UK Spouse Visa - Please help

Ksand24 is there direct messaging on here so I could speak to you or I could give you my email address?

There is a private messaging facility. Just click on the little speech bubble below the avatar of the person you want to message.

Alternatively, you can go to the top left hand corner of any webpage on this site and click on 'My Messages' (next to Profile).

Having said that though, it may be easier for you to just post all your questions here in the forum, so that other people can chime in and help you, as I may not be around to answer all the time.

Hi Ksand24,

I sent you a message which said sent successfully, but it doesn’t come up in the sent items section.

Did you receive my message please?

Hi Ksand24,

I sent you a message which said sent successfully, but it doesn’t come up in the sent items section.

Did you receive my message please?

Yes, I received both messages you sent . I've just sent you a reply.

Quick thought. We have 72k in savings because my wife & daughter will be coming to join me in the UK, but do we only need 62.5k because my daughter holds a British passport?

Hi everyone,

This website is fantastic, thank you so much to all who contribute.

I’m a British citizen & I met my US wife in 2011. We had our daughter in 2013 (dual citizenship), and we married last July.

She has visited the UK over 20 times ranging from 7 to 14 days.

We are about to submit a Spouse visa application, all happy that we meet the requirements.

HOWEVER, we gave notice to marry and got referred to the home office. All approved and we got married. However we married when she was over on a tourist visa and not a marriage visa which we now know you’re not allowed to do.

The obvious question is will UK immigration turn down her spouse visa app on the basis of marrying on a tourist visa. After the wedding she went straight back with her family to the US where she has continued to work.

I know no-one knows but what’s the general vibe? We can never undo this. Can I never bring my family to the UK? Is there any option for her to come on a tourist visa with our daughter and look to change status.

Please help, I wanted our daughter to start school in September. Any help so greatly appreciated.

Hey there, I married my British husband while I was on a tourist visa. We were referred to the UKVI, drove to Folkstone for an interview, and were given the OK.

Good luck to you both with your application!

Quick thought. We have 72k in savings because my wife & daughter will be coming to join me in the UK, but do we only need 62.5k because my daughter holds a British passport?

Yes, in that case you'll need £62,500 in savings to sponsor your wife. Your daughter doesn't need a visa.

Re validity of relationship. We’ve been together since 2011 and have always texted on iMessage and used FaceTime when my wife is in America.

1) How do we prove that? Is there an App?
2) Will the network provider assist?

Absolutely absurd to suggest we got married and waited 7 years to pull apply for a visa in an audacious fraud.

Re validity of relationship. We’ve been together since 2011 and have always texted on iMessage and used FaceTime when my wife is in America.

1) How do we prove that? Is there an App?
2) Will the network provider assist?

You should be able to get iMessage and FaceTime records off your phone or iCloud, or your computer, if you have Apple.

If you do a Google search, it looks like there are various tools you can download which can retrieve your message/call history.

Absolutely absurd to suggest we got married and waited 7 years to pull apply for a visa in an audacious fraud.

But you haven't been married for 7 years, you've been married less than a year, and you have also not lived together since you got married... so for all they know, you only met last year, then got married just for the sake of eventually getting a visa, but it has taken a while to meet the requirements and you have had no contact since then.

It used to be that if you were already married, you only had to provide 1 photo and your marriage certificate, whereas if you were applying for a fiance visa, you had to provide evidence of the entire length of your relationship.

However, they changed the requirements a few years ago, and now you have to show evidence of the entire length of the relationship, even if you are married.

It's especially important to show 'intervening devotion' in the time you've been apart since you got married (so for the last year), because most people will live together from the day they get married.

Also remember that some people will have met and married many years ago, then lived together in another country for, say 20 years, and have now decided to move to the UK to start a new chapter - so it's not unusual for someone to have married and then applied for a visa years later... in which case, they need to prove that they have continued to be in a subsisting relationship (i.e. have lived together) for the entire 20 years.

It might not seem logical, but we have seen visas refused because people who had been married 20 years thought that providing just their marriage certificate would be enough.

Thank you as ever Ksand. Could you just clarify something I asked you on private message please.

Thanking you

Great thing about this site is that you think of a question every now and then and can re post.

Our savings are held in a Natwest Fixed Bond that is withdrawable at anytime is that okay?

Great thing about this site is that you think of a question every now and then and can re post.

Our savings are held in a Natwest Fixed Bond that is withdrawable at anytime is that okay?

Have a look at the guidance in this link, p50 and 51, I don't think the bond would qualify as it is.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636618/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf

You would have to cash it out and provide the evidence for sale of investments. see 7.4.8 on p 52 where bonds are mentioned specifically.

Table 7.4.3 would suggest to me that it is okay. It’s simply an account to get higher than pathetic interest.

Our savings are held in a Natwest Fixed Bond that is withdrawable at anytime is that okay?

Table 7.4.3 would suggest to me that it is okay. It’s simply an account to get higher than pathetic interest.

As long as you are sure that it is an account that they are calling a bond rather than an actual bond (as referred to on page 52 of FM-1.7) and it fulfils all the other criteria. It provides regular statements? I would provide a letter from Natwest stating that it is available for immediate access too.
And make sure you follow the guidance here.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

As long as you are sure that it is an account that they are calling a bond rather than an actual bond (as referred to on page 52 of FM-1.7) and it fulfils all the other criteria. It provides regular statements? I would provide a letter from Natwest stating that it is available for immediate access too.
And make sure you follow the guidance here.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

Hi there,

I was wondering if this fixed bond is converted into a regular savings account, would we have to wait from 6 months from the date of converting it into a regular savings account?  or would they count the time this money has been in a fixed savings bond?

Thanks

Hi there,

I was wondering if this fixed bond is converted into a regular savings account, would we have to wait from 6 months from the date of converting it into a regular savings account?  or would they count the time this money has been in a fixed savings bond?

Thanks

In the case of a fixed bond or other investment of the type discussed in the guidance, then no, you don't have to wait any longer as they count the total time that the investment has been held. Providing you have held the investment for at least 6 months, you can apply as soon as you have a statement showing the funds in an instant access account. 

Here is the relevant guidance, from FM-SE.

(c) Funds held as cash savings by the applicant, their partner or both jointly at the date of application can have been transferred from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds within the period of 6 months prior to the date of application, provided that:
(i) The funds have been in the ownership and under the control of the applicant, their partner or both jointly for at least the period of 6 months prior to the date of application.
(ii) The ownership of the funds in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds; the cash value of the funds in that form at or before the beginning of the period of 6 months prior to the date of application; and the transfer of the funds into cash, are evidenced by a portfolio report or other relevant documentation from a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating.
(iii) The requirements of this Appendix in respect of the cash savings held at the date of application are met, except that the period of 6 months prior to the date of application in paragraph 11(a) will be reduced by the amount of that period in which the relevant funds were held in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds.
(iv) For the purposes of sub-paragraph 11A(c), “investments” includes funds held in an investment account or pension account or fund which does not meet the requirements of paragraphs 11 and 11A(a).