My wife and I are applying for UK PLAB 2 visa - is it better to apply to travel together or to book separate exam dates?

Question

My wife and I are medical doctors in our country and we have a five-month-old son.

Both of us have to take PLAB 2 in 2022, we have the option to book the exam on the same day and leave our child with his grand parents in our country as a home tie.

Another option would be booking 2 different dates for the exam with 3 weeks apart and tell the officer that one of us will go for the exam and the other will stay with the child.

We wish to go with the first option as it is easy, affordable and to prepare for the exam but we have been told that the second option would be more secure to get the visa for both of us.

Ps. PLAB 2 seats are very limited if one visa got refused, he/she would have to wait for months to get another seat.

Answer 1

One of the big hurdles for a PLAB candidate is convincing UKVI that the candidate will leave the UK after the examination. To that end, UKVI will examine the strength of the candidate's ties to the home country. The stronger the ties, the more convincing that the candidate would indeed depart the UK as the visa requires.

(UKVI will also assess other aspects of your application, including money and employment. You haven't asked about those things. You can find information here about them by searching for "PLAB" in the "Search on Travel..." box at the top of the page.)

Leaving the child behind is a tie to the home country, but having a spouse also remain in the home country with the child would be a stronger connection. The second option will be more expensive, but more likely to be successful.