# how much is enough savings to apply for spousal visa



## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

Well, here is an update....
My now Husband  is currently one year and some change illegal. he came over on passport only from england. we got married last september.
I know we have gone the complete wrong way about this situation. but what is done is done. WE want to move to UK. will live with his parents till we get on our feet. I dont have a specialized field.I am a general manager of a hotel.
My husband is not specialized field either. He should be able to get a job at his old place. We know the economy is bad....as its not peachy here either in america. so we will save like little squirrels. 
But how much is enough? The visa app is $1000.00 regardles if i get approved or not. 
SO, does anyone have advice (besides Send him home). Anyone been through this?
Has anyone had the same situation? I know that he will most likely have to go home. But dont want to send him home before enough money is saved. Yes, i know its a gamble having him here. But we dont want to be apart as i am sure you can imagine. So far the thought process is, save money, send him home, he makes steady pay check for a few months and then apply for visa....just dont know how much money is enough for the powers that be to say ya, come on over. We will be going to uk for good. i am not fussed about dual citizenship. I will want to become a uk citizen.

any help is appreciated!
thanks
Kirstine


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

peppera-ann- said:


> So far the thought process is, save money, send him home, he makes steady pay check for a few months and then apply for visa....just dont know how much money is enough for the powers that be to say ya, come on over. We will be going to uk for good. i am not fussed about dual citizenship. I will want to become a uk citizen.


Hey there - what have you been doing all this time? 

Your thought process sounds about right. At some point you're going to have to spend some time apart, so he can return home, get a job and start "establishing himself" in order to prove he can support a wife and family.

I doubt even the Consulate will give you a figure to say "this" is enough for us to grant you the visa. You'll definitely need the visa fee. It would really help if he had a job and a place of his own, although if his parents will help support you both for a while, that should work, too - but they'll have to show that they have adequate resources to support you both. If his parents lose their jobs or retire or get sick, they might not be able to vouch for you. At that point it will be completely on him.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Cheers,
Bev


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

You are going completely the wrong way about this.

Keep going like that and at some point either government will decide that you are not fit to live on each other's country.

For what you say Uncle Sam may say so as soon as he knows about your hubby, so when he leaves he goes back to the UK as a law breaker, and I am not sure what would be in file about you, but from a legal point of view most likely it would not be positive. 

Fast forward: you try to move to the UK and the government here gets to know about you marrying an illegal alien back home.... you think they will look at that in a positive light? 

Your visa is immensely more dependant in both of you having a good reputation and certainly no legal problems. You are trying to fly before you are actually crawling!

I am not a lawyer, so take my advice with a monumental pinch of salt, but I would be more worried about regularizing the legal status of your husband, this most likely means he should go back to the UK and then you could come here.

Savings frankly seems like the least important of the issues you should be dealing with right now, I think you should really talk to a good lawyer in the US to see what is the least bad way to get out of your current situation, otherwise the system may catch you at some point, and the more you entangle yourselves, the least easy it will be to disentangle all...


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

peppera-ann- said:


> Well, here is an update....
> My now Husband  is currently one year and some change illegal. he came over on passport only from england. we got married last september.
> .
> .
> ...


You may well be able to rescue your husband's immigration status in the US. It's touch and go, though.
.
.
.
If you eventually become a UK citizen, you will not automatically relinquish your US citizenship.


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## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

Bevdeforges said:


> Hey there - what have you been doing all this time?
> 
> Your thought process sounds about right. At some point you're going to have to spend some time apart, so he can return home, get a job and start "establishing himself" in order to prove he can support a wife and family.
> 
> ...


i have been working my butt off! 
yes i will be able to pay the visa fee. was just hoping that someone had done this before (not exactly haha) but that had some rounded figure...everyone i have talked to either sold a house or something larger to have their savings egg to put in the basket. his parents have agreed to do what ever it takes. and they will help us for sure.
thanks bev for your advise, you are always so nice

cheers
kirstine


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## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

jlms said:


> You are going completely the wrong way about this.
> 
> Keep going like that and at some point either government will decide that you are not fit to live on each other's country.
> 
> ...


I am trying to get the visa before going, i was just wondering if anyone knew about how much savings it would be best to have before applying so that they can see we will be ok untill jobs are established etc.
I am going to speak to a lawyer, but am worried if i stir things up..he will come out from under the radar so to speak.
we didnt mean for to happen like this, we just want to live together. and we know it cant happen here, not that he wants to stay here.


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## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> You may well be able to rescue your husband's immigration status in the US. It's touch and go, though.
> .
> .
> .
> If you eventually become a UK citizen, you will not automatically relinquish your US citizenship.


i just want to work and live with hubby you know... we arent bothered that he wont be able to come back...of course that is unless he is deported


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

peppera-ann- said:


> i just want to work and live with hubby you know... we arent bothered that he wont be able to come back...of course that is unless he is deported


So if you've chosen Blighty, send him home and get him to find somewhere for you to live and a job with income. When he's stable, put in for your visa -- the UK system is pretty quick provided you qualify.

BTW, soon as he leaves the US, he picks up a 10-year ban. Also, he can't use the visa wavier program, even when this ban is complete but must apply for a visa. Should you decide you wish to return to the States to live within these 10 years (and take him with you!), it will be difficult but not impossible.


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## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> So if you've chosen Blighty, send him home and get him to find somewhere for you to live and a job with income. When he's stable, put in for your visa -- the UK system is pretty quick provided you qualify.
> 
> BTW, soon as he leaves the US, he picks up a 10-year ban. Also, he can't use the visa wavier program, even when this ban is complete but must apply for a visa. Should you decide you wish to return to the States to live within these 10 years (and take him with you!), it will be difficult but not impossible.



thanks! your awesome....ugh..still no monetary notation tho...hmm wonder if like 5k or..should it be more like10k? saved


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

peppera-ann- said:


> thanks! your awesome....ugh..still no monetary notation tho...hmm wonder if like 5k or..should it be more like10k? saved


Don't focus so much on what figure you need in savings. Visa decisions are notoriously made based on "all the facts and circumstances of the case" - so in effect there IS no magic savings figure that will guarantee you a visa.

If your husband can land a 40,000 GBP a year job with all the perks, and rent a nice flat for the two of you, the amount of savings you have will probably be irrelevant. On the other hand, if he's working a poorly paid, part-time job that could go "poof" at any moment and plans for you to live with his parents for the long term, it probably won't matter much how much savings you have in the bank.

The total picture they're looking at is, how genuine is the relationship? can he (as the UK partner "inviting" you to come over) provide for you when you get here without having to go onto the dole? are you in a position to become a productive member of society when you get here? The amount of savings you have is only one of a number of indicators of the answers to the other questions.
Cheers,
Bev


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## peppera-ann- (Feb 4, 2008)

Bevdeforges said:


> Don't focus so much on what figure you need in savings. Visa decisions are notoriously made based on "all the facts and circumstances of the case" - so in effect there IS no magic savings figure that will guarantee you a visa.
> 
> If your husband can land a 40,000 GBP a year job with all the perks, and rent a nice flat for the two of you, the amount of savings you have will probably be irrelevant. On the other hand, if he's working a poorly paid, part-time job that could go "poof" at any moment and plans for you to live with his parents for the long term, it probably won't matter much how much savings you have in the bank.
> 
> ...


thank bev your great. i undertand


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## geogordy (Mar 25, 2009)

peppera-ann- said:


> Well, here is an update....
> But how much is enough? The visa app is $1000.00 regardles if i get approved or not.


My American Fiancée and I (UK citizen) are in the process of getting our own Visa to get married in the UK. We used immigration lawyers to do the paperwork for us, and they suggested that around £4000 was a minimum for savings. If you can't get that amount of money - see if someone is willing to support you financially if the worst were to happen.


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## JCore86 (Apr 6, 2009)

peppera-ann- said:


> Well, here is an update....
> My now Husband  is currently one year and some change illegal. he came over on passport only from england. we got married last september.
> I know we have gone the complete wrong way about this situation. but what is done is done. WE want to move to UK. will live with his parents till we get on our feet. I dont have a specialized field.I am a general manager of a hotel.
> My husband is not specialized field either. He should be able to get a job at his old place. We know the economy is bad....as its not peachy here either in america. so we will save like little squirrels.
> ...


Sweetie, I don’t want to be rude but you both need to get your heads out of the sand. If you’re serious about this then take this advice (and the other contributors who’ve responded before me). Money is absolutely, by far, the least of your worries right now.

First thing’s first. Get him back to the UK immediately! It is going to look EXTREMELY bad to the consulate if he’s been in the US illegally. It will show them that you are both happy to break immigration rules, and therefore make you seem like you have less then honourable characters which is a huge part of obtaining a Spouse Visa. I understand you want to be together, but you may hammering the nails in your own coffin if he continues to be criminally living in the US and you continue to harbour a criminal (that is the way the will look at it). This is not something to fool around with. Get him home! 

Secondly, your spouse Visa will cost you over $1000 just for the sticker itself. It cost me $650 to ship two crates weighing about 75 pounds each by air. By boat is cheaper but takes a lot longer (3-4 months). The exchange rate between the dollar and the pound are better then they were, but still not brilliant. You’re looking at around 1.49 right now. Think of it like this, if you have $1.00, it will become £0.67 at the current exchange rate. Another good reason for him to get back to the UK to start working as soon as possible. 

As far as actually applying for the Visa, my story went like this:

I worked with the consulate in Chicago as that is what I was zoned for. 

I applied online, paid the fee required (over $1000 when I applied), had my biometrics done (finger prints and digital photos that are 100% required with no exceptions) and immediately shipped a big binder full of information that would help back-up my application and help the consulate approve my Visa. In the binder I included emails between myself and my spouse (dating back as far as I could find them), letters of character recommendation for myself and my spouse (three each), employment reference letters for myself from three different colleagues, emails between myself and my spouse (dating back as far as I could find them), character reference letters for myself and my spouse (three each), employment verification letter for my spouse from his current employer, mobile phone bills showing our international calls to each other, his bank account statements (to show we have sufficient funds to support ourselves as that is all they care about in the way of money. Like it was mentioned before, savings doesn’t really matter since it could be gone tomorrow. What matters is your potential for employment, and your spouses current employment. Trust me.), our birth certificates, letters from each of us to the consulate explaining our situation and our story, a copy of his lease agreement (or mortgage if that applies), plus all the other bits they required from us (passport size photo, copies of drivers licenses, etc) and anything else that we could possibly think of that would make or case seem legitimate and honest (getting everything notarized couldn’t hurt either). 

I received an email shortly there after stating that my application and supporting documentation had been received and I would hear back anywhere between the next 5 days to 4 weeks. I received another email confirming my application had been accepted and approved 2 hours later. 

Obviously, the more organized you are and the more information you send the consulate, the better. It’s important to make them see that you married for love and not for any other sketchy reason. Plus, proving that you are both a positive contributor to society puts a lot in your favour as well (which is why he needs to get back to the UK!). He has to be confirmed as a contributing citizen just as you do. You should really look at it like you’re both applying. 

Also, please keep in mind once your Visa is approved you will have 30 days from the approval date to move to the UK. This means you should practically be ready to go when you apply. 

After 2 years of living in the UK, if you’re still married, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Unfortunately I can’t offer any info on that as I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Be sure to get a National Insurance Number, get set up with the NHS and get your name on the bills as soon as possible after that. The banks will require proof of address from an accredited institution before they will open up a bank account for her (utility bills seem to be the easiest way to do it).

Good luck!


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