Spouse/fiancée visas for same sex marriages

 

During the last decade, my clientele within the LGBT community has grown. This is solely through word of mouth, having successfully represented clients on numerous matters affecting the LGBT community specially issues under Article 2, 3 and 8, ECHR. Amongst these instructions, there was an increase in spouse/fiancée visa, entry clearance applications.

 

I was surprised that some believe that same sex marriages have separate immigration rules for spouse visa applications. On the contrary, the immigration rules for spouse visas are identical. The requirements and criteria are common to all marriages.

 

Therefore, success in all my applications on same sex marriages have been only because I have adopted my 4 stage process when advising clients on spouse visas.

​

Stage 1 – The merits test

​

This is the initial consultation - the vital stage. I believe that it is important that I have an initial consultation with clients to ascertain facts pertaining to client’s circumstances and the best route forward. This consultation involves both parties i.e. the sponsoring spouse in the UK and a teleconference with the spouse outside the UK.

 

This is a free consultation to determine if all elements are in-order before the application is lodged. This is a crucial meeting whereby the facts/circumstances surrounding the pre-marriage relationship, the marriage and post-marriage are applied to the immigration rules governing spouse visas.

 

At this meeting I advise and ascertain if clients are ready to proceed or else to gather further evidence. This test would let clients know the success rate of the application. If the success rate is low at this stage, then I advise on solutions and ways to increase the success rate.

The preparation must start way before the application is lodged and I advise and assist client right from the beginning of this journey.

 

Case studies

​

- T is married to a Jamaican national. T is the sponsoring spouse, a British citizen. They have been married for the last 6 months. T is in full time employment. T was certain that she fulfilled the immigration requirements.

 

When we checked her employment history, although she was in full time employment, she had changed her jobs four times over a period of 9 months. Therefore, she had not been in a single job for a continuous 12 months or for minimum of 6 months in the current employment. We advised accordingly, and the application was lodged after fulfilling the required employment and salary criteria.

 

- Y was in a relationship with H who had lived in the UK for the last 14 years without a legal immigration status. They have known each other for 4 months and had never lived together. They were planning to get married and make an in-country application.

During our initial consultation we advised on the best way forward - an application from outside the country, a spouse visa, rather than an in-country application which would fail on many grounds.

 

We advised, assisted and guided through the entire process starting from H’s voluntary departure from the UK and a subsequent successful application to re-enter the UK on a spouse visa.

 

Stage 2 – Gathering documentary evidence.

 

Submitting the correct and pivotal information through documentary evidence is paramount for an application to be successful. I do not use standard lists of documents. My lists of documents are bespoke to cater to each individual case on its individual requirements. No spouse visa application is the same. Submitting basic documentary evidence such as your bank statements and payslips is not adequate. The documentary evidence should cover all aspects of the immigration rules to cater to the individual application . The required documents vary from case to case. Therefore, our success rate is mainly due to the meticulous submission of essential documents to cover all aspects of pre/post marriage requirements within the spouse visa application rules.

 

Case studies

 

- Z and H had been married for the last 6 years. Z was living in Eritrea. Two previous applications for a spouse visa had been rejected because Z had not passed her English test. Z and H were in a despairing situation when they instructed me as the English Language test is a compulsory requirement.

 

I took this as a challenge and submitted a fresh application with numerous documentary evidence from experts to establish that Z had made reasonable attempts to pass the English test but failed for reasons beyond her control. The application was refused on technical grounds as anticipated. However, at the first-tier tribunal, the Immigration Judge accepted that the evidential and exceptional supporting documents submitted with the application was sufficient to show that Z would never be able to complete the English test successfully and the strict application of the English language requirement in this instance breached Article 8 – right to family life. The ECO therefore had a duty to put weight on the extra documentary evidence that was submitted with the application.

 

- A was the sponsoring spouse – a British citizen. L was married to A for 2 years and lived in Canada. A assumed that he was not earning £18.600 to satisfy the earning’s requirement. The couple had postponed the application for the last 2 years. I, within the initial consultation, gathered information from A. A had a part-time job plus had a side income from a property. Having applied the formula to calculate earnings from his part time job and the extra earnings, I established that A had indeed earned more than the threshold of £18,600.

​

The application was successful - I submitted extensive documentary evidence to establish to the ECO that he was within the threshold. The documentary evidence included detailed statements and letters from his accountants and HMRC. A personal statement with references to items in the

 

bank statements to establish an accumulative 12-month income of over £18,600.

 

Stage 3 – Online application.

 

I personally complete the online application with direct instructions from the applicant and the sponsoring spouse and lodge the online application on the applicant's behalf. This is a time-consuming exercise. On average it could take around 3 to 4 hours to complete the complex online application. This service is included in my fixed fee. We submit the online application with instructions from the sponsoring spouse in the UK and with remote access with the applicant spouse. I lodge the online application by advising clients through all steps of the online process. I keep to very tight time scales to avoid any delays.

 

Case studies

 

- T and W had made an application for a spouse visa. W is the applicant entering the UK with her two minor children from her previous marriage. They have completed the online application and had assumed that the children were covered within the application. I was subsequently instructed and guided them to complete the online applications for the applicant and for each of her dependants.

- D was the sponsoring spouse and had submitted the online application by himself. He had found the online application strenuous and omitted important information such as the previous travel dates

 

which amounted to a substantial list. D also failed to complete the Appendix separately. D had thought that it was not crucial information because he did not anticipate the time and the length of the application. The application was refused on technical grounds for non-disclosure of crucial information

 

Stage 4 – follow-up.

 

I believe that this is an important stage. My clients have access to me directly on my mobile for updates. If there are unreasonable delays by the Entry Clearance Officer, then I ask for progress reports. We also update supporting documents if I feel that there is a need to do the same dependent on the individual case.

 

If you are planning to get married to an overseas partner or are in the process of making an application for a spouse visa, please call me on +44 7956 35 2673 for a free initial consultation.