Working in the UK on a visa

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

Hi all,

This post may come up fruitless but worth a shot, I am an Australian working in Australia flying fixed wing piston aircraft. Due to my girlfriend moving back to the UK for work I am looking to possibly shift across as well. I understand the lengthy process that is involved regarding the EASA conversion. However I am curious whether any companies/airlines hire pilots on Tier 5 or family visa's (both of which I am eligible for) I have attempted to find this out but seem to find conflicting information. Any guidance here is much appreciated. Thanks all!

[ersa]

I doubt anyone would hire you on a temporary visa , if you get a family visa which is a permanent visa, you shouldn't have any problem

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

Roger ERSA, thank you for the reply.

[MaverickPrime]

As long as you have the right to live and work in the UK you should be able to work for any UK company. If you can manage to get the UK family visa, this will give you the right to work in the UK. However, you need to either be married, engaged or can prove you’ve been in a genuine relationship for more than 2 years with your girlfriend to get the family visa. If your girlfriend is to be the sponsor, then she will have to be in salaried employment for more than 6 months and earning more than £18,600/yr before you guys can apply for the visa.

If you are serious about this, I suggest you speak to a UK immigration specialist to find out your options.

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

All the requirements there are met. The only thing I'm worried about is forking out the 20K for the EASA conversion only to be told I won't be employed until I have a UK passport or citizenship, which as far as I know means I have to be in the country for 5 years. I have noticed that some companies requirements are purely 'right to live and work in the UK' but I just wasn't sure if that included my situation. I think an immigration expert is a great suggestion. Thanks for your reply MaverickPrime :ok:

[Mike Flynn]

A fiance visa grants you entry to the UK for a period of six months during which time you are required to marry your fiance in the UK.

Once you are married you can apply for a spouse visa from within the UK. The spouse visa enables you to work in the UK and will initially be granted for a period of 30 months.

More here https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

As you will be technically a student you might like to read this.

https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa

[MaverickPrime]

The employment laws in the UK are somewhat liberal compared to our European neighbours, you’ll find that in most cases having the right to live and work in the UK will suffice for most jobs, unless you are looking to join something like the armed forces.

If your girlfriend is a UK citizen I think you can get a citizenship after you’ve been married to her for 3 years, might be worth tying the knot. Marriage to a UK citizen is the quickest route to citizenship as far as I know. Citizenship will also mean you don’t have to worry about renewing your visa every few years.

[Mike Flynn]

Once you marry your partner and meet the financial requirements you qualify for indefinite leave to remain. The visa is initially issued for a two and a half year period.

This permits you to live and work in the UK. If you read the government links above it is all quite clear. There is no need for an expensive visa agent.

https://www.gov.uk/settle-in-the-uk

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

Thanks for the replies guys. I read that I required to be in the UK for 5 years before I could get ILR however citizenship would assure my aviation career doesn't go down the toilet! Really appreciate the reply there fellas. Looks like I will be getting down on one knee sooner than I thought Ha! I'll be sure to send some canapés in the mail! :E

[KelvinD]

You do need to be in the country for 5 years as a spouse before applying for UK citizenship. And then comes the silly part; the citizenship test! During that 5 years qualifying period, there are strict limits on the amount of time you can be outside the UK. I don't remember the periods/amounts of time that will stop your 5 year wait but, roughly speaking, they look at your time out of the UK and decide "that looks OK, probably holiday" or "that is a long time out, we suspect you may have been living or working outside the UK for that period".
I know as I brought my foreign wife to the UK.
I feel sorry for people who want to bring a foreign wife/fiancee to the UK nowadays as the rules are bloody horrible compared the way they once were.

[Heathrow Harry]

there is also some poor sod they're trying to deport because he missed the date for filing by 2 days after years here...

You MUST watch the paperwork - there are so many jobsworths in the Home Office & Border Force who'd rather pick on an honest man than go out and try and catch genuine illegals

[MaverickPrime]

Tell me about it folks, my fiancée is a genuine professional who wants to come to the UK, work hard, pay her taxes and has no sense of entitlement. In her country you either work hard or starve to death, simples. I often joke with her that she would get into the UK quicker if she travelled to North Africa and got onto a rubber dingy with all the other free loaders. In the UK, some are more equal than others. I digress no further.

[Heathrow Harry]

I have heard from a number of politicians, journos and others that the Heart of Darkness in the British Civil Service is Lunar House in Croydon.

At one stage they had 3 FLOORS full of unanswered mail and forms.

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

:ugh: What a process! I have no issues waiting to get citizenship and ILR.. Thats all fine. I am able to be in country for 5 years with the commonwealth country tier 5 visa and then the family/spouse visa. Thats all well and good. However my worry being no company will employ me as a pilot over there on those visa's.

Has anyone heard of anyone being employed by an aviation company over there without a citizenship or UK passport? Most of the companies simply say "Right to live and work in the UK' Which technically I meet.. However it's a big $23,000 gamble to do the EASA conversion if its not good enough!

I have emailed Rishworth Aviation in the hope they have acquired jobs for pilots in similar situations on the same visa's. Thanks all for the replies :ok:

[redsnail]

My husband worked for easyJet for several years before obtaining either ILR or citizenship. He was here on an ancestral visa.

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

Thank you for the reply redsnail. I don't qualify for that visa, however thats great to know! Excellent.

[Critter1]

No, definitely you do not

[Shoulda_beena_tradie]

Whats that in regards to sorry Critter?