long term visa stay for NZ girlfriend

[jollyd]

I have British nationality and my new girlfriend holds a New Zealand passport. I met her whilst she was touring Europe and we are planning a future life together. She is currently on her way back to NZ.

I hold a permanent job as an IT consultant and quite prepared to support her financially if she came on a visiting basis and was unable to work. However I've been trying to think of ways she can come back to live with me for more than 6 months and not fall foul of UK immigration laws. I'm assuming it's not possible if she stays for 6 months (I think no visa is required for this), leaves UK and then was to come back again to UK within the same year.

Whilst browsing previous postings I found out that as a commonwealth citizen, she could stay for a year by applying for a working holidaymaker visa. But I think there may be two possible issues. The rules indicate: -
1. People aged 17-30. She's older.
2. Unmarried people. She is in the process filing for divorce from her husband in New Zealand. She says it will take two years to take full effect.

She is Chinese and speaks very good English so I was thinking she could work as a translator or offer tuition in cantonese, but not sure if that would fall into any of the HSMP categories. Ideally she does not want to work full-time for the reason that I often have to travel with my job and she wants to be free to come with me. I am required to be based on client site a lot - which could be anywhere in northern Europe from 1 to 12 months. I generally travel home to UK at weekends but my company also pays for partners to travel to be with us and arranges our accomodation in hotels or rented appartments.

Ultimately once her divorce is finalised or we have been living together for 2 years we could apply for spouse or unmarried person visa but I wonder what our best strategy would be to cohabit until we reach that stage.

[Wanderer]

I feel she's gonna need a work permit or sth for ur plan to work, or student visa maybe?

Also bear in mind she will need another visa to travel to Europe with you.

[sakura]

As a general guideline, she cannot 'visit' the UK for more than 6 months in any 12 month period. Bear in mind that, just because she doesn't need a visa does not mean she won't be refused entry. Lots of people on this board can testify that non-Visa nationals have been refused entry by claiming to be on a 'visit' when they really wanted to live with their UK-resident partner (for the whole 6 months). So this is very risky.

You can't apply for the unmarried partner's visa because that requires two full years of co-habitation before the visa is granted - so she would need to find a way of coming to the UK and living with you for 24 months, in order to qualify (or you move to NZ). And there is a LOT of documentation to prove evidence of co-habitation.

She's too old for the WHM. Does she have any skills? Merely speaking two languages won't help her land a visa - does she have qualifications/experience in translation? Does she have a degree and some years of experience in any other field? If not, the HSMP option is out.

If she has been working and/or has a good educational background/work experience, she could try applying for a job in the UK, and, if successful, her employer could apply for a work permit for her.

Does she want to study (have the money to pay international fees)? If she has no work experience/qualifications, then this is probably her best/only option.

Or - a fiancee visa, but you'd have to get married within the 6 month validity of the visa. Obviously, if she is still married, then this option is out for now.

If your job requires you to travel a lot, and you want her to travel with you - that is going to be very hard. Firstly, she would need a visa to get here - that requires her to be here ALL the time (to work, study, etc). I don't see how she could maintain her visa status if she's out the country so often.

Also, as Wanderer mentioned - she cannot travel out the country and live elsewhere with you without a visa. I gather that if you're not married it'll be VERY hard to obtain any sort of residence visa - even from your company.

[jollyd]

Hi Wandera and Sakura,
Thank you very much for your replies. I’m glad you warned about evidence of non-visa nationals trying to enter UK can still be refused. In today’s climate these things should never be taken for granted I guess! I will speak to my girlfriend about whether she can apply for work or student visa. I’m also looking into the possiblity of transfering to one of my company’s APAC offices. Australia sounds like the best bet given I think she can move and work there freely.

As far as proof of living together for 2 years I was wondering if the following scenario could work.
1. she comes to UK for 1 year (on a work or student visa) and lived with me during that time.
2. Then I went to Australia and we lived together there for a year.
If we had documentary proof of both would they constitute a valid claim when applying for unmarried partner visa? Or could granting a visa/her UK stay in the first instance be in jeopardy if it is found we are already in a relationship? I know the better option is to marry (once her divorce came through) and apply for a spouse visa, but it would be good to have both options rather than feel forced to go down the marriage route.

Who knows… maybe we will even end up making a new life 'down under' rather than return to UK. I know quite a few people who have made that decision!

[jes2jes]

I feel she's gonna need a work permit or sth for ur plan to work, or student visa maybe?

Also bear in mind she will need another visa to travel to Europe with you

I thought the New Zealanders could travel visa-free in most European Countries and the rest of the World!

[VictoriaS]

Hi Wandera and Sakura,


As far as proof of living together for 2 years I was wondering if the following scenario could work.
1. she comes to UK for 1 year (on a work or student visa) and lived with me during that time.
2. Then I went to Australia and we lived together there for a year.
If we had documentary proof of both would they constitute a valid claim when applying for unmarried partner visa?

This is an entirely plausable, and common, scenario. The fact of her being in a relatinship should not affect her student or work permit application.

Victoria