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Immigrating to the UK with my girlfriend

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  1. #21

    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alzthehero:
    But do the years spend under this visa count towards the required years for naturaliasation?
    Does she have or ever had a BNO passport? A BNO passport holder only needs 5 years (not counting Tier 5 YMS) with the last 1 year bearing no immigration restriction (e.g. holding ILR) to register as BC (i.e. "naturalization" for those already legally "British"). (You still need 5 years for the ILR so it's like 6 years in total.)

    If she had ever had a BNO passport in the past, it can be renewed even if it has expired for over 10 years or she couldn't find it anymore. Here's a tip: She can check the "Date of issue" on her current HKID card, and if it says anything earlier than 07-97 then it is extremely likely that her parents had applied a BNO passport for her.
    Last edited by hkha; 19-07-2018 at 02:33 PM. Reason: clarify the 5 years
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  2. #22

    Join Date
    Jun 2018
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    UK/HK
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    My wife is from HK and we live in the UK but getting a spouse visa has been expensive and worrying. I can advise you of my experience although I know it may not answer all of your questions.

    Our first application had to be made in HK at the British Consul. There was a fee of approx 1000 GBP to pay. A very long form to fill in and lots of documents to produce. I needed an income of at least 18600 GBP or else the application would fail. My wife also had to produce a certificate that her English was up to a certain standard. She had to get an X-ray to show she did not have TB. As part of the application she had to list the dates and countries we had visited during the previous 10 years. When we got all the documentation together and handed it all in to the British Consul in HK I was surprised when they said they do not make the decision in HK but everything would be sent to the Phillipines where a decision would be made. After several weeks she finally got her spouse visa to live in the UK for 2.5 years. She was allowed to work in the UK with this visa but not claim any benefits.

    After 2.5 years we needed to make another application to extend the spouse visa for another 2.5 years. The process was very similar to that above except we could apply in the UK. This time as well as the 1000 GBP fee we had to pay an additional 500 GBP National Health Surcharge. The application form and questions were almost identical to the first form we filled in, so it pays to keep a copy of the forms you submit.

    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.

    We really don't know if her application will be successful or not. I'm retired and if she does not get the final visa we may have to move to HK to live with my wife's family.

    Incidentally before we married my wife came to the UK on a visitors visa which only lasts 6 months and during which time she was not allowed to work. Then she had to leave the UK and could not return for at least another 6 months until she could apply for another visitors visa.

    I hope this gives you some idea of the process and difficulties.

    hullexile, TheBrit, shri and 7 others like this.

  3. #23

    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    115
    Quote Originally Posted by Happy Guy:
    My wife is from HK and we live in the UK but getting a spouse visa has been expensive and worrying. I can advise you of my experience although I know it may not answer all of your questions.

    Our first application had to be made in HK at the British Consul. There was a fee of approx 1000 GBP to pay. A very long form to fill in and lots of documents to produce. I needed an income of at least 18600 GBP or else the application would fail. My wife also had to produce a certificate that her English was up to a certain standard. She had to get an X-ray to show she did not have TB. As part of the application she had to list the dates and countries we had visited during the previous 10 years. When we got all the documentation together and handed it all in to the British Consul in HK I was surprised when they said they do not make the decision in HK but everything would be sent to the Phillipines where a decision would be made. After several weeks she finally got her spouse visa to live in the UK for 2.5 years. She was allowed to work in the UK with this visa but not claim any benefits.

    After 2.5 years we needed to make another application to extend the spouse visa for another 2.5 years. The process was very similar to that above except we could apply in the UK. This time as well as the 1000 GBP fee we had to pay an additional 500 GBP National Health Surcharge. The application form and questions were almost identical to the first form we filled in, so it pays to keep a copy of the forms you submit.

    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.

    We really don't know if her application will be successful or not. I'm retired and if she does not get the final visa we may have to move to HK to live with my wife's family.

    Incidentally before we married my wife came to the UK on a visitors visa which only lasts 6 months and during which time she was not allowed to work. Then she had to leave the UK and could not return for at least another 6 months until she could apply for another visitors visa.

    I hope this gives you some idea of the process and difficulties.
    If your wife still meets all the criteria, there shouldn’t be any hiccups preventing her from getting the naturalsation, wishing you and your wife all the best! Its a bit weird though why do they have to send your applications through the Philippines?My girlfriend and I are aware that this whole process might cost HKD50k+ but are still willing to give it a shot since that amount would still be nothing compared to the cost we’d have to pay for a reasonably sized property here in HK. This property bubble will just not burst anytime soon....
    jdf21st likes this.

  4. #24

    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    115
    Quote Originally Posted by hkha:
    Does she have or ever had a BNO passport? A BNO passport holder only needs 5 years (not counting Tier 5 YMS) with the last 1 year bearing no immigration restriction (e.g. holding ILR) to register as BC (i.e. "naturalization" for those already legally "British"). (You still need 5 years for the ILR so it's like 6 years in total.)

    If she had ever had a BNO passport in the past, it can be renewed even if it has expired for over 10 years or she couldn't find it anymore. Here's a tip: She can check the "Date of issue" on her current HKID card, and if it says anything earlier than 07-97 then it is extremely likely that her parents had applied a BNO passport for her.
    No she’s never had a BNO unfortunately, so we’ll have to take the rougher path to naturalisation.

  5. #25

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    Pampanga, Philippines
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alzthehero:
    If your wife still meets all the criteria, there shouldn’t be any hiccups preventing her from getting the naturalsation, wishing you and your wife all the best! Its a bit weird though why do they have to send your applications through the Philippines?My girlfriend and I are aware that this whole process might cost HKD50k+ but are still willing to give it a shot since that amount would still be nothing compared to the cost we’d have to pay for a reasonably sized property here in HK. This property bubble will just not burst anytime soon....
    All backroom stuff is carried out in the Philippines - cheaper.
    Alzthehero likes this.

  6. #26

    If your life has been messed up by all this, check out http://www.britcits.com/
    They're a charity who have been helping families and couples split from the various rules.

    You have to wonder how many people are affected by all this?
    It seems to me that any UK passport holder and any UK resident with any family relationship in any other country is potentially affected. That's got to be a lot of people? Thus, how can it be that this situation can continue?

    I remember when I was working in the UK there was a lot of people wanting to keep others out of the UK. I don't think they ever realized that this would mean having to choose between their country and a relationship. In fact, if other countries have rules like this (and some do) - then what these rules do is prevent British people from having relationships with foreigners. That's very backwards and not what was intended by the rules.
    I realise the idea was to prevent sham marriages but a sham marriage cannot be reliably defined. Prenups aren't valid in the UK - is that not enough of a deterrent? If a poor person wants to sell their marriage why take away that one small piece of power they have? Does it really protect the country that much?

    Thank god HK allows me to be here after getting married, else I would have lost another marriage to this situation.


  7. #27

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    23
    Quote Originally Posted by hkha:
    Does she have or ever had a BNO passport? A BNO passport holder only needs 5 years (not counting Tier 5 YMS) with the last 1 year bearing no immigration restriction (e.g. holding ILR) to register as BC (i.e. "naturalization" for those already legally "British"). (You still need 5 years for the ILR so it's like 6 years in total.)

    If she had ever had a BNO passport in the past, it can be renewed even if it has expired for over 10 years or she couldn't find it anymore. Here's a tip: She can check the "Date of issue" on her current HKID card, and if it says anything earlier than 07-97 then it is extremely likely that her parents had applied a BNO passport for her.
    This is not correct.

    There is no difference from BNO compared to HK passport or any other non-eu passport for that matter.

    All uk settlement visa requires 5 years before can apply for citizenship and there are rules on how many days you can leave its borders each year and in particular, the year prior to applying for settlement.

  8. #28

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    23
    Quote Originally Posted by Alzthehero:
    Hi all,

    So its taken me a few years but I've now realised that there's no way I'd be willing to spend 10M on a shoebox apartment here in HK *(I was born and raised here but alas it's about time to spread my wings and fly to somewhere better). My girlfriend of 3 years shares the same sentiment as I, and we've decided that the next best place to move to would be the UK (maybe Edinburgh or Bristol) so that when we do decide to raise a family we wouldn't have to worry about having to live in a tiny apartment for the rest of our lives. However - I'm in a bit of a pickle here and was hoping to get some advise. Some background info on us:

    1. I hold a British passport (British Citizen (GBR))
    2. She holds a Hong Kong passport
    3. I'm 25 and shes 24
    4. We want to move ideally within a year (we'll work here in HK for one more year then move once I secure a job in the UK)

    So the thing is..I've done my research (or at least tried to) and am aware that if she were to marry me she could stay in the UK for 2.5 years at a time on a spousal visa (until she extends it for another 2.5 years, totaling 5 years which qualifies her for naturalisation to be a Brit Citizen).

    But we're youngish and don't really want to get married so fast just for the sake of getting a visa (we will get married by the age of 28 tho)

    I was wondering if there was any other way that would enable her to come and live in the UK with me (when I move there) and also have the right to work. I'd read somewhere that each tourist visit grants her 6 months of stay at a time - If she leaves during the 5th month, how long will she have to wait until she could re-enter the UK again>? (This sounds risky and expensive) What other options could we have?

    We just want to get out of here really -

    Thanks for all the feedback in advance!
    I wouldn't recommend the tourist visa route. Tourist cannot study or work and I remember reading on another forum that if you planning to stay long term but travel back and forth using tourist visa, they will find out and stop you from entering next time and will put that in your record with refusal reason as deception.

    If you are serious about your relationship and even thinking about moving to UK together, I think getting married would make the move easier and less harder to prove your relationship is genuine. You want to avoid any chances of rejection as its costly. marriage is cheap, its the chinese traditions such as banquet, red packets, gold etc that is costly. I know people who registered their marriage before immigrating with plans to have the banquet at a future date.

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by tw888:
    I wouldn't recommend the tourist visa route. Tourist cannot study or work and I remember reading on another forum that if you planning to stay long term but travel back and forth using tourist visa, they will find out and stop you from entering next time and will put that in your record with refusal reason as deception.

    If you are serious about your relationship and even thinking about moving to UK together, I think getting married would make the move easier and less harder to prove your relationship is genuine. You want to avoid any chances of rejection as its costly. marriage is cheap, its the chinese traditions such as banquet, red packets, gold etc that is costly. I know people who registered their marriage before immigrating with plans to have the banquet at a future date.
    Leap of faith.
    What if you get married and can't meet the visa requirements anywhere either of you are allowed to be? This could put some pressure on...
    Alzthehero likes this.

  10. #30

    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    10

    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.


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