The UK government has announced some changes to spouse visa rules. Some of these changes will be immediately implemented and applied retroactively. These changes are part of the ongoing revisions of UK immigration law. There are also some technical changes to the law. I'll discuss the changes below and then explore the issues that come with them.
The first set of spouse visa changes is to the calculation of eligibility for the visa. Currently, the calculation of eligibility takes into account the age of the applicant at the time of application and is based on the current age of the applicant's dependent children. The revised definition of a dependent child is the age of the youngest of the spouses or the youngest of the dependent child of an immigrant or the children of an immigrant who is present and in the continuous custody of the immigration authorities. The age requirement was always considered to be twenty-one years old. The revisions to the rule for the eligibility of the spouses who arrive in the country after the cut off date for the main entry visa were also made.
The second set of changes is related to the eligibility of spouses who are requesting indefinite leave to remain. The revised definition of an immigrant, according to the Immigration Rules, now requires the immigrant to have been lawfully present in the UK for the previous six months. In the first article of this series, I discussed how the indefinite leave to remain (ILR) works. This is an important point in the eligibility of spouses who are seeking permanent residence in the UK.
The spouse visa rules now define a spouse as the person who is married to a UK citizen or a person who is in a civil relationship. Before the change, the definition of the spouse visa did not include some types of civil relationships. For instance, a civil partnership would not be included as an immigrant status requirement. The change did not affect the right of an employer to hire the spouse of an employee. A couple may still get a spousal leave to remain if one of the partners has permanent residency. However, they must apply for an immigrant status under the family life visa.
Another significant change with the spouse visa rules is the allowance for the spouse of a protected person who is not a family member from the UK who is permitted to work in the country. The Immigration Rules now allows the spouse of a UK national who is a protected person to work in the country provided that the spouse has acquired the necessary qualifications for employment. Prior to the change, the UK immigration authorities would refuse to grant work permits to spouses who had not acquired the necessary qualifications.
The spouse visa requirements now include an analysis of work and family opportunities for each spouse. The spouse visa may be granted if the person claiming to be the spouse of a UK national has sufficient earnings from a job or business in the UK to provide for his or her basic needs and requirements. The person who provides the funds for the home or the children must also have a steady source of income.
Another significant change is the financial reporting requirements for spouses of a UK national who are applying for immigration status in Australia. Prior to the adoption of the spouse visa rules, spouses would have to complete a detailed financial report detailing their income and assets. This detailed report was used to calculate their eligibility for the spouse visa. In addition to the spouses submitting the detailed report, the spouse visa application would also have to undergo an evaluation of their capacity to contribute financially to the marriage. The spouse visa rules now allow for the spouses to provide an income and asset declaration if they so choose to.
Some of the spouse visa rules changes will have a significant impact on the ability of spouses to work in Australia. The spouse visa rules now specify that the spouse visa approval decision cannot be based on information provided by the applicants about their earnings and assets. The only exception to this requirement is if the applicant provides documentation about their earnings from a qualifying employment. The lack of reliable documentation has caused a large number of otherwise eligible spouses to choose not to apply for the spouse visa. If you want to apply for a spouse visa, you need to ensure that you fill out all the required forms and that you provide accurate information about your earnings and assets.
https://telegra.ph/UK-Spouse-Visa-Application-Requirements-07-21