Spouse Visa Applicants Shall Not Marry In Haste
There is an old saying, “marry in haste, repent at leisure”. Fortunately, this risk will become less likely from March 2 2015. The period for giving Notice of Marriage will extend from 15 to 28 days. And if the Home Office consider there are reasons to suspect a “sham marriage”, you may see your Notice period extended to a full 70 day.
UKBA data on success rate of in-country spouse visa applications under Appendix FM
Of the 5400 applications for partner’s visa made in the UK in the 12 months between July 2012 and June 2013 only a shockingly small number of 313 have so far been successful! Out of the 313 successful applications, 168 (53%) were made by women and 145 (47%) by men. Of the 1140 unsuccessful applications, 491 were by women (43%) and 649 (57%) by men. One might speculate whether the gender imbalance is related to it being more difficult for women to sponsor the partner under the harsh financial requirements of the new rules.
UK spouse visa rules: unfair and discriminatory
Long gone are the times when spouses of British citizens were admitted freely to the UK or given life-long right of abode without extensive representations from immigration lawyers. Gone are the times when the spouse of a British citizen had to pass through a probation period of two years before applying for indefinite leave to remain. From July 2012 rules have become complicated, particularly for some categories of migrants, or rather for some categories of British citizens who have the whim of marrying a non-Brit.