Visitor visa for new wife to join me in UK before leaving

[Hmminator]

Hello,

I am a British citizen and my girlfriend is Filipina. Currently we both live in Taiwan but this August we plan to go to the Philippines and get married.

Immediately after that we would like to go to the UK, with her on a visitor visa, so that she can meet my family and check out my country a little.

After that, we'd like to move to Europe (probably Spain if I can find a job there) and settle there.

I have a few questions:

- Will it be a problem for her to get a visitor visa if we've only very recently gotten married?

- We won't be able to set an exact date for her to leave the UK, as it'll basically be "once we've found jobs in Europe". Will this be a big problem?

- How will she be able to prove that she intends to leave the UK since our plan will basically be "once we find a job in Europe we'll be out of here"?

- As her sponsor, will I need to provide evidence of having a certain bank balance for her to be able to get a visitor visa? Would she able to be sponsored by one of my parents with one of their bank statements instead?


Any help or advice on this would be much appreciated.

[noajthan]

Hello,

I am a British citizen and my girlfriend is Filipina. Currently we both live in Taiwan but this August we plan to go to the Philippines and get married.

Immediately after that we would like to go to the UK, with her on a visitor visa, so that she can meet my family and check out my country a little.

After that, we'd like to move to Europe (probably Spain if I can find a job there) and settle there.

I have a few questions:

- Will it be a problem for her to get a visitor visa if we've only very recently gotten married?

- We won't be able to set an exact date for her to leave the UK, as it'll basically be "once we've found jobs in Europe". Will this be a big problem?

- How will she be able to prove that she intends to leave the UK since our plan will basically be "once we find a job in Europe we'll be out of here"?

- As her sponsor, will I need to provide evidence of having a certain bank balance for her to be able to get a visitor visa? Would she able to be sponsored by one of my parents with one of their bank statements instead?

Any help or advice on this would be much appreciated.

To get a visitor visa your wife needs to show she has ties to 'home' country strong enough for her to leave at end of visit.
That's the weak link as you vaguely plan to go to Europe but don't know where & when.

You are more likely to get a job in Europe by going to Europe and looking.
In that way you will be exercising your treaty rights under EU free movement after your initial 3 months grace period.

So it may pan out better if you go and settle in Europe first.
Then come to visit UK a little later, i.e. as a 'proxy EU national' sponsoring your wife who can then, very easily, apply for an EEA Family Permit (rather than visit visa) to visit UK.

[Hmminator]

You are more likely to get a job in Europe by going to Europe and looking.
In that way you will be exercising your treaty rights under EU free movement after your initial 3 months grace period.

So it may pan out better if you go and settle in Europe first.
Then come to visit UK a little later, i.e. as a 'proxy EU national' sponsoring your wife who can then, very easily, apply for an EEA Family Permit (rather than visit visa) to visit UK.

This was our original plan before we considered the visitor visa so that we could stay in the UK for a little while before looking for jobs in Europe.

Of course we don't want to be separated for several months immediately after getting married but it's starting to look like it might be unavoidable. I'll just have to depend on being able to get a job in Europe very quickly, which won't be easy!

What a pain. Thanks for the advice.

[noajthan]

You are more likely to get a job in Europe by going to Europe and looking.
In that way you will be exercising your treaty rights under EU free movement after your initial 3 months grace period.

So it may pan out better if you go and settle in Europe first.
Then come to visit UK a little later, i.e. as a 'proxy EU national' sponsoring your wife who can then, very easily, apply for an EEA Family Permit (rather than visit visa) to visit UK.

This was our original plan before we considered the visitor visa so that we could stay in the UK for a little while before looking for jobs in Europe.

Of course we don't want to be separated for several months immediately after getting married but it's starting to look like it might be unavoidable. I'll just have to depend on being able to get a job in Europe very quickly, which won't be easy!

What a pain. Thanks for the advice.

Why separate? you can both parachute into Europe together.

You may not get a good job but you will surely get a job.

Don't know where you may be thinking of but have a look at Malta:

• Anglophile country & English-speaking;
  good climate;
  seasonal tourism work also gaming industry;

Get up to speed on EU free movement here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

Mabuhay!

[Hmminator]

I was under the impression that I would first need to get a job + register my residency in Europe and she would then need to apply for a Schengen visa in the Philippines, fly over and register her residency as a family member of an EU national.

If that isn't the case and she can fly over with me then surely she'll still need to get a visa for that country beforehand, right?

I'll take a look at that link. Thanks!

[noajthan]

I was under the impression that I would first need to get a job + register my residency in Europe and she would then need to apply for a Schengen visa in the Philippines, fly over and register her residency as a family member of an EU national.

If that isn't the case and she can fly over with me then surely she'll still need to get a visa for that country beforehand, right?

I'll take a look at that link. Thanks!

You have 2 options.
Wife can either join you in Europe (if you go ahead) OR she can move with you.
How cool is that.

Yes, either way she will need an entry visa (Schengen) as Filipinos don't enjoy visa-free access to Europe..
Just apply for that from Taiwan, should not take long to process.

The link should explain most of it to get you started.

See also:
https://eumovement.wordpress.com/2007/0 ... u-citizen/

Then to dig into the nitty gritty of the Surinder Singh route you can whet your appetite with this country guide:
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/ ... guide.html

Viva free movement!

[Hmminator]

Ok! I read through the links you provided and I think I know how it needs to go down:

1. Get married in Philippines
2. Wife obtains Schengen visa in Philippines
3. Move to Schengen area country of choice
4. I'm allowed to reside in the country for six months as a jobseeker, and she's allowed to reside there as my family member. There is no requirement to prove that I can support her financially for this time.
5. Get a job, I register my residence as an EU national, she registers as the family member of an EU national
6. Live!

Have I got that right?

[noajthan]

Ok! I read through the links you provided and I think I know how it needs to go down:

1. Get married in Philippines
2. Wife obtains Schengen visa in Philippines
3. Move to Schengen area country of choice
4. I'm allowed to reside in the country for six months as a jobseeker, and she's allowed to reside there as my family member. There is no requirement to prove that I can support her financially for this time.
5. Get a job, I register my residence as an EU national, she registers as the family member of an EU national
6. Live!

Have I got that right?

All good except #4; just note:

#4 Initial grace period is 3 months - do what you like in member state for those 3 months.
If you get a job or become self-employed before the 3 months is up then so much the better.

After 3 months you need to be exercising treaty rights.
For Surinder Singh, the UK, somewhat controversially, will only recognise people who work or are self-employed.
So although self-sufficient or jobseeker (or student) categories of 'qualified person' are legal (under EU law), the UK won't recognise them if/when you finally return to UK.

[Hmminator]

This link you provided: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

Says:

EU citizens benefit from the right to reside without any conditions and formalities for a period of six months and even longer, if they continue to seek employment in the host EU country and have a genuine chance of getting work.

My interpretation of that is that I would be able to stay for six months if I'm seeking employment.

[noajthan]

This link you provided: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

Says:

EU citizens benefit from the right to reside without any conditions and formalities for a period of six months and even longer, if they continue to seek employment in the host EU country and have a genuine chance of getting work.

My interpretation of that is that I would be able to stay for six months if I'm seeking employment.

Yes you can. That's talking about a qualified person who is exercising treaty rights as a jobseeker.

But UK doesn't recognise 'jobseeker' status for Surinder Singh-ers such as you.
So having a 6 month holiday 'looking for a job' (as part of or after your initial 3-month grace period) won't help your long-term plans - and anyway what would you live on?

Remember if you want to return to UK, you will have to meet the UK's controversial 'centre of life' requirements and. in case you're not aware, HO increasingly plays hard ball on that.

[Hmminator]

I'm not planning on taking the Surrinder Singh route (at least not in the immediate future) - we want to permanently settle in a European country, not just reside for a few months so that we can move to the UK later.

What do you mean by qualified jobseeker? I have a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering if that's what it means.

And you're right - we probably couldn't realistically live there for six months with no income but I'd just like to be sure of what my rights are if it comes down to it.

[noajthan]

I'm not planning on taking the Surrinder Singh route (at least not in the immediate future) - we want to permanently settle in a European country, not just reside for a few months so that we can move to the UK later.

What do you mean by qualified jobseeker? I have a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering if that's what it means.

And you're right - we probably couldn't realistically live there for six months with no income but I'd just like to be sure of what my rights are if it comes down to it.

Its nothing to do with a career qualification.

The phrase is 'qualified person'. It means exercising treaty rights in one of the recognised categories.
Read up on that & the associated rights/responsibilities for each type of qualified person in the links I have provided (or google WWW) to see what your options are then.

[Hmminator]

Ok, thanks very much for the help.