Mumdubai

Hi all! My family is new to the forum. My husband and our 2 children are British. After being in UAE for 15 years, we are thinking of going back to UK because of the children. The older one is very bright and very good swimmer and has an offer to join a very good sports school in the UK. He is also very keen rugby player. Living in UAE, although there are excellent sports club around, it is quite limited. Training fees also cost a fortune plus the overseas trips we have to pay (British National, Manchester Gala, etc). He also wants to go to University there.

We decided that the children and I (I'm not UK or EU citizen) will go back to UK first and my husband will stay in UAE because of his work. Our dilemma is what would be my status in UK since my spouse who is supposed to sponsor me is not living there? What visa should I apply for to be with the children? I currently have family visit visa which means I can stay up to 6 months without a problem but I want the option to work while I'm there which my visit visa doesn't allow. Should we apply in UAE for spouse visa before we go ( my husband's income in UAE can support our stay there) or should I just go to UK with my family visit visa and apply for longer stay while in UK?

We don't really know whom to ask for advice. The consulate says they don't give advice re immigration issues and the visa application here is handled by outside agency. I don't want to send the wrong application and get my visa rejected. I have nightmare thinking of my children in UK without their Dad and without me!
Please help! Thank you

SanDiegogirl

Since you are neither a UK nor EU citizen and you husband lives and works in the UAE you do not have recourse to a spouse settlement visa since your spouse is not settled in the UK.

Therefore a) he is not able to sponsor you and b) you are not moving to the UK to be with a "settled" UK citizen, two of the most important elements of obtaining a visa.

Additionally, you cannot enter the UK as a visitor and then "switch" to any other visa.

For you to move to the UK you need to obtain a visa under your own merits ie. work, study, investments.

BritInParis

Your husband would need to live with you in the UK in order for you to be eligible for a partner visa. Also you won't be able to change from a family visit visa to any other visa from inside the UK.

What passport do you hold? How long were you planning your husband to stay in the UAE before joining you in the UK?

Mumdubai

Thank you for your replies. I have Malaysian passport. It is difficult decision to separate our family but we need his income in UAE to support the children up to University and save enough to start business of our own in UK. Probably, he has to stay for 3 more years. As long as I don't use public fund or exceed my six months stay, can I use my family visit visa for six months at a time then? We will be visiting my husband in UAE every 12 weeks so I need to exit anyway. It is a pain not to be allowed to work but do I have a choice?
Can any of my husband's relatives sponsor me? How about our children, can I stay longer in UK because of them? They are both minors. We have enough money for the £62000 too.
Thank you for all your help.

mikelincs

Answers to your two questions are No and No, you will need either a work visa or Spouse visa, and as the name suggests the spouse visa is only available if your husband is already living in the UK.

formula

6 months in any 12 months. You can't live in the Uk on a visit visa.

Mumdubai

Thank you for replies. Now, at least we know what we can or can't do. Is it a dead end? I'm not ready yet to tell my child that he can't fulfill his dreams of swimming for his country because I have the wrong passport. Is there any suggestion or advice that we can pursue for me to accompany my children to UK? He is not ready and refusing to go to boarding school and we can't ask their Dad to quit his job that secure our finances so that no one in our family would ask for handouts ever.

formula

If it's your son's dream, then he will either need to go to boarding school or stay with family in the UK. I guess this is when you find out how important that dream is to him.

Until your husband is ready to return to live in the UK, then as others have said, he won't be able to sponsor you.

You said you want to start a business in the UK. If you have 200k, you can apply for an Tier 1 (Entepreneur) visa. There are strict rules for this new visa which is for those that want to start a certain type of business in the UK. You also have to employ so many Brits by a certain date to be able to renew that visa. If you can quickly make your business grow and employ 10 Brits in a short time, then ILR can be achieved in 3 years instead of 5.

If you have 1 million pounds, you can apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa.

The other option that has been mentioned, is for you to get a work visa Tier 2 (General). You will need to have skills that are in demand, for a company to sponsor you. If they decide not to sponsor you anymore, then your visa will be revoked and UKVI will give you 60 days to find another sponsor or leave the UK.

Or do you work for a company that has a UK office and qualify for a Tier 2 (ICT) visa? You need to have worked for them for at least 1 year and earn a set (by UKVI) salary. Downside:- This visa doesn't lead to settlement. The company can send you home when they want to. You will not be allowed to switch (in country) to a Tier 2 (General) nor apply outside the UK for a Tier 2 (General) for 1 year, because you will have a cooling off period outside the UK, of 1 year.

Both those Tier 2 visas have a maximum stay of 6 years. The time is added together.

Or a study visa (Tier 4) if money isn't a problem, but you will have to attend classes, study and take exams, or they will revoke your visa and you will have to leave the UK. In order to renew this visa, you will have to show progress. There is a cap on the number of years you can study. If you don't attend a university and instead use one of the tiny colleges that have sprung up, then if UKVI shut down that college (as they seem to do all the time) then you either have to quickly find and pay for a new college/university or your visa is revoked. The cap and progess rules still apply to these students whose college has had their sponsorship licence removed. Working rights on a this visa during term time, will be either zero hours, ten hours or 20 hours per week. Some students at these college type places, are not allowed to work at all.

Some of these visas will not allow you to start your own business.

Thats it. There aren't any other visas to the UK.

JAJ

If using the savings route, is it an option for him to sponsor now, i.e. before the move?



There's ancestry, and Malaysian citizens are eligible for ancestry if there is a U.K. born grandparent, although that's unusual. Another one for Malaysians to check is, if connected with Penang or Malacca, is whether a parent retained British nationality on independence, although usually this leads to (at best) a claim to British Overseas citizenship. Which doesn't carry any right to live or work in the U.K.

Mumdubai

Thank you for all the info.
1. Unfortunately, we don't have unlimited fund ( so, no investor visa for me!) while applying for Entrepreneur visa and starting business on my own with two children to look after is very difficult.
2. I don't mind continuing my education, if I do master's degree, would I be allowed to apply for student visa?

3. Does anyone know if the savings route is an option?

My husband's job is contractual. His residence visa in UAE is temporary and gets renewed every two years. Eventually, when his contract is finished, he has to go back home to UK. The only reason we are considering moving to UK before his contract ends is because of the importance of following our child's dream. If we moved later, it would be too late for him to follow the path of becoming an elite athlete. Training options and facilities here are limited and the lack of passion. On the other hand, he is still young and emotionally not ready to be on his own.

I really do appreciate all the help. I might also post in the Middle East forum to see if there is anyone there who can recommend an immigration consultant whom we can see in the UAE to guide us.

SanDiegogirl

No, the savings route is not open to you since it is one of the options only open to those British citizens who are settled in the UK and wish to bring in a non EU spouse.

Your problem, again, is that your husband is NOT settled in the UK.

Unless you get your own visa work, study etc you cannot enter and live in the UK without him.

between two worlds

I guess not as no-one has mentioned it, but isn't there a thing about being able to enter UK as a guardian for one's dependent British children who are minors?

I don't want to raise false hope...am just vaguely remembering something I read, and it may only apply to disabled dependents.....

JAJ

Really - are you absolutely sure about that? A lot of people on forums express opinions with great confidence that something cannot be done, when in fact it can. I certainly would not state with such certainty that a British citizen intending to re-settle in the U.K. could not use the savings route to sponsor a spouse.

And also, while perhaps the husband does need to "settle" in the U.K., at least officially, he may be able to continue working for a period of time in the UAE with a U.K. home base. It might involve liability to British taxes, but that may not be a problem.

To the original poster. You've probably got as far as you're going to go with a free forum and it's time instead for you to engage a reputable U.K. immigration solicitor to work out these details, especially how the savings route can work. Without any specific recommendation, try Home | Immigration Lawyers | London | New York | Laura Devine

BritInParis

This would only apply if the OP had sole responsibility for her children.

Unless the OP is willing to lie on their application then this is still not an option. The sponsor must be "present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement" and "each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner". Whether they use the income or savings route to fulfil the financial requirements is a moot point.

The simple answer to this is that the OP's children either agree to go to boarding school in the UK or they stay with grandparents or other relatives.

JAJ

So you're saying that as long as the husband intends to establish residence (in the U.K.) at the same time as the rest of the family, the savings route should work. Or is something being missed?