Sorry if the answer to this has been posted. I have searched and could not find it.

My wife is currently living in the UK and is on a spouse visa. She has been here in the UK now for a total of four years. Her last visa was a two year extension as she didn't fulfill the language requirements to apply for ILR. She has now passed an ESOL course with citizenship and has the letter from college. If we apply for ILR before October then there is no need to pass "Life in the UK" as she sits under the old rules because she was already here before 9th July 2012.

I recently quit my job and am starting my own business as a contractor. Does anybody know what the guidelines are around finances with regard to being self employed under the OLD rules?

Thanks

Paul

Self employed or employed; it's the same.

The same criteria as for her initial visa and her FLR; that is you need to be able to show that your wife can be supported and accommodated without recourse to public funds.

Her income, if any, as well as yours will be taken into account, as will any savings the two of you may have.

N.B. She doesn't need to wait until her FLR expires, but as she has been in the UK for at least 2 years and has now satisfied the language requirement she can apply now.

She will probably still end up having to do the Life in the UK test eventually (after she has her ILR) as they've made it a requirement for naturalisation (getting a British passport)

As she has been in the UK for 4 years then, assuming she meets all the other requirements, she can apply for naturalisation as soon as she receives her ILR.

If this is before the 28th October 2013 then her ESOL with citizenship course will suffice for naturalisation, too. But if after, then yes, she will have to take the LitUK test and obtain at least B1 of the CEFR, or equivalent, in English speaking and listening for naturalisation; see this post.