# not paying bill will affect my visa application



## shazi123 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi,

I am Pakistani national living in Saudi Arabia. I am having a doubt before applying spouse visa to Britain. I have lived in UK for 3 years and got married to a British citizen in 2010. We both lived together and i didn't changed my student visa to spouse as i was not intending to live in UK along with my wife as she agreed to move with me but later on for some personal reasons she refused to come with me and i came back to Saudi Arabia. Now she wants me to join her in UK but my visa got expired and i am thinking of applying UK spouse visa but there is a problem, I have not paid o2 bill since i left UK and i can't pay it right now because UK spouse visa is costly. I will pay as soon as i get there but is this going to affect on my application to UK. I will be very thankful for your help guys.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

shazi123 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am Pakistani national living in Saudi Arabia. I am having a doubt before applying spouse visa to Britain. I have lived in UK for 3 years and got married to a British citizen in 2010. We both lived together and i didn't changed my student visa to spouse as i was not intending to live in UK along with my wife as she agreed to move with me but later on for some personal reasons she refused to come with me and i came back to Saudi Arabia. Now she wants me to join her in UK but my visa got expired and i am thinking of applying UK spouse visa but there is a problem, I have not paid o2 bill since i left UK and i can't pay it right now because UK spouse visa is costly. I will pay as soon as i get there but is this going to affect on my application to UK. I will be very thankful for your help guys.


You don't have to declare your debt as such, and your unpaid bill won't affect your visa application, as debt in UK is a civil matter. It will be different if your creditor has taken you to county court and there's judgment against you. This can affect you later on when it comes to settlement (ILR), so make sure you settle your debt(s) as soon as possible.


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## Wannabe Expat (May 2, 2012)

*Spouse visa for UK*



Joppa said:


> You don't have to declare your debt as such, and your unpaid bill won't affect your visa application, as debt in UK is a civil matter. It will be different if your creditor has taken you to county court and there's judgment against you. This can affect you later on when it comes to settlement (ILR), so make sure you settle your debt(s) as soon as possible.


Hi - I have had experience of this sort of problem with the spouse visa for my husband - sorry, not the debt side but getting a spouse visa for the UK for my husband who is an Indian national.

A word or warning re the cost - we applied for a permanent right of abode but because we had had some time apart he only got a 2 year visa - at the same cost as a permanent visa! they didn't refund any money and then after the 2 years was up he had to apply for a permanent right of abode and so had to pay a huge fee all over again. It cost us over £1600 in total!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Wannabe Expat said:


> Hi - I have had experience of this sort of problem with the spouse visa for my husband - sorry, not the debt side but getting a spouse visa for the UK for my husband who is an Indian national.
> 
> A word or warning re the cost - we applied for a permanent right of abode but because we had had some time apart he only got a 2 year visa - at the same cost as a permanent visa! they didn't refund any money and then after the 2 years was up he had to apply for a permanent right of abode and so had to pay a huge fee all over again. It cost us over £1600 in total!


You can't complain as they were just following rules - you have to be cohabiting for at least 4 years. Unless your living apart was inevitable due to jobs or caring for a sick relative, they were correct in awarding you only a 2-year (now 27-month) visa.
Now you'll only get 27-month visa even with 4 years of cohabiting, unless you have passed the Life in the UK test. You can still apply for settlement as soon as you've passed the test in UK, but you have to pay the full fees for ILR application.


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## Wannabe Expat (May 2, 2012)

Joppa said:


> You can't complain as they were just following rules - you have to be cohabiting for at least 4 years. Unless your living apart was inevitable due to jobs or caring for a sick relative, they were correct in awarding you only a 2-year (now 27-month) visa.
> Now you'll only get 27-month visa even with 4 years of cohabiting, unless you have passed the Life in the UK test. You can still apply for settlement as soon as you've passed the test in UK, but you have to pay the full fees for ILR application.


I wasn't complaining about the rules - more the cost of it!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Wannabe Expat said:


> I wasn't complaining about the rules - more the cost of it!


Other countries charge high visa fees too. For permanent resident visa, Australia charge around £2000 and for naturalisation, £5000.


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## Wannabe Expat (May 2, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Other countries charge high visa fees too. For permanent resident visa, Australia charge around £2000 and for naturalisation, £5000.


Yes I know - I saw a programme on the television about it the other day, but the salaries in Sydney for example are about double what people get here in the UK.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Wannabe Expat said:


> Yes I know - I saw a programme on the television about it the other day, but the salaries in Sydney for example are about double what people get here in the UK.


But so is the cost of living, esp with high Aus$ and low £.


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