Want to return to the uk with my Aussie wife - Advice needed

Hi there,

I have been living and working in Australia for almost 2 years and have since married. We have decided to move to the uk and I was looking for some advice on some of my concerns.

We have been together for a year and married 3 months (will be 5 months when we submit the application). We met through a mutual friend when I first arrived in oz and hit it off soon after. We can provide tonnes of proof our relationship is genuine (join bank account, lease, wedding photos, flights, emails etc etc etc) but would the length of our relationship or marriage still be an issue?

I have been married before, around 8 years ago, we were together for 3 years and married for 18 months, then seperated and got divorced a year after that. I was young and life was very different as was my relationship, it just didnt work out. Are they likely to hold that against me if I can prove (as I can) that my relationship with my wife is genuine?

Obviously we both live and work in Australia at the moment and although I probably will have lined up a job by the time we get back, at the time of application I wont be able to prove I have a job to goto in the uk, although will still have one in australia and be able to prove an income of $60,000 a year at time of application. Will this also be an issue?

With the above in mine, I also have a bank loan in the uk. I still owe about 11,000 pounds but its taken out of my account 200 pound a month, which is very managable and I have continued to pay it while working out here. I have read about people getting refused settlement visas because of having an overdraft! Would my bank loan pose a problem? Bearing in mind I will be earning between 25 and 30k a year and we would be staying with friends to start with then move into a house share for a while, so rent wouldnt be anymore than 600 a month between us.

Also with the above issue, we have some savings: probably about 2000 pounds once we pay for flights etc and we would be staying with friends for free to start with. Would that be considered not enough money?

Lastly as I said above, we would be staying with friends to start with in London while we hunt for jobs etc, is that acceptable?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

cheers

Your questions are ones that many peoples opinion differs on this forum.

Some people would say that in your personal circumstances, it should be ok and that in view of what you have stated above, your wife will be granted a visa to come to the UK.

My views are the opposite. I am of the opinion that you should come here first, get a job and save some money ( you could live with family and friends) and once you have the above, then apply for your wife as you have the proof that you can support, maintain and accommodate your spouse without recourse to public funds.

In your present circumstances you cant prove these points ( these are an essential part of being granted the visa) as you have no job, no money, no accommodation, therefore increasing the chances of your spouse been refused.

So my advice would be for you to come here first get everything in place and 6 months down the line apply for your wife.

I wouldn't worry about t your previous marriage ( as long as you can provide your Decree Absoloute).I would also not worry about your present relationship being genuine.

Worry more about what I have stated above and get those in place and once done, I don't think you will have any problem at all.

This is my honest opinion, but the choice is yours to make.

I don't think that your wife would be issued a spousal visa on those details.
As Batleykhan has said, come here first get a job, find somewhere to live, save a little money and send for your wife.
Many people in this forum have applied for visas this way.

mochyn wrote:I don't think that your wife would be issued a spousal visa on those details.
As Batleykhan has said, come here first get a job, find somewhere to live, save a little money and send for your wife.
Many people in this forum have applied for visas this way.

I am speaking from experience of dealing with Indo sub continents applicants, where something like what you want to do would never ever happen.

However from certain countries such as US, Australia, Canada or New Zealand, I have known people to have been granted visa with not the same strict criteria applied as to those from India , Pakistan, Nigeria etc.

I am always on the cautious side and that is why I have advised you what I did.

The ECO is unlikely to take into the account your 'possible' earnings in the UK....or your current earnings in Oz as these will cease once you leave there. You would need to show a confirmed job offer.

thanks for the info, much appreciated. We only just got married and have been inseperable since we met, so there is no way in the world we would be prepared to spend 6-9 months living apart, I dont think I could handle that. Its not like we have had a long distance relationship (all due respect to those that are), as I said, we have been inseperable since we got together and living a happy and normal life sharing a home, it would destroy us to suddenly have to live the other side of the world from each other without knowing if and when we could be together again, thats just not right!
We would both be able to get jobs fairly quick in London, my industry is particularly booming at the moment, we would definately have somewhere to live rent free until we got on our feet and by the time we left Australia we would easily have enough money to support ourselves for a few months while we looked for jobs. Ive never been out of work in the uk for more than about a week and my wife has excellent career prospects and qualifications. If the uk immigration arent going to take such things into account and are going to deny me the right to bring back my wife and soulmate, then I would rather not come back at all and remain Australia!

One thing to think about for the future is that once you have been married for 4 years outside the UK, the rules as they stand at the moment are very different. You can enter the UK together and your wife can apply for her ILR as soon as she passes her KOL test as will be stamped in her passport ''KOL required''