3 ms·

Many Ukrainians resident in the UK will not meet the official criteria to bring those close to them in, because they will not have reached the status called "In

Many Ukrainians resident in the UK will not meet the official criteria to bring those close to them in, because they will not have reached the status called "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "Permanent Residence" or "Settled" (as opposed to "Pre-Settled"), each of which take 5 years if I recall correctly. For UK citizens wanting to bring a family member from Ukraine, I hope it's not like the regular, draconian family scheme where approximately 50% of UK citizens with a foreign spouse cannot meet the eligibility criteria to bring in even their own spouse, so they have to move abroad to be together. (I was astonished when I first learned that, as I'd grown up imagining that genuine marriage conferred the right to live together.) The UK Home Office strongly rejected what is a high-level human right in the EU, that is "right to family life". Even UK-born UK citizens don't have it.

maffydub 5y ago
> For UK citizens wanting to bring a family member from Ukraine, I hope it's not like the regular, draconian family scheme where approximately 50% of UK citizens with a foreign spouse cannot meet the eligibility criteria to bring in even their own spouse, so they have to move abroad to be together. (I was astonished when I first learned that, as I'd grown up imagining that genuine marriage conferred the right to live together.) That astonishes me too! Which condition (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse) do most people fail? Presumably poor knowledge of English (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/knowledge-of-english https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/knowledge-of-english) or too low income (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income)?
- jlokier 5y ago
  It's the income; affects people from English-speaking countries too. Perhaps recent wage inflation might change the proportions. It was about 50% of people last time I looked who couldn't meet the income requirement. Even if the foreign spouse earns a lot and can clearly support themselves, that can't be considered if they are abroad. Nor would a cash gift from parents or friends be accepted. So it is somewhat political. I've occasionally seen people who earn a lot, i.e. software engineers, who clearly exceed the income but have their application rejected because it's not paid in the exact form the Home Office is looking for when they examine a personal bank statement. Self-employed and contractors fall into this problem if they haven't received advice and planned for it, because they wouldn't normally pay themselves a monthly PAYE salary in the expected form and above the threshold.
  - maffydub 5y ago
    Interesting - thanks! Yes, I can see how, if the British citizen is on minimum wage (or unemployed) and the spouse is either unemployed or living abroad, that would make it difficult.

maffydub 5y ago

> For UK citizens wanting to bring a family member from Ukraine, I hope it's not like the regular, draconian family scheme where approximately 50% of UK citizens with a foreign spouse cannot meet the eligibility criteria to bring in even their own spouse, so they have to move abroad to be together. (I was astonished when I first learned that, as I'd grown up imagining that genuine marriage conferred the right to live together.) That astonishes me too! Which condition (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse) do most people fail? Presumably poor knowledge of English (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/knowledge-of-english https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/knowledge-of-english) or too low income (https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income)?

jlokier 5y ago
It's the income; affects people from English-speaking countries too. Perhaps recent wage inflation might change the proportions. It was about 50% of people last time I looked who couldn't meet the income requirement. Even if the foreign spouse earns a lot and can clearly support themselves, that can't be considered if they are abroad. Nor would a cash gift from parents or friends be accepted. So it is somewhat political. I've occasionally seen people who earn a lot, i.e. software engineers, who clearly exceed the income but have their application rejected because it's not paid in the exact form the Home Office is looking for when they examine a personal bank statement. Self-employed and contractors fall into this problem if they haven't received advice and planned for it, because they wouldn't normally pay themselves a monthly PAYE salary in the expected form and above the threshold.
- maffydub 5y ago
  Interesting - thanks! Yes, I can see how, if the British citizen is on minimum wage (or unemployed) and the spouse is either unemployed or living abroad, that would make it difficult.