Phnom Penh Pal wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 3:49 pm

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 6:39 pm It really depends on the situation. What's her job? Who's the employer? What's her income? Any assets? Has he/she been abroad before and returned (visas to show)?

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:42 pm PPP, you don't clarify your specific circumstances (country aiming to go to, tourism or immigration, planning on getting married or not etc). It sounds like you're trying to bring her over for good. Are your married/planning on getting married? Or just want her to visit you? Have you guys travelled together? That always helps. Or maybe a small family plot an be put under her name (they have no way of knowing the value, but it helps)?

There's a myriad of questions about my wife there @Bitte_Kein_Lexus, be careful that you don't come across as an immigration official?

As you've taken the time to write two quite long thoughtful replies (which I've cropped to keep the post short) I'll try and answer your questions as best as I can.

When doing the spousal visa for immigration my wife was working at Grand Waterfront Hotel. She worked as the main receptionist, and in a much shorter spell whilst waiting for the outcome of the tribunal as bar and restaurant supervisor. I can't remember her salary, it must have been $150-$300 pcm, anyway irrespective of that with tips you could treble that. Her employer letter obviously didn't state the tips as evidence as those would be hard to show.

My wife has been abroad more than a dozen times (several of which have been with me). Loads of stamps and visas evidence this. We were officially married in the U.K. within 6 months of her arrival and she has considerable assets. For more info on my wife see the link below.

cambodian-culture-and-language/opportun ... 45175.html

nerdlinger wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:47 pm

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:18 pm The forms pose questions about you and your fiancé/wife, such as history of addresses, children (if any), jobs, names, etc.

If you pay a lawyer you still need to answer those questions, but you’re paying someone to be a typist for you. Doesn’t seem worth it to pay a lawyer to type your answers out for you.

You’re not paying for them to be a typist, you’re paying for them to flag up things that seem perfectly reasonable and innocuous to you but could actually result in a massive pile of grief.

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:25 pm
Here is a sample fiance form.
https://www.visajourney.com/examples/Form-I-129F.pdf

There is nothing that is not straightforward, you only need a lawyer IF you have a criminal past or some other legal issues in the past as they make it harder for criminals to immigrate.

If you know your names, birthdays, employment & address history and can come up with evidence of actually being in a relationship (i.e. pictures), what is there to be flagged?
I don't see anywhere on the form that is a challenge if you know your own basic information, which everyone does. Maybe for translation if you can't speak English?

nerdlinger wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:48 pm

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:25 pm
Here is a sample fiance form.
https://www.visajourney.com/examples/Form-I-129F.pdf

There is nothing that is not straightforward, you only need a lawyer IF you have a criminal past or some other legal issues in the past as they make it harder for criminals to immigrate.

If you know your names, birthdays, employment & address history and can come up with evidence of actually being in a relationship (i.e. pictures), what is there to be flagged?
I don't see anywhere on the form that is a challenge if you know your own basic information, which everyone does. Maybe for translation if you can't speak English?

Speaking for my case, there literally wasn’t a single box on the form that we got “wrong”. There was absolutely no problem with the form itself. We filled it all in perfectly 100% (and no criminal record or the like) and yet still came a cropper over something that an immigration lawyer would have spotted and picked us up on had we not decided we knew better.
It’s not just about the boxes, and it’s far too easy to say it’s a waste of money because everything happened to go well for you that time.

nerdlinger wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:08 pm There genuinely was nothing unusual about our case. I don’t know why you’re having such difficulty taking my word on it when I already gave a detailed account about what happened.

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:18 pm The forms pose questions about you and your fiancé/wife, such as history of addresses, children (if any), jobs, names, etc.

If you pay a lawyer you still need to answer those questions, but you’re paying someone to be a typist for you. Doesn’t seem worth it to pay a lawyer to type your answers out for you.

You even have multiple online guides, and sample John and Jane Doe forms if you wanted to see what they look like once completed.

I’ve done the fiancé visa forms, green card forms and soon the citizenship form. The most annoying part is getting copies of proof of relationship (photos, bank statements, taxes, deeds, insurance, etc.). And a lawyer is not mitigating that requirement.

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:46 pm I am not well versed on UK process. In the US we had a window where you need to file, file too early and it is rejected. File too late and you are out of your visa or green card status and on USA soil illegally. It is a 90-day window and it is clear what that window is.

Maybe that is not clear in the UK process.

Bubble T wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:10 pm

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:18 pm The forms pose questions about you and your fiancé/wife, such as history of addresses, children (if any), jobs, names, etc.

If you pay a lawyer you still need to answer those questions, but you’re paying someone to be a typist for you. Doesn’t seem worth it to pay a lawyer to type your answers out for you.

You even have multiple online guides, and sample John and Jane Doe forms if you wanted to see what they look like once completed.

I’ve done the fiancé visa forms, green card forms and soon the citizenship form. The most annoying part is getting copies of proof of relationship (photos, bank statements, taxes, deeds, insurance, etc.). And a lawyer is not mitigating that requirement.

You've really missed the point here and shit advice like this is why we didn't make the move sooner.

A good immigration lawyer can help with mittigating some of the required documents, the fact you don't know that is exactly why some people need agents. If you meet the requirements but don't have all of the very specific documentation required to prove it, this is something that (at least in the case of a UK visa) a good lawyer can and will help with. They certainly did in our case.

nerdlinger wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:43 pm

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:46 pm I am not well versed on UK process. In the US we had a window where you need to file, file too early and it is rejected. File too late and you are out of your visa or green card status and on USA soil illegally. It is a 90-day window and it is clear what that window is.

Maybe that is not clear in the UK process.

Ah see, that’s the rub - the UK process does indeed have clearly written earliest and latest dates on it, which we ensured we were between. The trap was that if you don’t renew your (temporary) visas at the exact right moment, then a set of completely different requirements for permanent residence down the line then becomes out of reach and you end up having to apply for an expensive visa extension to make up the shortfall.

I realise this is different to the US system but it’s a perfect example of what you might call “emergent behaviour” in the rules, ie rules that aren’t explicitly documented but are unforeseen side effects of rules that are.