# Switching Tier 4 Visa to Spouse Visa



## Up.and.away (Jul 10, 2013)

Hi all, hope you are enjoying the lovely weather!!
I would like to enquire about my wife's situation.
Currently finding it hard to find specific answers with regards to the questions below.

I am a UK citizen and going back to work next week (July 2013) with a pay of £25k/year. I stopped working in Sept 2012 to look after my child at home.

My wife is a non-UK/EU citizen and has been currently working full time in the UK since last year on a Tier 4 General student visa with a pay of £28k/year. We married overseas in 2009 and currently have one child (UK citizen).

She had initially planned to switch to a Tier 2 visa (sponsored by work) when her Tier 4 General student visa ends this September. However we have instead thought of switching her Tier 4 visa to a spouse visa as it may provide her with more convenience in the future.

I have 2 questions regarding our situation above.

1. Can my wife apply for a UK spouse visa using her income as financial support instead of mine as I have not earned any income since Sept. 2012 ?

2. We were married overseas and are not officially married in the UK. Our official marriage documents are in a different language and I do not see the point of getting married again. What would you suggest I use as evidence to prove that we are married/civil partners? Is a translation of the official marriage document required or are we still required to get married in the UK?

Many thanks in advance and for your precious time!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Up.and.away said:


> Hi all, hope you are enjoying the lovely weather!!
> I would like to enquire about my wife's situation.
> Currently finding it hard to find specific answers with regards to the questions below.
> 
> ...


She should be able to. But my query is why is she working since last year (i.e. more than 7 months) full-time on Tier 4 Adult Student visa? She can only work up to 20 hours a week in term-time and full-time only in vacations? Or has she been exceeding her hours illegally? This will cause problems when she tries to switch to another leave, such as partner/spouse.



> 2. We were married overseas and are not officially married in the UK. Our official marriage documents are in a different language and I do not see the point of getting married again. What would you suggest I use as evidence to prove that we are married/civil partners? Is a translation of the official marriage document required or are we still required to get married in the UK?


Most overseas marriages are recognised as valid in UK without going through further procedure in UK. The only exceptions are those ceremonies which have no legal status in the country where it was performed, or without going through further official steps (such as the traditional Islamic religious ceremony, the nikah, without going through civil formalities). So provided your marriage is recognised in the country it was performed, all you need is your marriage certificate professionally translated into English. You can, if you like, lodge your marriage details with the General Register Office so that you can get marriage certificates from them easily, in English, though this is entirely optional.


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## Up.and.away (Jul 10, 2013)

Joppa said:


> She should be able to. But my query is why is she working since last year (i.e. more than 7 months) full-time on Tier 4 Adult Student visa? She can only work up to 20 hours a week in term-time and full-time only in vacations? Or has she been exceeding her hours illegally? This will cause problems when she tries to switch to another leave, such as partner/spouse.


Apologies, I should have explained earlier. For the first two years of working after graduating from university in the UK, (called the Foundation Programme) most non-UK/EU doctors are given/use a Tier 4 Student Visa. I am unsure why it works that way, maybe because they are still kind of student doctors. After the completion of the 2 years, they then are required to apply for a Tier 2 Visa to train in their specialties.


Many thanks for your help!!:clap2:


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Ok. You didn't state your wife was a recently-qualified doctor, where during the foundation programme she is allowed to be paid as an extension to Tier 4.

Can you clarify about your marriage abroad?


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## Up.and.away (Jul 10, 2013)

Joppa said:


> Most overseas marriages are recognised as valid in UK without going through further procedure in UK. The only exceptions are those ceremonies which have no legal status in the country where it was performed, or without going through further official steps (such as the traditional Islamic religious ceremony, the nikah, without going through civil formalities). So provided your marriage is recognised in the country it was performed, all you need is your marriage certificate professionally translated into English. You can, if you like, lodge your marriage details with the General Register Office so that you can get marriage certificates from them easily, in English, though this is entirely optional.


With regards to our marriage, it was in Malaysia in the state of Perak and unfortunately is not recognised in the UK. Being nikah, which is a formal legality in Malaysia, I believe I should get the nikah nama (Surat Perakuan Nikah in Malay) translated and include this with the application.

Many thanks!


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