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Immigrating to the UK with my girlfriend

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  1. #31

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    oh boy.. I thought the US in Trump era is anti-immigration.. Yet my US immigration visa is easy as a piece of cake.

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  2. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by hqian:
    Hi Alz, having gone through this process myself (I'm a UK citizen and my husband is from China), all I can say is that you shouldn't do it. It was a horrible, horrible experience for us that nearly broke our relationship. We were treated like criminals from start to finished, paid thousands and thousands of pounds and waited for many months without any information and without my husband having the ability to work or leave the country while the UKBA 'considered' our very straightforward application. And it wasn't just us - it was hundreds of other married UK/non-EU spouses in the same situation. I can't begin to tell you what an awful period in our marriage this was.

    In all honesty, you would be incredibly naive to think that this is going to be an easy process because you have a UK passport. This is particularly so as you're not married to your girlfriend. Currently, the UK government is following a 'hostile environment' policy to discourage immigration and this really hit us hard when we applied. With Brexit happening, I think it will be even worse. If you're going to do it, please prepare yourself for an extremely bumpy ride.

    Another point is that why would you want to go to the UK at all? My husband and I left the UK a couple of years ago partly due to the horrendous treatment we received at the hands of the government. But we also left because the UK is just a miserable place at the moment. The weather is grim, the food grimmer, people can be racist/hostile to immigrants, and Brexit is coming so Brits are just as grumpy as Hong Kongers. It's difficult to save because you get taxed at a very high rate and the housing is extremely expensive (though admittedly not at HK levels). Commuting in places like London and Bristol is rough. Anti-social behaviour and street harassment is a problem in the UK in a way that just doesn't exist here. I know that life is not always ideal in HK but seriously, the grass is not greener on the UK side.

    My advice would be to stay put in Hong Kong - besides the high property prices and lack of space, it has a huge amount to offer for the time being. Invest in property in the UK if you want to make the most out of that market, but wild horses wouldn't drag me back to live there.
    The first half I totally agree with. Not only did they treat us a criminals but accused us in writing in the first rejection of truly being criminals (child trafficking to be exact). Messed up my mental health but not the marriage in our case. As I have said before they truly are bastards.

    The second half I don't agree with, everything was good for us in the UK and we faced no hostility, quite the opposite. Different cities, different experiences, different nationalities.
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  3. #33

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by hqian:
    Hi Alz, having gone through this process myself (I'm a UK citizen and my husband is from China), all I can say is that you shouldn't do it. It was a horrible, horrible experience for us that nearly broke our relationship. We were treated like criminals from start to finished, paid thousands and thousands of pounds and waited for many months without any information and without my husband having the ability to work or leave the country while the UKBA 'considered' our very straightforward application. And it wasn't just us - it was hundreds of other married UK/non-EU spouses in the same situation. I can't begin to tell you what an awful period in our marriage this was.

    In all honesty, you would be incredibly naive to think that this is going to be an easy process because you have a UK passport. This is particularly so as you're not married to your girlfriend. Currently, the UK government is following a 'hostile environment' policy to discourage immigration and this really hit us hard when we applied. With Brexit happening, I think it will be even worse. If you're going to do it, please prepare yourself for an extremely bumpy ride.

    Another point is that why would you want to go to the UK at all? My husband and I left the UK a couple of years ago partly due to the horrendous treatment we received at the hands of the government. But we also left because the UK is just a miserable place at the moment. The weather is grim, the food grimmer, people can be racist/hostile to immigrants, and Brexit is coming so Brits are just as grumpy as Hong Kongers. It's difficult to save because you get taxed at a very high rate and the housing is extremely expensive (though admittedly not at HK levels). Commuting in places like London and Bristol is rough. Anti-social behaviour and street harassment is a problem in the UK in a way that just doesn't exist here. I know that life is not always ideal in HK but seriously, the grass is not greener on the UK side.

    My advice would be to stay put in Hong Kong - besides the high property prices and lack of space, it has a huge amount to offer for the time being. Invest in property in the UK if you want to make the most out of that market, but wild horses wouldn't drag me back to live there.

    Totally see where you’re coming from.

    Did the same with my SG wife recently, For is it was relatively straight forward but the fees and paperwork were a nightmare.

    I’m a lot happier in the UK than I was in HK, Living in london for now as that’s where my wife can find work.

    However the environment is certainly getting a lot worse since Brexit. Once she gets indefinite leave to remain we’re off.

  4. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    The first half I totally agree with. Not only did they treat us a criminals but accused us in writing in the first rejection of truly being criminals (child trafficking to be exact). Messed up my mental health but not the marriage in our case. As I have said before they truly are bastards.

    The second half I don't agree with, everything was good for us in the UK and we faced no hostility, quite the opposite. Different cities, different experiences, different nationalities.
    Post Brexit is the biggest concern for me.
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  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by jimbo:
    Totally see where you’re coming from.

    Did the same with my SG wife recently, For is it was relatively straight forward but the fees and paperwork were a nightmare.

    I’m a lot happier in the UK than I was in HK, Living in london for now as that’s where my wife can find work.

    However the environment is certainly getting a lot worse since Brexit. Once she gets indefinite leave to remain we’re off.
    Back to HK or somewhere else?

  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Happy Guy:
    Next year when her 5 years is nearly completed we have to make an application for permanent residence. This time the application will cost 2300 GBP. She also has to provide a certificate confirming her English is up to B1 standard. She also has to pass the life in the UK test which is not easy. The problem is that the Home Office keep moving the goal posts.

    .
    Wow, I never knew it would cost so much. I wonder what the justification for this is? I mean the time taken to process this costs something, but surely there's no justification for this exorbitant amount. I guess the simple answer is to deter people from applying as the UK don't want foreigners (?)
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  7. #37

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    Agree with you. A lot of people just don't appreciate what is going on and how difficult it is to bring your spouse or partner into the UK. Just yesterday I heard from a friend that his grandson went to China to teach English. Whilst there married a Chinese girl and they had a baby. He now realises that it is nearly impossible for him to return to the UK with his wife and baby.

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  8. #38

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    Mar 2017
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    10
    Quote Originally Posted by Happy Guy:
    Agree with you. A lot of people just don't appreciate what is going on and how difficult it is to bring your spouse or partner into the UK. Just yesterday I heard from a friend that his grandson went to China to teach English. Whilst there married a Chinese girl and they had a baby. He now realises that it is nearly impossible for him to return to the UK with his wife and baby.
    So many people in this situation. I imagine that for him it's because he can't prove an adequate income (there are additional requirements if you have kids). But the number of people who have said to me 'oh, can't your husband just get a UK passport now automatically because you're married?' Erm, no. I think people are vaguely aware of the issues with immigration but if they are white/hold a UK passport they don't think it will apply to them. It very much does.

    And in response to another poster asking about the exorbitant application fees: yes, it is a deterrent. On some of these applications the UKBA makes an 800% profit.

    I would seriously ask the original poster whether he wants to go to a country where he and his wife are so clearly not welcome.

  9. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    Back to HK or somewhere else?
    Looking at Singapore this time, But some time in HK as we have property to take care of.
    hullexile likes this.

  10. #40

    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    159

    I too face the problems of UK government hostility towards Brits with foreign spouses/partners. It’s bad enough for the couple, but for those with children, it’s a policy that’s up there with illegal immigrants to the US being separated from their kids. Except in our cases, most of us are not doing anything illegal, we just want to live in the UK with our foreign partners/spouses.
    There is a movement in the U.K. making some noise about this but not much it appears. Do we just accept that being in a multicultural relationship gives our government some kind of authority to deny us the right to family or do we try to do something about it? If so what? Any ideas out there?