Aloha, living w/husband in UK 1st time--Spousal visa?

[christiwilde]

Hi, I'm a Californian moving to UK to live and work as a teacher.  We are newlyweds (Jan.'09).  My husband currently lives in London working in finance and I am at home teaching.  We appreciate any advice on this situation.  The spousal visa?  What other forms?
You're too kind!

My Husband is British.  Thanks!

[steveg]

Hi there (Christie?)

Welcome to the forum - I'm the British half of a UK/US partnership (although my wife Paula is now a dual national - American/British) as many are on here - I have no specific knowledge which may be of help to you as paula moved here over 10 years ago and that was on a fiance visa at the time. I suspect though that you would be correct in assuming that a spouse visa would be the thing to enter the country on.

I am sure others will be along soon to answer in more accuracy and depth - I just wanted to welcome you here

Best Wishes

Steve

[cheryls]

Hello and Welcome,

I am from California as well and moved her 5 yrs ago with my Brit husband but he had lived in Cali with me for 18 yrs so its a different situation. You said your hub was in London but didn't state if he is British or American. If he is British then I suggest going onto the website for the British Consulate in LA to obtain a spousal visa. If he is American then you will need to look at other Visas to come over and teach. Do you have any idea where you want to be in the UK?

[Jewel]

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/

Cheryls is right, we can't tell you much without knowing whether your husband is American or British, but the link above should tell you just about everything you need to know.  If you've found the British Consulate website, it will probably link you to this site.

Welcome to the forum, best of luck and if you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask - we'll help as much as we can!

[christiwilde]

Hi again,
thank you all for such quick replies!  I'm so glad to have found you!!!
I have begun an online application for the marriage visa.  This is the same as spousal?  Well, I found nothing called spousal, just marriage...not fiance, marriage.  Anyway, I still don't know if I should print and send this app. with my other supporting docs and where to send?
Thanks friends!

[Jewel]

We're assuming your husband is British.

I've never filled one of these out on-line, and I doubt anyone else here has either, but there should be a drop down menu, and you're looking for a settlement visa.  Then it should give you the option of picking spouse, I think...

There should be guidance somewhere on the web-site, I think, that tells you what documentation you need.  You should also be able to fill out the form on-line and save it (possibly for up to 7 days?) without submitting, or you can just wipe it out if you're not ready to submit yet...I say all this because, at the end, it should give you information on the documents you need to submit and where to send them.  The on-line app gets submitted on-line and I think you send a print-out of it along with your documentation...

There will probably be a prompt about biometrics, to set up an appointment to have that done.  Once you've submitted the application and done your biometrics, you'll have a certain amount of time to submit your documents (14 days I think)...

Sorry, I'm not much more help on the actual specifics on doing this, but the web-site and the form itself should give you information on what you need. 

Also, this is the web-site you should be using to apply:

http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Welcome.htm

[christiwilde]

Thank you very much...Yes, my husband is british. 

From what I remember, because we have been married less than 4 years (we've been married since Jan.'09) I can't apply for any settlement yet...that's why I think I have to apply for a marriage visa so I can work and live in UK 2 years (the required amnt. time before next step) and then apply for settlement.  Does this sound right? 

[Jewel]

Yes, as the rules stand right now, you would be looking for the two-year spouse visa...however, the visa TYPE is settlement, as opposed to visitor, student, etc.

On one of these links I gave you, you may be able to find the PDF for the VAF4 form, which is the settlement form that spouses use - you can print that off and take a look at the info required, although I don't think it matches exactly with the on-line form...(the terminology is weird and confusing when you're not used to it!!)

[christiwilde]

Hi, again thank you so much

So I went to this link instead somehow: www.ukvisas.gov.uk and did the following:
clicked from menu on left: How to Apply-->Visa Application Forms-->Scroll down... clicked Application form VAF4A - Settlement-->The form says:"You should complete This form if You are coming To The UK To settle."

Really glad we talked because just before I was halfway through filling out the online application for "Marriage."  I thought it was the right one!

So as it stands...I will print the VAF4A

---Oh-And I saw somewhere on the site that it should be sent to the British Consulate General...but the only address I could find for Los Angeles was under "complaint":11766 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1200, L.A., CA 90025          Do you know anything about addresses?  The application VAF4A doesn't say anywhere, not in the checklist or Declaration section?

[Jewel]

Possibly you were forward to UKvisas from visa4uk?

I don't know anything about addresses - possibly cheryls will see this and have something more to tell you.  Since you are in CA, it probably is the Consulate in Los Angeles to which you have to send the required documents...

I mentioned the VAF4 just for information...you can't actually submit your application other than on-line in the US.  if you are not being prompted to fill the application in on-line, then you're in the wrong place and really do need to 'apply now' from the visa4uk web-site.  It seems to me that the drop down menu should give you some choices, including settlement, which is the one you choose, and then you have to pick from there husband/wife/spouse (not sure what the choices will be, but whichever is appropriate for you).

Sorry if I'm confusing you more than helping...as mentioned, I've never actually applied for this type of visa so my information is anecdotal based on what I know other people have done to apply...

MTA:  I just started an application on visa4uk - it asks you to set up an account giving your email address and a password, then asks the country you're applying from, the state, the type of visa (settlement) and then gives you a choice of husband, wife, unmarried partner, etc.  That's as far as I went, but that tells me this is definitely the place you need.  Before entering the state, I got a message that said the state would determine which of the three embassies/consulates in the US your supporting documents should be sent to.  This is correct, when you do this an enter CA, somewhere at the end of the application, it will tell you where to send your supporting documents.

Hope this helps...please do let us know if you have other questions about any of this, and we'll try to help!!

[christiwilde]

Thanks to y'all I feel I am now well on my way!  I mean, I can't believe half the battle was learning of and locating the right form to fill out!  Thank you, thank you!
-Christi
p.s. I will talk to my husband on the phone tomorrow to get his full infor. so we can enter it into the online application. 

[Jewel]

Fantastic, glad you've got it figured out.

The odd thing is, after all the stressing of making sure you've got the right form, etc., once you get the visa it feels sort of anti-climactic!

[cheryls]

The Consulate is on Wilshire Blvd but thats really all I remember. I didn't apply by mail. We made an appt and went there in person. They will want supporting documents like marriage certificate, banking information and they may want to see pictures as well. If you do go downtown for any appt I highly recommend you take a lot of loose change with you because they may ask you to photocopy something or other and you have to pay for it. They were very nice there.

[Jewel]

That's the thing, Cheryl, they don't do in person appointments anymore - hopefully she's now found the address and the documents she needs to send.

The OP will have to do a biometrics appointment though and I assume it may be at the consulate - the form will prompt her on that - but that may be the time she will need the pocketful of loose change, for parking if nothing else!

[christiwilde]

Just to keep you updated, I've entered most of the information into the online application.  It is difficult finding a time with my husband to get it all down.  But it should be completed shortly and then I will post what I was told to do, i.e. where to send the app., where to go for biometrics. 
Thanks again.
Sorry, OP, what is this?
Christi

[Molly Mockford]

It's geek code for "Original Poster" - i.e. the person who started a particular topic.  In other words - you!

We don't use a lot of geek code here, so don't get worried;  we're newbie-friendly.  Some people use shorthand like DH for Dear Husband, or LOL for Laughs Out Loud - but most people just write English.

[cheryls]

That's the thing, Cheryl, they don't do in person appointments anymore - hopefully she's now found the address and the documents she needs to send.

The OP will have to do a biometrics appointment though and I assume it may be at the consulate - the form will prompt her on that - but that may be the time she will need the pocketful of loose change, for parking if nothing else!

I had no idea they changed the rules Julie. I just assumed you could still make an appt and go in. See what living here 5 yrs does to ya? I should have guessed because I need to renew my American Passport here and they want it mailed in now. You used to be able to do that in person as well.

OP is for Original Poster. I don't think it's a Geeky thing at all. It's just a bit of shorthand used by people who type quite a bit.

[Jewel]

Or even Opening Poster...sorry, didn't mean to come across as a 'geek'! 

Cheryl, you don't even want to begin to know how things have changed, even in the past six months!  Be glad you're done with immigration control.

Anyway, Christi, hope all goes well with your application and that you keep us posted as to how it all goes...

[Lotus Freak]

welcome to the forum...I was going to put my 2p in but it looks like you've got everything sorted. So now that you're sorted tell us a bit more about yourself. Good luck with your big move across the pond

[christiwilde]

Hello generous immigration angels,

I've completed the application for spousal visa and have made the biometric appointment that the online application led me to, just as you had said.  Now it is asking for the credit card payment of $948 US.  Is this the right amount, does anyone know?  Also, does anyone know the amount of the biometric appointment?  And is this just fingerprinting?

Thank you,
Christi

[christiwilde]

Also, perhaps it is due to the fact I havn't paid yet, but I havn't printed off the copy of the application because I was trying to get to the end of the process not realizing you couldn't go back and print it.  I hope they give a chance to see it again and print it.  Also, maybe because I havn't finished the process by paying, I havn't seen a checklist for all required documents mentioned within the application whenever you clicked on a "?" question mark.  Will I be given a chance to see what is required to mail in with the printed application?  Otherwise, I was thinking, I may need to open a new application just to see what those requirements were.

Thanks

[Jewel]

Well, we can only guess on this one, because as I mentioned earlier, anyone using this forum is unlikely to have done one of these, at least lately.  (I applied for a student visa on-line, but that's 5 years ago and things have changed since then.

I can tell you that whatever amount they gave you is the right one!  Expensive, I know...and it may change from day to day.  The actual price is in £££ somewhere, but it changes based on the exchange rate (I know of people who have paid well over $1,000 and those who've paid in the $800 range, for the same £££ fee, just because of the exchange rate).

The fee includes your biometrics and, if I remember correctly, the biometrics is fingerprinting and a photo.

It sounds like you're well on your way to getting this completed.  It definitely should let you get back in there and print it once you complete the payment process, and I hope that includes showing you the documents you need to supply.  Otherwise, you've suggested one option, but if that doesn't work out, you can try to find the VAF4 form and that should list what documentation you need.

Good luck!

[Lotus Freak]

  I can't believe the visas are that expensive now. Back in the day (2002) I paid $400+ for my spousal visa.

[steveg]

I can't believe the visas are that expensive now. Back in the day (2002) I paid $400+ for my spousal visa.

Never mind visa's Cherri - have you heard that something (not eactly sure what) is happening about changing ILR's sometime this summer? Bet it will not be for free either.  And it now costs something like £700 to get through citizenship - did I not hint hard enough last time?  :-)

You need to get it done Cherri

Steve

[Jewel]

Lots is supposed to be happening, but those who already have ILR should be safe...it's just that they will supposedly be 'encouraging' everyone to become a citizen...how they're gonna make that happen, who knows?

Cherri, a fee years before you applied, there was no cost!  Naturalisation isn't going to get cheaper - I think it's about £680 at the moment...

[steveg]

Lots is supposed to be happening, but those who already have ILR should be safe...it's just that they will supposedly be 'encouraging' everyone to become a citizen...how they're gonna make that happen, who knows?

Cherri, a fee years before you applied, there was no cost!  Naturalisation isn't going to get cheaper - I think it's about £680 at the moment...

See if you'd have listened Cherri you could have saved lots (we just want you as one of us that's all)  :-)

"Resistance is futile, You WILL be assimilated"

Steve

[Lotus Freak]

it's only money

[Jewel]

However, they are talking about more than money this time...again, I don't understand how they would ever get this to work, but in a nutshell, they are hoping to tell people to become citizens or leave.  The only exempt immigrants would be those whose home countries do not recognise dual citizenship...

[wiseguy]

well its all  above my head i would of thought married to a uk resident would of givin you the right but sorry i know nothing about these things
but all i can say is welcome love good luck and glad someone on here has helped you in someway
enjoy the forum
many regards ian