The UK Spouse visa is a route for partners of either a British citizen or someone on ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) to enter the UK and live with them. It is a convenient pathway for a couple to put the distance behind them and build a life together!

However, like other routes, the UK Spouse visa has some requirements and criteria that the applicant must meet to receive a visa, is tricky. With 1 in 5 UK Spouse Visa applications being refused.

We all love happy endings but sometimes, to get to these, people have to endure a long journey of trials. In our immigration practice, we are proud to have been and continue to be a part of numerous clients’ happy endings.

We had a client Seema* a 49-year-old Indian national living with her 16-year-old daughter. She had been refused a UK spouse visa on a couple of occasions before she met with the UK Spouse visa experts at The SmartMove2UK.
When she visited our office for the first time, she walked in with a handful of UK visa refusal notices. She was quite anxious and utterly disappointed by the refusals. The loss of visa fees approx INR 6 Lakhs for both applicants was exorbitant enough, not to mention the almost 6 – 8 months of waiting.

Seema mentioned that she was married to Paul*, a British national for 4 years but had known him for over 7 years. She, as well as her sponsor, had been previously married, but the marriages had not worked out and ended up in divorce. Furthermore, she described her previous marriage as abusive and traumatic. She had given up hope on finding a life partner and was ready to live the rest of her life focused on the upbringing of her daughter.

Cupid had other plans, though; she met Paul through family acquaintances during his visit to India. She was cautious of him at first, but after she noticed how warm and friendly his behaviour towards her family was, it warmed her up to him. They became friends first, exchanged life stories, and eventually fell in love. Given their complicated histories .

It took them quite a while to decide the future course of their relationship. Life had given them another chance at happiness, and they wanted to make the most of it. So with a warm heart, the couple finally took the leap and got married in 2015.
Naturally, Seema wanted to move to the UK to live with Paul, along with her daughter.

In 2016, Seema applied for a UK spouse visa for herself and a UK child visa for her daughter to join Paul in the UK. Unfortunately, their applications were refused. This made her feel like her troubles had not left her life as yet, but she described how supportive her husband had been during this time. They gathered the missing documents (which took almost 3 years) and applied again in 2019 but to their dismay, the second round of applications had also been refused as the client had not provided the appropriate evidence of meeting the English language requirement – the documents they had provided did not meet the Home Office threshold and further the evidence that her relationship with Paul was genuine and subsisting was not adequate too.

When Seema approached us, she had faced 2 refusals for her and her daughter’s visa applications. Our UK Spouse visa expert Falguni Y Parekh assessed the refusal notice, and the documents submitted by the client and identified the gaps in the application.

Falguni created a plan on how they could successfully file for the client’s UK Spouse visa. We filed her application with appropriate documentation that met the Home Office requirements and refiled the application. Seema was overjoyed to have her approval in 6 weeks.

* names changed to protect privacy.

UK Immigration law can be complex, constantly changing and can appear confusing. However, at The SmartMove2UK, with a combined Immigration experience of more than a couple of decades between our Principal Directors, our firm provides clients with the confidence that their cases will be handled by an expert who understands their needs and how to obtain their goals.

We know there are endless questions about immigration, and sometimes it is quite tough to find all the answers alone. You may also come across several legal nuances while moving your base to the UK, whether it be permanent or temporary. Our featured cases are presented to highlight the different variations, it is recommended to be prepared to deal with these issues as immigration laws in the UK can be complex and thus, there arises a need for professional assistance.

We work out of all the major cities in India – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and have been consulting clients from around the globe. We also have clients visiting our offices in Mumbai and Delhi for in-person consultations.