Hi,

Hope someone can give some words of advice re settlement visas into the UK and the best way to apply.

In summary, I am married to a UK citizen who is looking to return to the UK after 25 years being away, he has an father aged 85 living in the UK and would like to spend more time with him. My husband is looking at some possible business interests in the UK and Europe. We think that the UK would make a good base to explore
these opportunities.We will be self financed and will not seek any UK support.

We will leave a residence in Australia and at this point superannuation etc,we may look to come back to live in Australia in later years.

We have been living together for 15 years, married for 3 and have 2 children together aged 7 and 9. Both children have UK citizenship but NO UK passport.

We would like to also spend time in France/Europe and possibly rent a house their, as such if I obtain a settlement visa in the UK, how will that effect me joining my husband in France,Italy etc.

I would look to assist my husband and as such would not apply for an external job.

A bit involved but we want to explore all opportunities.

Is the settlement visa in the UK the best way to go?
Any other thoughts or advice as the best way to approach this situation.

Thanks
Jen

Best option is to to go the U.K. on a settlement visa and after 3 years you can get your British citizenship. Then you can live in France etc.

Otherwise you would always be tied to a visa in other European countries and likely never get citizenship, not good.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk is the place to start for U.K. visas.

Children should get British passports.

Has your husband obtained his Australian citizenship?

JAJ,

Wow that was quick!!

Thanks for that and point taken re Citizenship in the UK first.The application form for settlement seems involved to say the least but my reading of it is that I need to be in the UK for 2 years before appling for permenant residency. Is there a way to apply for permenant residency at time of application?

Also is it possible to go over to the UK now under a tourist visa and apply for a settlement visa once IN the UK. That way we would find the house we want to rent, find schools etc, look at the business opportunities for my husband.I understand as an Australian citizen I can have 90 days and possibly 6 months.

I would obtain the childrens British passports before leaving.

My Husband is also an Australian Citizen as per the previous question.

Thanks Once again

Jen

Hi Jen

I'm going through the whole settlement visa thing at the moment. I've lived in South Africa for 25 years and have decided to return to the UK with my South African husband of 12 years and my 11 yr old son. I've paid for someone to assist me with completing the settlement (spouse) visa cos those 12 odd pages through me for a loop. We going to be applying for the visa next week sometime. If you want any "free" advice, feel free to ask.

Regards
Donna

My husband applied for his settlement visa in late may last year, he received this in early june. It is valid for 2 years from date of issue. We travelled to the UK in September 07. He cannot apply for naturalisation until he has been here for two years, i.e. September but has his visa expires in June 2009 he has to apply for an extension to this visa. He can submit the application for naturalisation in September 2009. We haven't got into the whole thing about the amount of days spent in the country though as he has been travelling a lot since we got here. I tmay be that he has insufficient days and therefore he has to wait to apply for naturalisation, all we know is that come May 2009 we are giving the government more money, and all because we were trying to be organised and applied for the visa in good time. You are advised not to apply more than 3 months before you want to travel, but as we did not know how long the application would take (based upon going the other way with me back in 2001) we though better safe than sorry.
We were told that we were a pretty easy case so perhaps don't leave it too close if you have any worries, but be warned you may be faced with our situation if you apply too early. And yes we did put the date we were travelling on the application and still it came back for June. Oh well, you can guarantee that if we had waited there would have been some problem and he would have been left behind!!!!!!!

Thanks Polabear mum!!

We have not looked forward that far but can see the issue so will not apply too early. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Jen

Are you asking about permanent residence (Indefinite Leave to Remain) or naturalisation?

I got my settlement visa xmas eve and put on the application we were going in March. The BHC rang me and asked what date I want the visa valid from. Told her mid March and we are now going back 9th April. She did explain that its valid for 2 years from the date I give her which was pretty good fro them to check that I thought.
I did the whole application myself, so if you need any advice I would be happy to help.
I'm Australian and my partner is British, and yes he is going to apply for Australian citizenship before we go.
Actually I was wondering if anyone knows the time line for this??
Cheers,
Donna

For most people it takes between 3-9 months.

I read your email as we are also planning to resettle - my OH is from the UK and we are married with children and I too will need to apply for a settlement visa.

However, I was of the understanding, thanks to an officer of BritAus (where you pay them by the minute for their advice) that a settlement visa you cannot apply for it prior to leaving, only three months before you intend to go and that the process takes 3 months. Reading through the replies to your email I see that I am wrong - it can take longer (oh my god) and you don't have to take it up for two years - is this correct? Any advice appreciated. We are hoping to go over sometime in May (although it was to be 9th April) - so I was hoping to do my online application at the end of this month.

Your thoughts and advice greatly needed. I am an Australian Citizen

We're going on Monday to apply for my South African husband's settlement visa and we were told it takes about two weeks and it's only valid for 3 months. Having booked flights yet but we're hoping on flying to the UK first week of April. I'm holding fingers and thumbs that it gets processed quickly and with no problems.

I applied for my settlement visa on the 14th December, this is the date I posted the application and all the supporting documents. I got the fingerprints and photo done on the 11th of December at the British Consulate in Melbourne.
I got an email from the BHC on the 24th December saying it was approved and the docs and passport were returned on the 27th.
Total application time was 14days from posting to getting it returned, including Xmas public holidays. It is valid for two years also.
We allowed 3 months processing time and didnt book the flights till mid January and are returning first week of April.
Hope that helps,

JAJ, what are my partners options re: Australian citizenship. He is sitting the test start of March, but we have flights booked first week of April. He is a permanent resident of Australia (British passport) Can he come back to Australia in a couple of years on his Permanent Residency visa?


Cheers, Donna

Thanks for your replies - I was hoping that it was the case (that it would take about two weeks to get the visa - as we are I believe our applications should be fairly straight forward. Just one or two questions I'd like clarified, if you can spare the time :

1. How do you manage to get your biometrics done before submitting your application?

2. When you say the visa is valid for two years, does that mean you've got two years to take it up, so you can stay in Australia (as in our case) and not move for up to two years - or am I misinterpreting this?

Thanx

Hi
I'm married to a uk citizen and we have two kids 7 and 8 and are looking at moving to the UK from New Zealand. Can anyone tell me how long it takes for a settlement visa to be processed in NZ?

When you go to the UK visa's website complete the visa application form on-line. Once you have completed your online application, you will be prompted to make an online appointment to have your biometric data (fingerscans and a digital photograph) taken. Once you get those done, they are sent to BHC and you forward your application with all the supporting documents and your passport.
This is what the website says: "At first you will be allowed to stay and work in the UK for two years. Near the end of this time, if you are still married or in a civil partnership, and still intend to continue living together, you can apply to stay in the UK permanently."
On the info that came with the visa it says: "You should plan to enter the UK as closely as possible to the valid date. If you do not, it is possible that you will not have completed the two year qualifying period and you may find that you will need to apply for an extension of stay (at a current cost of 335 pounds)"

As it turns out my visa is valid from 14th March but wont be entering the UK till 10th April. Will have to cross that bridge when we get to it i guess....

Hope it helps

Donna