UK Settlement Visa help?

[sksk999]

Hi my girlfriend is currently here in the UK on a 6 Tourist Visa, which will expire in 1 month. We have decided we would like to stay and reloate to the UK. I have managed to get a Job and have a place for us to stay and have some money saved so i wont be plannning to go travel back with her untill ive sorted this visa (sooner the better)

We are planning on booking her A1 speaking and listening test here in the Uk in a week.

Reading the guide the cheapest and easyest option is to go back with her and get married then apply for a Spouse Visa Or Apply for for an unmarried partner visa as these both cut out the FLR stage.

1. Is it possible for here to apply for the Unmarrired partner visa now while shes in the UK on a tourist visa? or dose this has to be done back in her country and we do it from

there???

2. If we go for a Unmarried Partner visa can she work in the UK? or dose she have to wait till after the ILR stage

3. Is it easyer to get the spouse visa over the unmarried visa?

4. What is the normal processing times for either of these visas???

5. Both of these visa she require a TB certificate rite? Can i get this done in the UK while shes on her tourist visa now? or wont it be valid by the time we apply for the Visa.

Im trying to find out the easyest//cheapest way to do it all.

Thanks For Any help guys !!!

Edited June 15, 2015 by sksk999

[toddmeister]

Firstly does your job meet the minimum salary requirement of £18600? Also you'll have to show the salary going into your bank account for at least 6 months prior to application so it'll be a while before you can apply yet.

Getting married in Thailand will probably be the easiest option. The in married partner route will require you to prove that you have lived together "akin to married" for I think 2 years.

The tb test can only be done at the IOM in Bangkok and is valid for 6 months

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited June 15, 2015 by toddmeister

[sksk999]

Yep i basicly started work as soon as i got back to uk with her on her tourist visa and yes i earn over £18600. We have been living together for over 3 years in her country and proved this in the tourist visa application process,

[bigyin]

Getting married and then applying for a settlement visa will not cut out FLR. My wife and step daughter have their visas and we travel in August but we will have to apply for FLR before the visa runs out. In fact I don't think you can avoid it. You have to have been resident in the UK for 5 years before applying for ILR which means initial settlement plus FLR. Also the new system means that when you apply for a visa longer than 6 months you have to travel within 30 days of the date of the visa and don't forget the new Health Surcharge of £500 which your GF will require before applying for the visa. There is no cheap or easy way to obtain a settlement visa for the UK. As for the TB test the 6 months validity is up to the date of application for the visa not date of travel but the staff at IOM will tell you that you must travel within 6 months. This is not correct.

[toddmeister]

I presumed he meant getting married in Thailand would avoid an additional FLR visa if they applied for a fiancé visa, not the 2nd FLR stage under the new rules

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[7by7]

1) To qualify as unmarried partners the two of you need to have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years immediately prior to the application. They will want documentary evidence of this, such as rental agreements in both your names, utility bills addressed to each or both of you at the same address covering the period, etc.

If you haven't, then your either need to marry in Thailand, or you can do this while she is in the UK as a visitor if there is time before she has to leave, or she applies for a fiance visa and you marry within 6 months of her return to the UK.

Fiance visa is the most expensive as it will involve an extra FLR application after the marriage.

Whichever route you choose, she cannot apply for settlement in the UK whilst there as a visitor, she will have to return home and apply there.

2) If she has an unmarried partner visa or a spouse visa she can work immediately; if she has a fiance visa she cannot work until after the marriage and she has her first FLR.

3) Spouse visa; need to be married.

Unmarried partner, need to have been living together for at least two years prior to the application. Living together, not her in Thailand and you making regular visits.

Fiance visa, need to show the marriage will take place within the 6 month life of the visa.

Other than that, all the requirements are exactly the same whichever one she applies for.

4) They are all a type of settlement visa, and UKVI recommend allowing 12 weeks for processing.

Visa processing times gives processing times for decisions made in Bangkok in May 2015; which shows 100% were processed within 30 working days (6 weeks) but there is no guarantee future performance will match this; may be better, may be worse, depending on how busy they are.

5) Applicants in Thailand must submit a TB certificate obtained from the IoM in Bangkok.

She can, though, take her A1 English speaking and listening test while in the UK as a visitor; provided she does not undertake a course of study for it. The test must be from one of the approved providers.

You should read Apply to join family living permanently in the UK and. although it needs updating, you may find UK settlement visa basics useful.

Edit; Just noticed you say "her country" rather than Thailand. If she is not Thai, all the above applies still; except she will need to take her TB test and apply in her county of residence. The processing time may very well be different to that in Bangkok as well.

Edited June 16, 2015 by 7by7

[bobrussell]

If her English skills are fair it might be worth considering by-passing A1 and going straight for B1. Check Youtube for examples of what the test entails.

My sister-in-law sailed through her B1 and I am fairly convinced it is less hassle than some A1 experiences. Tests are readily available and most have a little preparation 'courses' in advance. If UKVI consider these study then nobody is telling them!

[sksk999]

Thanks Very much for your advice think i understand,

7by7

When you say have to be living together for more than 2.5 years prior to the application.

How dose this have to be proved???

Ive lived in her country since Oct 2011 and met her in Sep 2012. Ive proved this with lots of pics through out this time and successfully got her tourist visa. We have obliviously been living together since Sep 2012 but twice since then i have returned back to the UK for a few months to see family for short hoildays. We have a rental agreement from October 2013 to October 2015 but nothing before that. Will this prove a problem?

Thanks

[toddmeister]

I think you'll need more than just photos. Does the rental agreement show both your names on the paperwork as cohabiting?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sksk999]

Yes it dose has both names i used it in the applying for tourist visa. but it only proves we actually "lived together" since October 2013. Before that i stayed in another apartment with her but i have no contract to prove this

[theoldgit]

Yes it dose has both names i used it in the applying for tourist visa. but it only proves we actually "lived together" since October 2013. Before that i stayed in another apartment with her but i have no contract to prove this

I was in a similar position a couple of years ago, I obtained a letter from the letting agent for our previous landlord and that was accepted as proof.

Obviously cannot guarantee that it still would be though.

[7by7]

For some reason, Appendix FM-SE Family members - specified evidence doesn't include unmarried or same sex partners.

However, while some of Unmarried and same-sex partners: SET05 is out of date since the rule changes in July 2012,

• SET5.12 Assessing whether the relationship has subsisted for two years and
• SET5.13 What types of evidence might demonstrate living together and a relationship akin to marriage / civil partnership?

are still relevant.

Edited June 17, 2015 by 7by7

[sksk999]

Thanks for the in 7by7 and others.

7by7

I have a rental agreement back in Asia runs from Oct 2013 to 2015 and both names are on it, so i can use this as "eviendance" relationship akin to marriage, pluse loads of photos of trips/days out ect running back nearly 3 years.

BUT

SET5.13 states that they require 6 bits of eviendce tho, i dont have no other correspondence with me or my girlfriends name on it atall except this rental aggrement, Any idea's?

It dose state Any other evidence that adequately demonstrates the couple’s long-term commitment to each other, what else could i use?

thanks!!

[7by7]

Six pieces of evidence from at least three different sources; so you can use the same three sources twice.

No utility bills, mobile bills, letters?

What address did you give when applying for/renewing your Thai visa?

As for what other evidence you can provide; one obvious one is your passport showing your Thai visas and immigration status in Thailand over the period.

Evidence of your contact while you have been apart.

Maybe some photos of the two of you together over the period.

Her visa and trip to the UK will probably help, too. They have obviously accepted your relationship is genuine or she wouldn't have got that! Although, it doesn't show the relationship has existed for two years or more nor that you have been living togerher in a relationship akin to marriage.

At the end of the day you have a choice:

• gather what evidence you can and apply for an unmarried partner visa hoping that evidence will be enough; or
• marry and she applies for a spouse visa.

Edited June 23, 2015 by 7by7

[sksk999]

Thanks for you help 7by7 after a few days of researching I have another query about the financial side of things, wonder if you or any one could help please.

I am currently self-employed under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) on non salaried employment. (I get day rate and paid monthly with the same employer and have constant work).

According to Paragraph 5.5.17 of the Annex FM1.7 (or 17A of Appendix FM-SE. Instead of going down the self employed route i can choose instead to count CIS income from salaried employment rite?

In Paragraph 5.5.17 of the Annex FM1.7 it states

“A person working as a subcontractor under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), administered by HMRC (and under which the contractor deducts tax and National Insurance contributions from the payments made to the subcontractor)”

1. Although my boss (contractor) stops my (Sub contractor) normal Tax my “national insurance contributions” I pay every 6 months via direct debit, directly to HMRC when they send me a letter through. Will this cause a problem when using this “Construction Industry Scheme route”??

2.If using the CIS route is ok, Paragraph 5.5.17 of the Annex FM1.7 states that I must submit CIS payment slips ive asked my boss and he has said he only has CIS Tax Receipts (Statement Of Payment and Deductions for each month) Which I think his accountant must send him, are these what they require??

The letter from my boss (contractor) is no problem and I will have 6 months bank statements reflecting the pay when I submit the visa application in Sep.

3. Am I rite in thinking I can use Annex FM1.7 5.1. (Category A: With current employer for 6 months or more – person residing in the UK.) Then use the 5.1.4 “non-salaried employment” route which will be my gross in the last 6 months, divided by 6 and multiplied by 12??

Ive done this calculation and it exceeds the £18600 financial requirement. If that all correct (wishful thinking) dose that for fill the financial requirements.

Thanks!!!

Edited June 25, 2015 by sksk999

[7by7]

I think so; but Tony M is more qualified to answer than I.

If he doesn't see your post and respond here, then maybe a PM to him.

[sksk999]

Ok will do. Thanks

[Tony M]

Ok will do. Thanks

I have sent you a PM