Whats required to live in the UK as spouse?

[CamB]

I'm the husband of a british citizen. I'm an Australian with only an Australian passport.

My wife and I are considering heading to the U.K to live and are wondering about what i need to do before I arrive (paperwork etc,) and about any suggestions you might have.

My wife can obviously live there as a citizen and I assume that i can join her as her spouse. Can I work there too?

Thanks

[UberKrieger]

I think if you get approved to live there under a Settlement Visa you're allowed to work for the 2 years that you remain there. You wont have a National Insurance Number but you give your employer the number on your visa paperwork and this will allow you to work. After the 2 years you have to apply for British Citizenship if you wish to live indefinitely within the UK.

That's how it usually goes, although I'd seek further advice from the pros in this forum

[yankeegirl]

Just to clarify a bit...

You would need to apply for a spousal visa. The visa is for a period of two years and you are able to work access the NHS, etc. You will have no recourse to public funds however for that two year period.

The main points of the application are to prove that your wife can support you without needing public funds and that you have suitable accommodation. If the plan would be to stay with friends/family until you find your own accommodation, that's totally ok.

After the 2 year period, you would then apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain). You do not have to naturalize and become a British citizen to be able to live in the UK indefinitely. If you wish to do so, then you will be eligible after living in the UK for 3 years (usually 1 year after getting ILR).

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... tionforms/

Have a look at form FLR(M) and the guidance notes for that form.

[John]

Your disclosed location is Dublin. What is your immigration status in the Republic of Ireland? And what is your wife doing there? Is she exercising her EU Treaty Rights in Ireland, for example by working. If so, how long has she been working in Ireland?

Have a look at form FLR(M) and the guidance notes for that form.

No, that is not the correct form. He will come to the UK on a 2-year spouse visa and near the end of those 2 years he will use form SET(M) to get his ILR.

Getting a spouse visa is definite choice here, but there might be another possibility, dependent upon the answers to the questions posed above.

[yankeegirl]

I thought FLR(M) was the form for the spouse visa?
I suppose I should have actually read what I typed before posting

[John]

I thought FLR(M) was the form for the spouse visa?

Yes, if applying for that spouse visa in the UK. But he is not in the UK and accordingly would use form VAF2 to apply for a 2-year spouse visa, and would file that form VAF2 at a British Mission overseas.