As an American, should I send my wife over to get settled then apply for a spouse visa? Should I line up a job first and have my potential employer apply for a work visa? I am at my wit's end. The UK home office site does not address these issues very well. I'm lost in knowing which way to choose. There has to be mixed nationality couples from America and England that have gone through this process before...please help!
Immigration - 2 Answers
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1 :
If you don't already have a place to stay in the UK - your wife might need to over there and arrange all that first. She will then need to help you apply for a Visa. You will need to be able to show that you can live there without any help from public funds. So she may need to find a job that can support you both before you apply. You can find more information about it here - http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf4husbandswifespartners http://www.britainusa.com/visas/articles_show_nt1.asp?i=65035&L1=41000&a=41033 :-)
2 :
A spouse visa is your best bet as transatlantic job hunting isn't generally successful. Your wife will need to show she has a place for you to live and a job to support you. If she goes over first, rents a small place and takes the first job she can get that should be plenty. The spousal visa process is pretty fast so you two needn't be apart for long. One couple I know did it without the wife leaving as a family friend gave then a lease on a property she owned and a relative wrote to them both with job offers. A week after getting there they had the spousal visa in hand. When they got to the UK they had to stay with family until they found a real place to stay and they both got real job offers.
