Education difference?

[clericbeast 12]

So I have been looking into guides here for the spouse visa and various people’s experiences, and I saw a couple of posts mention education differences being a red flag. Is this true?

 

For context regarding my concern: My boyfriend (31 USC) went to university and has a bachelor’s in IT and a career, whereas I (25 UK) never went to university and I have very little job experience. I went to high school and sixth form and got high grades, but university wasn’t an option for me due to health reasons.

 

This year I got my first job and things are looking much better for me health-wise, and we have talked about me maybe going to university when I move to the US, but now I’m concerned about what I read about educational differences being red flags.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

I have never read about that specific detail being an issue. 

 

In general, cases are seen as a whole, and depending on the country of origin of the spouse, they might pay more attention to certain details: age gap, religion, etc.

 

In all honesty, unless one had a postdoctorate and the other was illiterate, I doubt they do care about academic achievements. 

[clericbeast 12]

1 minute ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I have never read about that specific detail being an issue. 

 

In general, cases are seen as a whole, and depending on the country of origin of the spouse, they might pay more attention to certain details: age gap, religion, etc.

 

In all honesty, unless one had a postdoctorate and the other was illiterate, I doubt they do care about academic achievements. 

Thank you for responding. I will admit that the posts I saw had much harsher embassies than the UK, one of which being a beneficiary in Pakistan with a substantial age gap, so I realise our circumstances are different. 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

Just now, clericbeast said:

Thank you for responding. I will admit that the posts I saw had much harsher embassies than the UK, one of which being a beneficiary in Pakistan with a substantial age gap, so I realise our circumstances are different. 

Absolutely, no worries. 

 

Guess you have not married yet? 

[clericbeast 12]

Just now, Allaboutwaiting said:

Absolutely, no worries. 

 

Guess you have not married yet? 

Not yet! He has to accumulate holiday time at his job sadly, so we’re waiting for him to have at least one week to come visit me in the UK to marry me. We’re looking at December or January, and when he returns to the US that’s when we’ll file for the visa

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

Just now, clericbeast said:

Not yet! He has to accumulate holiday time at his job sadly, so we’re waiting for him to have at least one week to come visit me in the UK to marry me. We’re looking at December or January, and when he returns to the US that’s when we’ll file for the visa

Then you have plenty of time to focus on the wedding and everything it entails. 😊

 

Everything will be fine.

 

 

[Daphne . 1,846]

54 minutes ago, clericbeast said:

Thank you for responding. I will admit that the posts I saw had much harsher embassies than the UK, one of which being a beneficiary in Pakistan with a substantial age gap, so I realise our circumstances are different. 

An age gap and/or difference in religion could be a challenge (but people have been known to successfully overcome those), I have never seen posts about differences in education being an issue. 

[Redro 4,611]

You’re interviewing in the UK as a UK citizen… you are overthinking things… UK is a fairly easy consulate. But, I know they can be fairly harsh with medical issues (self harm being the biggest thing). 

Read cases pertinent to the UK... reading up about cases outside of your country will only feed your anxiety. 
USCs who are 40+year old men petition 20 year old women from Philippines with no issue… 

if your partner is male, older, and more educated then you’ll have no issue.thank sexism… 

generally the issue is if the woman is older, educated and wealthier compared to the man… or the woman is older and the man younger but he appears to be “paying for a visa” …

In this case,  the woman would be the USC. 
ETA: You’ve traveled to the US,  met his family and celebrated holidays with him…there might be an education mismatch but you had the financial resources to make that trip… and you convinced CBP you wouldn’t overstay 

Edited April 28, 2023 by ROK2USA

[clericbeast 12]

6 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

You’re interviewing in the UK as a UK citizen… you are overthinking things… UK is a fairly easy consulate. But, I know they can be fairly harsh with medical issues (self harm being the biggest thing). 

Read cases pertinent to the UK... reading up about cases outside of your country will only feed your anxiety. 
USCs who are 40+year old men petition 20 year old women from Philippines with no issue… 

if your partner is male, older, and more educated then you’ll have no issue.thank sexism… 

generally the issue is if the woman is older, educated and wealthier compared to the man… or the woman is older and the man younger but he appears to be “paying for a visa” …

In this case,  the woman would be the USC. 
ETA: You’ve traveled to the US,  met his family and celebrated holidays with him…there might be an education mismatch but you had the financial resources to make that trip… and you convinced CBP you wouldn’t overstay 

I had one incident of self harm (one shallow cut out of curiosity bc my friends were doing it which I realise was stupid as soon as I did it) when I was a teenager, about 14 years old. My plan for that is to be honest about it being a one-time mistake as a teen, get a letter from my GP verifying my current mental state and that I’m not a risk to myself or anyone else. I was also thinking of paying for a psych eval in advance to have more proof. I know I will still have to undergo their psych eval, but I figure two opinions is better than one.

[Redro 4,611]

2 minutes ago, clericbeast said:

I had one incident of self harm (one shallow cut out of curiosity bc my friends were doing it which I realise was stupid as soon as I did it) when I was a teenager, about 14 years old. My plan for that is to be honest about it being a one-time mistake as a teen, get a letter from my GP verifying my current mental state and that I’m not a risk to myself or anyone else. I was also thinking of paying for a psych eval in advance to have more proof. I know I will still have to undergo their psych eval, but I figure two opinions is better than one.

So, you have a plan for that and you'll be FINE. 

Every time you think something might be an issue either 1.) think if it is an issue IN THE UK...  then... 2.) Action a plan to work on your concern about that issue. 

Your anxiety is going to take issues that you can't immediately address and you will fixate on that as opposed to:

1.)Enjoying your time in the UK before you have to move to the US

2.)Enjoying the courtship with your partner

3.)Helping you work on other issues that will help you when you move to the US.  

Talk to your therapist about being productive about small concerns that might turn into big concerns wrt your visa journey. 

 

You can and should ask questions on this forum to alleviate your concerns... maybe use VJ as a sounding board to address issues you've seen in other cases. 

But, I'll advise you again to spend some time only reading up on cases out of the UK. 

Maybe spend time in the UK forum reading about the journey... if you read about other countries (Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana, Pakistan) you might focus on issues that don't matter at all in the UK... 

[carmel34 3,611]

18 hours ago, clericbeast said:

I saw a couple of posts mention education differences being a red flag. Is this true?

Best way to view this is not to focus on specific "red flags," but on the overall bona fides of the marriage relationship and evidence to back it up.  Documents showing time spent together, in person, is the best evidence when living in separate countries, plus as much financial co-mingling evidence that you can put together.  I have a PhD, my husband has no college, with big age, income, and language differences, and his spousal visa was approved with no RFEs, no delays, and his naturalization interview was just scheduled for next month.  I did go visit him in Brazil 8 times over two years.  Coming from the UK you will be fine.

Edited April 28, 2023 by carmel34

[calimari667 11]

8 hours ago, clericbeast said:

I had one incident of self harm (one shallow cut out of curiosity bc my friends were doing it which I realise was stupid as soon as I did it) when I was a teenager, about 14 years old. My plan for that is to be honest about it being a one-time mistake as a teen, get a letter from my GP verifying my current mental state and that I’m not a risk to myself or anyone else. I was also thinking of paying for a psych eval in advance to have more proof. I know I will still have to undergo their psych eval, but I figure two opinions is better than one.

Hey I wanted to pop in and say you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I had a lot of issues with self harm as a teen so I'm also a little scared about the medical, but I found this thread super helpful in both easing my anxiety and helping me figure out what I'll need to take with me

Also just as an aside, as I also read the thread you made about misrep, anxiety is absolutely your worst enemy when it comes to this whole process. We got our NOA1 in Jan and since then it's like my brain pinpoints something else to worry about every month so I definitely understand where your worries are coming from. I know it's difficult but the best thing to focus on everything that can go right with your case and the very likely reality that everything will go smoothly. Funnily enough we're the same age and from the UK so if you ever need to DM someone in the same boat to bounce your worries off I'd be happy to lend an ear.

 

(Also off topic my apologies, but is your username a Bloodborne reference? That's awesome if so)

[SteveInBostonI130 3,408]

11 hours ago, clericbeast said:

So I have been looking into guides here for the spouse visa and various people’s experiences, and I saw a couple of posts mention education differences being a red flag. Is this true?

 

For context regarding my concern: My boyfriend (31 USC) went to university and has a bachelor’s in IT and a career, whereas I (25 UK) never went to university and I have very little job experience. I went to high school and sixth form and got high grades, but university wasn’t an option for me due to health reasons.

 

This year I got my first job and things are looking much better for me health-wise, and we have talked about me maybe going to university when I move to the US, but now I’m concerned about what I read about educational differences being red flags.

 

1) I have not seen any reports about education being questioned, other than someone's English level.

 

2) Age and religion differences does play a role, predominantly in MENA and some asian countries.  Typically an older USC female marrying a younger male is scrutinized than the vice-versa

 

3) I have seen education differences pop up in relationship issues, but this has nothing to do with immigration.  As long as the two of you are good about this as a couple, it should be fine.

 

4) Focus on your relationship.  As long as it is genuine, then the evidence you need to submit is just documenting what you do together on paper.

 

5) As an addendum to 4), above, there are some thing you should do after marriage, like opening joint bank accounts, be authorized on each other's credit cards, etc. 

 

[Cathi 5,742]

11 hours ago, Daphne . said:

An age gap and/or difference in religion could be a challenge (but people have been known to successfully overcome those), I have never seen posts about differences in education being an issue. 

I'm one of those people. I am 21 years older than my husband, I'm previously divorced, He's Muslim- I"m Catholic. We had no issues whatsoever overcoming any of those red flags, not even so much as an RFE for the entirety of his immigration journey. We've been happily married for 12 years.
 

OP: I've been on VJ for 11 years and I have never once seen anyone denied because of education differences, I've never even seen it come up. You don't have anything at all to worry about. Best of luck. 

[Tracey&Greg 33]

Just thought I would chime in. Your educational level sounds very equivilant to my British husband. He's been in the US now for almost 10 years this October. Uni wasn't for him so he just did retail jobs here and there, travel to China to teach English and worked for NAAFI and was stationed in Afghanastan for a couple years. So over all he's done a little bit of everything. When he immigrated here on a K1 he started out as a deli sandwich and salad prepper for the food on the sales floor. He has always been a hard worker because of his morals and attitue on life. Managment always took a liking to him and he quickly rose to the top of his department. Eventually it lead us to moving from Alabama to Maryland. While in Maryland he wanted to try something different so he worked as the GM at Ripley's Believe it or Not. Then covid hit and we relocated to St. Augustine, Florida to manage here. But life had a different plan for him and now he is a GM soon to be a HR lead for a very large petrol/gas company in the Southeast of the United States. 

 

What I am getting at, he did all of this without anything than his high school education and if you want to go to school to better within yourself but overall I think you should do what makes you happy 🙃