Help an Australian escape for good!

April 3, 2006 8:14 AM

An Australian friend of mine is in the UK with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend has a full visa, whereas she is only allowed here if she's in a relationship with him. Trouble is, she wants to leave him, and there's still 2 years to go before she can get a full independent visa. If she splits with him, she has to move back to Australia after 2 1/2 years here, and start all over again. What to do? Is there any way she can stay if she splits with him?
posted by wibbler to Law & Government (7 answers total)

marry her.
posted by BSummers at 8:25 AM on April 3, 2006

Exact same thing happened to an Aussie friend of mine. Initial thoughts, she's stuffed unless she can get herself another visa independantly. My friend ended up getting applying for a Highly Skilled Migrants Visa. She got it pretty easy, had to take a month out of the country to get the visa activated.
posted by lloyder at 8:27 AM on April 3, 2006

Here is the British High Commission's visa page, which has all the information your friend needs (the "employment" section at this page is probably most useful).

Is your friend in a professional job? If so, it should be easy to get a work permit, if there are no other visa options available.

(Shoutouts to Aussies in London! Woohoo!)
posted by goo at 8:35 AM on April 3, 2006

Just to clarify - the above links are to the British High Commission in Canberra, through which all Australian -> UK visas are processed.
posted by goo at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2006

The UK has a 'girlfriend' visa? The government has an officially recognized 'girlfriend/boyfriend' status?
posted by Paris Hilton at 9:24 AM on April 3, 2006

pauli entered the uk as my "common law wife". in her case, as soon as her visa came up for renewal, she was automatically moved to a fully independent visa. she was a postgrad student at the time. so it does seem to be fairly easy to get your own visa, if you're doing something considered useful (and, i would guess, don't come from a blacklisted country).

if i were you, i'd talk to immigration. while the people who handle you during customs/entry seem to be pretty unpleasant, the people you deal with inside the uk are very helpful (all in our limited experience).
posted by andrew cooke at 9:56 AM on April 3, 2006

The Government does not encourage "switching" of visas, but she may be able to go back to Australia for a bit and re-enter - the downside being that she will then have to do another 4 years before she can be considered for indefinite leave to remain. Her conditions of stay for the current visa will almost certainly have been based on her relationship with the boyfriend - break those, and you break the visa. However, there are other entry routes she could consider. The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme is one. A bog standard work permit is another.

For chapter and verse you want to refer to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Immigration Rules. Or you could try the Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau (INEB) - this is part of IND, not independent, but is generally pretty helpful. It's on 0870 606 7766. Or try the phone number for Work Permit UK (which is probably the most relevant directorate within IND) - 0114 207 4074 (main office is in Sheffield, not Croydon).
posted by greycap at 11:14 AM on April 3, 2006