bek94

I’m an Australian with a British husband, currently pregnant and we have both been living in Australia for the past 6 years.

We are planning to move back to the UK either before the baby is born if my husband is offered a job soon, or after the baby is born if it takes longer for him to receive an offer that we want to accept.

For spouse visa, husband could prove income from Australia that well exceeds the requirement (as could I although I believe that won’t be considered) but as we can’t apply until he has a job offer and due to the long wait time for a spouse visa, he would have to start work in the UK while I wait for my visa to be granted. Either pregnant or with a newborn, this is not a consideration for us.

Given this, I am considering an ancestry visa (grandfather is British born) to get me over as this could be done quickly by the looks of things. I have been working full time for my adult life but after the baby is born I would like to concentrate on raising my baby and my husband will earn enough to provide for us. I could certainly make it look like I have intentions to work to apply, but then after being in the UK for 5 years I obviously won’t qualify for ILR as I won’t have satisfied the work requirements as we plan on having more children and me being a stay at home mum while the children are young.

Should I not meet the work requirements after 5 years in the UK could I then apply for a spouse visa when ancestry visa nears its end? Or would the fact that I haven’t been working on my ancestry visa be scrutinised and affect my spouse visa application too?


Thank you

spouse of scouse

Hi Bek. You're not eligible for an Ancestry visa as you've stated you have no intentions of working in the UK. The application form asks if you intend to work in the UK. If you tick 'yes', you're committing immigration fraud and that's not something you want to do!

In your present circumstances, you need to apply for a spouse visa. If you don't have the funds to do this currently you'll need to wait until you have the funds available.

bek94

Thanks for the reply!

Hmmm, well I certainly don’t want to commit immigration fraud. If I was to work something minimal, for example like a beauty/makeup sales rep type thing (Avon etc) from home, would that fufill the employment obligation- even if it wasn’t a particularly lucrative business?

BritInParis

That would be the wise compromise. A part time job or voluntary work would also qualify.

bek94

Thanks!

spouse of scouse

SanDiegogirl

The scope of 'work' is pretty generous for the Ancestry Visa:

What you can and cannot do

With a UK Ancestry visa you can:

• work
• study
• bring your partner or child

Your work can be:

• paid or voluntary
• full-time or part time
• in self-employment or in a job where you’re employed by someone else