Confused about which Visa my wife needs?

I'm hoping that somebody can help here, as I feel like I'm going around in circles trying to find out information about Visa's.

I am a UK citizen living in the US. My wife is a US citizen and we have two children born in the US (we also got married in the UK 15 years ago and my wife's mother is a UK citizen - father is US citizen). I have just landed a job back in the UK, and travel there to start on April 23rd. We plan on living there permanently.

My questions are:
What Visa does my wife need?
Do my kids also need Visa's?
Since I am a UK citizen, my kids are also considered UK citizens and should I get passports for them before we leave the US?

So many questions and so much to figure out... and don't get me started on what I need for our dog! Argh!!!

Has your wife looked into whether or not she may have claim to UK citizenship through her British mother? I know there are certain stipulations depending on when she was born and her mother's citizenship, but it's something to look into.

If she does have claim to UK citizenship then she would be able to get a UK passport and wouldn't need to apply for a visa.

If not though, she will need to apply for a spousal visa (about $1,400) which has specific UK income requirements - your new job must pay at least £18,600 per year for her to qualify for a visa, and if you haven't been at the job for 6 months when you apply, you will also need to show you earned £18,600 or more in the US in the last 12 months.

Your children will need to get UK passports before they travel to the UK, otherwise they will need to get a visa in their US passports to move there. No point in paying out $1,400 each for a visa for them when they don't need one.

Thanks, yeah we were thinking about that. Her mother was born and raised in the UK, and lives here in the US. She and her husband (my wife's Dad) are also moving back to the UK.

If she can apply for a British passport because she's the daughter of a UK citizen (she was born in 1973), that would save us a ton of money.

How do I find out if she's eligible?

Thanks for your help.

I don't think she will have automatic claim to UK citizenship (like your kids do) as only children born overseas before 1983 to a British father (not a British mother) are automatic UK citizens from birth.

However, she should hopefully be able to register as a British citizen using Form UKM, based on being born overseas before 1983 to a British mother... And then if the registration is successful she should be able to apply for a UK passport.

More info is here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/eligibility/registration/britishmother/

And here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/applying/applicationtypes/britishmother/

Thanks again for your help. We'll look into that and see what happens.

So, for my kids, I should just be able to apply for passports for them right? Using the C2 form here? https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports/y/united-states/applying/child

 

Thanks again for your help. We'll look into that and see what happens.

No problem . It sounds like she should be able to register, although I'm not sure how long the process takes... I believe it can be up to 6 months, but looking at a couple of threads from last year, it seemed to be taking 2-3 months then.

There is no fee for registering using the UKM form (it used to cost about £500, but there is no fee now), but she will have to pay £80 to attend a citizenship ceremony.

Then once that is done, she'll be able to apply for a UK passport.

There is more info in the UKM guide:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/guide_ukm.pdf

and a few UK-Yankee threads on the subject are here:
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=76073.0;all
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=73493.0;all
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=74584.0
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=73708.0

So, for my kids, I should just be able to apply for passports for them right? Using the C2 form here? https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports/y/united-states/applying/child

Yes, as long as you are a British citizen otherwise than by descent (i.e. you were born in the UK to UK parents), your children will have been British citizens from the day they were born. So, all you need to do is apply for UK passports for them, same as for their US passports.

Just a note on citizenship:
- If you are a UK citizen otherwise than by descent (born in the UK to UK parents, or you naturalised in the UK), then you can pass on your UK citizenship to one generation born abroad (i.e. to your children). Assuming you were born in the UK, then both you and your wife's mother are citizens 'otherwise than by descent' - and therefore can pass citizenship to your kids (it's just a bit more complicated for your wife because she was born before 1983 to a British mother... before the rules changed).

- If you are a UK citizen by descent (you were born abroad to a British parent and gained citizenship through them), then you cannot pass your UK citizenship down to your children unless they are born in the UK. So, for example, your grandchildren will not be UK citizens unless they are either born in the UK, or their other parent is a UK citizen otherwise than by descent.

Thank you again for your help, you've been amazing!

Last few questions on the subject, I promise! 

It seems like the UKM is the way to go... BUT I think it'll take too long for that to come back, as I'll be traveling at the end of April, and want my family to join me around a month later once I'm settled into the new job.

So if we stump up the cash for the Settlement Visa for my wife, can the UKM then be applied for once we're in the UK?

Also, can my wife (traveling on the Settlement Visa) and kids (traveling on their new UK passports), travel on One way tickets to the UK?

I stumbled across a 'Returning Resident' entry. Since my wife lived there from age 11-24, got married to a UK citizen in the UK and has a mother who is a UK citizen, do you think that would be an avenue we can pursue? It'd be cheaper than a Settlement Visa for sure, I believe around $446 as opposed to $1363.

Finally, is there anyway to expedite any of this stuff?

Cheers, Stewart.

So if we stump up the cash for the Settlement Visa for my wife, can the UKM then be applied for once we're in the UK?

I believe so.

The spousal visa rules are quite strict though, so you would need to ensure you meet all the requirements when you apply for it - financial documents, evidence of your accommodation in the UK, relationship evidence etc.

Also, it is taking a few weeks for the settlement visas to be processed at the moment - if you pay an extra $300 on top of the £826 visa fee for Settlement Priority Processing, it's taking about a month once the application is mailed to NYC (after applying online and attending a biometrics appointment) , or it's taking 2-3 months if you don't pay the extra for priority processing.

Also, can my wife (traveling on the Settlement Visa) and kids (traveling on their new UK passports), travel on One way tickets to the UK?

Yes, they can, although often it is actually cheaper to purchase a round trip ticket and then just not use the return portion (or save it to use for a trip back to the US later).

I stumbled across a 'Returning Resident' entry. Since my wife lived there from age 11-24, got married to a UK citizen in the UK and has a mother who is a UK citizen, do you think that would be an avenue we can pursue? It'd be cheaper than a Settlement Visa for sure, I believe around $446 as opposed to $1363.

In the 6 years I've been a member of this forum, I have never seen a Returning Resident visa application be approved. All of them have been refused... even when the applicant grew up in the UK and still has all of their immediate family members living in the UK.

In the last 4 years, 12,724 spousal settlement visas have been issued in the US... but in comparison, if you look at the number of 'Other' (not spousal or child) settlement visas issued in the last 4 years, the total is 6 (I'm assuming 'Other' includes elderly dependent relatives and returning resident visas, because I can't find a separate category for returning resident visas).

Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to apply for it - she's much more likely to be issued with a spousal visa than a returning resident visa.

Also, she must meet specific requirements to qualify for a returning resident visa:

1) She must have held permanent residence status in the UK before she left
2) She must have left the UK within the last 2 years
3) She must be returning to live in the UK permanently
4) She must not have claimed any public funds while in the UK

Plus, if she has a mother who is a UK citizen, and uses it to try to get the returning resident visa, then UKBA might question why she is applying for a visa when she can just register as a UK citizen instead, which would be cheaper and easier for her to do.

Honestly, in terms of immigration, the most hassle-free and cheapest option would probably be to do the UKM application and get her a UK passport.

Is there any way you can go to the UK ahead of her (and the kids?) to start your job, and then they can join you when they get their passports?

You haven't got all that long until you start your new job (6.5 weeks) and there's no guarantee that you will have your kids passports (which take at least 6 weeks), or either your wife's visa (1-3 months for processing) or UK citizenship (2-6 months for processing) by then either... especially as you won't be able to book flights for the kids without their UK passport details, and if you're applying for a visa, your wife should not book any travel until she has her visa in her hands and has checked it for errors, which probably won't be until mid-late April at the earliest.

I am going ahead of them... we were hoping that they would follow around a month or so later. We were hoping they could join me after a month and then we can start the registering the kids in the school system, in time for the school year to start in September.

Also, another thing we just came across, is something called 'Worldbridge' which offers 'additional services' - it says it is a partner site for UK Border Agency and I think I found it from a link on that site so it seems legit.
 
The additional services offered are a priority processing service for the visa application - where travel is imminent it secures expedited consideration. Again, there is a fee for the service.
 
With Worldbridge it appears that you have to follow a strict process - you need to complete the steps for applying for the visa with UK BorderAgency but buy the service with Worldbridge BEFORE you send the application (to UK BA) and there are steps such as writing 'priority service' on the envelope but you can get that info from the site.

Have you heard of this before?

Worldbridge is simply the company that UKBA has contracted with to handle visa payment and questions. As ksand said, you purchase priority processing through them.

You won't need to use Worldbridge if your wife is able to register for British Citizenship. But, if for some reason she is ineligible and you have to apply for a spouse visa, it would be a good idea to pay extra for expedited service.

I am going ahead of them... we were hoping that they would follow around a month or so later. We were hoping they could join me after a month and then we can start the registering the kids in the school system, in time for the school year to start in September.

Ah, okay - I wasn't sure. In that case, it might be worth applying for UKM instead of a spousal visa... it looked like recent estimates were taking 2-3 months, so if you applied now, your wife might be registered and have her UK passport within a month or so after you leave.

Also, another thing we just came across, is something called 'Worldbridge' which offers 'additional services' - it says it is a partner site for UK Border Agency and I think I found it from a link on that site so it seems legit.
 
The additional services offered are a priority processing service for the visa application - where travel is imminent it secures expedited consideration. Again, there is a fee for the service.

Yes, that is the $300 Settlement Priority Processing service that I mentioned in my above post. It is the only way that you can expedite the application.

It should give 15-working-day processing, but there have been backlogs recently, and now all settlement visa applications in the US are transferred to Sheffield for processing, so it's been taking about a month.

Worldbridge are the commercial partners for UKBA and although you purchase the service from their website, the money goes to UKBA.
 

With Worldbridge it appears that you have to follow a strict process - you need to complete the steps for applying for the visa with UK BorderAgency but buy the service with Worldbridge BEFORE you send the application (to UK BA) and there are steps such as writing 'priority service' on the envelope but you can get that info from the site.

Have you heard of this before?

Yep - you must purchase the priority service on the day that you mail your documents to the consulate, not before.

The steps are:

1) Gather your supporting documents

2) Fill out the online application, submit it, pay the £826 fee and book a biometrics appointment

3) Attend the biometrics appointment

4) Put your documents together and when you're ready to mail the application (which must be within 14 days of the biometrics), go to the Worldbridge website, purchase the priority service, print the receipt and write 'Settlement Priority Processing' on the envelope and mail your application.

5) Wait for the visa to be issued - the priority processing service means that your application will be put to the front of the processing line and opened and assigned to a case worker before the other non-priority applications.

Another couple of questions about the passports for my children.

I'm starting to doubt things now (just too much going on in my head at the moment I think).

I definitely can just apply for their passports right? Don't I have to apply for citizenship for them first, or is it a given that they already have it?

As I'm going through the application form for their passports, I have to provide my original long copy birth certificate, and as I'm applying for 2 passports for 2 kids at the same time, can I just bundle both applications together, or do I have to apply one at a time, meaning wait for my birth certificate to come back from the first application, and then send it together with the second application?

I definitely can just apply for their passports right? Don't I have to apply for citizenship for them first, or is it a given that they already have it?

As long as you are a British citizen otherwise than by descent, then it should be a given that they already have it (and have had it since birth), so you can just apply for their passports.

You can check this here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/othernationality/Britishcitizenship/bornoverseas/

The only reason that it's more complicated for your wife is because she was born to a British mother before the citizenship rules changed in 1983.

As I'm going through the application form for their passports, I have to provide my original long copy birth certificate, and as I'm applying for 2 passports for 2 kids at the same time, can I just bundle both applications together, or do I have to apply one at a time, meaning wait for my birth certificate to come back from the first application, and then send it together with the second application?

I'm not sure, to be honest, as I don't know too much about applying for British passports from outside the UK.

My thought is that you will probably be able to apply for both together at the same time, but you would have to check the rules (maybe contact the passport office) to make sure.

OK, so I called the passport office in the UK, and they confirmed that yes, I can apply for their passports, and also that I can bundle both applications together with a note that says the supporting documents are for both applications. Phew!