Do We Qualify For A Family Visa?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

If your intention is for you both to come and live in the UK, then the family visa is really the only way to go.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

bwfc122 wrote:

Hi there,

My girlfriend who is from Brazil will be applying for a visa to come and live with here with me, we are planning to get married here in the UK, Or Brazil if it helps our situation with the visa.

Were thinking of applying for the family visa which would mean we have to get married within the first 6 months if i read it correctly.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

When we apply in October would of been dating for 1 year and 2 months, I have visited her in Brazil 2 times, November 2020 and July 2021, She is currently living with me now and will be going back to Brazil in Feb, she flew back with me back in December when I visited her.

She will have a a degree in business admin at the point of applying and I earn 27K a year so I think that should cover the financial requirements after reading through the document on the link above.

My question is, Is there anybody out there with experience or has done this before who can tell me if im applying for the right visa based on our circumstances?

Any help would be much appreciated as its a little confusing with the duration of the visa as we are engaged at the moment and not sure what length of visa we are entitled to apply for.

Kind Regards,

Jack

Marriage always seems to be the fastest solution. But studying and being a student is always more logical.

Hello Jack

Your application for your girlfriend's visa.
My experience:  My wife is a Colombian national & I went through this process not so long ago. 
  In your circumstances - a family visa is not the correct one.  It is only for family members who wish to join husbands/wives/other family members in the UK.

You will need a "Fiancee's visa"  & has to be applied from outside the UK.
Valid for 6 months and you have to get married during that time.

Once married your wife has to return to Brazil and then apply for a spouse's visa.
(You have already used the visa application system as your girlfriend is in the UK - so you know the procedures by now.)
You already have more than the required minimum amount for you & your future spouse - as she will have "no access to public funds"
If she has a degree she will not need an English test, otherwise an English test will be needed when applying for a spouse's visa.
You will need to pay the NHS surcharge (3 years) - £600.
Getting married in UK or Brazil is up to you. 
Find out all the legal requirements & any paperwork needed here in the UK & Brazil.
Simple registry office ceremony would be better.  Any religious ceremony can be arranged at a later date.
From your mail it does look very straightforward so no worries there.
Trust this helps and congrats to you both.

Kind Regards

Rick

ps - If you need any further info/details drop me a line with your contact nr in my mail box & I will get in touch.

Hi Rico,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query, much appreciated.

Brazilians do not need to apply for a visa to the UK, they can get one on arrival free for 6 months, so Ive not been through a visa process yet.

If we got married in Brazil would that allow my wife to apply for a visa to the UK by going for the Family visa?

Kind Regards,

Jack

Rico20 wrote:

Hello Jack

Your application for your girlfriend's visa.
My experience:  My wife is a Colombian national & I went through this process not so long ago. 
  In your circumstances - a family visa is not the correct one.  It is only for family members who wish to join husbands/wives/other family members in the UK.

You will need a "Fiancee's visa"  & has to be applied from outside the UK.
Valid for 6 months and you have to get married during that time.

Once married your wife has to return to Brazil and then apply for a spouse's visa.
(You have already used the visa application system as your girlfriend is in the UK - so you know the procedures by now.)
You already have more than the required minimum amount for you & your future spouse - as she will have "no access to public funds"
If she has a degree she will not need an English test, otherwise an English test will be needed when applying for a spouse's visa.
You will need to pay the NHS surcharge (3 years) - £600.
Getting married in UK or Brazil is up to you. 
Find out all the legal requirements & any paperwork needed here in the UK & Brazil.
Simple registry office ceremony would be better.  Any religious ceremony can be arranged at a later date.
From your mail it does look very straightforward so no worries there.
Trust this helps and congrats to you both.

Kind Regards

Rick

ps - If you need any further info/details drop me a line with your contact nr in my mail box & I will get in touch.

Hello Jack
I get the picture now.  As long as your marriage is recognised in the UK you can get married in Brazil.  If you do, do get your marriage certificates translated/apostilled in English as you will need proof of all documentation here at a later stage.
It does look like the Family visa is the easiest route in your case as you can apply either in the UK or outside the UK. 
Please do remember it is you as the "Sponsor" who needs to apply. It was in my case.

This is the required criteria:

What you’ll need to prove -
You must be able to prove one of the following:

you’re in a civil partnership or marriage that’s recognised in the UK
you’ve been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply
you are a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner and will marry or enter into a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of arriving.
Main thing is to provide as much evidence/factual proof of your relationship.
We went the other route - applying outside the UK for all  my wife's visas.
Kind Regards
Rick

The advice given above is good. I went through this, and was advised by my lawyer not to get married in my wife's country, but to get married in a civil ceremony or church here in the UK as it makes it almost automatic that you'll get the long-term visa after. I was also told to get the application to get married sorted before applying as you can prove real intention to get married.
Health warning - that was done a decade ago so things *may* have changed. We are still married. Make sure you have loads of documentation pics, emails, letters from family saying the relationship is real.