UK Spouse visa - use a lawyer service?

Hello everyone!

My husband and I got married a couple of months ago in the UK and we now want to get his visa for us to be able to move to the UK together (we currently live in Boston). He is a US Citizen and I am a UK citizen.

We understand we need to apply for the Family of a Settled Person Visa, but I'm wondering who has experience of applying for this visa themselves? Is it quite straight forward to complete or would it be best to engage the services of a lawyer to do this for us?

Appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!

Welcome to the forum .

We understand we need to apply for the Family of a Settled Person Visa, but I'm wondering who has experience of applying for this visa themselves? Is it quite straight forward to complete or would it be best to engage the services of a lawyer to do this for us?

The majority of people apply without a lawyer. The application process is straightforward and although it can seem confusing at first, all the information you need can be found on the UKVI website and here on the forum. We're happy to help you prepare and answer whatever questions you have.

There is really no need to use a lawyer unless you have particular circumstances that mean you think you are likely to be refused a visa for the UK. For example:
- serious criminal convictions
- previous refused UK visas or entries to the UK
- previous illegal working or overstaying in the UK

Also, there are very few lawyers who know what they are talking about and there are a number of people who have found the forum after receiving very bad advice from a lawyer (which would have or has resulted in a visa refusal), and have wished they never used a lawyer at all.

Hi Laura! 

As sand explained, most of us did it ourselves.
Unless money is truly no object and you can afford a really great lawyer, it's really safer to do it yourself, as strange as that sounds.

Perfect, that's good news!! Thank you very much for your help!!

I have a question about the online visa application form. The question 'How long do you intend to stay in the UK'. What should we write here? We plan for this to be a permanent move so what is an acceptable answer here? Thank you inadvance!

Just write either ‘permanently’ or ‘indefinitely’.

It’s a badly-worded question and really shouldn’t be on the form for a spousal visa. Unfortunately, the online form is pretty generic and is almost the same for all visa types... so while that question makes sense for a visitor visa (where you have to leave the UK within 6 months) it does not make sense for a settlement visa, because the whole point of the visa is that it’s for a permanent move!


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Thank you!!

So we are finally submitting this application, and are at the point of payment on the visa4uk website. We have just paid the NHS surcharge and are now about to pay for the visa fee itself. However, we cannot see the option to pay for the priority service. We can only see the 2100 USD option. We chose the Boston Biometric Center in Everett, should we have chosen the Premium Service Center to qualify for this option? We are a little confused. Appreciate the help! Thanks!

You pay for priority on the vfs global site (separate webpage). It’s where you can also purchase the courier service if you choose to!


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Thanks - so do we go ahead and pay the standard 2001USD fee and then go onto the VFS website after? Thanks!!

Also, should we have booked to go to one of the premium centers for the biometric testing if we want to use the priority service?

Thanks!

Thanks - so do we go ahead and pay the standard 2001USD fee and then go onto the VFS website after? Thanks!!

Yep you pay for it after you pay for the visa itself and the IHS - and just make sure to print the priority receipt and put it on top of your pile (in addition to writing it on the outside of the box).

The premium processing centers are for different visas I believe (experts correct me if I'm wrong, please!). You don't need to use one!

Got you, after doing some digging it seems that yes the premium centers are for additional support as well. Thanks for your help!

The premium centres do NOT process settlement visas.  You purchase priority through VFS, then mail everything directly to Sheffield.

Priority is currently taking about 6 weeks from the "we've received your documents" email from Sheffield.

Already been answered but just wanted to chime in and say that I can confirm that I definitely didn't use a lawyer for mine (and am also from Boston). I didn't use any priority services when doing biometrics or anything as I had to do this online when applying but not sure if times maybe have changed and this is something you can do now?(although it sounds as though this hasn't changed and the priority process is for other visas)

You'll be totally fine without a lawyer (unless there's any reason why you think they may give you extra trouble?). Just ask lots of questions here and read through how other people have submitted theirs. This forum is honestly the most helpful and I know I definitely referenced here MANY times when I was doing my visa back in 2013.