Why the sarcasm? My husband is English and we have a house here. We helped his shielding elderly dad through Covid. Offspring (English) are in school here, have friends and piano lessons and have bedrooms-- are settled. My daughter happily attends the same school her father did. We work here. English is our native language which makes life here significantly easier for our child with learning difficulties than it would be in most other places. Our pet is here. Our shared life is here. His old friends are here. Mine occasionally pass through. Most importantly, my family would like stay together under one roof rather than be divided by thousands of miles at the whim of your government. Are these good enough reasons for you?
Chardonnay, indeed, the devil is in the detail, and in how it is applied by amoral officials. IMO immigration departments in all countries include some very special specimens. My husband did the health requirements for a visa in my country when he joined me when I was completing my professional degree. It amounted to my childhood GP inspecting his vitals and penis, and a lung scan to see if he had TB. That was more than a decade ago. I don't know if it's more stringent now. Character requirements AFAIK pertain to criminal convictions.
The genuineness of the relationship is the thing that can be unpleasant to prove. It can be difficult for couples who haven't been able to cohabit continuously because of visa difficulties. Sometimes they want to delve into your private messaging history, look at naughty snaps-- really prurient and invasive stuff. There were some stories that rightly caused outrage when they hit the news, especially where the foreign spouse was Filipina, Ukrainian/Russian or someone else that Immigration agents may have had racist preconceived notions about.
Funnily enough, the UK didn't seem to give a damn about whether our relationship was genuine when we applied for the visa here.
There have also been disgraceful stories in my country of visas denied to medically-compromised children of relocating foreign specialists, or to refugees. Gay couples may struggle to prove the length of their relationship where the foreign partner's country doesn't allow gay marriage yet. I don't claim our immigration system is perfect... far from it. I'd do away with borders, myself, if I could.
My country is New Zealand. It has many, many problems of its own, including a housing market that makes yours look sane, and a shiny new coalition government which is sharpening its knives for the poor, but in this particular instance... concerning its own citizens' (and residents') right to a family life... its policy is not as fucked up as the UK's. I don't actually know of any country whose policy is, though.
Yes, if I'd known back then how unwelcome I'd continue to be made to feel by people like you, and how the Home Office would up their attacks on families like ours, we'd never have come. But no regrets. I am glad we were there for my FIL when he really needed us, and that he got to know the GC better.