I am a British Citizen with a Mexican Boyfriend.

[kaz3010keefe]

Hi,

I am British and Im am currently living in Mexico with my mexican boyfriend. The money here is bad so we are looking into options for him coming to the UK. Is it possible for him to work on a student visa? How easy are they to obtain?
Also we are engaged at the moment, if we got married in Mexico how long would it take for him to be permitted to work in the UK? What is the process?
My family live in Spain, would my boyfriend automatically be entitled to work in the E.U if we got married? Is the process difficult and long?

Thanks
Karen

[John]

Karen, yes marriage would help considerably, so do proceed to get married in Mexico.

Then, where will you live? If in the UK your husband (as he would be) would apply for a 2-year spouse visa and armed with that in his passport he would have full ability to work in the UK without needing a Work Permit.

Moving to Spain? In that case he would apply for a Spanish-issued EEA Family Permit. As a British Citizen, and therefore an EU/EEA citizen, you have Treaty Rights, and that includes the ability for you to live and work in another EEA country, including Spain. Once the marriage has happened your husband will have the same Treaty Rights, but needs an EEA Family Permit in his passport to prove it.

[kaz3010keefe]

Hi John,

Many thanks for your quick reply.

Do you know roughly how long the process would take if we got married and my boyfriend applied for a spouse visa? Is the process complicated? and also for the visa for Spain?
We would want to live in England for a year and then move to Spain.
Do you know anything about student visas?

Thanks very much

karen

[Administrator]

.

Is it possible for him to work on a student visa? How easy are they to obtain?

This question/comment seems to be a theme in different words in both your posts.

Obtaining a student visa and then working is generally a flagrant violation of the letter and intent of the concept of a student visa. People do it, but those who get caught tend to get deported and banned form the country.

In this case, entry into the EU will become severely problematic, should he fraudulently obtain a student visa and then work illegally. Opportunities in the U.S. and Canada and Australia will also vanish.

Some circumstances allow a student to also do some very limited work to support themselves while attending a school, but attending school is the reason for this visa. It's a common scam, so assume scrutiny of your activities under this visa.

John gave you your best advice. I can't answer time-frame, but quite a number of other topics in this forum discuss other peoples experiences and circumstances. We have a search function at the top of the forum pages to find threads on your topic.

If you are sure you want this man as your husband, get married. Apply for a spouse visa immediately. Discussing it with the British embassy while you get it all together is a Good Idea. You're going to be spending time there and meeting people there anyway; might as well begin early.



A short introduction to some considerations is here :

http://www.workpermit.com/uk/marriage.htm

There's a *.pdf document entitled "Marriage" at this link :

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/docume ... ec2gensec/

Skim through it ... there are several sections with information to get you started.

Also here :

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/docume ... r8annexes/

and here :

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ecis/

Good luck!

The Admin

[JAJ]

Hi John,
We would want to live in England for a year and then move to Spain.

Why not live in the UK for 3 years and then your boyfriend (if you're legally married) could become a naturalised British citizen? Then he could move to Spain without a visa.

If you move to Spain, you should check how long it will take him to become a Spanish citizen.

[kaz3010keefe]

thank you again.

that is an idea but we dont want to stay in the UK for 3 years. Do you know how long the spouse visa would take to get once married?

Thanks

Karen

[JAJ]

that is an idea but we dont want to stay in the UK for 3 years.

In that case you need to check if and when he will be eligible for Spanish citizenship (if you move to Spain). Or accept the fact he won't have any EEA citizenship for some time.

Do you know how long the spouse visa would take to get once married?

No I don't.