Do you Qualify for an Exceptional Circumstances UK Spouse Visa?
With tough new financial eligibility criteria to qualify for a Spouse Visa, our Immigration Solicitors are getting an influx of inquiries about whether there is a way around the significant increase in the minimum income requirement for all types of Family Visa applications.
Our Spouse Visa Solicitors look at the immigration rules in Appendix FM on what it takes to have ‘exceptional circumstances’ to qualify for a Spouse Visa.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Lawyers and Spouse Visa Solicitors
For Family Visa immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
Applying for a Family Visa
You may think that you don’t qualify for a Family Visa. That may be because your sponsoring partner does not earn £29,000 gross per year. The first thing you need to do is speak to Spouse Visa Solicitors about whether there are ways in which the minimum income requirement can be met.
For example, does your partner receive a state benefit that means they and you meet the minimum income requirement even though their income is a lot less than £29,000 per year?
For example, does your partner have more than one source of income? Can you meet the minimum income requirement by combining these sources of income?
The rules on what counts as income and whether you can combine it are complicated. Our Spouse Visa Solicitors are experts in Family Visa applications and can guide you through the immigration rules and Appendix FM. It is best to check if you can meet the rules by getting specialist legal advice before you submit an exceptional circumstances application because it is hard to get a Family Visa application by using the exceptional circumstances criteria.
Exceptional circumstances
The immigration rules say that if you cannot meet the minimum income requirement for a Spouse Visa you can still apply for a Family Visa and ask the Home Office to grant your visa application even though you don’t meet the criteria by the Home Office exercising discretion due to your exceptional circumstances.
The Home Office defines exceptional circumstances in the immigration rules but put simply the refusal of your visa application would breach your human rights to family life and create unjustifiably harsh consequences for you as the visa applicant, your partner or children. For example, if your visa application is refused the Home Office might say your partner can move overseas to live with you. That may be impossible if they have a degenerative health condition and their health needs cannot be met in your home country. They and you are in a catch-22 – if your partner gave up their employment and claimed health benefits they would meet the minimum income requirement but by trying to keep going and by working they do not meet the minimum income requirement.
Whatever your circumstances, you cannot assume that anyone else will view them as exceptional circumstances without a full and detailed visa application and supporting evidence. That is because almost any visa applicant can make a case to say that their family situation is special but what you are trying to do is to get a Home Office official to exercise discretion and conclude that a refusal of your Spouse Visa application would be disproportional.
Many visa applicants think that playing on the heartstrings and an over-emotional approach to their Spouse Visa application is their best option. Spouse Visa Solicitors recommend that you don’t adopt that approach as it is best to provide full details without being over-sensational about the effects of a refusal on your family. Thorough, honest and open with professional input on the law and the wording is the way to go when describing your exceptional circumstances and the effect of a refusal on you and your family.
Exceptional circumstances do not excuse you from complying with all the Spouse Visa criteria
Even if your family circumstances qualify as exceptional circumstances it does not mean you get a Spouse Visa. You still need to meet some of the Spouse Visa eligibility criteria, such as:
- Meeting the general immigration requirements – so no criminal record or immigration record that might justify a refusal of your application
- Being in a genuine and subsisting relationship with your spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner
Other standard eligibility criteria for a Spouse Visa application can be excused if you meet the exceptional circumstances criteria. For example, you are excused the requirement to meet the English language requirement and to sit a test to prove it. In real terms, the English language test is not very onerous and most Family Visa applicants can pass it even if they have to resit the test. You can take the test as many times as you want provided you pay the test fee.
The big issue, particularly with the massive rise in the minimum income requirement for the Family Visa, is trying to argue exceptional circumstances so you can secure your Family Visa even though your sponsoring partner does not earn £29,000 a year.
Family Visa Lawyers also emphasise that the exceptional circumstances criteria still require you to prove your relationship is genuine. You therefore cannot use the exceptional circumstances route if your issue is a difficulty in proving the genuineness of your relationship. For example, if your sponsoring partner had been married to several previous spouses from overseas flagging up to the Home Office the genuineness of the marriage or if you are in a relatively short unmarried relationship and struggling to prove the length of your relationship or commitment to one another.
Exceptional circumstances or carefully checking the Family Visa application rules
Spouse Visa Solicitors say that if you secure a Family Visa using the exceptional circumstances route you can only apply to settle in the UK after you have met a 10-year-long residence eligibility criteria. If you meet the standard Spouse Visa rules and do not plead exceptional circumstances you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after you have been in the UK for 5 years, provided you meet the residence requirement.
That is an important distinction as using the exceptional circumstances route to getting a Family Visa commits you to an extra 5 years of visa applications and fees as well as an extra 5 years of immigration controls. That is one of the reasons why our expert Spouse Visa Solicitors are always keen to first fully explore if you meet the minimum income requirement through non-obvious or non-standard means as ultimately that will be easier and beneficial for you.
Just to add to the complexities of navigating the immigration rules, if you enter the UK using exceptional circumstances to get your Spouse Visa you can switch to the 5-year settlement route if you and your partner subsequently meet all the criteria for a Spouse Visa, including the minimum income requirement.
Spouse Visa Solicitors
At OTS Solicitors our team of Spouse Visa Lawyers are experts on the UK immigration rules and Family Visa applications. We can investigate all your visa and settlement options and advise on the best route for you to take.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Lawyers and Spouse Visa Solicitors
For Family Visa immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
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