So i need to book the english test for my wifes spouse visa. I see i need to book the life skills but there is two tests a1 which ia advertised as speaking and b1 which is listening. Do i really have to pay twice for my wife? Is there not one test that covers both. ? My wife ia.pretty good at english would they still accept the academic?
For the spouse visa, she should pass at least level A1. So she can take the Life Skills A1 which again is Listening and Speaking test. She don't have to take both. If you want, she can take the B1 test now and she can reuse that (if rules won't change) when applying for FLR(M) from within the UK.
Yeah sorry that's Life Skills B1. Although there's a level B2 test but for work visas not for settlement.
Get the missus to take the B1, pointless doing A1, no need to do further English Tests then throughout the five year visa route. You know it makes sense
Yeah. As long as she is definitely already at B1 standard it makes sense to do a B1 while you are there. Once in the UK you need to do tests for A2 and B1 afterwards if you just have A1. I treid to do a B1 test when we had to do a test for the second FLR, but had to select what we were applying for and so could only do the A1. It is, of course, worth doing the A1 if you have any worries about the English level, and then it gives plenty of time to improve before the next test. Taking the tests, however, is pretty cheap and they are very simple so not really a big deal to someone who has plenty of English communication.
Its not pretty cheap.... its one way of making money by them If you take A1, A2, and then B1... it all adds up for no reasson Anyone from Philippines can easily pass B1, so why to waste money on A1 and A2
It's 150 quid a time. I guess I'm so used to all the fees that 150 quid seems cheap compared to all the other stuff! Less than a month's shopping. What I'm saying is that once in the UK you have to apply for the appropriate test. You put in what visa you are applying for and it takes you to the test you have to do - so you can't do a B1 test until you apply for ILR. Or, at least, that's how it was a Trinity College. I wouldn't say anyone from The Philippines could pass B1, although a lot of people there could. My wife was over that level befor eshe came to the UK, but her TOEIC test became invalid so we've had to do the A1 test and will need to do the B1 before next year. But no big deal as it's simple for someone of her level, and I approve of English tests being needed.
As I see, if someone from Philippines can make relation with a British person, that itself proves that she communicates well enough to pass English exam. The focus should be on relationship and not English exam when it comes to spouse/fiancee visa. For work visas, I agree there should be English test requirement UKVI has all these things like TB test, English test, Health surcharge.... these are simply ways to make money... Do you think someone with TB will leave Philippines to UK, and we know what kind of healthcare is in UK, GPs try to delay things unless patients visit them 2-3 times...
The thing is, many people were bringing wives and partners to the UK and not integrating, living in areas where they never spoke English, and it was becoming a problem. The English test is fine, alothugh not sure the mid-perios A2 is really neccesary. Some people might not know they have TB. There a people on this forum who have had experience of that, only finding they had it when taking the test. I would think the Health Surcharge doesn't come near covering the use of NHS. I've no problem with any of these. I have more of a problem with financial requirements and visa fees.
If a British man falls in love with Filipina, and he wants to live in Philippines, he has to take Tagalog language test? If a British man falls in love with Indian lady, and he wants to live in India with her, he has to take Hindi language test...it makes no sense to me. Financial requirement is good in my opinion, as immigration is an expensive process for next 6 years until one gets UK passport, so UKVI makes sure that person has some financial standing. If UK sponsor is not well financially, then he can move to spouse's country if they want to be together
Yeah he/she just needs to learn Hindi, Chinese or Russian etc. then, about 3-4 years later when he/she can speak the local language , he/she can maybe try to get a job (assuming local laws allow him/her to work) and support his/her wife and his/her children... it's a crock of sh1t - if the UK is humane enough to accept asylum seekers and all the other hangers on that get in there then it should be humane enough to accept our wives and children.
What the financial requirement dooesn't allow for, though, is people who are outside the UK coming here or for families where the overseas spouse is the main breadwinner.
Sitting here in Spain, this all seems incredible to me - the amount you Brits are expected to shell out in order to get your wives/fiancees to the UK. My own rocky road has been well-documented, but had it all gone smoothly, it would actually have been free of charge - with the obvious exception of a flight ticket and travel insurance. The presentation of both passports, the wedding certificate and confirmation that you will be staying together in Europe (should) guarantee a free of charge, quickly expedited visa, valid for 90 days. Ten euros spent in Spain at the extranjeria gets the residence card, the requirement for which is around 8000 euros in the bank, or employed/self-employed status or in regular receipt of income from the UK. No wonder the SS route is so popular. Can someone detail exactly what needs to be paid out in order to get say, a fiancee to Britain, right up to the ILR status please?
In my opinion, Britain has the most expensive process to bring your spouse/ fiancee in the entire world. My brother is US citizen now, and when he brought his wife over to US from Russia, he paid 20% of what Brits pay. I work with many people who are immigrants in UK, and I am astonished that they pay almost £25,0000 i.e. 25 thousand pounds to get British citizenship (7 years process for highly skilled people) for a couple... I have travelled globally and spent half life living in Asian countries. There is no wow factor in Britain which makes UKVI charge so much hefty fees, that's like a robbery to someone knowing they have no other choice if they are born in Britain. For UKVI, it's a for-profit business, and not a service for its citizens
Quite a good analysis here: http://britcits.blogspot.com/2016/01/uk-immigration-fees-to-increase-further.html
I will work out how much I'm going to spend to settle in the UK. Fiance Visa Fee- £1195 Not to mention the English Test, TB test and all the flights back and forth from Mindanao to Cebu and Manila. Next stage for me: FLR(M) Fee: £993 IHS: £500 Premium Service: £500 After 2.5 years: Second FLR(M) Fee: £993 IHS: £500 Premium Service: £500 After 2.5 years: ILR Fee: £2,297 Those are the major fees I need to pay up to the ILR. Not to mention another English Test for £150 and LiTUKT for £50. And then the applying for British passport. Still a long way for me though. You can just imagine how much money the UKVI is making out of all this.
In addition to above, Health Surcharge for first time application is £600. ILR is a problem if you are out of country for 2 years, so its advisable to become dual citizen, so this will add few thousands ££ again. Everything adds up: new photos with each application, travel to UKVI office for FLR ILR etc, A1 exam, A2 exam, B1 exam, printing, and so much more. UKVI even charges if you call them that's the height of everything. If you email them, they have same answer 'we can't help you'. Fees increase every year is way above inflation, which clearly says this is for-profit business. It's same as bank charges high interest rates to people with bad credit history If they charge so heft fees, and process takes upto 12 weeks, it can be useful if there is an online tracking service, where they update the status. That's called normal service in 21st century in developed countries, but UKVI wants applicants to remain tensed or stressed if UKVI has even received the original documents... there is no acknowledgement etc. When I look at application forms, there are so many silly mistakes, it seems a small child has drafted with no focus on quality etc. Guidance notes are almost funny where they say 'answer clearly what the question asks' Ok I will stop ranting now Good luck to everyone
There's no real need to travel to the UKVI office as there's no real benefit other than when transferring from fiancee visa to FLR (as it enables you to start working quicker). Some people choose to do premium service but it's not an essential. £500 for a premium service? That's 3 English tests.
