First of all let me clarify that your previous visa ran out in august 2012, and a visa that has run out cannot be extended. So basically you have to forget you ever had a visa, it will be totally a new application. 

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your reply and advise.

Now that I know that my old Visa is of no value. Let´s look ahead.

Very confusing to understand new financial requierements, as they ask for my spouse to show an income of 18000 pounds per year and considering that we are not currently living in the UK, this is quite complicated.

So, what you asked me:

My husband doesn´t have a firm job offer in the UK.
He has some savings there, around 3000 pounds.
His parents own a big property where we are suppose to live once there.

What do you recommend then:

Should my husband go back to the UK and find a job that meets the requirements? I understand that I am not allowed to remain for more that 3 months in the UK as visitor, and I am not allow to apply for an spouse Visa as such.

I am entitle to apply for an extension for leave as fiancee? what is the requirement for this type of permit?

Thank you so much once again,

Maria & Ben

As I already explained, you cannot apply for an extension, as there is nothing to extend, your previous visa expired, that is the end of story. How can you apply as a fiancee when you already had a spouse visa in past? How can you become a fiancee of a person you are married to? And by the way, the requirements are exactly the same for fiancee visa too. You will not be able to extend to any visa of any kind if you are in UK as a visitor.

thank you for the information that you gave my wife, however i do not understand what your problem is? my wife came home very upset at the news and your patronising tone did not help.

the reason we conntacted you is because we could not get any infomation from any other source.

again i canot stress enough how frustrating your reply was, i hope you will take this comment on board and act with a little more understanding and compassion in future replies.

Ben Wainwright

really don`t understand your `frustration`,
mr. lookforward has set out the best path forward in your particular circumstances.
The reply may not suit your way of thinking or what you want to hear.
I would read it again, sit back, and start acting on it

Hello,

Please do not misinterpret my husband´s comment, We did appreciate the information we received from Mrlookforward, and It is really not a case of the reply "suiting" my expectations or not.

We are fully aware of the consequences of us moving overseas before proving 2 years in the UK on my Spouse Visa, and certainly we were prepare for an outcome as the one we received.

If we decide to apply for the Visa, we now know that we will need to be apart for a period of 6 months, until my husband proves a financial support status that meets the criteria to sponsor me.
As you can imagine, not a good plan for a just married couple. But rules are rules. We get that too.

Just to be clear:

I understood from the first answer to my initial query, that my old Visa was no longer valid.

Reg a permit to extend leave as fiancee, I only mentioned it cause we were thinking of marrying in the UK as we were told that our marriage certificate from Argentina has no validity in the UK. So by UK laws, we are unmarried.
Apologies if my question was based in only what we were told. I thought that providing advise to this sort of questions was kind of the ultimate aim of this forum? Apologies if that´s not the case. My bad.

Our point when we express our frustation, comes from a "human" point of view, as we ask ourselves, why should we allow a strange person to reply to out honest questions by using expressions, such us "you made a big mistake" or using smart remarks as "how can you be a fiancee when you are already married?"...by reading this I sense a total lack of respect to my honest concern. I see that respect is a human right that means little for some.

I am dissapointed to see that Life in the UK website allows this kind of behaviour on a public forum.

Now, I will sit back and think twice before asking for help.

Thank you Roy and Mrlookforward. Until next time.

First of all, it was not my intention to attack anyone personally. Just some clear cut words to get the message across. Also please keep in mind, that people who may just read the forum without asking queries themselves, also gain from other people's experiences and situations etc.

When I said "you made a mistake" it wasn't a personal attack on you. Well, I do not know you personally. Just that in legal sense it was a mistake to abandon your status and leave the country. Now, if it wasn't a "mistake" then there would be a way of extending the visa.

Secondly about the fiancee issue. I mentioned correctly that "how could you be a fiancee of someone you are married to". Well, now you can kindly explain how you found it personal? Is there a way of being a fiancee of someone you are married to? Under which country's law is it possible?

Any marriage anywhere in this world when that marriage is legally sound in that country is then also a full valid marriage in UK too. The UK law is "that if you marry in argentina or any other country and your marriage is legally recognised in that country then that marriage is 100 percent recognised under UK law".

Now if "someone" told you otherwise, it is not my fault that I mentioned the correct position according to the law and UK immigration rules.

Also you contradicted yourself totally. You mentioned that you were in UK on spouse visa previously. So, if your marriage in Argentina was not valid in UK, then UKBA would not have issued you a spouse visa in the first place.

In the end, you like my posts or not, or regard them as some kind of personal attack, be assured what I have told you is totally sound and you won't go wrong if you act on it. Under current rules there is a "specified" evidence that must be submitted to prove yearly income of £18600. If you are ever unsure what documents you can or a can't submit, do come back to the forum and I shall try my best to answer them as best as I can.

Thank you for your reply once again.

Just to make sure this message is clear enough and helps other people: When I was granted the Spouse Visa, WE WERE NOT MARRIED. Not in Argentina and definitely not in NZ from where we applied from at that time.
We were only required to show evidence of relationship such us: letters, rental agreements and joint bank accounts statements.
That´s all.

So, it might have been a mistake from UKBA end or their immigration officer in Canberra where they issued the Visa but...my Visa clearly states that it´s a spouse visa. No contradiction there Mr Lookforward.

I accept your apologies, again what it could be a mistake for you it was a necessity at the time we left the UK, so I recommend you to be careful with the expression as you well said, you do not know who you are addressing your comments to.
I will probaby say that the fact we left the UK before the completion of the Visa is now an incovenient as it put us in the position where we need to re-apply under new and strict immigration rules. Fare enough and still not offensive.

Do not hesitate that I will contact you back for further advise because, and I repeat what I said before, I appreciate your advice and I am sure it´s accurate and you are knowledgeable of the UK law.

Thanks,

Maria

Ah, right.

Now, you got your visa based on a durable partnership of two years or longer. No one probably mentioned it, but that were the rules that you were granted visa under.

Anyways, now, one very important bit that you did not answer, and actually this might solve all your problems. I live and work here is UK, and I know that it will be actually very difficult for someone to land here and quickly find a job that pays £18600 yearly.

So, there is another way round. It might sound strange and difficult, but its actually not.
Has your husband got any relatives or good friends who live in Ireland, spain, france, germany, belgium, holland or any other eu country?

My husband has no relatives in any EU countries, but he has friends who live in Germany-

Right, seems good.

Now, can your husband's friends sort out some kind of job for your husband in germany for about 6 months, any kind of job paying even the minimum wages. Even something that pays like 150 euros or so in Germany, also you will have to stay with him in germany during this period. This is not forever, just to get round UK immigration rules. Would be great if your husband contacts his friends regarding this. Once he has an idea, then let me know, I will tell you the whole story and how to go about it.

There have been changes in the UK immigration. You need to discuss your case with Fusco Browne.

Hello,

My partner Ben, a british citizen and I have been together for nearly 7 years.

We lived in the UK for 10 months from 2010 to 2011 and I was living and working with a Spouse Visa granted for 2 years.

After 10 months we decided to relocate to Argentina, my country of origen and we have been here for a year and 6 months. And we got married here as well.

We now would like to move to the UK and since my first spouse Visa expired on August 2012 I need to re-apply for a new Visa.

We have been trying to find with no luck advise on which type of Visa should we apply and since there are different requirements for people who apply before July 2012 (there have been changes on the application requirements) we do not know whether we should apply according to the old requirements or if we should apply following the new ones.

It is indeed very confusing and cases as the one we are in are not mentioned anywhere on UK Border Agency information and FQA.

Also, we would like to know if the best option would be to apply within the UK or from Argentina, where we are now. Will I be entering the UK as visitor? and in that case, Will I be entitle to apply once there?

We know that there is an "Extension for leave as fiancee" option, if we decide to travel to the UK and apply once we are there for the Visa, but we do not know if this is the correct plan of action.

I´ll appreciate any help you could provide on this,

Many thanks,

Maria & Ben

Hi There 

Could you please tell me ? The EU Country Story . 

Thanks

Regards