Hello,

I've been reading a lot of the posts on the Easy Expat forums and so I am hoping some of you who have been through the British Spouse visa application process can give me some advice as I approach this daunting process.

I am a British citizen (dual with US) and currently live and work in Shanghai, China. I met my husband (who is Chinese) soon after moving here 17 months ago and we registered as a married in early December (just at the bureau, not a ceremony). I came here as a student and intended to move back to England when I graduated to continue my studies; however, after I met my husband I knew I could not move back without him so I got a job here in the short term.

Here is our situation and the questions that I hope might be addressed.

I currently work, but when I go back to England I would like enroll in a PhD program. I have a master's degree from a very well respected British university and they were quite positive about the possibility of receiving a fully funded place. I will not study for a PhD unless I have a fully funded package, but will not probably know for a couple of months the final outcome of my applications and where I will study.

My husband has worked for two years as an auditor for a well known global company. However, he wants to change and return to school. He has applied to undergraduate programs in England and recently quite his job to devote himself to studying for the A-levels that he will take in June.

Combined, we both have a fairly significant amount of savings (almost 10,000 pounds). Assuming I get a fully funded place and we both work part time, our savings would pay our living costs for three years and his tuition costs for two years (However, we would need help from his family to pay third year's tuition costs. They own two apartments and are considering selling one if needed, but this is a process that would take a lot of time and we could not have that money in hand in time for the visa application.)

Given both our employment histories (saving that my husband just quit his job to study), we both have a good employment prospects in the UK.

My family lives in a 2.5/3 bedroom house and we will say on the application that we will stay with my parents although we do not plan to. (I am 27 and married, with two master's degrees, a good job and savings. I don't want to live in my childhood bedroom in suburbia!)

Based on what we have read, it seems that if we say we are both going to study we will be denied a visa and that our best option is to apply saying that we both intend to work. We have heard that the definition of sufficient funds will be tightened again in April or May, and so we want to submit our application before this time. I unfortunately do not have pay slips for my current job, but I do have a copy of my contract and my bank records that show some of salary deposited into my account (approximately two thirds of my pay is deposited in my British account and the rest given to me in cash). Also I have yet to pay back my student loans for my master's study, so I have all the money to pay when they are due March first sitting in my bank account so this is another 5,000 pounds that could potentially count towards our savings on the visa application (bringing the total money we could show to almost 15,000 pounds).

We had entertained the option of applying for a student visa, potentially for a year long program, but we clearly don't have enough money for to pay his living costs and tuition for three years, potential earnings are not factored in and he is worried they would question his reasons for enrolling in another undergraduate program or a year long foundation course in a completely other field when he already has a undergraduate in a completely different subject. As an additional note, he studied abroad in the US as part of his undergraduate program and did not overstay that visa.

So, I am wondering if anyone can shed light on whether our decision to apply for a spouse visa saying that we both are going to work is a good one. Should I wait and see if I get a fully funded PhD place and if so use my stipend to prove that we will have some income in England and say that he will work? Should we both apply for a spouse visa as potential students, or should he apply for a student visa and try to convert to a spouse visa when we get to England and get settled? If he gets a spouse visa here in China, and then ends up studying will this be a problem when after three years he applied for permanent residence?

Has anyone applied for a spouse visa in a similar situation to us (both living outside England), rather than the British person living in England and having a job already, especially with the spouse coming from a less favorable country such as China? Has anyone successfully applied for a spouse visa saying they planned to both be students and what were the level of finances that you could show?

Will they question our commitment based on the time we have been together? We have photos of us hugging and kissing all over China for the past 11 months but I am a bit worried that they would question whether our marriage was a real one since we only married in December and our intention to start a new life together in England was one of the main reasons we did it (not just for the visa but for me to make a commitment to him that I would support him as he gathers all his family's resources to move to my home country).

Thanks for reading my very long post and I hope that others with more experience and offer me support and advice about our visa application.

Thanks