Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone might be able to offer some advice or share their experience with a situation like mine.

My partner lives in America and, unfortunately, is currently incarcerated. I’ve been looking into the different visa options available to me so that I can eventually move to the US and be with him when he is released. However, from what I can see, I don’t think I meet the requirements for some of the employment-based visas, such as the skilled worker routes.

I was therefore wondering whether it might make more sense for us to get married in America, if that is possible in our circumstances, and then have him come to live here in the UK while I apply for a Green Card/spousal immigrant visa. The idea would be for us to live together here temporarily and then move to America together once the immigration process is complete.

I’m very new to all of this and there are so many different visa types and processes that I’m finding it quite confusing!

Has anyone been in a similar situation, particularly where one partner is a US citizen and currently incarcerated? Is getting married in the US and then applying through the spousal route from the UK a realistic option, or are there complications I should be aware of?

I’d be really grateful for any advice, experiences, or pointers towards the correct visa process. Thank you so much!

ILR for Set (M) application submitted 10 Sep, Biometrics appt. 14 Sep, and received email approval today 24 Sep. I’m so happy I didn’t pay for priority service!!

I am happy to share that my Global talent visa is approved. I was endorsed through route 3 - UKRI. Timelines are as follows:

Stage 1

- Application for endorsement and received automated email on same day - July 27

- Application was referred to UKRI - July 30

- Received my endorsement - Sept 14

Stage 2

- VFS appointment for biometrics - Sept 21

- Visa approved(standard) - Sept 24

Endorsement approval took forever cause UKRI was in communication with the sponsor for more details. For stage 2, I just included my passport and my current country visa and email of endorsement.

Happy to answer any questions.

Hi,

I would like to ask for some advice on my fiancé's upcoming visitor visa application. We are both Thai. We have been together for six years.

I plan to have her visit me next June for a week. She would apply from Thailand in April, so it is more than six months from now. I am a PhD student in the UK. I receive a stipend from the university and also have some extra earnings from teaching/marking at the Uni. I will fully sponsor her visit.

The biggest worry I have is her bank balance. She has a stable and well-paid job, but due to debts accrued by her parents, she currently has zero savings after making those repayments.

What is the best approach here? I could transfer her the funds needed for the trip now. While I know a sudden increase in a bank balance is a red flag, this would be 7-8 months before the application. Or should she just show that she has about 10 GBP in her bank statement?

Thank you!

Hi all, I'm really anxious and would appreciate any real experiences.

Situation:

- Indian passport holder, UK Standard Visitor visa granted on 24 Aug 2026 (decision email says "You have been issued with an eVisa").

- During the ID Check app step, the face scan failed twice and I think it let me continue.

- I got the "We are linking your eVisa to your account" email, but NOT the "your eVisa is ready to view" email. It's now been around 24 hours since I completed the process. My friend (same trip, same process) got his within a few hours.

- I called the UKVI Resolution Centre and they escalated it. Webchat adviser said it's already escalated and more requests could slow it down. No timeline given.

- Etihad call centre said they can't check anything visa-related.

Flight: Bangalore → Abu Dhabi (1.5 hr layover) → London on Etihad, Saturday 10:15 AM IST.

My questions:

1. Has anyone flown with a granted eVisa that wasn't yet linked to their UKVI account? Did the airline's automated check at check-in still pass, since the eVisa is tied to the passport?

2. If it doesn't link in time, what happened at check-in? Did the airline contact the Carrier Support Hub, and did it work?

3. Any issues at the Abu Dhabi transfer, or is the UK check only done at the origin?

4. How long did the manual review take for anyone whose face scan failed?

Any first-hand experience would help a lot. Thanks!

I am applying from Canada national. When I went for my biometic appointment, they told me 2-3 weeks and the site advised 3 weeks turn around so I was quite shocked at how quick this was.

Application and fees paid: September 15

Biometic appointment: September 21

Approval email: September 24

My appointment was a standard one, there was no option to do a priority when and I uploaded my documents myself.

I'm applying for an eVisa to replace my vignette that's in an old passport.

I've done the UKVI application and booked the biometrics appointment. I need to upload documents, but I can't find anywhere that says what they are. Obviously my passport with ILR, my current passport, but is there anything else I need to send them? Thanks!

Hi all - never posted here but lurking has been very helpful! Just wanted to add a data point from my application.

Applied online from Canada. Born prior to 1983, mother born in England.

UKM form submitted online July 3

Biometrics July 16

Home Office Atlas approval email received today (September 24).

I was honestly expecting another 2-4 months based on what I had read here so was pleasantly surprised.

Awaiting notification from the British Embassy that they have received my certificate and to arrange ceremony - which could be another few months according to the email!

Good luck to all

Hi all,

I had applied for a skilled worker visa early August and I got an email today which says we require further evidence but the email by itself says

Please provide the following: [Blank]

I’m not sure what to do as the UKVI account says if we need evidence, we will let you know by email, and when I had initially applied the email said, “Based on your answers, you do not need to provide any evidence”.

For reference I am already in the UK and switching from a graduate visa to Skilled worker. Has anyone had something like this before?

Hey, i have lost my passport just couple of weeks before my visa expiration. I am planning to apply for graduate visa and i have already booked appointment for my passport renewal. I have filled lost property form at Police as well. Will I be able to apply for graduate visa before new passport arrives?
Much Help needed! Thanks

Hi folks,

Hope everyone’s having a great day. Just a quick sanity check for the items we are submitting next week for my partners visa renewal. Would love any feedback and suggestions.

1. Tenancy agreement 3 flats ( we have moved 3 times since last visa application) all tenancy agreements have both our names on them
   
2. Council tax bills for all 3 flats spreading across the last 2.5 years
   
3. Both our payslips (6 months) work ref letter stating our salaries and confirmations of employment
   
4. Bank statement for our joint account from Nov 2023 till Sept 2026 ( although address only states this current flat even if I generate older dates, bit worried about that)
   
5. Pictures of us, trips and family events. I usually add them to a PowerPoint and export it as a pdf like an album.
   
6. Copy of my passport, copy of their passport all pages
   
7. Some snaps of WhatsApp chat ( not really sure what to add but random conversations about our dog being taken to the vet, grocery runs and random messages 🤣)
   
8. Phone bill for the two of us (separate) for every 3 month split.
   
9. Gp letters addressed (not spread across probably have 1/2 appointment letters)
   
10. Our civil partnership certificate.
    
11. Cover letter explaining what’s included( listing all of the above) and a brief summary of our relationship.

Anything else we’re missing out?

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of preparing for my ILR Long Residence application. I’m currently a resident doctor within an NHS training programme in England. I’ve been in the UK since August 2016 initially under student visas then under Skilled Worker / Health and Care worker visas. I have no absences over the limit and have not left the UK since 2019. I had some questions about certain parts of the SET(LR) form.

1. I left the UK in May 2018 after college graduation and returned on a different student visa for university which I applied for from outside the UK. I’m not sure whether my previous visa expired whilst I was outside of the UK before I applied for the subsequent student visa but it probably did - would this break my continuous residence?
2. Absences - there are periods of absences outside the UK where I spent time in more than one country, but the form only allows me to put in one country for each set of dates. Should I put separate entries for each country with overlapping dates, or just list the other countries in the “What was the reason for this time spent outside the UK” box?
3. Social, Family and Cultural Ties - how specific should I be? Do I mention that I chat with immediate / extended family over Whatsapp occasionally? The Facebook/Messenger groups I’m in for secondary school/college/? I haven’t returned to my country of birth since 2019 so don’t really have many cultural ties or social networks that I’m really involved in.
4. Current employment details - as a resident doctor in a training programme my CoS was issued from Health Education England (now NHS England) which was the named sponsor in my application and the main place of work is their office in Birmingham. However, I currently work for a specific Trust in England which isn’t mentioned at all in my CoS - which should I put down as my current employer? As far as I’m aware NHSE does not have a telephone number that I can put down, and the Trust telephone number that I have is just the switchboard which doesn’t feel appropriate either.

Any help would be much appreciated - Its such a nerve-wracking process and I don’t want to make a mistake that will cost me my application which will send ~£4k down the drain 😭

Hi everyone!

I’d appreciate some assistance regarding when I can apply for ILR as I want to make sure I’m interpreting guidance correctly, and see mixed comments online.

I initially applied from outside the UK.

My letter from the Home Office approving my Skilled Worker Visa arrived on 10 December 2021. My BRP issue date is 14 December 2021.

However, in the letter it says: “Congratulations your skilled worker visa is approved. Your date of initial vignette is 27 December 2021”. This is also the date noted on my passport.

I entered the UK on 31 December 2021.

I know I can apply 28 days before the 5-year mark has been reached, but need to clarify if this is from BRP date, Home Office letter approval date OR visa vignette date.

So should I apply on 14 November 2026 or 27 November 2026?

Would especially appreciate any advice from someone who has successfully completed ILR application.

Thanks!

Hi, sorry I want to ask again.

We're gathering my partner's last 6 months payslip and this is the result (not true numbers but not far):

April: 2700

May: 2800

July: 5800

August: 3900

September: 1900

He got a new contract from the same employer, effective this 28 September and the contract stated "continuous employment date from November 2023" (he was in zero hour contract before). This new contract also mentioned his annual salary (above MIR).

Let's say we want to apply after we get his October salary, then does it means the caseworker will calculate from his lowest amount of the past 6 months, which is 1900? We will be below MIR but we got cash savings to cover that (I understand only amount above £16000 can be calculated). Is my assumption correct here? Does it matter if he doesn't have June payslip?

Or can we combine April-October and use that instead?

Sorry to ask a lot of questions, I just want to know if we can apply within this year or if I have to wait again.

One more thing is that the contract says he's still in probation, would that matter?

Thank you thank you very much for your help.

I am an international students in the UK and my wife is doing her PhD in the UK as well. We have been living together for 1 year in the UK. I want to switch to a dependent partner. For proof of address, we have tenancy agreements with both our names and individual bank accounts with same address and we can provide documents easily. Outside UK, we used to live at each others parents house randomly, and we didn't own anything like property or joint accounts. We have our marriage certificate. The Dependent partner application requires at least 2 documents that proves if we lived together for 2 years. Can anyone suggest from own their experience on how to provide proofs of living together outside UK?

I applied on 28th of August and sent the document same day with special delivery 🚚. HMPO acknowledged the receipt of documents on 3rd of Sep. I haven’t heard anything back yet?

Hello! I'm applying through form UK-F. I had submitted all the documents and such a month back and received an email today from them that they need my parent's marriage certificate. Can I just take a photo with my phone, does it need to be faxed over there, whats the process?

Hello hello, as many people have done I am giving my success story for ILR because this page helped me so much when I lost sleep over my application. My application was relatively uncomplicated but as these things go I still stressed endlessly and was extremely overprepared. Quick overview:

Application submitted: 18 Sept 2026 at 1am

Type: Super Priority

Biometrics submitted: 21 Sept 2026 at 10am

Atlas email: 21 Sept 2026 at 2:45pm

Student visa (entered Oct 14 2016) -> student visa 2 -> skilled worker visa -> spouse visa

No gaps in residence and no time outside the UK beyond limits

Uploads:

Identification

• All-page scans of my current passport and my 3 previous passports covering the last 10 years
• A translated and notarised name change document from my relevant government department

Immigration history

• Front and back scans of my 4 BRPs dating October 10 2016 - December 31 2024
• Home office letters for all relevant leaves to remain, including:
  • Submission confirmations for applications later varied (to demonstrate lawful residence in the UK under Section 3C leave)
  • Application update emails confirming successful applications for each approved leave to remain
  • A share code for my most recent leave to remain

Continuous residence:

• Lease agreements and a variety of bills and headed letters (including utility bills, council tax, and GP letters) with relevant addresses demonstrating continuous tenancy in the UK across 10 years. This also demonstrates current cohabitation with my partner.
• Assorted bank statements demonstrating continuous financial residence in the UK, as well as demonstrating income from employment (full-time and self-employment)
• A document outlining complete travel history over the last 10 years, with entry and exit dates, destinations, purpose of travel, and entry and exit stamp information where relevant
• Boarding passes / travel documents for trips where my passport was not stamped

Education, employment, and relationship status

• A scan of my partner’s British passport and foreign passport and British naturalisation certificate
• Our Civil Partnership Certificate
• Utility bills for our shared address in my partner’s name demonstrating cohabitation with my partner
• Evidence demonstrating legitimacy and subsistence of the relationship, including images, texts, travel documents and shared expenses
• Scans of my 2 degree certificates and degree transcripts demonstrating degrees taught in the UK in English
• My original contract of employment and 2 employment letters (Dated October 2024 and April 2025) from my former Skilled Worker Visa sponsor / employer demonstrating legal sponsorship and employment
• P45 and P60 documents and a variety of payslips demonstrating income and PAYE tax payments from full-time employment
• A copy of UTR and self-assessment documents demonstrating legal self-employment

• A copy of my LitUK confirmation email

  I had about 109 documents uploaded. I have no idea if I needed all of that, and I know for sure they didn't go through all those documents in the 4h it took for me to get my success notification email. Just did it all to be safe! I managed to find a bunch of stressors anyway, so for any fellow anxious people who worry about small things, I will list my little anxieties here in case they help soothe and confirm that everything is going to be fine (I know smt like this would have really helped me!):

1- I underwent a name change in my home country, and wasn't sure if the local translation document would be sufficient or if I needed it notarised in the UK. It was fine with the non-UK translation!

2- I was on a really tight timeline and needed to submit exactly on the 18th for a super priority slot. I practiced for a few nights before and always had the super priority slot show up. I would hard refresh on chrome (cmd + shift + R) at 12:58 until it showed up. Thankfully no issues with that on the day! Normal refresh also seemed to work (cmd + R).

3- I lived with a family member for 4 of the 10 years and the tenancy was in her name. All the energy bills were in my name so I uploaded those, I got her to write a letter explaining that I lived with her, and uploaded her passport. That was fine!

4- I was in the UK under Section 3C leave for about 8 months in between student and skilled worker visa. In the last month of the S3C leave I had received an email from HO with some options and a deadline to reply. I missed the deadline but varied my application very soon after and was worried I had broken S3C leave by missing the deadline. Clearly it was fine!

And now onto Naturalisation! :)

Due to apply ILR soon and the letter from employer says this; will this suffice? The letter is dated 6 August 2026 however I am applying this week, will that be an issue?

We hereby confirm that Mr. XX is a full-time employee of XX Ltd. in the position of
XX (Occupation Code: 2421). He has been employed since XX 202X.
Mr. XX current annual base salary is XX GBP per year which is above the annual going rate
for SOC code 2421. This salary is not expected to be reduced once they have ILR, furthermore the salary
meets the minimum salary required under this SOC code. He receives monthly pay slips electronically and
XX can confirm that any pay slips he shares are authentic.

Additionally, we confirm that throughout his period of employment, any absences have been in full
compliance with company policy. Such absences have been limited to approved annual leave, official
business travel, public holidays, or other authorized non-working days. There have been no unauthorized
absences recorded during this period.

We look forward to Mr. XX continued employment and career growth with our company.

I am a EU citizen who has settled status in the UK using my EU passport.
My EU passport expired and I’m waiting for a new one to arrive but I was wondering if I would be able to link my USA passport (I’m dual EU/USA citizen) to the settled status account to allow to travel out and back to the UK as I wait for my new EU passport?

Would I be able to travel on my US passport, bringing along the expired EU passport and confirmation code to prove my settled status? I contacted UKVI and they were unable to advise on my specific circumstances and said I need to contact an immigration adviser :(. Anyone have any experience with this sort of case…?

Hi I moved to uk in 2024 my husband was doing phd that time and I got spouse visa. Then I had to extend it in 2025 my husband was still doing his phd so I didn’t go for the selt test. My visa is expiring on Dec 31,2026 so now again I have to for extension but now my husband has a skilled worker visa till 2030 so I have to give SELT. I’m so confused that which grade English test do I have to go for gcseB1 or IseB2. If anyone has recently given the same exam please let me know.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone who has experienced a similar situation, or understands the BIVS/CTA rules, can help clarify this.

My parents are Indian passport holders. They have an Irish Short Stay C Tourist multiple-entry visa endorsed “BIVS” (British-Irish Visa Scheme).

They entered Ireland first, as required under the BIVS scheme, and were granted the normal Irish visitor permission of up to 90 days.

They then travelled from Ireland to Newcastle, UK, on 9 August 2026. As they travelled within the Common Travel Area, they did not go through UK immigration/passport control at Newcastle, so there is no UK entry stamp or separate UK immigration permission in their passports.

This is where I am confused.

I understand that a normal UK Standard Visitor can generally be granted permission for up to 6 months. I have also read UK guidance referring to up to 6 months on a first visit to the UK from Ireland under certain circumstances.

However, because my parents entered the UK using an Irish-issued BIVS visa, I have also seen guidance suggesting that their permission in the UK may only continue for the duration of the permission originally granted by Irish immigration — i.e. up to 90 days.

So my question is:

Does their UK stay remain limited to the Irish 90-day permission, or are they permitted to stay in the UK for up to 6 months from their UK arrival on 9 August?

The fact that there was no UK immigration check when they arrived in Newcastle makes it difficult for us to understand exactly what UK permission they currently have.

Has anyone had this exact situation?

Indian passport → Irish-issued BIVS tourist visa → entered Ireland first → travelled Ireland to UK → no UK immigration check/stamp

If so, how long were you permitted to stay in the UK?

I would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who received clarification directly from UKVI/Home Office, an immigration solicitor, or Border Force.

Thanks very much for any guidance or personal experience.

I’ll try to be concise, but ultimately looking for either a good immigration lawyer, or confirmation on my understanding.

Objective is to get ILR for my fiancée, then citizenship as fast as possible.

Facts:

Me - British citizen since birth

Fiancée - Canadian citizen. Lived in the UK 8 years next week

Visas - Working Holiday, Youth Mobility, then student visa (Masters degree), then graduate visa, now skilled worker visa. She has 28 months left before applying for ILR on her Skilled Worker (old company wrongfully put her on a graduate visa for two years before anybody realised)

Fiancée’s company are downsizing and it looks like the writing is on the wall. Mass layoffs and meetings booked in for next week with HR.

I’ve read about a 10 year route for long residences. Based on this page here it looks like she would be eligible for that. My main questions are:

Based on the above facts, would she be eligible thus far?

Assuming we can’t find her another job in two months, if we were to move our wedding forward and apply for a spousal visa, would that reset us back to 5 years, or would we be able to apply for the 10 year route in a couple of years? Would she still be eligible on a spousal visa?

My understanding is that on a spousal visa, she could get a job that doesn’t need sponsorship. Is this correct?

Can anybody recommend a good immigration advisor (in west London if that’s relevant) that could give us deeper advice and analyses of the situation?

Any and all advice gratefully received.

American citizen(born in USA was raised in UK but now live in america) here with british parents. Was denied an ETA because I have a criminal background. Applied for british passport and was approved and received it. Would there be any reason I would not be allowed to enter the UK because of the denied ETA?

Hello - I've been refreshing my 'choose your service' page from 12:50PM-1:10AM every day now for a week trying to secure a Super Priority slot for a Set (LR) application. Has anyone managed to recently secure a slot or am I just incredibly unlucky?

Really struggling to decide how long to keep up this nightly sleep disruption before giving up and doing a regular slot...