Applying spouse visa in the UK

Hello everyone,

I guess everyone goes into confusion once they start filling out the visa application form even though they thought they had read requirements/forums thoroughly which is my case.

I am currently in the UK on Tier 5 Charity visa and my volunteer work ends on September. My husband is British, and we got married early this month and we are currently trying to collate all the requirements we need for visa application and I got few questions I wanted to shed light to.

1. I have a son which lives in the Philippines and I won't be bringing him here yet since I thought I would like to settle down first and have everything in order before he comes here plus I am already in the UK. My question is would it affect my application heavily i.e. the financial requirement? What could be the best reason I can state for not applying together aside from the reason that he is in the Philippines at the moment?

2. We don't live together as of the moment because I wanted to finish my commitment with my volunteering work and my husband is living in a house share in Cambridge. As I said my year ends in September so I would still be living in my current accommodation til September but we plan to apply for my spouse visa at the end of July or early August. We are having a bit of trouble in accommodation and we are trying to explore options for it. As of the moment we got like four options:

• 1. We have a possibility to ask a family friend to give us evidence that we can stay in their house. The family friend is a house owner.
• 2. We get a house share for double occupancy in Cambdrige. Would the tenancy agreement suffice as evidence for housing requirement? If not what other things do we need from the landlord?
• 3. We rent up North where it's cheap and we can afford to get 2 rented places. One being the room my husband is in and 2nd where we rent a proper house to comply with the requirement of UKBA for adequate housing but would it arise a suspicion to the Home Office why my husband works in Cambridge and we have our housing up North?
• My husband's auntie has a 2 bedroom house (owned) but in Norfolk and she has a 7 year old son.

Which option would be best for us? Also, has there been anyone here that got their visa using a house share? If we do get a tenancy together would it affect all my answers on the living together part or should I just explain that I won't be joining my husband til September? Me and my husband are a bit overwhelmed with the accommodation requirement and is really confused and any help would really be appreciated.

Thank you and sending love to everyone!

hi--welcome to the forum.

firstly--you need to establish whether you can apply for a spouse visa whilst still in the UK on your tier 5 visa. normally--you have to apply from outside the UK.

Welcome to the forum!

Im not sure how to go around this one:
- first you got married while you are on a different visa (not fiance visa) so im not sure if applying for a spouse visa inside the UK is possible. Did you include in your option the possibility that you might have to go back to ph and apply in ph? So applying this july might not be possible.
- second, does he meet the income requirment of 18600? You need proof of this and bank statement.
- lastly, you do need to stay in a place where it is suitable accomodation. It can be rented or shared with frends or relative but there should be enough space for everyone plus it should be reasonable - as you say you cant show accomodation is in norfolk when your husband works in cambridge.

Hi Maley,

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, I am allowed to change my visa with a spouse visa within the UK. I am not a visitor but with a valid Tier 5 visa we checked this before we got married.

2nd, yes he does met the requirement of 18600. got the payslip and P60 for those. Is the bank statement really a requirement despite having the payslips and P60 already? It's not a problem but it's just weird.

lastly, thank you for a bit of clarification on that one. I was telling hubby that it doesn't seem suitable to have work in Cambridge and live in Norfolk.


Thank you!

Yeah you can switch from a Tier 5 visa to spouse visa. I know a lot of people have done it.

Yes you need the bank statements, they are important.

how many months of bank statement do we need?

Depends on which category you apply. What category are you using to meet the financial requirement?

If Cat A you need 6 months bank statements.

Cat A - Non- Salaried Employment.

We left my wife's daughter over in the Philippines when my wife came over in 2015, she has since joined us over in the UK in 2017.
Important to remember get the application in for the child before he/she is 18 years old.
On her application we just stated that we felt it was best if mum came across first and settled as this would help her settlement the daughter on her arrival.

Thank you for the information!

Just another quick question, my visa expires on the 7th of September, can we apply for the premium service on the 1st of September or will this be too late and will they hold it against our application?

Do we have to pay during the online appointment booking or on the day of the submitting the documents?

It don't matter as long as you apply before your visa expires. I won't personally leave it too late though.

You pay when you book the appointment online.

What issues?

I think you are talking about the priority processing which is not very useful atm. What she is on about is the premium service, that is when you are applying from inside the UK (she is in the UK atm) so you can use one of the premium service centres like Sheffield and Croydon and get the decision within the day and as far as I know it's not faulty.

thank you! I was reading that appointment wait times is really long before but i guess nowadays it's easier because you have to pay first before you can get date of the appointment so nobody is block booking it anymore.

Hi everyone, I got a question again!

After we finally gotten around where to live, we will have our premium visa appointment for FLR (M) on the 23rd of August. Me and hubby got an apartment and the move in date will be 16th of August. I am listed as permitted occupier on the tenancy however I am currently living in my volunteer accommodation and had informed them I will be leaving at the end of my visa with them which is September 6th.

Which address would be best to use for our application? Should I use my volunteering address and hubby use the new apartment address? Or Just use the new apartment we have and don't mention my volunteering address?

I would complete the application as per the current situation as it is fact.. Good Luck

Anybody know if you bring your wife to the U/K on a tourist visa can you extend it or apply for settlement visa whilst staying in the U/K?

You will get a standard 6 month visit visa but they are not extendable. You cannot apply for settlement whilst on a visit visa. Your partner will need to return home and apply from there. I think you can apply for a visit visa that lasts for 2 years but obviously you would need compelling evidence to get one of those. Personally Id be more concerned about getting my wife over permanently rather than face the potential of even more stringent rules in the future.

I agree with @HaloHalo. Try to get her on an initial tourist visa for now but aim for the permanent settlement visa before any significant change happen.

To answer your question, i tried to extend my tourist visa or convert it to fiance but we cant find any venue to do it (even consulted immigration lawyer for it).