In a very hard situation please help( Spouse Visa)

[axl365]

Dear expatforum members.

I am here to ask for your help because I have no where to turn to.

I will try to keep it short and precise, so please bear with me.

I am a British citizien and am living in London just graduated.. and in two jobs starting from april which earn me yearly 19k...


my wife is in Turkey and we have been together for over 3 years now. We got married in January 2012. we have no kids..

the law changed recently.. and I am very worried about this.

So here is my questions

1. Do I really need a solicitor to apply for a spouse visa? (they are asking £700 just for their assistance)

2. do I need to be at the visa appointment ? can i stay in London? or do I have to go to turkey to go for the visa appointment with her?

3. will she be liable for a interview? if she is i believe i need to be interviewed in someway or another.. i dont know so i am confused.

4. do i need originals of everything? i can provide 4 month payslips, and bank statements in original.. but I dont think I can send my passport to her.. can this be photocopied? if so how is this done? is it every page? in color?

5. we are both recent graduates, and she is a teacher.. will this be a plus for her application? or doesnt it really matter?

6. i only have just under 3k savings.. will this be ok?


I hope someone with the knowledge can answer my questions.

I will be very grateful.. thanks in advance!!!

[axl365]

sorry to post again. finally, i wanted to say in my tenancy agreement it doesnt state the number of bedroom.. do i need to get another letter from landlord confirming this?

[2farapart]

Well, the good news is that you appear to meet the financial requirement with no savings needed - provided you have been earning more than £18,600 per month for 6 months (which hopefully you will have by end September). Note that the UKBA will take the figure from your lowest month, so if there is a month where you were paid less than the required amount, you might need to delay your application until that particular month slips outside the 6-month consideration period.

You only need a solicitor if you envisage any real problems with your application (for example: if your wife has experienced any past problems with entering the UK or deportation, children are also involved or if there is any criminal record). Otherwise, you'll be fine applying yourselves and saving that money for visas or flights.

There won't be any interviews. Your wife will need her biometrics taken (photograph and fingerprints) but that's pretty straight forward.

Yes, you need originals of all paperwork - especially bank statements. That is very important. You say you only have 4 months, but you likely don't qualify as a sponsor yet anyway because you need to have been earning for a full 6 months (by then, you'll hopefully have all six months' worth of statements and pay slips).

Your wife's employment won't have any bearing on this application, though if she resumes work once in the UK, you can use both your incomes for subsequent visa applications.

You only need to send your wife a photocopy of your passport bio pages (page with photo and number) because the UKBA will be able to verify your information in their database.

Regarding your tenancy, if you are the only tenant, then I assume you don't need to worry about listing the number of bedrooms as there are only the two of you. Someone else will post if they believe you will, but I think you'll be okay without unless the documentary requirements state otherwise.

[axl365]

thank you so much for you reply..

but I had over the phone advice of solicitor.. he said I only needed 3 months payslips..

now I am more worried..

and as far i read on the border agency website.. it said 3 months payslip and statements minimum.

so is it 6 or 3 months?? someone with certain knowledge please confirm which one..

[axl365]

just to add i have 2 jobs


one since early 2000..

and one from april this year...

[Majengo]

Hi, I was told 3 months worth but when the time came to send everything to the UK embassy (my wife is American) they asked for 6 months, all originals. In general, you probably can't give them too much information!

[2farapart]

The rules have changed and your solicitor is out of date. Anyone on a settlement route prior to 9th July was indeed told that the absolute minimum for bank statements was 3 months (though it was better to aim for 6), but that has since changed. If you are going to pay a solicitor, find one who has a proper grasp of the changes (but DO consider whether you really need to be paying a solicitor at all as I mentioned earlier).

The NEW rules demand that you prove you've received a salaried income (or held cash savings) for at least 6 months. Obviously, you need documentary evidence to prove this, so you will need at least six months pay slips and statements. Three months will not be enough. For some people, they will need to provide 12 months of statements (UK sponsors working abroad for example, or people who have switched employers during their last 6 months), and self-employed people might need to provide up to two years worth of records. You have to keep in mind what the visa requirements are for your particular circumstances (e.g. using 6 months of employment income to meet the financial requirement) and then supply enough documents to prove this.

Edited to add: you need to start from the April 2012 job unless you were earning £18,600 or more alone in your first job. If you apply now and your old job was less, your application will be refused because you would not meet the financial requirement of 6 months pay or a savings top-up of many thousands.

[axl365]

thanks for your replies, i guess we will just have to wait..

[missdollarbill]

Originally Posted by axl365

Dear expatforum members.

I am here to ask for your help because I have no where to turn to.

I will try to keep it short and precise, so please bear with me.

I am a British citizien and am living in London just graduated.. and in two jobs starting from april which earn me yearly 19k...


my wife is in Turkey and we have been together for over 3 years now. We got married in January 2012. we have no kids..

the law changed recently.. and I am very worried about this.

So here is my questions

1. Do I really need a solicitor to apply for a spouse visa? (they are asking £700 just for their assistance)

2. do I need to be at the visa appointment ? can i stay in London? or do I have to go to turkey to go for the visa appointment with her?

3. will she be liable for a interview? if she is i believe i need to be interviewed in someway or another.. i dont know so i am confused.

4. do i need originals of everything? i can provide 4 month payslips, and bank statements in original.. but I dont think I can send my passport to her.. can this be photocopied? if so how is this done? is it every page? in color?

5. we are both recent graduates, and she is a teacher.. will this be a plus for her application? or doesnt it really matter?

6. i only have just under 3k savings.. will this be ok?


I hope someone with the knowledge can answer my questions.

I will be very grateful.. thanks in advance!!!

I certainly can relate to this, I am Egyptian ,I recently got married to my British husband after 3 years and a half in a long distance relationship ,in which he used to come and visit, we also recently applied for the spouse visa so I can go and live with him, and I am waiting for it and I hope it will will be approved and turned up ASAP, now there 's a few points hope you could find the answers to your questions in them :
1- we haven't hired a solicitor to apply for the visa, however you'll need a notarized copy of your passport to be sent to your wife as a proof of your age and citizenship , also you'll need to get some kind of a land registry if you own the house that your going to live with her in, if you're able to get that at any registry office then I don't think that you'd need a solicitor.

2- I went to the visa appointment alone as my husband was in the UK at the time but he sent me all the documents required from his side , you have to attach with the application some documents to prove that your relationship is genuine and it is not a sham marriage also you have to provide an evidence that you guys have physically met (eg: pictures of you together, phone bills if you guys were talking on the phone,some chat records from MSN or Skype to prove that you maintained contact throughout the 3 years of your relationship)

3- I wasn't interviewed, all I had to do was providing the documents and my biometric details at the visa application center, however in the application that she'll be filling there should be a question :if we wanted to interview you which language do you want to be interviewed in.

4- it is said that the original documents are required and as far as your passport you can have a notarized copy of it , as you won't able to send her your original passport. Keep in mind that you provide a photocopy of each document you guys present .

5- I am not sure if it could help or not, but golden rule is :if you think this is helpful for your application then provide it with the application. I myself am a graduate but I didn't attach anything to prove it, however I attached my CV with my application.

6- it is always good to have savings,if she has savings then she needs to attach a bank statement of hers, if she has a job offer in the UK then she needs to provide it , you need to provide anything that proves that you're fully capable of supporting yourselves without any access to the public funds.

Also you guys need to visit UK border agency website and check how to apply from Turkey I'd post the link but they won't let me .

hope you found all the answers you need

Best of luck

[axl365]

still waiting.. waiting sucks