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I applied for 32-day visit visa for the UK and was given six months to visit my wife's family. Upon arriving in UK, my wife got depressed due to a family loss and was put on anti-depressants by her GP and counsellor. From this reason, I had to extend my stay to five months to help her with her recovery before heading back home.

It did not cross my mind to inform Immigration of the change. I left after five months. My wife is still on anti-depressants in the UK and I want to join her so I plan to apply for a spouse visa.

Will the earlier length of visit affect my new application for a spouse visa?

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  • Where are you from? You mean you requested a visa for 32 days and they gave you one for six months, then you stayed for five months, is that correct?
    – Kuba
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 13:46
  • Yes correct! And I am from Kenya
    – Hassan
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 13:51
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    The six month limit is a standard period, issued to everyone under normal circumstances - regardless of the reasons for the extended stay, it shows that your ties to your country of residence is not as strong as your application suggests (who can suddenly extend a stay by 4 months without suffering job and financial issues?) and your credibility may be strained on your next application as a result.
    – Moo
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 14:03
  • My wife was sick and it was not my intentions to extend my stay that long. And as for work I was given 4 months unpaid leave to look after my wife,I know I suffered financially from but I had other sources of income from my country that I had included in the application. Anyways thanks for your response it really helped
    – Hassan
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 14:22
  • @GayotFow the main point was to seek advice on my extension due to the reason I gave for future applications to the UK. Like I said the spouse visa was something for the future I don't see how that does not make sense and it has to be off-topic?
    – Hassan
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:56

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Could my recent UK visit affect my spouse visa application?

Yes, it will. You said you would stay 32 days and actually stayed five months, so your credibility is damaged. However that alone would not necessarily prevent you obtaining a visa (planning ahead always involves some uncertainty). You should explain the reasons and support these with appropriate documentation, such as a letter from her GP.

As explained in this answer you may also have some explaining to do about your finances.

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    @pnuts those prescriptions arent worth anything - a counsellor is not a medical professional and their recommendations don't carry any legal weight. The issue here is that depression is not something that can artificially extend a stay unexpectedly - the husband could have returned home, and the wife could have gone with him. Beyond the self imposed obligation to stay and support his wife, nothing about the wifes medical situation would require him to stay in the UK - mitigating evidence here may be hard to come by.
    – Moo
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:07
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    @pnuts at this point it might be worthwhile to go back and copy more info to give your answer some weight travel.stackexchange.com/questions/79986/…
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:24
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    @MooThe situation at which my wife was at with her depression she could not leave the country because her GP had to monitor her and she could not be given more than a month's worth of anti-depressants because her GP was worried she might commit suicide . In Kenya medical expenses are very expensive and as its not as best as the rest of the world.I could leave at the end of 32 days but her counsellor saw that my presence was helping with her health,she needed me there It might not make sense but I just need some advice and a way forward to help me in the future even though this has happend
    – Hassan
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:31
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    @Moo so would a letter from the GP carry any weight on this matter?
    – Hassan
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:34
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    @GayotFow Im not sure this is health tourism, as I get the impression that the wife has leave to remain or is a UK citizen already, rather than accompanying him on the visit - I could be wrong but... otherwise, why the application for a spousal visa?
    – Moo
    Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 15:39
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You were on a visit visa to the UK and stayed for much longer than you had told them you would. You contemplate a spouse visa now.

Will the earlier length of visit affect my new application for a spouse visa?

No. Not at all. Here's why...

A visit visa takes place under Appendix V of the rules and a spouse visa takes place under Paragraph 281/282 of the rules. Different rules, different topology, different assumptions, and different ECO's!

Even overstaying on a visit visa doesn't affect a spouse visa. There's an explicit carve out in Part 9 of the rules.

There is no reason why staying for a long time would counter-indicate your intention to settle in the UK. That's what settlement means right? You plan to live here permanently.

Worry about something else.

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