National Insurance Number and work on spouse Visa

My husband finally got his spouse visa and came over at the weekend. We called the job centre to apply for a national insurance number to be told that they werent sure if he could work or not on his visa and they would send a vpp application form and we would have to send the visa to them for them to check.

The bone of contention was that on his visa the place of issue says sheffield. He applied for his visa online and went to biometrics on denver. The application was then posted to Sheffield where it was processed. He remained in the states until the visa come through. It says spouse/CP visa on it. So she was saying the place of issue should of said an american office and not the sheffield office. I dont get it. Sheffield issued it so surely its Sheffiels that should be on it. She told me that if Sheffield issued it that means its a sponsored visa and someone in the UK applied for him.

Can anyone shed any light? Im sure he is allowed to work on this visa.

Thank you

That person was wrong.  I would call again and see if you can get a different person.

Yes, he is allowed to work. The person at the job centre has no idea what they are talking about. If his visa did not allow work, it would be stated specifically on the visa itself.

If the visa says: "No work or recourse to public funds", he can't work.

But if it just says: "No recourse to public funds", he can work.

No matter where the visa is issued, it allows work - it's about the type of visa (SPOUSE/CP), not the place of issue.

While pretty much all visas are sponsored - you sponsored his spousal visa, while a university or a company will sponsor a work/student visa - it's not possible for someone to have applied for him from inside the UK, as he has to apply himself from his country of residence.

Sheffield only processes settlement visas, not sponsored work or student visas... so he could not have applied for a different visa in Sheffield. If it was a sponsored work or student visa, it would have an issue place of New York (and would still allow work).

The UKVI website specifically states that he can work on the spousal visa:

What you can and can’t do with your visa

You can use your ‘family of a settled person’ visa to:

-    work (you can’t work if you’ve got a visa to get married or to become civil partners)
-    study

You can’t get public funds for yourself and any dependants.

(https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview)

Did you call the number on this page?

https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

Jobcentre Plus application line
Telephone: 0345 600 0643
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

They do the preliminary stuff. For me it was info off my BRP card. After I made the appointment they sent a letter in the mail with date and time and all that jazz. The gentlemen I spoke with was very knowledgable and really nice. He was super flexible about letting me know all the different Jobscenter Plus's I could go to. Closest one was still over 50 minutes away.

 

They do the preliminary stuff. For me it was info off my BRP card. After I made the appointment they sent a letter in the mail with date and time and all that jazz. The gentlemen I spoke with was very knowledgable and really nice. He was super flexible about letting me know all the different Jobscenter Plus's I could go to. Closest one was still over 50 minutes away.

Generally, people with visas issued outside the UK don't need to go to the Jobcentre (nor do they have BRPs), they just get the paperwork mailed to them, send it all off with their passport, and the NI number comes in the mail a few weeks later. FLR(M) holders need to interview because the visa that actually allows them to work was issued inside the UK. It sounds like the Jobcentre worker was just confused about the provenance of the OP's visa and wanted to make sure everything was OK before issuing the NI number.