UK Spouse Visa - what happens if you leave?

[DrChopper]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience of this situation?

I am from the UK, my wife is Thai and we have 1 child with Thai and UK passports.

I am considering a job offer to return to the UK. My wife already has a UK visit visa which starts soon, so we can go quickly.

As I understand it at the end of her 6 months she needs to come back to Thailand and apply for a Spouse visa.

Assuming she gets the visa she can then come back to the UK.

There is the chance that the job would lead me to come back to Thailand in perhaps 2 years time. So, my question is this;

If wife has a spouse visa and then leaves the UK before it ends would that negatively impact on future visa applications?

We will likely want to come back to Thailand but I have one eye on the fact that in the future we might need to return to the UK again to take care of my ageing parents. I would hate to find out in the future that we had blotted our copy book with UKVI.

Any practical experience welcome, thank you i advance.

[theoldgit]

She can apply for a settlement visa at any stage.

Regarding the second point, no she won't have blotted her cookbook, just start from scratch and reapply, maybe explaining the background.

I'm assuming that the goalposts won't be moved in the future.

[hoffy66]

She can apply for a settlement visa at any stage.

Regarding the second point, no she won't have blotted her cookbook, just start from scratch and reapply, maybe explaining the background.

I'm assuming that the goalposts won't be moved in the future.

I am always amazed why people do not contact the embassy for their country and get this information straight from the horse's mouth???

[MissAndry]

I am always amazed why people do not contact the embassy for their country and get this information straight from the horse's mouth???

Because the British Embassy doesn't deal with VISA applications.

(Nor do Spain, France and a whole host of other EU countries)

It's been farmed out to a private company.

Edited July 13, 2016 by MissAndry

[theoldgit]

I am always amazed why people do not contact the embassy for their country and get this information straight from the horse's mouth???

Because the British Embassy doesn't deal with VISA applications.

(Nor do Spain, France and a whole host of other EU countries)

It's been farmed out to a private company.

That's not quite correct, the UKVI contract out the physical receiving of the hard copies of applications and the supporting evidence together with the capturing of biometric details of applicants.

The visas are still processed by UKVI staff located in the British Embassy, other Consulates work the same, or at least in a similar, way.

The UKVI do have a premium rate call centre where "advisers" work to a script.

[bobrussell]

The application form filling is online. The advice offered to prepare you for filling in the form is pretty basic at best. The premium rate 'helpline' is pretty blo+dy awful.

The fact that more people learn from a forum such as this just shows how bad the system is.

As theoldgit says, phone, online help (where available) and email advice generally follows a script that may well not fit the applicants needs!

[DrChopper]

Personally, I'm asking here because I value the expertise and personal experience of the guys who take the time to share on this forum. It's also much quicker and the answers much clearer than the official route. The most common answer when you call the helplines is 'that would be a matter for your judgement sir'.

Supplementary question - can we apply for her to remain in the uk with family while she is there on a visit visa? I thought no, but I can't see in the guidance for this visa why we couldn't.

[7by7]

Obviously an application to join family living in the UK needs to be made from outside the UK.

Once in the UK, one can apply to remain with family if the type of visa held allows it; which a visit visa doesn't.

From Apply to remain in the UK with family, 3. Eligibility

You can apply to extend or switch in any of these routes if you’re eligible, except if you have permission to be in the UK:
as a visitor

In addition, from Standard visitor visa, 6 Extend your visa

You may be able to extend your visa as long as the total time you spend in the UK is less than 6 months - eg if you apply for a 3 month visa, you can apply to extend it for 3 more months.

There was a post a few months ago from someone whose friend had told him that his wife had successfully applied to remain in the UK whilst she was here as a visitor. Something myself and most others believed was impossible under the immigration rules.

This was of great interest as many members here would like to do the same.

So we asked for details of how it was done; we're still waiting for an answer.