hkuk

Hi, just signed up and have a load of questions - hope someone can help!

My wife (HK passport), myself (UK born/passport etc) and our two young children (both British passport holders) want to relocate from HK where we've lived for 8 years. We will be starting a restaurant when we move over.

I have questions regarding meeting the financial requirements and also having proof of address.

We plan to use cash savings to meet the financial requirement (we have around 200k in various forms and will liquidate the 64k which is needed). Would I still need to find a job before making the application or is that requirement no longer necessary because of the cash savings? - I have read conflicting things.

Regarding the proof of address, we don't have any UK property and were planning on renting for the time being once we move over - but that would mean no proof of address when we make the application. Is it possible to use my parents' address if I get them to put some bills or whatnot in my name?

I also have an Irish passport - does anyone have any experience of using another EU passport to settle in the UK? Is it a viable option if the UK passport proves to be too much of a ball ache?

Thanks for any advice, and sorry for the long post!

inggris

Are you willing to renounce your British Citizenship in order to settle your wife in the UK by using the "EEA route"?

hkuk

Thanks for the reply!
Would it be necessary to actually renounce my British citizenship to go the EEA route? If push came to shove, then yes, I would be willing to this - however, this seems faintly ridiculous seeing as I was born and raised in England!

BritInParis

That would be a little excessive given that you easily meet the financial requirements through cash savings especially as Brexit would almost certainly put pay to the EEA route. And no, you don't require a job offer in order to fulfil those requirements of you are applying via the cash savings category. I would however register both your children as Irish citizens if you haven't done so already especially if they were born outside the UK. Does your wife hold, or is eligible, to apply for a BN(O) passport? If so it would preferable for her to go through the UK immigration process using it over her HKSAR passport.

DernierVirage

@hkuk: as regards accommodation, you can certainly use your parents' house, assuming there is enough room for you and your family (this is what my wife and I did). No need for anything to be in your name, but you will need a letter from your parents confirming that you can stay, plus proof of ownership, details and photos of the property etc.

hkuk

Thanks for the reply! Brilliant - I thought as much, but it's always good to hear from people who have (successfully) done it! Thanks!

HKG3

The OP should get his children on the Irish foreign birth register in Hong Kong if he has not already done so. I would think the workload for the Irish consulate in Hong Kong on foreign birth registration should not be that heavy and the turnaround time can be quicker (unlike London).

https://www.dfa.ie/irish-consulate/h...tside-ireland/

If the OP's wife got British National (Overseas) status, she should use her BN(O) passport to apply for the UK spouse visa. Being a BN(O) in the UK means that she will be treated as a Commonwealth citizen. This means that she can -

a) register to vote in all UK elections (being on the electoral roll helps to build up her own credit history in the UK)
b) apply for jobs in the British civil service.
c) gain British Citizenship via registration using form B(OTA) which is cheaper than naturalisation. (£1121 vs £1236 in 2016 prices)

Does the OP's wife holds a Hong Kong driving licence? If she does, she can exchange her Hong Kong driving licence to an UK one without test once she is in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-...tain/hong-kong

She can set up an UK bank account in Hong Kong before moving to the UK. Both the Bank of East Asia and HSBC offer this kind of service. Please see link below -

Services

https://www.hsbc.com.hk/personal/hsb...s-account.html

One more point for the OP. After living in Hong Kong for eight years, the OP can apply for permanent residence in Hong Kong, just in case things don't work out in the UK. After getting Hong Kong permanent residence, the OP will need to visit Hong Kong every 3 years in order to keep it.

Loss of Hong Kong Permanent Resident Status | Immigration Department

Kentse1973

👍🏻👍🏻

hkuk

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I have another question about meeting the financial requirement, if any can help! We plan on meeting the financial requirement with cash savings, but my wife thinks that we can just use the value of our shares, without liquidating anything. I checked the website/notes and it just says:

If income has been earned from investments, shares and/or stocks in the 12 months
prior to the date of application and the relevant asset was then sold, we will consider it to
be held at the date of application and that income may be counted towards the financial
requirement, provided that investments, shares and/or stocks of an equivalent volume
have since been purchased in the same company and are held at the date of
application.

My wife reckons 'income' can mean the value of the shares we own, whereas I think it means dividends etc. I emailed them asking for clarification and they said to just check the guidance notes/website.

Does anyone have any experience of meeting the financial requirement with cash or shares? Any (more) help would be greatly appreciated! Ta!

spouse of scouse

No, you can't use the value of your shares to meet the financial requirement. I had to liquidate money from my superannuation, whereas I would much rather have left it there!