Guidance for Tier 2 ICT Work Visa to Spouse Visa

Dear All,

I just wanted to get some guidance.

I am currently on a Tier 2 ICT work visa.  I have been working with the same company for 10 months here in the UK. 

Now I would like to apply for the spouse visa since I have a British born husband, and a British child. 

What are the requirements?

My husband who is British is a stay at home dad, so no income from him.

However as far as I understand we can use my income to suffice this requirement.  My income is more than sufficient to fulfill the threshold.

As far as documents what do we need to provide.  Since we have been living in the UK, what are the actual documentations we need for the proof of cohabitation.

As far as income, what should I ask my employer? 

Thank you for your help. 

Yes, because you are already in the UK on a visa that permits (requires?) work, your salary can be counted toward the financial threshold.  I assume you will apply under Category A (working for the same employer for 6+ months, earning above the minimum threshold, and the employment is expected to continue).

You will need:
Your US passport
Your sponsor's UK passport
Your child's birth certificate (I'm not 100% certain what else you need for children... I think some recent post addressed to them to show they live with you...?)
The application documents

Accommodation:
A copy of either your lease (if renting), or the Land Registry document showing home ownership
If you're renting and the applicant's name is not on the lease, you will also need written permission from the landlord for the applicant to live there
If you own your home and it's mortgaged, you'll need to include the most recent mortgage statement

Relationship:
Evidence that you and your spouse have lived together, usually in the form of correspondence addressed to the both of you at the same address
Proof of continued contact/communication for any time you've lived apart (such as before you moved to the UK on your current visa)
Your marriage certificate
If there are any prior marriages for either of you, you'll also need divorce/dissolution of marriage decrees for those

Financial Requirement (Category A):
Six FULL months of payslips (this may mean seven payslips to show six FULL months of pay)
Six FULL months of bank statements spanning the same period as the payslips and showing the wages being paid in
A letter from your employer verifying the employment role, salary, duration, and start date.
Optional-but-recommended: A copy of the employment contract
Optional-but-recommended: The latest P60.

The six month period for your payslips and bank statements must have an end date within 28 days before the date you submit your application.  The employer letter must also be dated within 28 days before you submit your application.  "Submit" happens when you click to submit the online application form and pay the visa fee.  Be sure you have gathered all of your documents and that they are all in order before you submit the application and pay for it.

As well as jfkimberly's excellent summary, have a read of these too, just for good measure. 

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

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826340/Appendix-FM-1-7-Financial-Requirement-ext_1.pdf

For your child, you need their birth certificate, UK passport, and a letter addressed to them within the last 90 days prior to application.  As not all kids have mail, you may need to have your child's school or GP write a letter confirming the address on the file.  Some will charge a fee for this.

Thank you for your replies guys! 

Question about the correspondence and proof of relationship.

My husband I had a lot of correspondence as we weren't living together until this year.  We have been together since 2011, and had a child in 2013, and lived a part due to visa issues.  What specific correspondence do we need to produce.  We normally message using iMessage, and I don't have that phone anymore since I've left America.  I have copies of airplane tickets of when we visited here, my daughter and I came here twice a year. 

Thank you for any clarification.

I am trying to gather all paperwork first and then planning to submit by end of next month.

Thank you again guys!

Guys can I also get the link to the visa website? 

Do I just apply for a regular spouse visa, or is there a special visa where I need to change from work visa to spouse visa?

Guys can I also get the link to the visa website? 

Do I just apply for a regular spouse visa, or is there a special visa where I need to change from work visa to spouse visa?

For an in-country application, you will be applying for FLR(M)

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

My husband I had a lot of correspondence as we weren't living together until this year.  We have been together since 2011, and had a child in 2013, and lived a part due to visa issues.  What specific correspondence do we need to produce.  We normally message using iMessage, and I don't have that phone anymore since I've left America.  I have copies of airplane tickets of when we visited here, my daughter and I came here twice a year. 

Because you are applying inside the UK, you do not need any of that.

What you do need is:
- 6 official documents addressed to both you and your spouse at the same address as each other, from at least 3 different official sources, spread evenly over the time you have lived together since you arrived in the UK
- they can either be jointly-addressed or separately-addressed, but if they are separate, they need to be dated as close to each other as possible (i.e. if you have one document from December in your name, you need one from December in your husband's name too)... so you could provide 6 joint documents, 12 separate documents (6 each), or a combination of both, totalling 6 in each name (i.e. 2 joint and 8 separate (4 each)).

If you have been living together for 10 months, then you want one document in each name dated every 1.5 months. If it's been 11 months by the time you apply, then you want one document in each name approx. every 2 months.

Examples of correspondence documents you can use are:
• Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies, for example HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, DVLA, TV Licensing.
• Letters or other documents from your GP, a hospital or other local health service about medical treatments, appointments, home visits or other medical matters
• Bank statements/letters
• Building society savings books/letters
• Council tax bills or statements
• Electricity and/or gas bills or statements
• Water rates bills or statements
• Mortgage statements/agreement
• Tenancy agreement(s)
• Telephone bills or statements

Guys can I also get the link to the visa website? 

Do I just apply for a regular spouse visa, or is there a special visa where I need to change from work visa to spouse visa?

Spousal visas are only issued outside the UK, so as you are switching from Tier 2 from inside the UK, you instead apply for FLR(M) visa, which is an extension visa: Further Leave to Remain (Marriage).

It is valid for 30 months and costs £1,033 in visa fees plus £1,000 IHS surcharge which gives you access to the NHS for 'free'.

See here for the FLR(M) application (you apply online):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-extend-stay-in-the-uk-as-a-partner-or-dependent-child-form-flrm/apply-online-form-flr-m

And here for more information about applying for it (this covers both the spousal visa and FLR(M)):
https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

Hi Ksand,

Thank you for the clarification. 

The tenancy agreement for this house is only in my name but I can ask our landlord for a letter stating he allows us all to live here and we’ve all been living here since March 2019.  Would this suffice ?

Also regarding official letters, we don’t have joint bank accounts here but we can add each other to each of our accounts now.  Can we ask the bank to print us a monthly statements and stamp it ? Would that work ?

Does credit card bills also count ?  We have one joint one.

As far as bills documents, we don’t get a monthly bill for council tax, cable, utilities.  Could we get a statement from each sources stating the dates we’ve lived here, and the bills we’ve paid ?

Thank you,
Anne

Hi Ksand,

Thank you for the clarification. 

The tenancy agreement for this house is only in my name but I can ask our landlord for a letter stating he allows us all to live here and we’ve all been living here since March 2019.  Would this suffice ?

Also regarding official letters, we don’t have joint bank accounts here but we can add each other to each of our accounts now.  Can we ask the bank to print us a monthly statements and stamp it ? Would that work ?

Does credit card bills also count ?  We have one joint one.

As far as bills documents, we don’t get a monthly bill for council tax, cable, utilities.  Could we get a statement from each sources stating the dates we’ve lived here, and the bills we’ve paid ?

Thank you,
Anne

I think the important thing regarding the tenancy agreement is to show that the applicant can live in the residence.  That's you, yes?  So I don't think you need a letter from the landlord.  Your name is on the lease.  You can show that you will have a place to live when the visa is granted.  Disregard my thought, and go with the advice in the two posts below this one.

For the official correspondence, the purpose is not to show your finances. It is to show that you and your spouse have lived in the same place.  It's not to prove you had bills, or that you have certain financial obligations.  It's just to show that a legitimate entity was able to send you post at the same address that your husband received post.  So use recent bank statements or NHS letters or utility bills... any 'official' correspondence that has been sent to the both of you (or to each of you separately... you need six items each or shared between you, so you will need anything from 6 to 12 pieces of correspondence).  Letters from government agencies (DVLA, DWP, HMRC, etc.) count if they're dated.  They must have gone through the post.  Online statements do not count.  TIP:  You will need these items again when you renew your FLR(M) in 2.5 years, and then again when you apply for ILR in 5 years, so be sure you turn off paperless statements and get a continuous stream of post coming in, and save everything!

I think the important thing regarding the tenancy agreement is to show that the applicant can live in the residence.  That's you, yes?  So I don't think you need a letter from the landlord.  Your name is on the lease.  You can show that you will have a place to live when the visa is granted.

Because the visa will be granted on the basis of the two of you living together, I'd still be inclined to document that both of you are permitted to live in the property, just for the sake of thoroughness. So I would provide a landlord letter or have the partner added to the lease.

Because the visa will be granted on the basis of the two of you living together, I'd still be inclined to document that both of you are permitted to live in the property, just for the sake of thoroughness. So I would provide a landlord letter or have the partner added to the lease.

Yes, that was what I was going to say as well... the accommodation requirement is that you can prove you and your spouse have somewhere to live TOGETHER, and that you both have permission from the landlord/homeowner to live there.

If the lease is only in the applicant’s name, then all that proves is that the applicant is living there, not the applicant AND the sponsor together, plus their daughter as well.

So I would provide a landlord letter confirming that all 3 of you have permission to live in the property.


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Thank you all.

I would gather all my documents and I will come back here and list it.

The problem is now a days everything is paperless. 

Thanks again

Larrabee and ksand24, your perspective makes sense, and even if it isn't necessary, as with all things, better to be safe than sorry.

Dlilah, please disregard my response to the tenancy agreement question, and go with with they have said.  Get the landlord letter or get your husband on the lease.  It's much better to know you've done everything you can do than to worry about "maybe I should have..." while you await the Home Office's decision.

The problem is now a days everything is paperless. 

You will need a lot of physical paperwork for your visas over the next 5 years, so turn OFF paperless on everything you possibly can ASAP, and get as many things physically mailed to you as possible.

Also, get both your names on as many bills/items of mail as you can as well.... then start collecting ALL your mail and keep it safe.

For the next visa in 2.5 years, you will need the same 6 items of correspondence addressed to both of you, but spread every 4 months.



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