I ended up in Taiwan with my girlfriend (Taiwanese) because after her student visa ran out she was unable to work legally in the U.K.
I guess it is pretty much settled that we will get married. Although no formal question has been asked. Assuming we get the necessary visa’s for her to reside in the U.K. there is still the question of employment. How long will it take for my good lady to gain work status in the u.k.? She really wants a high flying career, and doesnt relish the prospect of cash in hand cleaning jobs. Help please, I’d love to get back to Blighty one fine day.
When i did this for my wife you have to wait until you are married, they require proof of marriage, then apply to the Immigration Deparmtnet in Croydon, for change of status, this then in my case gave her right to work in any job that did not require a licence, so unlike here.
I had a friend who was in a similar situation a few years ago: American guy marrying an English woman. They got married in London and by the end of the next day, he had his “green card” and right to work. Contrast that with the States, where it will take months and probably a substantial sum in lawyers fees to get my wife her green card. My friend married about five years ago, so the situation may have changed a bit. I still imagine it’s much easier than in the States.
As soon as you are married, your wife can apply for one year’s temporary leave to remain. This gives her the right to do any job available. You should try and show the Home Office people that the two of you will have enough income between you for her not to need income support. After one year, you go for another interview. If you can show that your marriage is genuine and you are still living together, she can get permanent leave to remain with work rights. Those rights are no longer dependent on you, i.e. if you get divorced, die or whatever, you wife will still have the right to live and work in the U.K.
I would double check with the ‘embassy’ in Taipei - ask if the UK has a spouse visa… I got one for my partner for Australia. She was legally entitled to work in any industry in any capacity (except permanent govt jobs), just could not get unemployment benefits for the first 2 yrs.
Its a useful stop gap solution (well for Oz anyway)
PS - we can assume the whole living with the gf’s folks thing is worked out for you Pattersen?
Oh, heavens, they don’t have the Internet in Taizong?
I previously needed the answers to similar questions, and they can all be found here:
UK Visas Home
ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front … 6977149953
UK Immigration & Nationality Directorate (including work regulations)
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/
UK Online lists web sites of every UK government service
http://www.ukonline.gov.uk/Home/Homepage/fs/en
Alternatively, you may have heard of the British Consulate (BTCO) in Taiwan. They have staff who will answer all your questions.
Juba is correct. Once married, you get one year’s leave to remain with a restriction ONLY on “recourse to public funds”. After that one year you can apply for setlement, or indefinite leave, with no such restriction. The BTC will advise, but it’s all clear on the IND website. ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/
well, i’ll tell ya, that was a tough situation for me to be in. Lots of mental pressure. I moved out of the house, but not with any outward signs of hostility. Now they seem to miss me when I am not there. Mother gives me impossible amounts of food to consume, they even learned my name… finally!
My g/f lives in Taoyuan now, and i am still in taichung, finishing off my contract. So her parents now insist that I go there for dinner once a week. Of course it is a headache at times, but things are definitely on a much more even footing. They seem to have some respect for me as an individual now. Ma still delivers little lectures about things from time to time, “you are too skinny, you drink too much cola, your skin looks pale” etc, but thats her problem.
Things have a fortunate knack of turning out all right in the end…
Hi,
I am married to a Brit and eventhough it is possible to get a “Spouse Visa” (valid for one year) in the UK, the waiting period can sometimes be longer than 12 weeks! The easiest (and cheapest) way to do it, is to applly for the visa here - contact the British Foreign Office in Taipei.
Good luck!
Pixie
To be honest with you, it takes longer to find a job in the UK than it does to change your wife’s status from visitor to spouse. My wife’s took 3 weeks in 1999. We even cancelled a holiday because we were told it would take so long.
The trick is getting the documentation right. Everything they ask for (accommodation, no recourse to public funds etc) prove it to them beyond any doubt with lots of bits of paper.
[quote=“hexuan”]The trick is getting the documentation right. Everything they ask for (accommodation, no recourse to public funds etc) prove it to them beyond any doubt with lots of bits of paper.[/quote]What do you need to prove those ?
The IND website sets it out very clearly. Is your missus moving to the UK ?
We gave them the following:
- My passport (not British) and a certified copy of his passport (British)
- Marriage certificate (original)
- Proof of ID (Birth Certificates and ID Documents of both of us)
- Joint bank account statements (for last 3 months)
- Individual bank account statements (for last 3 months)- (this is to prove that she has sufficient funds - I needed GBP 2,000)
- Passport Photo’s (can’t remember how many - check it out!)
- Names and contact details of friends who knew us for at least 1 year before we got married)
- A form which you can download from the UK Gov website for Spouse Visas - be careful and fill it in properly, else you’ll just end up having to do the whole thing all over again
- Our wedding photo’s (they didn’t require this, but it was suggested at the British Embassy that this would strengthen our case)
There are more things you need - please check with the British Foreign Office in Taipei.
Good luck!
Pixie
[quote=“hexuan”]The IND website sets it out very clearly. Is your missus moving to the UK ?[/quote]Not planning it yet, but it would be nice to know what is involved if that ever happened.
All I could see on the website was “no recourse to public funds” without details of how to prove that, unless I’m missing something. And if I move back the UK, I won’t have a job because I’m not there yet…
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote=“hexuan”]The IND website sets it out very clearly. Is your missus moving to the UK ?[/quote]Not planning it yet, but it would be nice to know what is involved if that ever happened.
All I could see on the website was “no recourse to public funds” without details of how to prove that, unless I’m missing something. And if I move back the UK, I won’t have a job because I’m not there yet…[/quote]
Your best bet is to buy the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants’ Handbook. Everything you need to know is in there.
Just a bit if an update for anybody who is interested. My wife and I just sorted out her spouse visa.
You need to fill out an online application form at the BTCO website and print it out as per the instructions. Next you need to phone them up to make an appointment for an interview in Taipei. This is not clear on the website so we initially gave our application and documents to an agent here in Tainan to take to the BTCO in the belief that they wanted to look at the documents before scheduling an interview. DON’T do this. Call and make an appointment and take your application and supporting documents to that interview…
As for things that you need to take, well there are a couple of lists on the BTCO website that are useful. You don’t need everything but the more you have the better. As a minimum you will need marriage certificate, birth certificates, (we had both translated and attested (?)) passports, bank statements and any other proof of funds (I used some investment trust statements), and probably proof of suitable accommodation (a letter from my dad sufficed). I guess photos etc would be useful. We took a few and they copied a couple.
The interview was reasonably straight forward; just don’t read too much into the questions. They are not searching for a life story. If you have a job to go back to great, mention that. I didn’t so just explained my employment plans etc. They ask you how you met etc, but mainly only the Taiwanese involved is meant to speak. They can provide a translator if needed.
Finally the fee. I was told that it had recently been reduced 
to NT$15400 
. (That is not a typo either!) If all goes well your taiwanese spouse gets a two year visa - a kind of probation period. If all is hunky dory towards the end of the two year period then they get a permanent leave to remain. BTW it is a settlement visa so you have to live mainly in the UK for those two years. Holidays are ok, but extended stays abroad - ie back in Taiwan - may cause problems.