Working Holiday to Spouse in the UK

Apologies if this has been previously discussed.

Would greatly appreciate the help and guidance.

The story..
My partner and i are both from australia in London on WHVs due to expire later this year. We are planning to register as civil partners later this month. In the meantime, i've sent my HSMP application and awaiting approval. Assuming my HSMP is approved in late March 06, how do we go about from transferring or switching my partner's visa from WHV to spouse/dependent?

I've heard somewhere that my partner will have apply to the British High Commision/consulate in our home country. Is that correct? or can we do this in the UK? Which forms to fill, will i be considered settled? The immigration and visa websites are a lil confusing..

Thanks so much for your help!

We are planning to register as civil partners later this month.

As non-EEA citizens, are you aware of the requirement for you both to have a Certificate of Approval to Register a Civil Partnership ("CoA"). Without you both having CoAs it is impossible to give the required notice at the Register Office.

will i be considered settled?

No, not until you have ILR. Which means the application made by your partner will need to be as your dependent.

I shall let others answer your question about where to apply.

Thanks so much for your prompt response!

Yep, the COA has been received and the date booked for registration with the office (local council in our case) has been set.. butterflies..

I'm looking at the visauk website.. Would the HSMP be considered similar or under the workpermit holder category?

cheers

Yep, the COA has been received

Sorry to press the point .... you say COA ... do you mean COAs? Plural? Because you are both non-EEA Citizens you need one each.

Apologies... yep COAs... we've had our meeting with the registry office, that was all fine... now we're just waiting for the big day when i'll be dressed in white.. only kidding. We're keeping it simple with only a few close friends to witness the actual registration.

It's just a pain if my partner will have to endure the 24hr flight back to Oz to switch over the visa. We're hoping it can be done in the UK.

My interpretation of the switching rules is that you may not include your partner as a dependent on your application for HSMP FLR (actually FLR IED) given that he/she is not currently a dependent on your WHV (Although in effect there is no WHV dependency as even spouses/unmarried partenrs/ civil partners must get their own WHV).

Spot on, there's no category for dependents of WHVs..

We're seeking to apply for a dependency visa after the HSMP visa is granted.