Hi all. I have a question regarding a visitor visa for my wife to come back to the UK for a holiday to see my family. We live in the Philippines with my wife’s parents so no address of our own at present. I am retired and my wife does not work. We live off proceeds of house sale and business in the UK. From the looks of things we won’t be able to provide the home office with a letter from an employer and she owns no property...will this cause us issues? We had previously gone through the UK spouse visa route and she lived in the UK for nearly a year before we decided to move full time to the Phils. If she is out of the UK for more than 6 months her visa is void hence the visitor visa being required. Anyone else been in this situation or any advice welcome.
Hi Matt, I think it will be difficult , to be honest . I'm sure you're aware of how important , having good reasons to return home after a visit are . With no proof / permission from employer , plus no links to a property , it's going to be hard , even if you are financially good to go. Even a letter from your in laws , saying that you pay rent to them , although there is no formal rental agreement , as its family , I don't think will be enough . Unfortunately , the two things that you lack , are probably the two most important things . Just my opinion , sorry . You can try saying that you have lived there for x amount of time , and when you return , you intend to look for a place of your own , but not sure if that will help .
That’s what I was worried about. The other option Imsuppose is to buy a plot of land so that she owns something in her name on a land registry title even if we don’t live on it yet. I wonder if that would work?
Yes I'm sure that would be a big help . Is there no way she could get a job / job offer , even part time , just to help make the application stronger ?
My friend just had her visa denied for about 8 different reasons. It was the longest rejection letter I have ever seen. Some people always know better.
Thanks for the reply..that may have to be a possibility. Personally I could give the Home Office plenty of reasons for wanting to return to the Philippines but not sure it would do the application any good
I would avoid trying to play UKVI for fools; if there're any doubts regarding Visa applicant's answers, local checks are made; a plot of land on its own does not provide a compelling reason for its owner to return. I would suggest you buy a house and lot and even if you don't want to live in it, you could rent it out. Even so, with you now not living and working in the UK - and with no property or job in the Philippines, UKVI may well take the view that you're intending to reside back in the UK and so will reject the visa application.
Fair point....she has got a spouse visa still valid but the HO state the following “you can travel outside the UK for up to 180 days, cumulatively or consecutively, in any given 12 month period.” I’m not entirely sure how to read this? In any given 12 month period...can someone enlighten me on this? We spent 30 days in the phils last January and returned to the UK. Now moved to the phils this month and now wondering how many more days we can stay in the phils before being able to use her spouse visa. When does this 12 month period start end end. If we stay outside the UK for 179 days she in theory can re-enter if I’m correct? But would that need to include the 30 days in January?
