andyjcc

Hi,

I have been trying to find some advice online for my current situation and stumbled upon this great forum.

My fiancee and I are currently living in England. I am a British Citizen and she is Malaysian. She studied in UK and then was offered a job with KPMG on a Tier 2 visa after she finished university. Currently, she is 1 year into the job which is a 3 year contract to obtain her ACA with a guaranteed job offer at the end. We got engaged in June 2018 and will be getting married in August 2020.

We are trying to find out more information about switching her Tier 2 visa into a Spouse/Family visa. The main benefit we want is that she is not tied to her employer and would be free to switch jobs. Some questions I have are:

• Where do I begin?
• What is the cost of switching?
• How long does it take?
• Are there any downsides I should be aware of? (already aware this will reset her time period for which she can apply for ILR)
• Are there any people I can contact to run through the process? I see that many solicitors are offering this service but surely this can be done without their help + fees?

Thanks,
Andy

BritInParis

Hi Andy,

Welcome to BE. I was in the same situation as you and in the end my partner and I decided to keep her on the Tier 2. The main reasons were the ILR reset and the cost of fees, which are considerable. Whilst it’s true that a Tier 2 General visa does ‘lock’ you to your employer there’s nothing to stop your fiancée from switching jobs providing her new employer is able and willing to sponsor her for a new CoS. Given the profession your fiancée works in I can’t see this being an issue. The only time to my mind when it would be advisable to switch would be if you know that she will not hit the salary threshold to qualify for ILR between years 5-6 on her Tier 2. Again, given her profession and employer I shouldn’t think this would be a problem.

andyjcc

Hi,
Firstly, thanks for the reply. Really appreciate it!
The main reason we are considering the switch is so that she has the freedom to change jobs to a new line of work. Most employers these days aren't willing to sponsor visa's so we think we would have more choice if she were to switch. What are the stipulations for her switching to a Family/Spousal visa, do we have to be married first? We are not due to get married until 2020 however moving this forward could be an option to free up her career path.

BritInParis

Understood. If you're going to switch then doing it sooner rather than later would be preferable as any time spent on a Tier 2 visa from here on out will be 'dead' time that won't count towards ILR. If you've been living together as if you were man and wife for at least two years then you can apply now. If not then you'll need to wait until you hit two years cohabitation or get married. IMO August 2020 is too long to wait. I wouldn't leave it any later than next summer. Alternatively go for a registry office civil ceremony now and have the big celebration at the later date.

You'll need to meet the financial and accommodation requirements; briefly at least £18,600 pa salaried income with the same employer for the previous six months. As she is already living in the UK then you can also use your fiancee's income to meet the financial requirements if necessary.

In terms of fees it's not a cheap process. You'll need to make two FLR applications followed by an ILR application which would currently cost £4,455 plus £1,000 (soon to be £2,000) for the Immigration Health Surcharge and another £50 for the Life in the UK Test. If she wishes to naturalise then that would be another £1,330. These fees generally only go up and so the final total cost is likely to be higher. If you wish to apply in person for a same day decision rather than waiting several weeks for a decision on a postal application then add £610 per application. Altogether you're looking at £7000 to £10,000 over the next five years.