chiefster1976

Hi everyone. I was born a English citizen until 32 now i love in Australia.
I'm thinking of heading back to the UK for 1-1.5 years for a job role with the intention to return to Australia after that time.
I met a beautiful Filipino gf through friends but she still lives in Cavite near manila..
We have been in co tact everyday on messenger since October 2016.
I went to see her for one week in April 2017. she came to Australia on a tourist visa for 3 weeks in Christmas and New Year 2017-2018.

She is an accountant clerk for Senju solder company..
She has her uni diploma in accountancy but didn't take the final registered accountant exam.. not sure how that stacks up with visas options.


I would like to get her out to the UK with me to work and spend more time together and wondering on her visa work options?
She is 31 so past the working holiday visa stream. 😭

With all the types of visas
457, spouse, De facto marriage etc. Its a mine field what to go for.
From my readings on the UK immigration it's seems a little less strict then Australia to possibly get her some type of visa.

Just wanted to ask people's experiences both bringing a gf back to UK and Australia primarily on a work visa or student visa but open to all options..
They may be a short term work option in the Philippines but yet to come to light at this time.

Does accumulated time together on holidays coubt towards your time in a relationship?

SanDiegogirl

Your options are:

- work visa: need to be qualified for jobs on short list and have job offer from sponsoring employer; https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general

- student visa: need to be on course for 6 months or more, have acceptance from college etc ; https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa

You do not qualify for an unmarried partner visa.

If she cannot fulfill the requirements for the above visas then she should apply for a visitor visa for the UK which will give her up to 6 months.

Pulaski

To get her a UK visa through your relationship you either need to be married, about to get married (fiancée visa), or cohabiting and able to prove that you are living at a shared address for at least 12 month; merely hanging out together on holiday doesn't count. Unless you have omitted to tell us that you are planning to get married, none of those appear to apply to you.

Which leaves your gf getting a work visa independently of your relationship with you. IMO, for a partially qualified accountant, that is a complete non-starter.

BritInParis

FTFY

quiltman

BIP will correct me if I'm wrong, but you could get engaged, apply for a UK fiance visa, come back to UK , get married, she then has to leave UK and you apply for a spouse visa for her - assuming you can meet the financial requirements. Appendix_FM_Annex_1_7_Financial_Requirement.pdf
There are two problems I see - Assuming you get married and obtain the UK spouse visa, you say you only intend staying in UK for 1.5years. This is not long enough to apply for FLR , which takes 2.5years. If you leave UK before 5 years are up and your then wife obtains ILR , the spouse visa will become invalid and if you wished to return to UK you would have to start over again.
Secondly, how easy will it be to return to Oz with your wife? do you have permanent residency , or citizenship? I don't know what visa you would need for bringing her back to Oz , but doubtless others will chip in with details.
I think a lot more thought is needed as to the longer term future and visa paths need to be carefully worked out as otherwise you may find you create a complex scenario.
Have a think , then come back with questions when the good, and knowledgeable, folks here will try and help.
without being married, or proof of living together for 2 years, then your GF is on her own for applying for ANY UK visa I'm afraid.

BritInParis

A couple of corrections: a fianceé visa would permit you to come to the UK, marry and stay. A marriage visitor visa would require someone to return to their home country to apply for a spouse visa; if the contract is only for 1.5 years then applying for a spouse visa, which is valid for 2.5 years, would be perfectly suitable. There's no requirement to stay longer.

Personally speaking I think getting married in the Philippines and then moving together to the UK on a spouse visa is the only realistic option for the OP's other half to live with him in the UK. Alternatively just have an extended holiday on a visitor visa for up to six months during the middle of his UK contract.

The OP should become an Australian citizen before he leaves if he is not already. If they were to marry then they could also start the ball rolling for an Australian Partner visa whilst in the UK.

Pollyana

I may well be wrong, but if she marries on a Fiance Visa (as opposed to a Marriage Visitors Visa) then she could apply onshore for her Spouse Visa? Is it true that she has to leave?


For the OP - its actually a LOT harder to get a visa for the UK than it is for Australia. To return to Aus with her, after marriage, she just applies for a Spouse Visa. No financial requirements, and no long-term living together requirement if you are newly married.

Pollyana

Your post crossed with mine, thanks for the UK Fiance Visa clarification

SanDiegogirl

As the OP proposed only staying in the UK for up to two years, I did not put forward that he marries since obtaining a spouse visa is going to cost 1K GBP or more.

Seems like a lot of money and effort to only be in the UK for a short time.

BritInParis

A spouse visa application made from the Philippines will be ~£1500. It's up the OP whether he thinks it would be worth it.

chiefster1976

I would just like to say thank you so much for the info this far..
What a great bunch of people you are to clarify things for me..
Great community..

Those who have posted, have you been through this yourselves or are some of you in fact agents in the U.K.?

I am a dual citizen of UK and Australia ...I will be visiting an agent here in OZ next week in regards to options here..
My plan is to stay in the UK 1 year or 1.5 years max.
From what the agent has shared here so far is that we can apply for another tourist visa for Australia then when she is here , REGISTER OUR relationship with the births deaths and marriages department at this point the agent says your relationship is made official with the department of immigration.. this will start the 12 months De facto side of the relationship.
My plan if it is feasible is to get a tourist visa here in OZ , register our relationship to the government which starts the ball rolling and then head over to the UK..

This way while we live together in the UK ( and possibly get married )
Then by the time we come back to Australia we will have our 12 month requirement for De facto ( or if we get married in the UK ) our option for a spouse visa in Australia may then be an option?

Is there a maximum time for a tourist visa in the UK???
It's probably possible I would need to seek an UK agent as well as to our best options whilst in the UK..
So if there is a maximum staynof 6 months in the UK for a tourist visa could she leave and go to Europe then re-apply for another 6 months? Or is this likely to get rejected??

All options considered of course..

Pollyana

Anyone on BE who is a migration agent is asked to identify themselves as such by putting their contact details in their post signatures. I think you will find the vast majority are lay-people, though some may have worked in the field. I don't believe we have any current posters who are UK Immigration Agents.

BritInParis

I think you might be confusing the two systems somewhat. Registering your relationship in Australia allows you to skip the 12 month de facto requirement for an Australian partner visa, so you could apply immediately for an Australian partner visa, but it doesn't give you any status under UK law.

A UK visitor visa, if she was granted one which is by no means certain, will only permit her to stay for up to six months. She would be unlikely to be granted another one before she is out of the UK for another six months. She cannot apply for a UK visa whilst in the UK, Europe or anywhere else for that matter whilst she is there as a visitor; she would need to apply from a country in which she was a legal resident, i.e. the Philippines.

If you intend to marry in the UK during her six month visit then you will need a marriage visitor visa.

Other than a student visa getting married and applying for a spouse visa from the Philippines is the only realistic way she could join you in the UK for the length of time you're suggesting.