UK Visa for wife while I do a PGCE

[kitjohnson]

I'm planning on doing a one-year full-time PGCE course at a UK university, and would like my Thai wife to be able to live with me. I've spent a couple of hours doing research but can't seem to find the right kind of visa for her. She would like to live with me and to try to find a job.

What are her options for a visa? I may be able to get a scholarship, but it would be tough to get what they ask for as part of the settlement visa requirements (about 18,600 pounds). If I do get the scholarship, would confirmation of the scholarship be deemed acceptable financial support? Our combined salaries here in Thailand aren't enough (which is why I'm doing this course: employment prospects).

If we do not make the settlement visa requirements, are there any other options? A tourist visa would be one thing, but then she wouldn't be allowed to work.

When the course finishes I should be able to find work on 21,000 pounds ish. But we'd rather not be separated for a year.......

[RAZZELL]

Study visa for you wife? P/T work allowed.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/studying/adult-students/conditions/

RAZZ

Edited November 10, 2013 by RAZZELL

[Mrbiggus]

Who's going to pay the rent?

Who's going to pay for food?

Who's going to pay the bills?

I'm not, nor is the UK government.

You know the answer is NO. Your Thai Wife is not allowed in, so why do you ask?

You do not earn as you are a student. And Non Eu students are only allowed to work under 16 hours a week

Edited November 10, 2013 by Mrbiggus

[7by7]

An educational maintenance grant or stipend can be used to meet the financial requirement. The minimum amount required for a spouse is the equivalent of one's net income if working and earning £18,600 p.a. gross: i.e. £15,800 p.a.

6.4. Maintenance grant or stipend – further guidance.

See also 6.5.1, 10 (g) for the evidence required.

What I'm not sure is whether you can do this if you have been living outside the UK and are returning to study.

However, is it your intention to leave the UK once the course is finished?

If so, then considering the cost of a settlement visa (currently £851) as opposed to a visit (£80 for a standard 6 month, £278 for a 2 year), plus the costs of her TB test and English test; might it not be better for you to come alone while she stays in Thailand and she visits you?

Note, though, that if she did this she could only stay a maximum of 6 months per visit and, usually, no more than 6 months out of 12. She would also be unable to work or study whilst in the UK as a visitor.

Coming as a student is not as simple as some believe. For starters, to come for longer than 6 months she would need to be accepted on a recognised course by an approved educational establishment.

See Adult Students, Tier 4 (General) and the links from there.

All the above assumes that you are British.

If you are not, then when you apply for your Tier 4 visa, she can, provided certain conditions are met, apply to come with you as your dependant. Can you bring your family?

Edited November 10, 2013 by 7by7

[Africanteacher]

Why don't you just do it online and live here?

[kitjohnson]

An educational maintenance grant or stipend can be used to meet the financial requirement. The minimum amount required for a spouse is the equivalent of one's net income if working and earning £18,600 p.a. gross: i.e. £15,800 p.a.

6.4. Maintenance grant or stipend – further guidance.

See also 6.5.1, 10 (g) for the evidence required.

What I'm not sure is whether you can do this if you have been living outside the UK and are returning to study.

However, is it your intention to leave the UK once the course is finished?

If so, then considering the cost of a settlement visa (currently £851) as opposed to a visit (£80 for a standard 6 month, £278 for a 2 year), plus the costs of her TB test and English test; might it not be better for you to come alone while she stays in Thailand and she visits you?

Note, though, that if she did this she could only stay a maximum of 6 months per visit and, usually, no more than 6 months out of 12. She would also be unable to work or study whilst in the UK as a visitor.

Coming as a student is not as simple as some believe. For starters, to come for longer than 6 months she would need to be accepted on a recognised course by an approved educational establishment.

See Adult Students, Tier 4 (General) and the links from there.

All the above assumes that you are British.

If you are not, then when you apply for your Tier 4 visa, she can, provided certain conditions are met, apply to come with you as your dependant. Can you bring your family?

I was hoping for a thorough answer like this, and got it. Thank you so much. I am British, by the way.

I have searched around on some forums and some people believe that you cannot use educational maintenance grants to support the application - thanks to your research I now know better.

The settlement route, and indeed the PGCE route, are both very longer-term options. (And as you mention the settlement visa is much more expensive than a visitor visa.) In order to secure funding for the PGCE course I would likely need to work in the UK for some length of time anyway. If I crash back from Thailand and straight away ask for 20,000 pounds, eyebrows may be raised. While I am working would be one good time to apply for a settlement visa, if we pursue that option.

A study visa isn't really an option. She lived in England for several years as a student before, and isn't keen to enter that life again.

The visitor visa seems to have a range of benefits. She successfully got one a few years back, before we were married, and we know the procedure now. The problem of course is that she wouldn't be allowed to work, and would need to leave after 6 months. But 6 months is a nice long time.

Why don't you just do it online and live here?

It looks like a great option, but there's one major downside: I would not get a full QTS (qualified teacher status) which I would need to teach in the UK at any point in the future, and which many international schools request. If I were already employed in an international school and they simply wanted me to get an extra piece of paper, this would probably be the best way to do it.

Edited November 12, 2013 by kitjohnson