Help, Where do I start?

[will-power]

Hi I am very confused about me and my girlfriends options of being together in the UK. We have been together 6 months and it is really hard being so far away from her.

I have been looking on the Uk border agency website to try and get an idea about relevant visas and it just seems to use a lot of vague words and not seem to give me specific answers relevant to our situation.

She is from a non-EU country as she is from Georgia. We intend on getting married at some point but as we are both in our early 20s, there seems a few issues such as a financial requirement of £18600, which I am not earning at the moment.

Is there any way we can be together until I am earning enough money to qualify for marriage and settlement?

Which visas should I be looking at? I looked at the fiancee visa but it also says about a financial requirement?

We would like to be able to be together permanently ideally but Im so confused about where to start, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Obie]

What is your nationality?

[will-power]

Sorry I am British

[MPH80]

So - assuming you want to be together permanently and based on what you've said so far - your options are:

1) Get married AND find a job which pays over £18600, wait 6 months and then apply.

2) Find a job that pays over £18,600, wait 6 months, and get a fiancée visa - marry within 6 months of getting that.

3) Find out if she qualifies for a visa in her own right (e.g. tier 4 - student, tier 1 - general or tier 2 - sponsored worker). The UKBA website can help here.

4) You move to Georgia under whatever visa requirements they have

5) Get married now, move to another EU country (inc. Ireland!), work there for a period of time and return with her as your wife under an EU permit.

6) Get someone to give you the shortfall out of your income (formula is 16000 + (shortfall * 2.5)) in savings, hold it for 6 months in an account in your name, apply for a fiancée or spouse visa. Note: you will have to qualify again after 2.5 years using the same financial requirement - so if she wasn't going to work - you'd have to hold the savings for longer.

7) Wait, hope that one of the court challenges to the financial requirement succeeds. But that's likely to take some time (e.g. at least one or two more years) as the government would probably appeal.

But - if you're happy with being apart for periods of time:

1) Get her to apply for a 6 month tourist visa and have her do short visits. It'll need renewing every 6 months (although after this time she could apply for a longer term visa - but that will still limit visits to 6 months each). She'll need to show strong ties to Georgia. Note that if they suspect she's living here - she'll have trouble at the border.

Also note that someone on a tourist visa is limited to 6 months in 12 in the UK.

Final thing to note if you do go down this route - keep in mind that the income level will still be provable when you come to do the spouse visa. So don't take too much unpaid time off work.

M.

[will-power]

Thank you so much, I will talk it over with her and see which way we think is the best way to go.

[will-power]

To move to another country once married, work and return, can we both live together in that country? Do you know about the restrictions for that?

[MPH80]

You can indeed - but it must be an EU country. Otherwise the spouse visa restrictions apply - and only YOUR income will be taken into account.

To explain - as an EU citizen you have the right of free movement. Providing your are exercising your treaty rights (in practicality - this means working) - then your family, regardless of their nationality gains those rights too.

Now - once your partner has a valid EU family permit AND you can prove you've been exercising your treaty rights - you are entitled to return with her to the UK.

However, you have to keep in mind you will need to have been working in the country you're thinking about.

Effectively this bypasses the UK law - BUT you have to move somewhere else for a while. And - let me be blunt - you've been together 6 months - that's a hell of a step - not just getting married, but up rooting yourself AND her too. And you're reliant on finding a job in that country - a lot of the EU is in a far worse state than here.

(Just to note - myself and my wife - of 6 years - got married because of the separation and we'd only been in each other's physical company for 3 months when I proposed - although I had known her for 6 years, and we'd been in a relationship for 2, at that point - so it is possible to make work, but it was a heck of a gamble!).

M.

[wiggsy]

Mph. Good info dude even with the "is it worth the effort" warning.

Sometimes you know "this is the one"

The financial requirement makes it impossible for you to claim ir benefits your entitled to.

The ukba do not govern welfare, but simply provide status information...

They do everything possible to stop you gaining welfare though...

[Greenie]

Mph. Good info dude even with the "is it worth the effort" warning.

Sometimes you know "this is the one"

The financial requirement makes it impossible for you to claim ir benefits your entitled to.

The ukba do not govern welfare, but simply provide status information...

They do everything possible to stop you gaining welfare though...

The op did not ask about 'welfare'. A person earning £186000+ is generally not entitled to income based benefits so i am not sure what your point is. Is it really necessary for you to hijack another thread with your own issues again?

[wiggsy]

The op did not ask about 'welfare'. A person earning £186000+ is generally not entitled to income based benefits so i am not sure what your point is. Is it really necessary for you to hijack another thread with your own issues again?

Sorry, i was still half asleep when i posted that... and i think i must of mixed a PM content and the thread in my mind

As Mentioned, there are challenges in about the "earnings required" to sponsor somebody.

I was mentioning that UKBA does not want to give anybody "welfare". (JSA ETC) so that they have selected a figure which would result in no welfare being accessible for somebody, even the sponsor, should they choose to sponsor somebody.

It was not directly related to the OP, but a mere observation. - and your point of 18600 income precluding anybody to means tested benefits was the EXACT point i was making.

If you have kids, the price goes up - relating to the means testing increasing for those kids...

- i dont see how I am hi-jacking this thread here... I was making a note on the 18600 cap. Did i mention my situation here?...

[will-power]

We have narrowed our options down to moving to czech republic where my sister owns a house, staying there and then coming back together;

OR

As i will be receiving money as a wedding present i know it will boost me up into the correct financial bracket, coming into the UK.

Do you know anything about the stay in an EU country? Can we go as soon as we are married or do i have to go and then request for her to join me through family reunion visas?

If not which visas will she need to be in Czech? I know it is the schengen, but which visa category will we need to apply under?

What is the minimum length we need to be there and which visa will we need to return to the UK?

Also if we were to come back to England rather than go to the czech what is the likeliness of her being accepted to come her? She is currently working as a teacher and is from a good family. I am currently working also and live in a rented shared house.

Yes i assure you our love is very genuine even if it is still a little young, i know we will be very happy together once we have managed to navigate our way through this network of legislation.

i really appreciate any help and advice you may have guys.

[will-power]

We have narrowed our options down to moving to czech republic where my sister owns a house, staying there and then coming back together;

OR

As i will be receiving money as a wedding present i know it will boost me up into the correct financial bracket, coming into the UK.

Do you know anything about the stay in an EU country? Can we go as soon as we are married or do i have to go and then request for her to join me through family reunion visas?

If not which visas will she need to be in Czech? I know it is the schengen, but which visa category will we need to apply under?

What is the minimum length we need to be there and which visa will we need to return to the UK?

Also if we were to come back to England rather than go to the czech what is the likeliness of her being accepted to come her? She is currently working as a teacher and is from a good family. I am currently working also and live in a rented shared house.

Yes i assure you our love is very genuine even if it is still a little young, i know we will be very happy together once we have managed to navigate our way through this network of legislation.

i really appreciate any help and advice you may have guys.