hannah78 Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 We have been living in Australia as a family since 2013 and are dual citizens, holding both UK and Australian passports. My son has been accepted to study Law at Cardiff Uni starting Sept 2021. We are aware that he will be an international student and will therefore pay international fees to study. We are just wondering whether there are any benefits of having the UK passport regarding visas/healthcare/finances? We have searched posts and are aware of the 3 year rule regarding residency. As far as we can tell there are no benefits to being a dual citizen if you return to the UK to study...is that right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 The only benefit to being a dual citizen is that he doesn't need to get a visa to stay in the UK. He will need to establish residency before he can register with a GP (but that's as simple as getting proof of a UK address). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hannah78 Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 3 hours ago, Marisawright said: The only benefit to being a dual citizen is that he doesn't need to get a visa to stay in the UK. He will need to establish residency before he can register with a GP (but that's as simple as getting proof of a UK address). Are you referring to a visa post uni as opposed to a student visa? Assume he will still need a student visa before flying the UK to start University in September? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 49 minutes ago, hannah78 said: Are you referring to a visa post uni as opposed to a student visa? Assume he will still need a student visa before flying the UK to start University in September? A British citizen cannot get any kind of UK visa because he doesn't need one. He is entitled to live, work and study in the UK. He's just not entitled to benefits which have a residency requirement, like student grants, reduced university fees etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 As a British citizen (passport holder) he needs no further visa/permission to be able to reside in the UK and take up work/education. He will need to apply for a National Insurance number, but thats just paperwork and somethign that anyone in the UK needs. He will need to apply for healthcare with a GP - As a citizen he is covered for this from day one of being able to prove residency in the UK, some elective treatements have longer qualifyign times but so long as he isn't planning to have major elective plastic surgery on day one he should be fine! The main issue is that as a student you aren't entitled to many/any benefits anyway, and as he wasn't in the UK as a resident for 3 years before startign the course he will always be payign overseas fees, and ineligible for a UK student loan to cover these fees or living costs Other than the finance bit, he would be identical to any other British citizen that (for instance) had lived in Cardiff since birth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 What are his plans after qualifying? Stay in Wales/England or go back to Australia? Whilst Australia does now recognise an English/Welsh law degree (it's a bit different with a Scots Law degree) it still has a number of (as the law society puts it) "structural issues" with the fact the person was qualified in a different location and so may not have covered some key case law/statutes (or worse conflicting ones) If he really intends to just get a law degree and then practice in Melbourne (for instance) it might be worth reconsidering is the UK the best place (if he was doing Law at OX/CAM/Durham/Edinburgh this is less of an issue as they are international law schools and recognised everywhere on the planet, but Cardiff is not in the same catchment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 9 hours ago, Ausvisitor said: What are his plans after qualifying? Stay in Wales/England or go back to Australia? Whilst Australia does now recognise an English/Welsh law degree (it's a bit different with a Scots Law degree) it still has a number of (as the law society puts it) "structural issues" with the fact the person was qualified in a different location and so may not have covered some key case law/statutes (or worse conflicting ones) If he really intends to just get a law degree and then practice in Melbourne (for instance) it might be worth reconsidering is the UK the best place (if he was doing Law at OX/CAM/Durham/Edinburgh this is less of an issue as they are international law schools and recognised everywhere on the planet, but Cardiff is not in the same catchment) I guess that also depends if he wants to actually practice law. Many law graduates don’t. But a very valid point none the less. These days it is possible to combine courses from different universities overseas both by doing a placement or even on line, so it might be possible to cover Australian law that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopylu Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 On 13/01/2022 at 22:22, Ausvisitor said: What are his plans after qualifying? Stay in Wales/England or go back to Australia? Whilst Australia does now recognise an English/Welsh law degree (it's a bit different with a Scots Law degree) it still has a number of (as the law society puts it) "structural issues" with the fact the person was qualified in a different location and so may not have covered some key case law/statutes (or worse conflicting ones) If he really intends to just get a law degree and then practice in Melbourne (for instance) it might be worth reconsidering is the UK the best place (if he was doing Law at OX/CAM/Durham/Edinburgh this is less of an issue as they are international law schools and recognised everywhere on the planet, but Cardiff is not in the same catchment) As a dual qualified lawyer (admitted in England & Wales first and then admitted in NSW but practising in Qld), if your son plans to return to Australia to practice law then he should do his degree and PLT and get admitted in Australia. It is far easier to take the conversion exams to be admitted in the UK than to do the onerous exams to be admitted in Australia. I was lucky as I converted in 2008 but not long after this it became so much harder for a foreign lawyer to get admitted in Australia. I would have had to take nearly all subjects again! As I specialised in a niche area of law (energy and utilities) I was sponsored over by a Top Tier law firm which covered my exam costs (and relocation). However, the flow in lawyers is definitely out of Australia rather than in at the moment. London and New York have poached nearly all of the 1-4 year PQE members of one Brisbane Top Tier's M&A team as they offer much higher salaries (even relative to living costs) and the youngsters are sick of being locked up for 2 years due to Covid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tychen Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 On 24/01/2022 at 14:33, Loopylu said: As a dual qualified lawyer (admitted in England & Wales first and then admitted in NSW but practising in Qld), if your son plans to return to Australia to practice law then he should do his degree and PLT and get admitted in Australia. It is far easier to take the conversion exams to be admitted in the UK than to do the onerous exams to be admitted in Australia. I was lucky as I converted in 2008 but not long after this it became so much harder for a foreign lawyer to get admitted in Australia. I would have had to take nearly all subjects again! As I specialised in a niche area of law (energy and utilities) I was sponsored over by a Top Tier law firm which covered my exam costs (and relocation). However, the flow in lawyers is definitely out of Australia rather than in at the moment. London and New York have poached nearly all of the 1-4 year PQE members of one Brisbane Top Tier's M&A team as they offer much higher salaries (even relative to living costs) and the youngsters are sick of being locked up for 2 years due to Covid. Just noting that the conversion process for Australian-qualified lawyers intending to practise England & Wales has also gotten harder (I think around 2009-10?) - the new "QLTS" scheme requires taking written and oral exams in a much wider range of subjects than it was in the 'good old days' of the "QLTT" scheme (two exams only, guaranteed pass if you do the course at the right institution). In any case, I second/third the views expressed above that he should study in the country where he intends to practise in future - taking into account of course whether the other offering is an institution that is so prestigious that it will 'open doors' in the other jurisdiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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