Which visa type to apply for?

Hi. My wife and I are uncertain about which sort of visa path to pursue for me. Here are our particulars:

Me: a US citizen. Sort-of-retired, but expect I will work more in the years ahead. Married over 22 years to my lovely…

Wife: a UK citizen, also sort-of-retired. Came to the US with her parents as a child, and has a green card (permanent US residency) from a period when the US actually encouraged immigration.   

Her parents: moved back to the UK and are now in declining health. We want to move to be closer to them as well as to our …

Son: 18 years old, studying at a university in England. Got his UK passport a couple of years ago, now a dual US-UK citizen.

So my wife and I want to move (together) to England this year but are finding it much harder to figure out the immigration rules than we did the rules for getting our son’s UK passport. We expect to stay in England at least several years, and probably permanently.

I had initially, naively, thought I would be able to enter the UK on a tourist visa (or more accurately, as a tourist from the US, without a visa), then convert to some longer-term visa or apply for a residence card, as outlined on the gov.uk website:
“Apply to remain in the UK with family” https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family
“Apply for a UK residence card” https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card

However, from reading posts on this message board, it seems like these might be the wrong path to take, though I haven’t been able to wade through the official government rules to understand why exactly.

On the other hand, my wife isn’t currently living in the UK, so it doesn’t seem as though I should “Apply to join family living permanently in the UK” https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk
But I guess maybe this IS how I need to apply?

Much gratitude if anyone can clarify this first step for us!

Welcome to the forum .

For the record, your son has been a dual-UK/US citizen since he was born... so it was very simple for him - he just needed to apply for a UK passport and get on a plane.

However, you will need to qualify for a visa to live in the UK because you are not a dual citizen.

The first link you posted is indeed the wrong visa - it is an extension visa and it clearly states on the eligibility page for it that you cannot apply as a visitor in the UK - you must already be legally living in the UK on a different type of visa to qualify (I.e. a work visa, student visa or a fiancé/spousal visa). A visitor visa does not allow you to legally live in the UK so you cannot apply as a visitor.

So, you must apply for the 'Join family living permanently in the UK' visa, otherwise known as a Spousal Visa. It is a little misleading because it doesn't mean your wife actually has to be living in the UK when you apply - but she must have the right to live permanently in the UK (I.e. Hold UK citizenship) and must be moving back to the UK either before you or at the same time as you.

She will need to meet the UK income requirement though, either by way of:

- having a UK job offer paying at least £18,600 per year AND having earned at least £18,600 in the US in the last 12 months
OR
- between you, you have at least £62,500 in savings
OR
- between you, you have at least £18,600 per year in either non-employment income or pension income.

Have a read through the 'Join Family Living in the UK' link for more information


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Thank you so much for the clear explanation, ksand24. This forum is a real treasure!

We had been studying the various web pages and documents and now with your explanation I finally get the relationship between

• “Apply to join family living permanently in the UK”  https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk  and
• "Apply to remain in the UK with family” https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family 

This second one would guide me if I were applying to extend a visa received from the first one. (Or could I still be missing something??)

Probably I don't need to worry about this, but can anyone explain if the following would ever be relevant to me?

• "Apply for a UK residence card" https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card 

We thought at first that a UK residence card might be analogous to the US Green Card, and noticed that it's much cheaper to apply for than a spousal visa, but now I'm assuming it's something quite different.

A little off topic, but your wife should consider getting US citizenship before you make a move.  If not and at some point you do decide to return to the US you'll have to go through the visa/green card process all over again.

Thank you so much for the clear explanation, ksand24. This forum is a real treasure!

We had been studying the various web pages and documents and now with your explanation I finally get the relationship between

• “Apply to join family living permanently in the UK”  https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk  and
• "Apply to remain in the UK with family” https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family 

This second one would guide me if I were applying to extend a visa received from the first one. (Or could I still be missing something??)

Correct.

Probably I don't need to worry about this, but can anyone explain if the following would ever be relevant to me?

• "Apply for a UK residence card" https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card 

We thought at first that a UK residence card might be analogous to the US Green Card, and noticed that it's much cheaper to apply for than a spousal visa, but now I'm assuming it's something quite different.

No, it's not relevant to you.  This is for the non-EU spouses of EU citizens other than UK citizens.

Thank you so much for the clear explanation, ksand24. This forum is a real treasure!

We had been studying the various web pages and documents and now with your explanation I finally get the relationship between

• “Apply to join family living permanently in the UK”  https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk  and
• "Apply to remain in the UK with family” https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family 

This second one would guide me if I were applying to extend a visa received from the first one. (Or could I still be missing something??)

Yes, that's correct. The key words here are JOIN and REMAIN.

- Your first visa will be a spousal visa (Apply to JOIN family living permanently in the UK), which will be valid for 2 years and 9 months and can only be applied for outside the UK
- Your second visa, after 2.5 years, will be an FLR(M) extension visa (Apply to REMAIN in the UK with family), which is valid 2.5 years and can only be applied for inside the UK if you are already living there
- Your third visa, after 5 years in the UK will be ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), also known as Settlement/Permanent Residence.

Probably I don't need to worry about this, but can anyone explain if the following would ever be relevant to me?

• "Apply for a UK residence card" https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card 

We thought at first that a UK residence card might be analogous to the US Green Card, and noticed that it's much cheaper to apply for than a spousal visa, but now I'm assuming it's something quite different.

Nope, that does not apply to you.

The residence card is not a visa and is for family members of EEA citizens living in the UK only. It is issued under EEA immigration rules, not UK immigration rules. Someone holding one of these EEA residence cards has the automatic right to live and work in the UK without a visa, based on their EEA citizen spouse exercising their EEA Treaty Rights in the UK.

As your wife is a UK citizen (and not an EEA citizen from another country), you cannot qualify for an EEA Residence Card... and with Brexit looming, the EEA residence card may end up becoming obsolete in the UK anyway.