Spouse Visa questions

My husband is a dual citizen UK/US.  We got married in London 26 years ago and lived there for 3 years then came to the US.  I had a work permit at the time but left the UK without getting UK citizenship.

Now we are thinking of going to Scotland to live to be closer to his family.  Do I have to apply for a visa before we go there to live or do I wait until I get there.  Does a spouse visa allow you to work?  If I want to go live there but not work do I apply for the same visa? He will be working for a US company remotely, but am not sure how we are going to handle that.  What is the cost of a visa?

Welcome to the forum .

Yes, you will need to apply for a visa before you can move to the UK (note: it's lower case 'visa'... a VISA is a credit card).

- You will need a spousal visa, which will be valid for 33 months and allows you to work and use the NHS.

- The spousal visa costs £1,195 plus a £600 NHS surcharge (to allow you to use the NHS for free)

- In order to qualify for the spousal visa, you need to meet 3 main requirements:

1) your husband has guaranteed UK income of at least £18,600 per year. This can either be in the form of him a) moving to the UK ahead of you and working for 6 months, or b) having a guaranteed UK job offer in the UK paying at least £18,600 and starting within 3 months of moving AND he has earned at least £18,600 in the US in the last 12 months.
Not quite sure how it works if he will be working remotely for his US company.
Alternatively if you have at least £62,500 in cash savings held in your account(s) for att least 6 months you can use savings instead of employment income.

2) you have evidence of guaranteed accommodation to live in in the UK

3) you have evidence of a genuine relationship covering the entire time you've been together

- the spousal visa will be issued as a 30-day visa vignette sticker in your passport, so you have 30 days to enter the UK, then you pick up your actual visa (a Biometrics Resident Permit card) from a UK post office within 10 days of arriving

- once you have moved to the UK, it will take 5 years to gain ILR (permanent residence) and then UK citizenship... So you will need to apply for a second spousal visa (called FLR(M)) after 2.5 years.

Total visa costs (current prices - they increase every year):
- spousal visa = £1,195 + £600 NHS surcharge
-FLR(M) visa = £811 + £500 NHS surcharge
- ILR = £1,875
- UK citizenship = £1,236
But these prices may have risen considerably by the time you get to ILR

See here for more information:

Spousal visa info:
https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview

Financial requirement info:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525708/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement.pdf


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Thank you so much for your detailed answer!  It was very helpful.  Another question.  I have a friend who came over because her son was playing football for a year.  She lived with him (he was 14) but did not get a visa, she just went home every few months.  Do I have to have a visa if I do not want to work or use the national insurance and will probably return home a few times within the year?  I hate to spend all that money if we are only going to live there a year and I'm not going to work.  Both my husband and daughter have UK passports.

Yes, definitely.  Your friend was VERY lucky to be allowed in and not sent home on the first plane back to the US.  If UKVI thinks you are using visitor visas to live in the UK, they can and will deny entry.

We also had a member do this for some time.  Unfortunately he got cancer and received treatment.  He went to legalize his stay and was hit with a £100,000 bill from the NHS for his treatments.

I think my friend took the risk because she is actually a dual citizen but her UK passport had expired so she just came in on her US passport. 

Being a dual citizen completely changes things!