Do you still qualify for a spouse visa if you meet the financial requirements of Appendix FM at the time of application but your sponsor leaves their job?
This is a common query of spouse visa applicants, especially in this time of the pandemic, where many have been laid off and many have left due to compelling circumstances the pandemic has imposed on them.
However, the Home Office is not rude to neglect these realities and allows certain margin or exceptions to be considered while investigating and reviewing spouse visa applications.
One such recent case has been on Mr Begum, who hails from Bangladesh, whose spouse visa application was rejected in 2018, owing to the fact that the case workers claimed that she had not submitted financial requirement documents. And further to it, there were additional gaps in the salary that was offered and the payslips.Both did not match as per the case officials.
Then, in 2019, when her case was taken up after she had appealed against the Home Office’s decision. The upper Tribunal court found that on the date of her application, she had perfectly met all the required criteria and the Home Office wronged her by rejecting her spouse visa application.
Simply put, even though the sponsor had since left the employment in question, the First-tier Tribunal’s decision that all of the requirements were completed at the time of application meant that withholding her entry clearance was unreasonable.
The Upper Tribunal also confirmed that, where an applicant is found to meet the Immigration Rules, the Home Office cannot cite the importance of maintaining immigration controls as a reason to deny the application in the absence of any exceptional regulatory factor, such as the subsequent discovery of deception.
when making an application
You can fill out an application online. As part of the process, you’ll need to make an appointment at a visa application centre to enrol biometric data (picture and fingerprints).
You must not only complete the application form accurately, but you must also upload all required supporting documents.
The cost of a spouse/partner visa obtained within the United Kingdom is £1033.
The spouse visa costs £1523 from outside the UK. If available in the country of application, the settlement priority service would cost an extra £573.
You may be asked to attend a Spouse Visa Interview if the Home Office that your application has some complexity or discrepancies. You’ll be quizzed on your relationship and each other to check if your marriage is genuine and not a deception.
Legal advice to avoid any rejection
Hiring an immigration solicitor has numerous advantages. They’ll work with you to ensure that your application is filled out correctly and that you have all of the necessary papers. This will prevent immigration officials from rejecting your application due to a clerical error.
You may rest assured that by dealing with A Y & J Solicitors, your best interests will be safeguarded and the visa application process will proceed smoothly.