For your Brazilian wife to settle in the UK you need to apply for a spouse-settlement visa.  She can travel to the UK as a visitor for up to 6 months but she is not permitted to switch (3.1 Key Points) to settlement status from inside the UK; the settlement visa must be applied for in Brazil. 

You may apply for the visa on-line via the Worldbridge site .  When you pay and submit your finished application, your wife will be required to make an appointment to submit her biometric data at one of three available Visa Application Centres in either Brasilia, SP or Rio.  A good application can be emitted in a matter of a few days.  The visa will be valid for 27 months.  Effectively this means she has 3 months to enter the UK because in order to qualify for permanent residence (Indefinite Leave to Remain) she must have 24 months of ordinary residence on her status as a spouse.  After 24 months, and if the marriage is still on-going and you have documentary proof of this spread across the 2 year period, she can apply for ILR which will be a permanent residence status to live in the UK.

To satisfy the spouse visa requirements (according to Immigration rule 281), you have to show that you can maintain and accommodate  yourselves as a couple without recourse to Public Funds (or additional public funds if the sponsor is already claiming). This can be done by showing income from a job or by having enough savings (or a combination of both). At least 3 months of bank statements and/or pay slips are required as proof. The generally accepted minimum for sufficient income is recognised as being that after taxes and accommodation costs have been subtracted, you have a discretionary income that is not less than the equivalent of means-tested benefit for a family of your size. Currently, means-tested benefit, for a married couple is £100.95 per week............however, for the visa application approval there is no explicit minimum figure; this is merely a guideline suggested by the AIT and ECOs might take the view that someone's location and domestic circumstances may render this amount unrealistic. The benchmark for sufficient savings (in lieu of no income) is not tangible. If your income is very low (close to that amount given out as benefit) then it's useful to include a personal budget to demonstrate how you can live on the money you have available.




Edited by man of leisure - 10 August 2009 at 19:21

1) The visa section in Rio is very quick at turning around applications.  A good straightforward application (genuine, with no financial issues) can be emitted in a matter of days - difficult and dubious cases take up to 12 weeks.
2) Yes. It's vital but you can live with your parents if they provide proof of their tenancy or ownership and a letter granting you permission to live with them in a room that is exclusively occupied by you and your wife.
3) Well, all of the UK (England, Northen Ireland, Scotland and Wales).  After this time she must apply for ILR to remain in the UK permanently.

However, next year the law is likely to change so watch this space and also  this one.


Edited by man of leisure - 15 April 2009 at 18:56

Then, unless you can organize something from Brazil (which is very difficult when you are not in the UK to sign documents), I suggest you travel to the UK first and secure an assured tenancy before your wife applies for the visa.  It has to be proper and correct tenancy agreement to satisfy the visa conditions and you will not be granted a visa if this requirement is not met. 

Lucky for you you're not attempting to get a fiance visa for the USA.
Took my ex-wife one year to get one. God bless the Queen!

Your wife has to settle in the UK but absences for travel or family and work-related issues are permitted.  There is no set time that one can't remain outside the country but if a person spends a lot of their time outside the UK then it has to be considered that they have not remained within the terms of the visa.  Every individual case will be viewed on it's own merit.  Less than 90 days per year (an unofficial guesstimate) would probably not be considered a problem or even longer periods if there were genuine mitigating circumstances for the absences such family illness, employment etc.  Also bear in mind that long absences do have an impact on applications for naturalization, if that is of interest to her.

Your  other thread suggests that you are applying for permanencia in Brazil.  If you intend to live in Brazil then you will not be able to get a settlement visa for your wife merely to use as a more convenient way to enter the UK rather than on a visit visa.  She will not meet the conditions for the visa or for the transition to ILR (permanent residence) after the 24 months of temporary residence.  If it were otherwise I would also apply for a UK settlement visa for my wife, but I can't.

You might be able to do the inverse of this by living in the UK and getting permanencia for Brazil while not really being settled here, as here the rules tend to be more relaxed when it comes to providing evidence of being 'settled'.  However, Brazil does not permit single continuous absences of more than 90 days during the pedido de permanencia period so you would be doing a hell of a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for the next two years to meet the conditions in both countries.

PS Most of the information links in the my previous post have now expired as the visa services website has been modified.  I can re-set them if you are interested.




Edited by man of leisure - 10 August 2009 at 08:10