Pls,I need fast advice on Applying for Spousal Visa,with a new job,pls

Hi,
I am an Austrian and got married to my wife(non-EU) in Aug (2008). I moved to the UK for an MSc in Aberdeen in september while my wife is a 4th yr med student in Ukraine.
I do not have savings now as I ve paid fees and tried to settle in and all.
I live in a rented apartment,a cheap(2-room) room and sitting room apartment in the city centre.

I was working with M&S from October till the 3rd of January and will start another job for 40+ hours a week on the 8th of this month.It is a permanent contract.

Now my question is,can she apply for EEA permit by the first week in April since we are expecting our first baby by mid-May? Obviously,she has no savings as a student in Ukraine and I too,will only just start building up with my income although I can still get statements and pay slips from October till April for her to apply with.

She is only coming to visit and will return to school in september after child birth since her hols will be over then. With my status,she cant apply for any other visa than the EEA permit,this we know but the funds seem to be an issue here.

Do we stand a chance? We really need to hear from people.
Please ask extra qns if you need clarifications.
Thanks.

You are clearly exercising EU Treaty Rights in the UK, and accordingly your wife should indeed apply for an EEA Family Permit.

Prove the two of you are married ..... supply marriage certificate to show that your wife is a "family member" of an EU citizen ... prove you are indeed exercising your EU Treaty Rights in the UK, as an employed person .... and the EEA Family Permit should be issued. After all the fact that your wife is pregnant is rather good proof that the marriage is not a "marriage of convenience".

When to make the application? I would make it soon, possibly soon after you start the new job this week.

You are clearly exercising EU Treaty Rights in the UK, and accordingly your wife should indeed apply for an EEA Family Permit.

Prove the two of you are married ..... supply marriage certificate to show that your wife is a "family member" of an EU citizen ... prove you are indeed exercising your EU Treaty Rights in the UK, as an employed person .... and the EEA Family Permit should be issued. After all the fact that your wife is pregnant is rather good proof that the marriage is not a "marriage of convenience".

When to make the application? I would make it soon, possibly soon after you start the new job this week.

Thanks JohnL,yes I am exercising EU Rights Treaty,I was just a bit bothered about funds since no savings both ways for now and I am abt to start a permanent job on the 8th with the pay just above min. wage but with my expenses not so so much,I dont know if this will be okay since they seem to really bother about funds.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks

What are your thoughts?

Prepare the application! Make the application! After all, what's the problem .... the application fee is ...... £0 !

I suspect you are imagining problems that do not exist! I confirm that your wife has EU Treaty Rights, and is entitled to join you in the UK.

well,thanks again John,we will do that.Just that the rules for a non-EU spouse applying from outside the EU(Ukraine) says that she must also meet up the normal immigration laws of a spouse visa which includes accommodation,finances,etc(cos she is applying from outside the EU).
This is why I m asking about the financial part.
Oh yes,the visa fee is zero,financially,nothing to loose but if refused,it means she cant give birth close to me.
If it means that with EU rights,she can come even if I dont ve enough funds,then i think its no problem.
This is why I am asking dear.
Thanks

Vicky, who will hopefully pop in, in a while, has seen UKBA insisting that people exercising EU treaty rights are being denied due to a lack of funds.  Most of us feel here that this is UKBA being a bit of a law unto themselves.  UKBA and the Home Office have made public statements that they feel they are currently complaint with EU legislation in applying the same standards, but there are already chinks in the armour of this logic.

They MAY give you a hard time about the lack of funds, but as JohnL points out, it does cost you £0.  I will second JohnL's advice and say go for it.  Fill out the form, make your case.  If they question you about your funds, report back here and we will do our best to help you out, but again, no good worrying about things you can't control.  It doesn't make sense to wait around for your financial situation to get better.

.Just that the rules for a non-EU spouse applying from outside the EU(Ukraine) says that she must also meet up the normal immigration laws of a spouse visa which includes accommodation,finances,etc(cos she is applying from outside the EU).

If they have not already done so UKBA will soon concede that they cannot add extra requirements to those imposed by the EU. And that applies irrespective of whether the application for an EEA Family Permit is being made inside the EU, or from outside.

Stop press! The guidance has now been updated! Click here!. Notice that section was updated 17 December.

ECO's are still likely to ignore this for a while, but as you are sending proof of employment as evidence of exercising treaty rights this will almost certainly satisfy any unlawful demand for proof of ability to support.

Vicky

Stop press! The guidance has now been updated! Click here!. Notice that section was updated 17 December.

Awesome, thanks for the spotting of that one!  

ECO's are still likely to ignore this for a while

Suspect that they will not be ignoring it on purpose, but maybe unaware the of new guidance. Maybe a good idea to print out the new 21.1.4 guidance and enclose with the application.

If you don't think they do this on purpose then you *really* don't know Entry Clearance Officers!!!


Vicky

Thanks guys, from the link JohnL gave, I found this info:

Chapter 21 Annex 2 - "Qualified Person" checklist

Provided his/her stay in the UK does not exceed three months, an EEA national is not required to exercise a Treaty right (for example by working). An EEA national who will be in the UK for more than three months will have a right of residence for as long as he/she remains a qualified person (see Regulation 6 of the Regulations) i.e. exercising a Treaty Right in the UK.

Under the Regulations, "qualified person" means a person who is an EEA national and in the UK as any of the following:

21.2.1 Jobseeker
Does the applicant have evidence that the EEA national is seeking employment and has a genuine chance of being engaged?

21.2.2 Worker
Does the applicant have evidence that the EEA national is or will be working in the UK (for example a copy of contract, pay slips etc)?

Important: A worker does not cease to be a qualified person solely because they are temporarily incapable of work as a result of accident or illness or if they are involuntarily unemployed.

21.2.3 Self-employed person
Does the applicant have evidence that the EEA national is, or will be, in the UK as a self-employed person (for example a copy of business accounts or accountant’s letter)?

Important: A self-employed person does not cease to be a qualified person solely because they are temporarily incapable of work as a result of accident or illness or if they are involuntarily unemployed.

21.2.4 Self-sufficent person
Does the applicant have evidence that the EEA national has sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system during his/her period of residence in the UK?

You can ask those questions which lead you to be satisfied that the EEA national has sufficient means to fund the visit (for example their intended duration, what services they are going to receive and whether from this that they have sufficient funds for their stay). This would need to be done on an individual basis, and you could not refuse someone simply on the grounds that they were not able to provide 3 months’ bank statements. The fact that an EEA national was economically active at the time of application would normally be sufficient to satisfy the resource condition. As an EEA national could decide to exercise some other form of Treaty right once he/she is in the UK it would not be appropriate to refuse on the ground that you were not satisfied that the person would leave the UK after the visit.
21.2.5 Student
Does the applicant have evidence that the EEA national will be studying in the UK (a letter from a college or university confirming that the EEA national is enrolled on a course and its duration? Where an applicant says that their EEA national family member is already in or will be coming to the UK as a student you may ask adequate questions in order to ascertain that there are sufficient resources available to support the EEA national and his/her family members throughout their stay (in other words the duration of the course). However, you should be flexible on this, as some students may intend to live with relatives.


I also saw:

However, it should be noted that the income of both the EEA national and the non-EEA family member can be taken into account when assessing whether they will have enough money to support themselves during their stay in the UK (or if the non-EEA has no declared income, that the income of the EEA national should be able to support both of them).

Therefore, if I can prove that I ve 100pounds left weekly after rent and other bills have been deducted,I guess this should do, that is if the ECO is aware of all these updates.

Do you think my wife should also point these sections out to them should anything go wrong?

Thanks a whole lot guys.

Why are you looking for complications? And why have you emboldened the self-sufficient person guidance?

Hi JohnL,
Cos I always thought you MUST provide your last 6 months bank statement,but there it says 3 months payslips should do,which means the bank thing is okay but not compulsory.
Also,like Vicky said,ECOs can be really tiring,they always want to look for something here and there and that was why I came here for advice.
No one ever likes complications but then,they always make something out of nothing. But atleast,my question has helped me know more from that link you provided.
Thanks a lot.

There is no obligation to send 6 months statements.  You really shouldn't be looking at the self sufficient section, unles you have a craving to get comprehensive health insurance on top of everything else.

Vicky