UK visa rules, and bringing your better half home

[roddy]

I think this has been mentioned in passing, but we don't have a specific topic on it and it's surely affecting (or would have affected) a few people on here.

Basically the UK government, as part of its ongoing quest to make Britain look like the unfriendliest place on the planet, has beefed up the rules on bringing spouses back to the UK. Temporarily ignoring the extension of the period of a probationary period from two years to five, the real kick in the teeth is the income requirement.

To sponsor a spouse for entry to the UK, you need to have an income of at least £18,600 annually (with extras if you have kids) before you can apply for the visa. Which sounds to me like if you want to bring your wife home (forgive me, but it usually is) you're going to need to come back a month or three in advance, alone, and find yourself a job.

And that's assuming you can find such a job - the required level is give or take 75% of UK average salary, meaning that a significant number of UK residents earn less. I wouldn't want to be your average Joe Tefl aiming to make that much in their first real UK job in the current climate.

Anyone run foul of these rules?

[Lu]

This has been the case in the Netherlands for some years now, some friends and acquaintances of mine have run into it. Although in Holland, the income requirement is for the couple together, so the imported partner can also contribute. Apparently in the UK, you can also bring in your partner if you have a certain amount of savings?

One way around it that some couples take, is to go live in another EU country for a period of time and bring the foreign spouse there. (In Holland this is usually referred to as the 'Belgium route'.) Not sure how exactly the rules work, but as a EU citizen you can bring your partner to another EU country, that is not allowed to discriminate like your own country. Your forfeit some social security, but after a period of time (I think it's a year but I might be mistaken) your partner gets residency in the EU as well and you can both move to your own country (or any other EU country). Too bad the UK is an island, it's doable to live in Antwerp and work & socialise in Rotterdam, but to live in Amsterdam and work in London is more complicated.

[Angelina]

The Government of Bulgaria is giving away Bulgarian passports to anyone who will swear they are ethnically Bulgarian (no need for proving any papers, or other kind of proofs, signing an oath is enough). It wouldn't take more than a year to be issued the actual passport. With the sad state of corruption in Bulgaria, even if the official does not want to grant the citizenship, you can always grease him.

Bulgarian citizens can freely live and work in the UK... This might be the only option for the wife of Joe Tefl.

Great foreign policy.

Edit: Great foreign policy was meant as a sarcastic comment.

[langxia]

The European country where I am from it is the same, if it is only for a friends and family tourist visa you have to prove to them that you earned 1800€/month in the last three months if it is for a spouse it is 1800€/month in the last 12 months.

I asked them if it wouldn't be enough if I have (at least) the double of what they ask i earn in that time on my bank account (with prove that I have had this kind of money over a long period of time and not just asked friends to wire me some money I would give back to them right) away which they told me is not possible.

But I guess I will look into the tip Lu posted.

[Ruben von Zwack]

langxia, what if you are self-employed or freelancer, or just plain rich?

[roddy]

Even judges object

I saw reference on a page I just closed to needing 6 months payslips. Not sure if that's actually the case but if it is that's quite the wait.

Ruben, if you're self-employed I'd imagine you provide provide bank statements or audited accounts for whatever period is necessary. If you're rich, investment income.

[Touchstone57]

I have fell foul of this system. My wife's student visa expired before I had worked the required 6th months so she had to leave the UK.

You can't be the smallest amount away from the threshold - despite having an employment contract and stated salary they required six months worth of payslips, not the four months that I had. In the end I managed to get a job in China earning more than I did in the UK but not everyone is so fortunate.

They will only take your savings into account if they are £16,000 or above - not a penny under. So for example you had £10k in savings and a £12k a year salary - you would not qualify to meet the threshold. Some of the ridiculous rules...

I don't feel that tempted to go back to the UK anymore. If I ever leave China maybe I'll move to some other English speaking countries... Is it possible to get a visa for your wife if you earning the required amount but in a different country?

[roddy]

From what I've seen, yes, but you need to back it up with a UK job offer.

Did you consider at two-month family visit for your wife while you got the extra two months on the books?