elonii

Hi All

I'm a Brit currently living in Australia with my Kiwi husband. We applied for his spouse visa a couple years back thinking we were on the cusp of returning. We then encountered a few issues that have held us back waaay longer than expected.

At the time we were about to have a baby so the whole thing was a bit "fuzzy". Imagine my horror just now when I finally thought to ask him to pull out his passport and found it will expire in just under a month. Whoops.

We applied pre-rule change - so im wondering if we can apply to extend this entry visa? I found information at the time we applied that suggested this was the case but am unable to locate it.

Fortunately for us we would still be ok under the new visa rules if we did have to reapply!

Sorry if this has come up before, i did search for threads but drew a blank. Thanks anyone with info. Its like the blasted da vinci code on the uk immigration website.

elonii

Going to answer my own query in case any future searchers find it useful.

I used the email service on the immigration website and to my huge surprise got a reply overnight. OK it was three words, "you must reapply". But at least it was an answer!

Now to read the detail of the new rules so we can get the old ducks lined up. I am so very lucky to have sufficient income / savings despite having two kids under two. Otherwise I might just be having to tell my excited family we had stuffed up and couldn't come home!

englishguygoinghome

The answer you got is technically accruate and misleading

Yes, you must reapply BUT...
- if you reapply from within the UK you can reapply under the OLD rules
- if you reapply from outside the UK you must use the new rules

It's your choice as to whether it is more difficult to get to the UK in time to reapply or to fulfil the new requirements

Do also bear in mind that under the old rules:
- your husband could get Indefinite Leave relatviely quickly (if he's already passed the KOL test and/or you had been married for 4 years before your first application he probably should have it already) and thus apply for citizenship after 3 years.
- you would have 1 or 2 visa applications ahead of you, including this one (at GBP800+ plus stress, paperwork and loss of passport each time)
Under the new rules:
- it will take 5 years before he can get ILR and apply for citizenship
- you will need to make 3 visa applications, including this one (at GBP800+ plus stress, paperwork and loss of passport each time)

Your choice - and not an easy one!

elonii

Thanks *SO* much for that. I did think there'd probably be more to it than what they told me via email, isn't there always!!

That's very interesting... Sadly I have two children born here in Australia including one breastfed baby who do not have British passports yet. I just couldn't do that flight.

Also, I've been here in Australia on the most stupid residency visa in the history of the universe (own fault). The 461 - which I have to reapply for every 5 years, and which I'm sure you have heard never leads to permanent residency for me or my Aussie born kiddies. Therefore the paperwork is fairly familiar territory - in fact we keep a "visa file" in the home office that can just be picked up and used.

That 5 years is a stinger, I didn't realise about that. However both my husband and I will just be glad to be on a pathway where citizenship will ultimately happen. It's annoying when you've been in a long term relationship to have to jump through these hoops - however we've come to accept such things as part of an international marriage / relationship

Thanks again, at least now there are no shocks ahead about citizenship pathways!