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I am an Australian, living in Australia with my German partner. We hope to live and work in the UK next year or the year after. I just came across a job ad saying they can't sponsor any more people on Tier 2 work visas and applicants must already have work rights in the UK. This has got me a little worried.

At first I thought I could gain work rights with an EEA application through my partner. BUT after reading up on the issue, it looks like he would have to go there first, live there for a while and then apply for me to come over. Is this correct? It seems that there is no way we can apply to go at the same time unless I go under Tier 2 arrangements.

I'm just wondering whether I would be better off looking for a sponsor for a Tier 2 visa rather than attempting the EEA route.

Thanks in advance.

The EEA route is definitely better: your rights are guaranteed by EU directive 2004/38 which the UK government cannot change unilaterally.
All applications are free of charge and there are no quota.
There is no reason why you can't come to the UK together with your spouse and settle here. As an Australian citizen you don't even need a visa to enter the UK, but you can make life easier for yourself by getting an EEA Family Permit first. Once you are here, your German spouse applies for a Registration Certificate using form EEA1 and you apply for a Residence Card using form EEA2 (submit both applications together in a single envelop).

Relevant help is available on http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... snationals