Warner News
11/06/2010
Migrants marrying UK citizens must now learn English
Compulsory English language tests will be introduced for non-European migrants.
01/10/2009
Two new policy announcements for Tier 4
New policy for Tier 4 sponsors
Tier 1 Dependants
When making an application for a dependant(s) to join you in the UK the visa office will ask for a specific documents. If the documents are not provided they visa office will refuse the application. The visa officer will not contact you to ask for the missing documents. If unspecified documents are included in the application the visa officer will not consider them and they may even hinder the application.
All documentation that is provided must be in English or must be certified translations by a professional translator of the original documents. The original documents must also be provided along with the translation.
This translation must include details of the translator’s credentials and confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document. It must also be dated and include the original signature of the translator.
Verification and other checks
The visa office will aim to consider applications quickly. They must be confident the information a family member provides is a true reflection of his/her background.
The visa officer may want to check supporting documents any family member sends with his/her application. Therefore, he/she must ensure that all the evidence comes from a source that can be clearly identified and that it can be independently confirmed as being genuine.
There are two situations in which the visa officer will undertake a check:
Verification checks
- where they have reasonable doubts that the documents are genuine; or
Other checks
- where they carry out further checks, for example, where they have doubts about an application or the documents sent with the application but the doubts are not serious enough for us to make a verification check.
Verification checks
Where the visa officer has reasonable doubts that a specified document is genuine they may want to verify the document with an independent person or government agency.
The purpose of these checks is to ensure that the document provided is genuine and accurately reflects statements made in the application. If the document is being used as evidence to score points, the visa officer may also want to ensure that it entitles the family member to claim those points.
NOTE:
Where documents are provided that are proved to be fraudulent and therefore intended to deceive, the British Govenment can ban you from entering the UK for a period of ten years.
Maintenance Requirement
One of the requirements for family members of Points Based System migrants is that they must be able to support themselves for the entire duration of their stay in the United Kingdom without needing help from public funds (for example benefits provided by the state). If they cannot, they could face financial hardship because they will not have access to most state benefits.
Dependant of a Tier 1 migrant
If the Tier 1 migrant is outside the United Kingdom or has been present in the United Kingdom for less than 12 months, each family member of the Tier 1 migrant must show that he/she, the Tier 1 migrant, or (for children) his/her other parent who is also legally present in the United Kingdom has at least £1,600 to support him/her; this is in addition to any funds the Tier 1 migrant needs to prove he/she has enough money to support himself/herself.
For example, the Tier 1 migrant has been in the UK for 6 months and is making an application at the same time as his/her spouse and two children. He/she must show that he/she has £1,600 for his spouse and a further £1,600 for each child, in addition to £800 required for his/her own support. In total the family will require evidence that they hold £5,600 in available funds (£1,600 x 3 = £4,800 + £800).
If the Tier 1 migrant has been in the United Kingdom for 12 months or more, each family member of the Tier 1 migrant must have £533 to support himself/herself.
If the same Tier 1 migrant and his family had been present in the UK for two years, they would require evidence that they held £2,399 (£533 x 3 = £1599 + £800) in available funds.
If a dependant applies separately from the Tier 1 migrant, there must still be enough funds to support each member of the family. Therefore in the example above, if the family has a third child, the main applicant has been in the United Kingdom for two years and the family applies for leave to remain for the third child separately, they must provide evidence that they have an additional £533 in available funds.