US citizen, UK spouse visa steps

[JoBeth08]

Originally Posted by ciaran1433

Hi everyone,

This is my first post so please be kind.............

I am originally from Northern Ireland and have Irish, U.K. and in April 2005 I also obtained my U.S. citizenship. In July 2009 in Dublin, Ireland I legally married my American wife who has U.S. citizenship only.

We currently reside here in New Jersey but would like to permanently move to Northern Ireland in the next year or two.

1. Can anyone please let us know the name of the correct visa application form so that my American wife can apply to move, live and work in Northern Ireland with me? A link to this form would be super

2. Can we apply to the British consulate in New York City for this visa?

3. Does anyone know the exact cost for my wife to apply for this type of visa that will allow her to legally live and work in Northern Ireland with me?

4. How long before we move to Northern Ireland should we wait before submitting my wife's visa application form?

5. When a spouse visa has been obtained to move to the UK does it specify a time period by which in my case my wife has to move to the UK?

We plan to move at some point in 2011 but we want to get as much as possible organised now.

Thanks, Ciaran

Hey, I'm not sure if anyone has replied to your post yet, but here are some answers, just in case!

1. try this website: ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply
A "Spouse Visa" will allow your wife to reside and work in the UK for 2 years before she can apply for citizenship or dual citizenship.

2. At the end of the online application they usually tell you which consulate to send the other application documents (marriage certificate, passport, etc..) It depends on which state you live in as to where you send the application, but most likely New York will apply via the New York City Consulate.

3. The cost for a spouse visa is 585 pounds or just under $1000, plus a little more if you hire an immigration expert or expediter service.

4. The application process may take one to three months. Mine took three months, but I've read of others' not taking quite as long. If you are able to stay in New York with your wife for the whole time of the application process, that's great! My husband had to return to the UK a month after we sent in the application and then we were apart for a wretched 2 months before I got my visa. Looking back, it may have been worth the extra bit of money to hire an expediting service, such as ABriggs.

5. Your wife can move to the UK just as soon as she receives her visa. I booked my ticket the very day I heard that mine was approved and my flight scheduled for one week later.

Good idea to start the process earlier than later!! It takes some time just to get together all of the bank statements and papers and such that they as for in the application and to double check everything. After your wife finishes the online application at the ukvisas.gov.uk website, she will be asked to schedule an appointment to get her "biometric data" taken, which just consists of getting her fingerprints scanned and having her pic. taken. They will also give you list of places where you can go to get this done and you can choose the nearest one to you.

Hope this of some use! I just went through this process myself, so it's all fresh in my mind. I would be more than glad to answer any more questions you might have through the process as I know how nerve wracking and confusing it can be at times! Ask any time.

[peppera-ann-]

sooooo
it seems being overly detailed and just submitting the basics gets approved...i think i will go intbetween too much and just enough!

my worry is the $$ aspect of it...is this amount enough etc?

ugh! wish we had a way to make a table on here so everyone could see details easily!

[Poppinslp]

Hi All,

My husband and I will move in with my parents when we go to England and they have given me a copy of their land registry to show they own the property, will this be OK as prove?

Also, does it matter if we do not have an address of where we will permanently live as we will look once we are there?

Thanks

[jilkfree1978]

hi my wife recently got her spouse visa! we included land registery,we also inlcluded a written letter from my mother,saying she would help us with accomodation until we both get jobs! we got visa ok just they asked us for additional info which we provided and got visa quicky

Originally Posted by Poppinslp

Hi All,

My husband and I will move in with my parents when we go to England and they have given me a copy of their land registry to show they own the property, will this be OK as prove?

Also, does it matter if we do not have an address of where we will permanently live as we will look once we are there?

Thanks

[JoBeth08]

Originally Posted by Poppinslp

Hi All,

My husband and I will move in with my parents when we go to England and they have given me a copy of their land registry to show they own the property, will this be OK as prove?

Also, does it matter if we do not have an address of where we will permanently live as we will look once we are there?

Thanks

You should be fine. I was just recently approved for a spouse visa to live with my british husband in the UK. We're starting out by living with his mum while we're saving up and looking for a place to stay. We just submitted her mortgage agreement and a letter from her stating her permission for us to live there and the number of rooms in the house and then the number of rooms that will be available to us while we're here. I'm not sure if you absolutely need the letter from the parents, but it might just help confirm that you do have a place to stay.
So you don't need to worry about a permanent address yet.

[JoBeth08]

Originally Posted by peppera-ann-

sooooo
it seems being overly detailed and just submitting the basics gets approved...i think i will go intbetween too much and just enough!

my worry is the $$ aspect of it...is this amount enough etc?

ugh! wish we had a way to make a table on here so everyone could see details easily!

That was something I was worried about too! ..because I heard the amount of money you have is one of the main things they look at. However, my spouse visa application was just recently approved and we do not have a lot of money at all. We just submitted my husband's bank statements for the past 6 months (as my sponsor) and since I had been traveling around and didn't have a lot of income for the last several months, all I did was submit a savings account statement that had $1000 in it. (funnily enough, that was the same 1000 bucks that I used to pay the application fee, so be sure to get your statements before you pay the fee...) and copies of my most recent W2s, just to show I was capable of a modest income. My husband didn't have a lot saved up either to show as a total at the end of the bank statements, just several hundred pounds. I think they like to see that you make enough each month to cover your own costs of living. I also made a clear statement in my cover letter that I had lived with my husband in the UK without a visa for 6 months right after our wedding and that we were capable of covering all of our costs of living during that time, etc..
Unfortunately, we would all have more money to show if we hadn't been in flippin expensive long distance relationships, right?
So don't worry too much about it! You should be fine

[Movin2UK]

Good to know I'm not the only one stressing about this spouse visa. I used a visa agent so I would get all the right documents. I wish I would have found out about these forums before - I could have saved some $$.

Any of you live or will live near Newbury? I would love to get together with other American women to share or complain or figure out UK things.

[Movin2UK]

Originally Posted by thegirl

this is their number: 1 (310) 481-2960
email: mail@britishconsulatela.com

I just tried to be really professional and polite so they wouldnt get annoyed and blow me off. said that it'd been 60 days and i wanted to make sure my application wasnt lost or had missing information and if they could give me anything, that i'd really appreciate it.

I also made sure to include my phone number, email and that GWF reference number they give you..to make it as easy as possible for them to get in contact.

Good luck! I definitely feel your pain..this process has been hell.

Would you happen to know the Chicago fax number?

It's only been a week. But I am scheduled to take an exam so that I can work as an optometrist the first week of January. I need to get over so I can have time to review and take a review course mid December.

I used a visa consultant who said it would only take a week.

[Movin2UK]

I just got my email saying the visa is approved and on the way.

Married: October 16, 2009
Biometrics done: Nov. 3, 2009
Application arrived to Chicago Consulate: Nov. 5 2009
Application approved: Nov. 18, 2009
Flight to UK: Dec. 2, 2009

I did use a visa consultant so I included all the right documents. My spouse and I are both self employed so paperwork is different than if we had salaried positions.

I did not use an expediter - I didn't know about that service til after paperwork was sent off.

After reading posts on this site and others, I did send an email and fax to the consulate on Monday. I reminded them that I had an appointment already scheduled for an exam in the UK in Jan. 2010 and needed time to study in December there without worrying about my visa. Also asked if they needed any further information from me. I was very polite and brief.

Hope this helps someone out there. I can sleep well tonight. Now to the hassle of booking my and the dogs flight.