Uk Settlement Visa Whilst Unemployed?

[conquest]

I'm looking for some advice regarding a UK Settlement Visa for my wife. Before I get to the main question here is our background:

I have been living and working legally here in Thailand since Jan 2001. I met my wife nearly 5 years ago and we have been married since Dec 2005. We have two children together 3 & 2 Both British Citizens. We have been living together since Jan 2005. She is educated with a degree and speaks and writes English very fluently. She runs her own business here in Thailand but will close it down when we go to the UK to settle.

When we all go back to the UK none of us will be be employed. I will be looking for work and she will probably start her own business as she is quite entrepreneurial.

Question: If we are both "Unemployed" on entry to the UK will they simply reject the Visa? If we need to show savings to support ourselves how much will be needed and for how long should we be expected to support ourselves with these savings?

I have tried to obtain the answers to these questions from VFS but they said that they could not tell me. That does not surprise me as every dealing I have had with the VFS so far has been just awful.

At over 500 pounds a pop I want to feel confident that my wife will not get rejected as a result of both us being "Unemployed".

Answers appreciated.

[mrbojangles]

The real knowledgable people aren't around at the moment. So I'll try and give some basics.

Many people in the past have returned to the UK with their families and no job, so being unemployed doesn't neccessarily disqualify you. As long as all the other criteria is met.

The main issue is that your Mrs has no recourse to public funds but you do. So you have to basically show that you can support the family. As your children are British, they are entitled to at least Family Allowance (as it was called) but there are also other things like Tax credits etc. Do you have any savings? Somewhere to live with adequate room for the family? What are your job prospects or employability.

There are many other things but these are just a few for you to ponder on for the moment.

[kate46]

Hi Conquest my son managed to get a settlement visa for his wife without having a job...we included a letter from his old boss just stating that he would have no hesitating offering him a job on his return, think it would help to maybe search for suitable jobs that you could apply for. The job centre plus website will show all jobs locally for you, maybe print off some just to show what is available in your area.

We had savings of £3,000 in the bank...the other thing that is very important is to show you have somewhere suitable to stay with enough room for you all. We went to the land registry website and printed off details of my sons godmothers house to show she owned it etc. and also sent the plans of the house to prove it had 3 bedrooms...think you would need at least 2 bedrooms spare for you all

Good luck

[conquest]

Thanks both of you for your advice. This both clearly answers the questions I was asking and also gives some useful tips on supporting documents. I know this does not guarantee my wife will get the visa but at least now we can apply with relative confidence. I have savings, I own the house, and I would like to think I am very employable.

Top stuff! It's amazing that I can get great advice from total strangers but can't get anything from the so called professionals at the VFS. With so many complaints about the VFS why on earth don't the British Embassy look into it? I honestly don't know of anybody that has got a good word to say about them. They are a total embarrassment to the United Kingdom and I feel embarrassed in front of my wife when she has to deal with this VFS company apparently representing the UK.

Thanks once again.

[7by7]

VFS are a clearing house for applications. Their job is to collect the fee and check that applications are complete and supporting evidence is supplied before forwarding the application to the embassy. They are not ECOs and are not qualified to advise on the quality of an application or supporting evidence nor on aspects of the immigration rules and guidelines.

Would you expect your doctor's receptionist to diagnose you and prescribe treatment? Same thing.

You may find Maintenance and accommodation helpful.

[conquest]

VFS are a clearing house for applications. Their job is to collect the fee and check that applications are complete and supporting evidence is supplied before forwarding the application to the embassy. They are not ECOs and are not qualified to advise on the quality of an application or supporting evidence nor on aspects of the immigration rules and guidelines.

Would you expect your doctor's receptionist to diagnose you and prescribe treatment? Same thing.

You may find Maintenance and accommodation helpful.

Your explanation is fair. However the least I would expect from a "Reception" would be to be courteous to the people submitting their applications and point people in the right direction if there are questions that they cannot or are not qualified to answer. Unfortunately they do neither. Would you like such a "Reception" to be the "Face" of your company? I very much doubt it.

In reality the problem is that they end up annoying the educated Thai's with money that don't pose an immigration risk which gives the UK a bad reputation from the outset. The bar girls etc.. whom actually pose a greater immigration risk don't get annoyed as they are so used to dealing with this type of behavior from within Thailand. As you say, the VFS is simply a clearing house for applications and they have no influence on the decision or the outcome. In which case why can they not preform as any good reception does which is to be courteous and have the ability to point the people in the right direction.

Thank you for your link to Maintenance and Accommodation. Again, this is very helpful and answers my questions. Why couldn't the VFS have offered the same advice?

Edited August 5, 2009 by conquest

[learningcurve]

Conquest, I am in the same boat as you. I have been residing in Thailand since 2001. I am married with 2 children. I have a house in the UK and some savings, but no employment to go back to. However, I believe as long as you can show that you are 'employable' and are making the effort to find work you should be ok. My wife will be submitting her application next week. Good luck.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

You may stay with family however third party support is only short term.

As you will be waiting 12 weeks why don't you return and gain employment in the UK whilst waiting for a decision.

[Globaleyes]

If it's still helpful, we just had our visa accepted despite me not having a full time job, only showing one payslip from an agency. We also showed about £21000 savings between us, we are both graduates from Britain (employability) and my house is on a very small mortgage (accommodation).

However, I would advise getting any job, even part-time, if you can, rather than claiming benefit (again, if you can!).

In preparation for a possible re-application that we now dont need, I made sure that i never claimed any benefits to maintain the plausibility that we wouldn't need them.

[Mercury]

You may stay with family however third party support is only short term.

As you will be waiting 12 weeks why don't you return and gain employment in the UK whilst waiting for a decision.

Sorry if I have misunderstood but just what would he be waiting 12 weeks for ? Surely visa applications don't take that long to process for the UK ?

[lectito]

Sorry if I have misunderstood but just what would he be waiting 12 weeks for ? Surely visa applications don't take that long to process for the UK ?

I suspect you are being slightly tongue-in-cheek?

The figures for July show only 35% of applications approved in July were approved within 12 weeks. 65% took more than 12 weeks. See www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/processingtimes

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Having submitted 4 settlement applications a month i would doubt i am joking read the thread it is taking 10/12 weeks.

I would think i would know as this is my job, how many applications have you submitted recently. They can print any figures they like this is the average waiting time.

Edited August 22, 2009 by ThaiVisaExpress

[lectito]

ThaiVisaExpress;

I must have phrased myself badly. I was agreeing with you - and providing the figures which back up your comment that he is likely to be waiting (at least) 12 weeks.

My comment - about being tongue-in-cheek - was directed at Mercury. I was assuming that with an 87 page thread called "UK Settlement", which makes clear just how long people are having to wait, he should have already been aware of the waiting times.

[MJo]

How many directions there is OP ?

I mean isn't it obvious which direction you should head with your guestions. The only one that can help you with this is the embassy or the agents. Or at least some of them. I'm sure the guys next door will give you plenty of advice if you just pay the bill

As 7by7 said VFS is there for you to submit the application conveniently and to take it to the embassy. They actually are told by the embassy not to even try and start "advicing" applicants as that will just lead to more chaos and complains towards the embassy. The guys next door are for those who need advice and are not proactive enough to seek it direct from your government web pages, forums like this or embassy etc.

You can consider the VFS office as post office. That is the place where you drop your application letter and it get's delivered to embassy. That's what they get paid for on top of the simple service to see that application form is complete and mandatory supporting doc's are present. Content of the docs is the responsibility of applicant.

You would be surprised how much abuse the VFS guys get, usually from the farang husbands who hold them responsible for the rejected visa and such. I guess they nowdays allow only applicants to enter the office and i don't blame them for it.