got married !

[ginapeterb]

Matty

we now have to pop to croydon to sort out the spouse visa & ILR , she has been in the uk for 4 years and we have been together for 3 years ( with proof ) , we have been told Chariz can apply for ILR & a spouse visa all at the same time .

Matty, your situation is different to many others on here, in that your wife has been in UK for a number years, if you have been in a relationship like a marriage for 3 years or more, it may be that your wife can as you say apply for Indefinate leave to remain.

Check your position carefully with UK Visas, because I am pretty sure, you dont fall inside the normal spouse visa category, if you are permanently living togther in UK, 3 years is a qualyfing period especially if your wife is here on another visa category, if you can prove you have lived together as man and wife (whilst not legally married), you may find that the process is quicker for you.

LET US KNOW WHAT THEY SAY WILL YOU ....ITS A TEST CASE HERE FOR US !

[andypaul]

Matty



Matty, your situation is different to many others on here, in that your wife has been in UK for a number years, if you have been in a relationship like a marriage for 3 years or more, it may be that your wife can as you say apply for Indefinate leave to remain.

Check your position carefully with UK Visas, because I am pretty sure, you dont fall inside the normal spouse visa category, if you are permanently living togther in UK, 3 years is a qualyfing period especially if your wife is here on another visa category, if you can prove you have lived together as man and wife (whilst not legally married), you may find that the process is quicker for you.

LET US KNOW WHAT THEY SAY WILL YOU ....ITS A TEST CASE HERE FOR US !

Congrats Matty and Wife

Like Pete and many others have said best to do quite a bit of research on which is the best option ie gain ilr or spouse visa etc before making the plunge. Some of the advice the UKvisas people have given seems to contradict the one you ask earlier. Joe i know found this when he applied for ilr for his stepson.

Like Pete says make sure you have lots of proof of your existing relationship

Surely if your Wife has the chance to apply for ILR no need for a spouse visa as most of us have done it the other way round. Ie needed a spouse visa and then the ILR is applied for. If your wife has to apply for ilr and a spouse do they charge you twice be careful you dont end up paying for two applications when just the ilr is needed.

Or do they mean you could apply for spouse visa then apply for ilr straight after as she has already been in the uk for more than two years? If they chared you both fees in person it would cost well over a grand but save you a lot of hassle and i guess she could very shortly apply for british citzenship. One point to note she would need to have passed the british citzenship test or qualified via one of the english language courses to gain ilr.

[Matty]

we have been together for nearly three years and have lived together for about 18 months , chariz has been here on a work permit/visa for 4 years.

thanks for all your help , i will let you know how we get on.

[andypaul]

we have been together for nearly three years and have lived together for about 18 months , chariz has been here on a work permit/visa for 4 years.

thanks for all your help , i will let you know how we get on.

So would it be cheaper for her to wait a year on her work permit and apply for ilr after 5 years? Might save you both quite a bit of money on a spouse visa or do you have to apply for a spouse visa once married to a brit citzen

[Matty]

Ok a quick update for you all.

as you know my partner and i got married on the 27th OCT , and we were applying for a spouse visa. Chariz has lived in the uk for nearly 4 years and we have been together for nearly 3 years and lived together for 2 years.

we have had conflicting infomation regarding ILR and Spouse visa's.

so just to let you all know we have had to have a spouse visa which lasts for 2 years and if we are still together after the 2 years she will then have to apply for ILR, which is what we thought.

the spouse visa was granted last friday , so thats good news.

but the good thing is that she can now start her new job without the hassle of a work permit.

BUT .... THE REALLY GOOD NEWS IS THAT ...............................

her daughter who is 8 and lives with Chariz's parents in the Philippines has been granted her visa to come and join us in the uk !!!!! so its gonna be a good Christmas this year as we are gonna fly out on Dec 10th and bring her back with us.

[Matty]

oh and forgot to say that as we got married in a church and had a marriage certificate we only had to provide 3 months bank statements and wage slips along with our passports and that was it.