shazzabel

Hi all,


long story short, my Australian boyfriend is currently here on a Tier 5 youth mobility visa (expires in Jan 16) we have been together since March 2013 (met in Australia while I was travelling and then he came here after my visa's expired) and are currently completing his application to remain in the UK (5 year route) as he is happy here for the time being and doesn't want to leave just yet.


we are unsure of what our plans are, we are staying in the UK until late next year for definite but after that we may decide to move to Australia for a bit (or permanently) but after reading information on the Immigration website it looks like they only want you to have 'limited time' outside of the UK as it may affect his Indefinite Leave to Remain status (if we eventually decided to do this)


My question is, if we did decide to go to Australia but then say after 6 months or a year decided to come back to the UK, will his spouse visa still be valid and/or would it affect him in the long run (with his IDLR) if he has spent this amount of time outside the UK?


We don't want to jeopardise anything and have plans to marry eventually, I just worry that we decide to go off for a bit and then he can't come back with me! we want to be able to live and work in both countries if poss as being young, we don't know where we will end up!


hope this makes sense! if anyone can give me any insight that would be great.


Thanks!

formula

The Tier 5 youth mobility doesn't lead to settlement and can't be extended. It has an end date when he is expected to leave by or to change to another visa to remain in the UK.

What visa is he changing to? As you aren't getting married, are you trying to sponsor him on as an unmarried partner, showing proof of 2 years of living together akin to marriage? Or is he trying to get a work visa, Tier 2 General?




He won't have ILR by next year. His Tier 5 youth mobility visa doesn't lead to settlement and time on that visa can't be added to another visa to make 5 years to ILR.

His 5 years to ILR starts when he is on a visa that leads to settlement.

shazzabel

Hi Formula,


Yes I know the Tier 5 doesn't lead to settlement, we are currently in the process of completing his application form for the Apply to remain in the UK visa (as unmarried partners) which after 5 years he can then apply for IDLR.


He is happy here for the time being but we have discussed possibly going to Australia for a while (maybe permanently maybe not, we don't know) at the end of next year. I am concerned however, that if we are gone for a significant length of time, IF we decided to come back to the UK, would this affect him coming back in and affect him getting his IDLR (if this what he wants to do in 5 years time)


The visa he is applying for is initially 2.5 years then you apply to extend that for another 2.5 years then after that you can apply for IDLR. We don't know if in 5 years time that that is what we will do, but just as a precaution I would like to know if us leaving the country is going to jeopardise him coming back in the future.

formula

If he has a valid visa then he can return to the UK with you as your partner, before that expires. You will need to meet the financial requirments again for his second 2.5 visa but could use his salary too to meet that.

It's a long way off to his ILR (Indefinate Leave to Remain) and rules change. He would have to meet the requirements at the time for ILR. If he doesn't meet the rules for ILR, then he would need to extend (pay for another family visa and meet the financial requirements again) until he does.

The bit you were reading about Indefinate Leave to Remain expiring after two years out of the country, is for those that already hold ILR but have not remained in the UK.

When someone gets ILR, they need to have that for 1 year before they can apply for British citizenship. However, if the ILR holder is married to a Brit they can apply for British citizenship as soon as they are granted ILR. You can't skip the ILR fee as holding ILR is one of the requirements for British citizenship.

ILR holders need to meet the requirements for British citizenship to be granted and those rules change too.

Here is a calculator to play with for settlement (ILR) under present rules.
https://www.gov.uk/settle-in-the-uk

BritInParis

Your boyfriend cannot spend more than six months in any given twelve month period outside the UK without resetting the clock on his spouse/unmarried partner visa.

shazzabel

thanks for your replies!BritinParis, when you say 'without resetting the clock' does this mean he will have to reapply for a spouse visa or does his original visa reset?

BritInParis

Resetting the clock towards his ILR. Say he spends a year in the UK and then a year in Australia and then returns to the UK to stay for good. His visa would have another six months to run and he could apply for FLR but at the end of that visa (another 2.5 years) when he would normally be eligible for ILR he would have to apply again for FLR as the year spent in Australia would mean he hadn't spent the required five years in the UK before making his application.

In other words it's a very expensive way to go about things as it's currently £649 for each FLR visa and £1500 for ILR (this will only rise every year) and since July a partner visa for Australia now costs a eye watering AUD$6865 (~£3165) and will take around a year to be processed.

Personally speaking I would either commit myself to going to Australia when your boyfriend's Tier 5 visa expires or switching onto a UK spouse visa route and staying put until he achieves ILR.

It takes four years to qualify for citizenship in Australia and five in the UK (presuming you are married by that point). I would think about doing doing one and then the other if you want to experience living in each other's country. The other alternative would be going to Australia in January on a Working Holiday visa for a year and see how it goes.

Eagle60

Can anyone confirm how long in advance you are able to apply for a Settlement Visa?

My wife and I need to be in London by March as I have a job starting later that month. We want to apply at the start of next month (October) as we plan to travel for a couple of months before coming to the UK in March, so ideally want the visa all confirmed by end of December.

michali

The earliest time you can apply is three months before you hope to enter the UK. Keep in mind you should put your desired date of entry on the form as you will have thirty days to enter from the date of issue of the visa and will have to collect the BRP within ten days after that.

shazzabel

thanks so much for your help!!!!

Eagle60

Thanks. What happens if you apply and it takes 3 months for them to process the application? Will just leave me in a tricky situation as I will allow time to hand in my notice at work, but want to be sure the visa has been approved before I do so.

Do you think there is no chance of being able to apply more than 3 months before?

formula

You cannot apply more than 3 months in advance. 3 months is the maximum they will postdate a visa. If you apply too early you will end up with the 30 day visa with entry dates much earlier than you want. Then you would have to apply for and pay for another 30 day entry visa. Maybe even pay for a third spouse visa (instead of 2) because your wife won't have made her 5 years to get ILR before her visa ran out.

It's not the US, where they take months to process a visa. It will just take a few weeks as long as you make sure you have ticked all the boxes. Or you could pay extra for the premium service where it goes to the front of the queue and can be ready in days, depending on whether it's a busy time of year for visas i.e. when all the students want visas for a September start.

Don't worry about the visa time. Just make sure you have all the correct documents to apply for the visa and fill in all the application and the appendix.

BritInParis

Worst case scenario is that your visa will take three months or more so you'll have 30 days to enter the UK. However providing your application is well put together and you're not from a high risk country it's unlikely to take that long. You can pay extra for the priority service which will push your application to the front of the queue.