Unmarried partner visa - Australian moving to UK

Aussie_Kym said:

Hi there, my first post. Have been reading previous posts and thanks everyone for your info. I still have a couple of questions I cannot find answers to, hoping you could help.

Background: Have been with my partner for 7.5 years now. Lived in UK for 2 years at start of relationship, living in Australia since then (so, 5.5yrs in Aus). Looking at an unmarried partner visa, we are engaged but no plans to marry at this stage. Looking to move to UK in approx 12 months time. He is British born and has permanent Australian residency. I am Australian born. We have plenty of documentation for the visa, rented together for 3 years, now we have a mortgage, joint accounts, etc.

Questions:
1) I've read that because we have been in a relationship for over 4 years I am eligible to obtain permanent residency in the UK without the 2 year temp residency wait. Does anybody have any experience obtaining this visa? How likely am I to get permanent residency straight away? Is it even worth worrying about, what are the advantages of being perm resident over temp resident?

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That is true. You will automatically be applying for settlement - indefinite leave to enter (ILE) visa. Criteria for ILE and 2-yr probationary visa are roughly the same. Advantage of getting ILE visa is that you will be settled on arriving in UK, and no more visa formalities to go through. And if you get married, you can apply for naturalisation as British citizen after 3 years (5 years without marriage).

2) My partner is eligible to obtain his Aus citizenship now, should we bother with this before we leave UK? It seems to cost the same amount as getting a Returning Resident Visa, so I am leaning towards Yes we do get it. Ideas?

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It mainly depends on your future intentions, but I'd say go for it, as it leaves your option open later when you decide to settle in Australia.

3) Looking at the unmarried partner visa application it is asking questions about my partners housing/employment status in the UK. These questions seem irrelevant as he isn't living there at the moment. Am I reading the wrong form, or is this normal? We will live with his folks when we first get back to the UK until we find jobs and a rental.

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You haven't read the wrong form. All that is needed is to give an indication of the kind of job he is eligible to apply to (qualifications, experience etc), that he is serious about working, and what living accommodation you are hoping and able to get, such as rental, purchase, living for a while with relatives. It may help to enclose his CV and contact details of some recruitment agencies in UK and evidence of some preliminary discussions.

4) I am looking at becoming a teacher in the UK, will be finished my Bachelor degree fairly soon after we arrive in the UK (distance education). I was wondering if having temp residency would hinder this process, especially if I was looking to get in to a 'vocational' teaching position like Teach First? Are there any UK teachers in here? I have some more questions about teaching if there are. Maybe I will start another thread later.

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Your residency will affect how much tuition fees you'll pay. Unless you have lived in UK for three years prior to starting, you'll be an overseas (international) student and fees are likely to be £8k to £10k for one-year PGCE. Also you won't be eligible for any financial support like grants and loans. Having a settled status may make you eligible for a programme like Teach First, but you need to clarify your personal position with the provider, plus your qualification. Your degree needs to be relevant to the age group and subject you hope to teach. For secondary teaching, you normally need a degree content of at least 50% in the subject, and for primary - more competitive to enter training and to find a job in - you need a degree in a national curriculum subject or RE or closely relevant to primary teaching. There are other employment-based routes into teaching like Graduate Training Programme (GTP) where you obtain teaching qualification (QTS) while you work as unqualified teacher in a school. For PGCE, some prior English school experience is essential, so make sure you get some before applying.

How long after the partner visa is issued do I have to enter the country? 3 mths? 6 mths?

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Your visa can be post-dated by up to 3 months. You can enter UK at any time between 'valid from' and 'valid until' dates, but with ILE there is no expiry date so you can in theory enter any time. But realistically you should enter UK promptly, or Border Agency may suspect there has been a change in circumstances (e.g. relationship breakdown) since obtaining your visa and may interrogate you closely.

Aussie_Kym said:

Ouch with the international uni fees! Might be cheaper to do the Aus version of PGCE and fly back here for my work experience. Hahaha.

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If you do decide to go down that road, remember your Australian PGCE won't be readily recognised as equivalent to QTS in UK. You will have to go on an overseas trained teacher programme to have yourself assessed, taking one year while working as unqualified teacher.

So do you know how long the 'valid from' and 'valid to' date is if I only end up with a temp resident visa? Is there any reason they wouldn't give my perm residence straight away if we can prove we've been together for over 7 years? Interested to know of anybody who has got their perm resident visa straight off the bat.

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I don't think they will give you a temporary (time-limited) visa in your circumstance - it's either ILE visa or nothing. Since conditions are roughly the same, it shouldn't make much difference to your application anyway - you have to supply the same kinds of evidence for ILE as for limited visa. Look at Britain in Australia (UK High Commission in Canberra) website for details. If by any chance you end up with a limited visa (called limited leave to enter), the valid from and valid until dates will span the full duration of your permitted stay. So for example, if your visa is for 2 years, and you ask for the maximum 3 months post-dating, it will say valid from 13th April 2010 until 13th April 2012. You can enter UK any time between the two dates, and then you will have to leave or extend your visa by 13th April 2012.

Hi,

I am in a very similar situation to yourself, and found your thread whilst searching the web for information.

My partner and myself have been together for 7.5 years (1.5 uk & 6 aus). We are unmarried, however we are not engaged. We have a 18mth old son who is in the process of obtaining a british passport.

We are in the process of submitting my application but through ambigous and sometimes inaccurate wording on the application forms are a little confused and want to get the application right the first time to not slow things down.

All visa applications are now done through the website, so unless you live in canberra, you will need to apply and pay online. The web application is not completely the same as the VAF4A form equivalent.

For instance, the website asks for a date which you intend to leave the UK, with no option of unchecking this to leave it open, something which i find quite odd considering it is a SETTLEMENT visa, and we intend to stay indefinitely. Also the form asks for information regarding the cost of your trip, again in my opinion poorly worded, this should be relocation, as you return from a trip, so this is left quite unclear.

We have rang the toll, hotline and asked for clarification to which we did not recieve anything further than what is on the form and the guidance notes, which to be honest are assumably aimed at those with english not as their first language. The guidance notes are not that helpfull.

The supporting information required is not as extensive as what my partner had to provide to obtain her permant australian residency, and the statutory declarations which i have signed for others obtaining, australian equivalent visas. Which was suprising and obviously a positive with less running around. I was told that a police check was not required, presumably cause they do their own, which makes sense.

The UK in australia website claims to process visas in the 12 weeks stated.

Aussie_Kym said:

Hi jeznruth. We haven't got to the stage of completing the application as yet. Have only read it. I will probably complete the application about 6 months before we are due to fly. I know when my partner applied to come to Australia as my spouse there was a phone call from Aus immigration to clarify things on the phone with my partner. I would think that UK Immi would also call to clarify things if unclear. Here's hoping anyway! Are you going to apply online?

Where in Aus are you at the moment and where are you moving to in the UK? How long before you move?

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Hi,

We are in Brisbane looking at moving back to east midlands to closer to partners family, we have been thinking about moving back for a little while but with the world financial situation being a bit pants we have waited till it has started to improve. My partner is from a small county called Rutland which is beautiful, we are looking at moving probably to a town called melton mowbray in Leicestershire for good connections to both leicester and nottingham. Really looking forward to the countryside as a change from the extortionate prices we pay for everything in Brisbane.

We are filling the visa out online currently, with intent on finalising it within next week. From this it is required that I get fingerprints and photos taken at local Brisbane BHC office, this is required for all applicants.

It says on the website it takes 12 weeks to process, we are hoping to leave on or around 01 May to get back for northern summer. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

I think your right, they will call to clarify things. I am just a little anxious i guess as i typically avoid filling in forms and find some of the wording a little different than i would expect.