Moving back to UK - confused on Visa.

I'm a UK citizen and my wife is American.   I moved  to the US back in Dec 2016 and we've been happily living in Vermont.

My mums health is declining and so we're looking to move back to the UK.

I understand we will need to apply for a Spouse Visa but we're a little confused as on the UK immigration  site it says we can apply from either inside or outside the UK.

Does that mean we could move back to the UK  (assuming I get a job offer with pay over the £18k (?) requirement and then we start the application for a spouse visa once we are in the UK or do we need to do that before we fly back?

I'm sure one of the super users here will be along with an amazing list of the whole process, but to answer your specific question, you will need to apply from outside the UK if you want to come back based on being a married couple. The inside the UK applications only apply if your wife is already in the UK on another visa, and actually, I don't think you can change to a family based visa within the UK anyway, the guidance tries to cover all types of visas, which can be confusing. 

You'll need to come back to the UK and have a job paying the minimum for at least 6 months before your wife can come, unless you have enough savings (which I think might be about £65,000). Again, someone else will come along very shortly with all the gory details, but that is the gist of it.

You've probably already seen this, but here you go:
https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

No, you need to get the visa before she leaves the US.

She cannot switch from a visitor visa to any other kind of visa from inside the UK... so if she tried to apply from inside the UK, it would be an automatic refusal.

From the UKVI website:

When you can’t get a family visa

In some circumstances you can’t apply for, or switch to, a family visa.

You have a visitor visa or a visa for 6 months or less

You’ll usually need to leave the UK to apply for a family visa if either:

-you have permission to be in the UK as a visitor
-your visa is for 6 months or less

However, you might be able to switch to a family visa in the UK if you have either:

-a 6-month family visa as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner
-permission to stay in the UK for the outcome of a family court case or divorce


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Ok so we should look at applying for the spouse visa first then while we are in the US.

I'm working now and earning over the minimum UK limit so I thought as long as I had a written job offer from a UK listing my salary there would be no 6mth requirement?

Ok so we should look at applying for the spouse visa first then while we are in the US.

Yes . It’s the only way you can do it - she needs the visa first before moving to the U.K.

I’m working now and earning over the minimum UK limit so I thought as long as I had a written job offer from a UK listing my salary there would be no 6mth requirement?

Sort of.

If you are moving back to the UK from overseas, you can meet the requirement in the following ways:

Category A:
- you are currently employed in the US on the date of application and have been employed by your US company, earning at least £18,600 for at least 6 months
AND
- you have a UK job offer paying at least £18,600 and starting within 3 months of returning

OR


Category B:
- you are not currently employed in the US on the date of application but you have earned at least £18,600 in the US in the last 12 months
AND
- you have a UK job offer paying at least £18,600 and starting within 3 months of returning

For Category A you need:
- 6 months of US payslips
- 6 months of US bank statements
- letter from current US employer
AND
- job offer letter/signed contract for new U.K. job

For Category B you need:
- 12 months of US payslips
- 12 months of US bank statements
AND
- job offer letter/signed contract for new U.K. job


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That's great as I would fall under Category A as I've been working for the same company now for 7-mths and earning over the US equivalent - I've kept my payslips just in-case I needed them for my W2.

We have a dog - so I'm suggesting to my wife that she might come over by boat  ie. New York to Southampton as no limit on luggage!

That's great as I would fall under Category A as I've been working for the same company now for 7-mths and earning over the US equivalent - I've kept my payslips just in-case I needed them for my W2.

Great . You just need to make sure you don’t leave the job before she gets the visa .

We have a dog - so I'm suggesting to my wife that she might come over by boat  ie. New York to Southampton as no limit on luggage!

While that’s one way to do it, there are a couple of problems with it:

1) I believe the QE2 gets fully booked up at least a year in advance
AND
2) she will only have 30 days to enter the UK once the visa is granted and you won’t know when those 30 days will be (you can request a certain start date but it may not be granted for that date) and you can only apply for the visa up to 3 months ahead of that date.


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