Spouse’s Visa: The Four Year Marriage Criteria [EXPERIENCE]

I hope this will assist others not to make the same mistakes I made when applying for my spouse's visa.
I spend quite a bit of time reading all the information available before I started the application process. I noticed the possibility of a "settlement visa" if you have been married to your UK spouse for more than four years. A settlement visa is the same as ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain). I knew I had to explore this as applying for ILR is another nightmare on its own.

Now getting hold of the UKBA office from abroad is not an easy venture so I asked my sister-in-law to try and find out, as she lives in London. With her and my information available we managed to figure out that before the KOL (Life in the UK) test became a prerequisite for ILR it was possible for spouse's that have been married to their partners for longer than four years to get immediate ILR when entering the UK on a spouse's visa. It has, however, changed and you cannot get it without prove that you have passed the KOL test.

The only positive thing about this is that once you have written the test you can immediately apply for ILR and do not have to wait the two years other applicants have to wait. With the fees for ILR increasing drastically each year, it should be a priority to get this done as soon as you can.

There might also be a way you can still get your ILR immediately and I found this because I had my passport stolen. I was quite agitated with all the drama as my spouse's visa was issued incorrectly and I still had to have that fixed as well. This is an entirely different saga which I will discuss in another post.

I emailed the UKBA office to ask if I can do the test in the meantime. I hoped that I would be able to submit the test with my application to issue the correct visa and in the process get a way around the ILR application. The problem was that I also wanted to apply for ILR for my son who is 17 so I couldn't take that route. What I found, which might be very helpful to others, is that I didn't need my passport with my spouse's visa to write the test. The test centre was quite happy to accept my expired passport as proof of identity. The only thing that passport had was an expired visitor's visa which I don't think they even looked at.

If you are planning to immigrate to the UK on a spouse's visa and you come before the time on a visitor's visa, you will be able to write the test before you apply for your spouse's visa. They will have to grant you ILR as you have met all the requirements and won't fit the other category "settlement KOL required" which is normally granted in these circumstances.

If you travel to UK regularly it might be a good idea to explore this possibility. Passing the test is also proof of English proficiency and you would therefore not have to take the English test, which is since last year a prerequisite if you come from a country which is not seen as an English speaking country.