UK Spouse Visa Process & Timeline 2024 | Step-By-Step Detailed Guide

in this video we will discuss the UK spouse visa process in 2024 from start to finish for both out of country and in-country applications including spouse Fe or extensions we will do this by splitting the process into eight simple steps as an oisc regulated UK immigration law firm that has helped more than 3,000 partners with their UK partner Visa applications we're very well placed to discuss this the process for a UK spouse visa is the same as applying for a civil partner or unmarried partner so if you're making an application as a civil or unmarried partner this video will also be relevant since the process requirement and fees are different let's first clarify whether your application will be an outof country application or an in-country application to make an application from inside the UK the applicant that is the non-uk partner that needs the Visa must have a Visa or leave that has been granted for longer than 6 months which is not a visitor Visa exceptions here are those in the UK on a fiance or proposed civil partnership Visa who can submit an appli application from inside the UK typically the applicant will have one of these listed here whether the sponsor the UK partner helps complete the online application form and submit the supporting documents does not change this so if the applicant has no visas or leave the application must be made from outside the UK similarly if the applicant is in the UK as a visitor they'll be expected to leave the UK and then make the application from outside the UK the first thing that you must do if you're submitting the applications yourselves is to learn the spouse Fe requirements and gather the relevant documents this is because the documents you submit should show that the requirements are met on the date that you submit the application the spouse fees are in document specific requirements are rather numerous so this normally takes Partners longer than they initially expect a common mistake that leads to refusals is to Simply complete the application form and then provide the documents requested in the online application forms document checklist not only does this document checklist often not list the required documents but it doesn't list documents which whilst they're not strictly mandatory would nevertheless be helpful to submit for a detailed explanation of the UK spouse visa requirements that you must know you can watch our indepth UK spouse visa requirements YouTube video or visit our website migrate org.uk which has more than 43 articles and guides about UK spouse and partner visas the Second Step will be to start completing the online application form to find the correct spouse visa application form you can Google apply partner Visa gov.uk then click on the gov.uk link which says family visas apply extend or switch on the top of the page ensure that you are on the appliers a partner or spouse page scroll down to the subheading how to apply if you're making an outof country application click the link apply online from outside the UK here and if you're making an in-country application click the link apply online in the UK here so you may have already heard about the VFS TLS or UK vcast websites partners are often initially unsure what roles these websites play in the spouse visa application so let's quickly discuss that now firstly you you will never complete the online application form on the VFS TLS or UK vcast websites instead you'll be redirected to one of these websites after you've completed and submitted the online application form we've just discussed VFS TLS and UK vcast primarily deal with the visa center appointment the submission of the documents and the purchasing of other added value services such as the keep my passport service whilst VFS and TLS deal with outof country applications UK vcash deals with in country applications we'll discuss VFS TLS and ukv cast later in this video as we go through the process step by step whilst it changes over time incomplete applications generally remain open for 6 months from when the application was started the date you plan to arrive in the UK for outof Country applications you'll be asked about the date the applicant plans to arrive in the UK in the online application form if your answer here is before the application is granted the start date of the Visa will normally be on or around the date of the decision if your answer here is after the application is granted the start date of the Visa will normally be the date you list here however please note that the home office can normally only postate the start date of the Visa by up to 3 months after the date the application is decided depending on the size of your screen you may be able to see that the online application form here States after your application has been approved you'll have 30 days to arrange travel to the UK this is not currently correct as we will discuss later as applicants are currently given 90 days to enter the UK for more information about the UK spouse visa online application form we've written an article on our website migrate org.uk which discusses more than 50 things that you should be aware of before submitting the application and also covers commonly asked questions about the online application form so we will leave that discussion there step three is to submit the application the application is submitted by paying the home office fees on the online application form these payment pages will appear after paying the immigration health sech charge otherwise known as the IHS when should the application be submitted firstly in nearly all instances the application should only be submitted by paying the home office fees once the requirements are met therefore if possible you should ensure that you've gathered the required imigration rules compliant documentation before submitting the application and this is particularly the case with financial documentation this is because the relevant date that the requirements must be met is the date that the home office fee is paid not the date that the applicant attends the visa center this is known as the date of application in the immigration rules the date of application can be checked by downloading a PDF copy of the online application form on the online application form website for out of country applications ensuring the requirements are met when the application is submitted is a main consideration when considering when to submit the application and also you don't want to submit the application too early as you can generally only ask for the 90-day entry clearance visa to be postdated by an additional 3 months after the date the application is decided so being aware of the current processing times is helpful here and is something that we discuss on our website Mig grate. org.uk for in-country applications the application will need to be submitted before the applicant's current Visa or leaves expiry date the effect of submitting an application before the applicant's Visa or leaves expiry date will be to extend the applicant's current Visa or leave until a decision has been made on the partner visa application that was submitted this is known as section 3C leave for applicants in the UK on a partner Visa that is not a fiance or proposed civil partner Visa the application should generally be submitted within the 28-day period before the expiry of the partner visa for applicants in the UK on a fiance or proposed partner Visa the application can be submitted any time after marrying or entering into a civil partnership but before the six-month Visa expires and for applicants in the UK on a non-partner Visa it's generally fine to submit the application at at any time before the Visas or leaves expiry date preferably at a time that you don't foresee the applicant leaving the UK within 6 to 8 weeks for reasons we'll discuss later what if you want to opt for the priority or super priority service if you're making an in-country application please note that currently the super priority service is only purchasable on the online application form payment page it cannot be purchased on the UK vcast website therefore if you're making an in-country application and you only want the super priority service but only the standard service is showing if the Visa expiry date permits you may decide to check back at a later date before you pay the home office fee super priority Visa appointments are released daily normally around 1:00 a.m. UK time even on weekends for some Visa centers for outof Country applications historically the priority service has been purchasable on both the online application form payment page and on the VFS or TLS websites as of shooting this video however priority service appoint appointments are purchasable on the VFS and TLS websites not on the online application form although this can change in the future another recent change is that for out of country applications the priority service is sometimes available for purchase at the visa center appointment step four book the visa center appointment the visa center appointment otherwise known as the Biometrics appointment can only be booked after you've submitted the application by paying the home office fees after submitting the application you'll be redirected to the UK vcast website if you're making an in-country application or to the VFS or TLS website if you're making an outof country application depending on the country the application is being made from appointments are normally bookable up to 28 days in advance so you do not necessarily need to book the appointment straight away for out of country applications appointments are normally available within a few days and for in-country applications it can take slightly longer step five submit the supporting documents the document submitting procedures very vary depending on whether the application is made from either outside or from inside the UK in all instances however we now generally recommend self uploading the supporting documentation instead of the various other methods the self- uploading takes place on either the VFS TLS or UK vcast website you do not upload the documents on the online application form discussed earlier and therefore you can only self- upload after you've submitted the online application whilst the self- upload portal is by no means perfect we know this because we upload documents on behalf of our clients every day of the week Partners who do not engage an immigration lawyer to help with their application tend to face the least number of issues if they choose to self- upload the documents and another benefit of self- uploading the documents is that unlike the other document submitting methods it does not come with additional fees other document submitting procedures include one submitting copies of the supporting documents at the overseas visa center through out of country applications or at a UK Center and two a method available only in limited locations and circumstances by posting copies of the supporting documents to an address provided for each document submitting procedure instructions will be provided to you as you progress through the application process you may be glad to hear that other than the applicant's passport original documents are not required for any of the document submitting procedures rather copies of such documents whether in paper or digital format suffice so you don't have to worry about important documents being lost in the process step six attend the visa center appointment most applicants must attend a visa center appointment at a local visa center that they select as part of the online process sponsors will not be required to attend the visa center appointment for both outof country and in-country applications visa center appointments for the most part are very uneventful this is because it really is just an administrative process of the applicant providing their Biometrics which essentially means that their fingerprints and photograph will be taken and if you up for the document scanning service which is an optional additional cost service they will help the applicant scan the copies of the supporting documents at the visa center contrary to the partner Visa process in other countries neither applicants nor sponsors are interviewed at the visa center in fact only a tiny percentage of partners are interviewed as part of the Visa process as in some instances the home office May arrange for phone interviews such interviews are normally only requested where the home office casew worker would like additional clarification or to discuss the applicant and sponsor's relationship the at the Visa centers play no part in the decision- making of the application rather they are there just to assist with the administrative process in-country applicants will always retain possession of their passports with this being said for in-country applications please note that leaving the UK whilst the application is being processed will result in the application being withdrawn out of country applicants will leave their passports at the visa center unless they've opted for the keep my passport service or if they're attending a Visa in a different country due to there being no available Visa centers in their usual country of residence step seven wait for the decision once the visa center appointment has been attended it is very much a rather growling waiting game normally non priority outof country applications are processed within 3 months whilst priority outof country applications are normally processed within 30 days non priority in country applications are normally processed within 6 to 8 weeks while super priority in-country applications are normally processed within one working day the processing service for both out of country and in country applications is ever changing and so we update the processing time articles on our website migrate org.uk on the first or second day of each month there we also address other frequently asked questions such as when you can get refunds the priority service when and how you can follow up on an application and what this email here really means which states among other things please ensure that your supporting documents are submitted within five working days of this email step eight the decision when a decision is made both outof country and in country applicants will normally receive an email this is sometimes received in the junk or spam folder especially with Hotmail live and Outlook email accounts so don't be afraid to check there every so often for out of country applications the email will either request the passport to be collected or notify you that The Courier will send you the passport the email will not normally State whether the application has been granted or refused however for out of country applications where applicants opt for the keep my passport service VFS and TLS will only request for the passport to be returned if the application is successful for out of country applications once the passport has been returned you should find a 90-day entry clearance vignette which is like a sticker in the passport for in country applications the email will normally State whether the application has been granted or refused if you found this video helpful and would like to see more of its kind you are more than welcome to like the video and subscribe we also have more than 4 free articles and guides about UK SP and partner visas on our website m.g. so feel free to check that out for a detailed account of all of the spouse visa requirements you can watch our incredibly in-depth UK spouse visa requirements video by clicking the video here

Channel: Migrate org uk - Spouse Visa UK Specialists

Views: 9,701

Keywords: uk spouse visa timeline, uk spouse visa process, spouse visa uk process, spouse visa uk timeline, uk spouse visa timeline 2024, uk spouse visa process 2024, spouse visa uk process 2024, spouse visa uk timeline 2024

Id: lKfsNhKaFu8

Length: 14min 15sec (855 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 30 2024