Thank you, Ian, for being one of the few (only?) influential voices to be covering this topic.
You mention that the British citizen needs to work in the UK for a period before their spouse is eligible for a visa plus the time the application takes, thereby splitting the family for the duration. I believe it's 6 months for employment, but …
Thank you, Ian, for being one of the few (only?) influential voices to be covering this topic.
You mention that the British citizen needs to work in the UK for a period before their spouse is eligible for a visa plus the time the application takes, thereby splitting the family for the duration. I believe it's 6 months for employment, but my understanding is that a self-employed person has to show *3 years* of accounts *in the UK*, past income record counting for nothing. In the case of one of my good friends, who - like yourself - can logistically work anywhere in the world, that means she and her non-UK husband would need to decide which parent their currently 5-year old would need to forgo for the equivalent of half of his life.
Another acquaintance has been married to a US citizen for 7-8 years and they still cannot live together in either country. They tried for about 5 years for the US citizen to move to the UK, but the Home Office wouldn't accept the UK citizen's tax returns showing sufficient income (i.e. HMRC's own figures) because he ran a cash-based business (clearly declared) and not enough money was going through bank accounts. And they don't meet the income requirements for the US either. So they've spent all that time shuttling between the countries as tourists - and you can imagine what Covid and lockdown did and the pressures that caused.
Thank you, Ian, for being one of the few (only?) influential voices to be covering this topic.
You mention that the British citizen needs to work in the UK for a period before their spouse is eligible for a visa plus the time the application takes, thereby splitting the family for the duration. I believe it's 6 months for employment, but my understanding is that a self-employed person has to show *3 years* of accounts *in the UK*, past income record counting for nothing. In the case of one of my good friends, who - like yourself - can logistically work anywhere in the world, that means she and her non-UK husband would need to decide which parent their currently 5-year old would need to forgo for the equivalent of half of his life.
Another acquaintance has been married to a US citizen for 7-8 years and they still cannot live together in either country. They tried for about 5 years for the US citizen to move to the UK, but the Home Office wouldn't accept the UK citizen's tax returns showing sufficient income (i.e. HMRC's own figures) because he ran a cash-based business (clearly declared) and not enough money was going through bank accounts. And they don't meet the income requirements for the US either. So they've spent all that time shuttling between the countries as tourists - and you can imagine what Covid and lockdown did and the pressures that caused.