated processing standards time for FLR(M) is 8 weeks, they are not supposed to go over that. Even with all the Brexit stuff going on and extra EEA applications since 2016, I don’t think FLR(M) processing times have gone over 8 weeks in a few years now - they’ve been steady at 8 weeks or less for a long time now.

If anything, we have seen faster FLR(M) processing times than normal lately - I think some people recently have received theirs in 4 weeks or less.


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