Thai Wife Wanting To Stay In Uk

[l13unn79]

Hi there

My wife is coming to the end of her 2 year spouse visa and is wanting to stay in the Uk. We still live at home with my parents due to waiting for the credit crisis to bottom out before investing in a property. She has a job and pays her taxes and has also passed her life in the Uk test. My parents are happy for my wife to stay at the house for the foreseeable future as they understand the situation we find ourselves in.

My wife has been told that although it costs more money than the normal visa....you can go in person and get an answer on the day.... Is this true? Also by the time the visa runs out she will have only been here for about 88 weeks of the visa hence if I am right us having to extend the visa for a few months first. Can this be done by going in person to the visa office.

Also what is the criteria that is needed to be met so that my wife and I can stay living together in the Uk.

I know this is all very sketchy but am just after as much info as possible regarding what we are best doing and what forms and the like we will need.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If it was not for sites like this I think the average man like myself would never be able to do anything as the government seem to make everything so hard and the information is always too complex.

[7by7]

To qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain as the spouse of a UK resident she needs to have been resident in the UK for 2 years (104 weeks) and be in possession of a valid leave to remain. Unfortunately when her current leave to remain expires your wife will fall short of this time and so will have to apply for Further Leave to Remain using form FLR(M) to cover the gap.

As she has passed the LitUK test, then once she has completed the residency requirement she can apply for ILR using Form SET(M).

She can apply in person, but as you can see from here there is a £200 premium for doing so. As the cost of applying by post is £395 for FLR and a whopping £750 for ILR then, unless there is a specific urgent reason for applying in person, this extra £200 on top of the already extortionate fees is not, in my opinion, worth paying.

Edited November 1, 2008 by 7by7

[micky44]

hi there, you will also have to prove to the visa officer that your marriage has been sustaining over the two year period,this is why you have to provide official documents spread over the entire two year period in joint names at the address that you have been living at, ie joint bank statements gas elec water bills, communinty charge bills etc etc, would you have these if you are at your parents house ? if you do not have the above mentioned docs there will be trouble ahead, and they may give a further leave to remain visa as apossed to ILR. i could be wrong on this next point but check it out for your self, but not sure if there is something aout staying at ones parents. ifyou call the bai they are really hep full. cheers micky.

[vinny]

If she has satisfied the KOL requirements and had initially entered the UK within three months of her 2-year spouse visa's effective date, then she may directly apply for SET(M) (288).

[7by7]

ie joint bank statements gas elec water bills, communinty charge bills etc etc, would you have these if you are at your parents house ?

If living in someone elses house it is unlikely that you will have council tax bills, utility bills etc. However, other documents are acceptable; bank statements, NHS card, hospital appointment letters, letters from DWP re NI number etc. The guidance notes for form SET(M) gives details of what is acceptable.