Potential Problems
If you are a British citizen or a UK permanent resident and you want to bring your husband, wife, fiancée or partner (same-sex or unmarried) to the United Kingdom on a UK Settlement Visa then you should be aware of and seriously consider important factors that may cause delays in the processing or lead to the refusal of your UK visa application. Issues that will make the application process difficult include:
- The sponsor is not able to meet the Home Office Financial Requirements or provides poor quality financial supporting documentation. The Home Office will strictly enforce the Financial Requirements
- The sponsor is not able to demonstrate that they have adequate accommodation in the UK by showing that their home will not be legally overcrowded if the visa applicant were to live with them.
- Significant age difference between the Visa applicant and their UK sponsor. Although there is no official rule that requires couples to be similar ages to qualify for a visa, the UK immigration authorities will carefully focus on applications of couples with a large age difference.
- The visa applicant not meeting the Home Office English Language test requirements which is commonly known as the Secure English Language Test (SELT).
- The Visa applicant and sponsor have not spent enough time together in person. The Home Office will have serious doubts over couple’s intentions with no “face-to-face” meeting history prior to applying for a UK settlement visa. The Immigration Rules require couples to have at least met in person.
- Previous attempts by the sponsor to bring a foreign national to the UK on a visa, whether for settlement or non-settlement purposes.
- Previous attempts by the applicant to obtain a UK visa, or gain entry into the UK, if they committed fraud or made false representations.
- The applicant was previously in the UK and overstayed their visa.
- The applicant was previously deported (removed) from the UK.
- The applicant was previously refused entry into the UK.
- Insufficient evidence of relationship (lack of supporting documentation).
- The applicant has a communicable disease (e.g. confirmed tuberculosis).
- The visa applicant has a criminal record.
To learn more about potential visa problems and how it can affect your application and the chances of successfully obtaining a settlement visa please contact our UK Visa department for an initial consultation.
