This post is definitely one that I’ve had in the back of my mind to write for a while. But to be honest, I’ve been putting it off just because it required digging through my memories of one of the most stressful few months of my life. But since it’s coming up to almost a year since we got married (Jesus, where did the time go?) and applied for my spouse visa to the U.K., I thought it might be a good time to go through my experience with the whole visa application process. When I was going through it, I couldn’t really find any information online that gave me any peace of mind. And that’s one of the worst things that can happen when going through such a stressful time like that. There’s nothing that makes the entire process easy – because it’s in no way easy. But if my experience can maybe shed a bit of light on the process and give ANY peace of mind to anyone currently going through the process, then I’m happy.
When Steve and I got engaged, we had to weigh our options about which country we were going to live in. Despite my family being back in the States, and it being an incredibly emotional and difficult decision to move abroad, we decided that the U.K. would be the best place for us to call home and build a future together. Now, living in America is not off the table 100% for us. Our plan for now is to get through the 5 years required in order for me to obtain British citizenship. Then after that we may revisit things and depending on where we are at in our lives here, we may move to the U.S. (or anywhere for that matter). But for now, we’re going to get settled and enjoy life here.
After our decision to live in the U.K., we immediately went to the gov.uk website, which is the port of call for ANYTHING regarding government services, immigration, etc. When going on the site, we were flooded with so much information regarding the different types of visas, the process, the documents and evidence needed, costs involved, etc.
It was so overwhelming to see what went into the process of applying for a spouse visa. It caused just a *few* panic attacks on both of our parts. And frankly, it was also a bit sad to see what had to be done. Because basically your entire personal relationship is being invaded, and judged by complete strangers to deem you a “legitimate” relationship. I think that’s one thing that we tend to take for granted – the fact that in life, you shouldn’t really have to prove your relationship to ANYONE. Yet, here we were, doing everything we could so the U.K. government could give me the “O.K.” to be here.
The first thing we did, and what I highly suggest ANYONE does, is to hire an immigration lawyer. You can do the process on your own, but I really recommend getting a lawyer. They will break everything down for you, tell you actually what’s needed, what to expect, and will translate all the confusing shit on gov.uk into lamens terms. Our lawyer was so incredibly helpful and made the process so much smoother. We really couldn’t have done it without him. (Well, we could, but we would have lost whatever sanity we had left at that point if we did.)
Plus, we actually called someone on the gov.uk website to speak about the spouse visa requirements and it’s details and were given COMPLETELY FALSE INFORMATION. That being said, I didn’t necessarily trust them after that. Also, I was very annoyed that I paid 50 quid for a phone call that could have potentially derailed my application process. I took the guy’s information so I could call and complain, but then I realized I’d have to PAY again. So I sucked it up and let it go (kind of). ANYWAY.
As part of the application, we had to include SO MANY documents. I’m so sorry to all the poor trees that went into printing out all the paperwork and photos for it. I promise I’ll start planting trees to make up for it.
The documents that we provided for my application were:
Our marriage certificate (which we got at literally the LAST minute, because we were just married in December)
Both of our birth certificates
My passport
A copy of Steve’s passport
A cover letter written by me
A letter from Steve’s mom (since that’s where we are living we needed a letter from her validating this)
A survey of her house from a licensed estate agent
Photos throughout our relationship
Whatsapp messages and skype call logs between Steve and I
Financial information
My advice is to include SO MUCH information that it’s borderline irritating. Steve and I included so many pictures with family, friends, just of each other, on trips, etc. We also included snippets of conversations from practically the beginning of our relationship up until the last month or so before we applied, and call logs showing how many calls we’d made to each other. I honestly don’t think they look too much through all of it, but they say it’s a requirement so I figured we’d go overboard and throw as much information in there as possible. It’s also advised to include bills with both your names on it, etc. but lol of course we didn’t have any of that because we weren’t living together yet really. You know, hence the POINT of us applying? They really don’t make it easy for you, ffs.
Quite possibly the most important part of the application requirements, and in my opinion the only thing they TRULY care about is, of course the money. The application process is INCREDIBLY expensive. And in addition to that, you need to be able to prove that you/your spouse can afford for you to be kept. Depending on your situation (i.e. finances, if you have any children, etc.), there is a minimum threshold that you need to be able to meet/show you have in regards of wages and/or savings. The application process cost us around $3,000.00 in total (most likely more – I’ve honestly lost count at this point), which included Priority Service (which we chose to do, as to not delay the process for months on end), a non-refundable NHS surcharge (which I think is ridiculous if your application ends up being rejected), and a bunch of other fees that I can’t remember.
If we had chosen not to fast track the application, it would have cost much less and there wouldn’t have been AS MUCH sticker shock. But honestly, we wanted the whole thing over as quick as possible. Although it’s pricey, if you can afford to fast track the application I absolutely would do so, just to get it over with.
A few days after Christmas, Steve and I sat in my grandmother’s house, finalizing the application online, and printed everything out. I shipped the packet out a few days after Steve went back to the U.K., and anxiously waited for my answer back. I only had to wait a few days with bated breath and a knot in my stomach before receiving an email saying that a decision had been made and was being mailed back to me. I have to say, I really did get what I paid for with the Priority Application Service – they reviewed my application and made a decision within FOUR DAYS of receiving it. So, thank god for that.
My application was approved, and a few days later, I went to apply for my U.K. BRP, and finalized everything to head to London a few weeks later to officially live with my husband. We were incredibly lucky that my application was approved. Our lawyer said ours was a pretty clear-cut case and that there really would be no reason for it to be refused. But I know that’s not the case with a lot of people. Had my application been rejected, we would have had to figure out what to do from that point. From what I understand, if refused you can appeal it, or re-apply from scratch again. Unfortunately, both of these options suck – if you appeal, it could take a VERY long time. So many people online said that they just ended up redoing the whole process again (which, yes means paying for the whole thing again – you get refunded NOTHING), so they didn’t have to deal with the stress of a long appeal process.
So, now here I am settled in a nice London suburb with my husband. After many hours of stress, tears, and a hell of a lot of uncertainty, we finally feel like we can move forward with our lives. Well, for the next 2.5 years at least, until I have to renew my visa. After another 2.5 years from that time, I will be able to apply for British citizenship. Unfortunately, there’s even less information I can find online about that second half of the visa process – I can’t find much information on how much it costs (I’m guessing a lot), or anyone’s experience with the second half of the process.
I’m not sure if this will help anyone going through the process in any way, but if anything, I hope it made some of you going through it feel less alone. I would love to be able to chat with anyone currently going through the spouse visa process, or any expats about your experience so please feel free to drop me a comment below.
xx Lauren
it is so complicated and so expensive – I’m so pleased to hear it was successful for you – and I hope
My brother had to do similar in the 90s to get residency in Aus – and then citizenship when he met his Australian now wife.
It was like the film Green Card,
If you’d like to take the bad advice etc further you could also write to your local MP – as the more times they hear about poor work from the Home office the better – give them examples to raise in Parliament.
love Bec
Thank you! It is definitely a complicated process. And to be honest, since going through the process I have wanted to help advocate for ways to make the process easier (or even less expensive lol!). I understand that to obtain residency/citizenship in a foreign country is a privilege, but the costs involved were just crazy.
This is such an interesting post, I didn’t know much about this at all! The non refundable NHS surcharge seems rather unfair, as you say; what if you get rejected!?x
That’s what I thought!! It seems completely unfair to make anyone who gets rejected pay that, without being reimbursed. That’s the one thing about the costs that really really irked me (well, besides the extortionate overall general cost, haha)
xx Lauren