Hdawg

Hi, After looking on the Gov.UK site it seems that for my Australian fiancée to move to UK with me we would be up for "family of a settled person visa" at £1,195.00 + £600.00 IHS (health surcharge) and that she would have to get BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) done as part of the process. Can anyone confirm if there are any costs associated with this or if it is included in the Settlement Visa charge as I could only see charges for priority service etc. also is this the last stage or can you front end load? cheers,

Does anyone know what the pro's cons of applying for my partner as either a spouse or defacto are? i.e. is it going to benefit us or simplify the process at all if we get married before applying?

@ Quoll - thanks however unfortunately ancestry or European route is not an option (within parent/grandparent generation); I'm not sure I understand how her being there as my spouse on a spouse visa would affect benefits (not that we are supposed to understand), surely if I'm British, my kids are British by descent, I am married to their mother (with a visa of somekind), working and paying tax that should tick all the boxes? :-/ I just checked and you may be correct reference benefits ... although I checked that awesome Gov.Uk website and maybe we can ... its as clear as mud !

Wow ... wasn't expecting replies that quick! :-) @ Wa7 Ancestry visa not an option for the Mrs. @ ScottieGirl - sorry to hear about the job, hope something else comes along soon, I do tend to find things have a way of working themselves out! Yes it wouldn't be difficult to prove our relationship just more nonsense hoops to jump through Vs. 1 certificate? @ VERYSTORMY - the job will pay more than that however obviously not for the last 6 months; I thought that I read on that awesome :-/ Gov.UK site that if no 6 months history you could prove you had been earning above that threshold over here and/or show combined $'s from your new salary + savings? cheers,

Wow ... wasn't expecting replies that quick! :-) @ Wa7 Ancestry visa not an option for the Mrs. @ ScottieGirl - sorry to hear about the job, hope something else comes along soon, I do tend to find things have a way of working themselves out! Yes it wouldn't be difficult to prove our relationship just more nonsense hoops to jump through Vs. 1 certificate? @ VERYSTORMY - the job will pay more than that however obviously not for the last 6 months; I thought that I read on that awesome :-/ Gov.UK site that if no 6 months history you could prove you had been earning above that threshold over here and/or show combined $'s from your new salary + savings? cheers,

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and can see that a lot of these things may have been asked and discussed already so apologies in advance to those having to repeat themselves. I moved to Australia 12 years ago (Jan 2005) with PR and took Citizenship 2 or so years later, fast forward to 2017 and I now have an Australian Fiancée and 2 Australian born kids (a 6yo & 2yo). Whilst my experience of Oz hasn't been negative I feel that from the offset I have predominantly focused on work as such I found myself in a regional area (QLD.) and what with house reno's, distances from the places we enjoy and a lack of cultural diversity mean that we feel like we have only existed, not lived and certainly not "lived the dream" ! Events over the last few weeks have lead us to a point where we are considering a move to the UK, we aren't sure (or simply can't predict) if this would be for a couple of years or longer. I have all the same fears, doubts and ever changing mindset that everyone else mentions in fact my mind is so busy I struggle to sleep, I don't think I/we will ever know for sure that it is the right decision so it almost feels like making a huge decision on the flip of a coin; I think I can honestly liken the feelings to how you feel leading up to a relationship breakup! That being said my Fiancée is open to give it a go and I have been talking to an employer and have a potential job offer i.e. subject to me saying I want to ago for it, agreeing $'s and start date which if agreed and signed would obviously take one of the biggest worries out of a move. OK lets get to the nitty gritty ... I have been on the Gov.UK website, google search, blogs and this forum and even though I class myself as reasonably intelligent I am struggling to understand the process for visa's etc. I emailed Gov.UK to be told they can't offer advice ? (grrrr... sort your website out then!). I'm dual citizen so I'm pretty sure I can just get on the plane and go but it isn't clear if I need to contact, inform or fill in any forms in either country (tax, NI, whatever)? Do me and my fiancée get married in advance so that she can go on spouse visa without having to prove the fact that we have lived together for years? then the confusion starts do you need several applications ? ... family of a settled person visa + spouse / defacto ? (why do they even call it family of a settled visa when I'm not even there?) I guess I can apply for my kids British passports in advance but then do they need other visa applications? again I have read and read and gone round and round and got more and more frustrated and confused! Finally if we make the decision, take the job and know exactly what forms and process to follow ... what kind of charges are we looking at and how long to process? Thanks in advance,