Stay in Uk or move to Hong Kong?

[simonhksc]

Hi guys,
I am a British citizen and I have a girlfriend who is a Hong Kong national. I am 19 years old, and she is 21. We have been together for about 6 months, and met as she is at a local university. We are in a difficult situation, because we have an excellent, excellent relationship, and we would like to prolong it as long as possible, but she is graduating this July and will have to return to her country if we do nothing. We are unsure of how to prolong our relationship, though both of us are prepared to do whatever it takes to stay together.
A first option is for her to get a job in the uk. Though this is obviously extremely hard, companies seldom give out working visas for foreign workers, and if the company is suffering then I can imagine that foreign workers who are sponsored will be the first to be made redundant. She is on for a 1st in her Accounting and Management course and she is exceptionally intelligent, though I still don't believe she would get a job or qualify as a skilled worker. She was considering doing an extra year Masters course, though we are not sure if this would help her job chances or be a waste of time?
Our second option is for me to move over to Hong Kong with her. I have absolutely no idea about how to achieve this, and was wondering if there was a Honger Konger out there who could help? I was also considering going to university next year in hong kong, though I am not sure if I can afford the £48,000 (£12,000 per annum) funds, which are to be paid upfront.
If the worst comes to the worst, we want to continue our relationship living in our two separate countries, doing a long distance relationship. We are both extremely faithful to each other and have a very strong relationship, I am sure we would never do anything to question loyalty to each other. Therefore, considering we have been together for 6 months, how long would it be until she could get Indefinite leave to remain in the uk, or I get indefinite leave to remain over in Hk?
I have a part time job only, so I am not applicable for the £18,000 a year salary to sponsor her to live over here.
The question is: what is our best chance of staying together? And if anyone can see any options that I have not talked about, please share!!
Any help appreciated, we are getting quite desperate.

P.S-Will her Masters course enhance chance of employment in the uk?
-What are the immigration rules in hong kong for me moving over there?

[Wanderer]

6 Months?

[secret.simon]

Quite a few questions in your post. I will try to answer as many as I can, but most of them have already been covered in your earlier thread.

You mentioned that you work, but it is part-time. Is it possible to either increase your hours or take an additional part time job?

A six month courtship is insufficient. You need to be living in a relationship akin to marriage for atleast two years for it to count. As Wanderer advised in the other thread, marriage is an option, but you still need to earn more than £18,600.

If you are willing to move to Hong Kong, have you considered moving to Ireland or another EEA country? If you are married, you can settle with her in another EEA country and then after about six months to a year, you can return with her to the UK under EU rules. Keep in mind that the UK may vote to leave the EU in 2017, but that still gives you all of 2016 to play with.

In either case, she will only be eligible for ILR after five years in that status.

And if the only way is Hong Kong, Hong Kong does have a Working Holiday visa arrangement with the UK. There is a quota of a 1000 per year and it likely precludes settlement, but you can work there for a year.

So, you have a few options. Wish you the best of luck on your way ahead.

[secret.simon]

You may find this forum useful for more options on moving to Hong Kong

http://britishexpats.com/forum/china-hong-kong-151/

It seems that the Tories, while in coalition, wanted to set the earnings threshold for getting your spouse from outside the EU at £40,000, but that the Lib Dems got them to reduce it to £18,600. Pity they got thrashed so badly, just when we needed them again.

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/ ... mmigration

[terriblescream]

Given that she is on 1st on her degree the Tier 2 General may seem difficult but believe me it isn't if she is good. I myself got a Tier 2 Visa while in the UK although yes I did have the chance of getting onto PSW and convincing my employer that they should sponsor me.

Switching from student to Tier 2 will mean they employer will not be required to do a Resident Labour Market Test so there are over 29K sponsors in the UK you need to try the luck with them.