UK has open borders & work visas are handed out willy nilly but there is 1 group who aren’t welcome; foreign wives of UK nationals. The financial bar is so high, many remain trapped abroad.
If you have £88,500 in the bank that has been held continuously for at least six months. You can bring your family over to the UK within 3 months of applying for the visa.
If those savings aren’t available, the ONLY path is for the British sponsor to move to the UK first WITHOUT the family, start work, and build up the required employment evidence. That normally means at least six months with the same employer at or above the income threshold, £30k plus proof of adequate housing. During those months the sponsor is covering their own UK living costs while, in most cases, still supporting the family overseas. It’s a heavy dual financial burden.
The visa itself costs £2,064 in application fees for the spouse, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge of £3,105 That’s roughly £5,169 upfront before any priority fees, English tests, or legal help.
Standard processing from outside the UK takes up to 12 weeks. So if the sponsor has to establish six months of UK employment first and then the family applies, the family can typically join somewhere around the nine-month mark once the whole process is under way, longer if there are delays in starting work, gathering documents, or if the case needs extra checks.