Best Visa to get married & gain British citizenship?

[spanmidd]

Hi there

I'm 25 and from Australia. I met my girlfriend, (who is 24, from the UK and is a British citizen) 8 years ago online and we managed to meet for the first time in the UK in January 2012 (for 2 months). I recently made another trip back to the UK in May 2012 for 4 weeks.

I plan on moving to the UK to be with her next year. I'd like to be able to work while I'm over there and to be on a Visa where we can be engaged and married. Ultimately our goal is to be married and for me to have British citizenship.
We have done some research into different types of Visas and have found the Tier 5 Visa (Youth Mobility Scheme) which I am eligible for. However, we're not sure whether this Visa is the best way to achieve our ultimate goal. Could someone please point us in the right direction by helping us work out which Visa would be the best one for our situation?

[geriatrix]

Do you know that you both will marry?
Or are you still testing the waters, or not even there yet?

[spanmidd]

Yes we are very keen on getting married sometime down the track. The only thing holding us back at the moment is a lack of money.
But we'd just like to know what option would be best for me to be able to live and work in the UK with the capability of getting married when we get the money together.

[lolowalsh]

why would you even think to move out to England

Your living in a country that everyone dream to be there

Australlia is better than England by milles

Why wouldn't you bring your spouse to your country and settle there , plus i think there are too many oportunities in Australia

Just my opinion of cours

[Casa]

You can apply for a 2 year Youth Mobility and then if you marry, switch to a Spouse visa from within the UK. It's going to be a long route to British Citizenship when the new rules are introduced on 9th July. A minimum of 5 years to permanent residency as a spouse of a British Citizen before you qualify for nationality. The visas along the way will cost you a few thousand £'s too!

[spanmidd]

lolowalsh - Haha! I'd just like a change of scenery :P Australians start to get sick of the constant sun. Sometimes we'd do anything to get weather like England has just so we can come out of the yearly droughts. But you never know, she might want to move to Australia after she comes to visit ;)

Casa - Thanks for your reply. We had a feeling that might be the path we'd have to take. Just thought there might be a quicker way that we didn't know about. So just to confirm, it IS possible to get married in the UK to a British citizen whilst I'm on a Youth Mobility Visa? And would the 2 year spouse Visa count towards the 5 years of permanent residency required for citizenship?

[geriatrix]

So just to confirm, it IS possible to get married in the UK to a British citizen whilst I'm on a Youth Mobility Visa?

Yes.

And would the 2 year spouse Visa count towards the 5 years of permanent residency required for citizenship?

Time spent in the UK on Tier 5 will not count towards the 5 year qualifying residence period for settlement.

[spanmidd]

Ok so the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa won't go towards the 5 year qualifying residence period for settlement, but would the Spouse Visa go towards the 5 years?

[geriatrix]

Yes.

[spanmidd]

Nice, thanks for the information. :)