Hi JAJ,

Could I ask for a wee bit of advice ?

There is an outside chance that I may be able to return to the UK in 1-2 years. My partner is Australian and currently holds a UK Ancestry visa with around 1 year left on it.

My Partner is my de-facto spouse and we intend to live in UK as man and wife. If we move in the next couple of years would we better off getting her current Ancestry visa renewed or should we apply for a Spouse visa ?

The thing putting me off the Ancestry visa thing is that there seems to be some uncertainty as to whether it is going to replaced. Also, I read somewhere that the visa you travel to the UK has to be relevant to your intentions and duration of your stay or you can get into bother. In other words it would be wrong to get a 5 year working visa if your intention is to stay for the long term as a spouse (whether working or not). Is that true ?

Obviously I want the minimum of fuss over her visa and I would like a clear idea now of which one to go for so we have adequate time to prepare. Although we have been living together for a while we have been a bit lax in getting bank accounts, joint bills etc sorted out and I know we will need this to demonstrate we have a "real" relationship.

Anyway, many thanks for any advice you can offer.

Regards

Skyblue67

How long did she spend in the U.K. and how long is it since she left?

She was in the UK (on her Ancestry visa) for 6 months in 2005 (not working - on holiday) and then visited UK on holiday with me for 2 months in 2007. All the rest of the time she has been in Australia.

Ancestry visa is ok for settlement purposes (if you intend to work), however you only get permanent resident status (ILR) after 5 years.

You get ILR after 2 years on a spouse or unmarried partner visa (UPV). 2 years cohabitation is needed for UPV: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

UPV is better than Ancestry in almost every way except that if relationship breaks down before ILR is obtained, it leaves the visa holder in a difficult position.

You should plan to get Australian citizenship before you leave Australia, if you've not got it already.

Many thanks - you are one of nature's gentlemen.

One further question - do you have any idea how long it takes to turn around a spouse visa from Perth ? I would hope that we are a "straightforward" case as the relationship is genuine and ongoing, we are employable, no criminal record etc etc....

Cheers

All spouse visas from Australia are dealt with in Canberra
You may want to join http://www.immigrationboards.com for more information.