Getting desperate! :(

[Sav88]

I'm needing help! My boyfriend (He's English) and I (Aussie) have been in a LDR for 3 years now- been together in person for about 14 months. My boyfriend came over to Australia on a working holiday visa which allows him to work for 6 months out of 12 months. Unfortunately, I still live under my Dads roof and he's going through some issues. It's made it really tough on us and I'm still struggling to find a job- only yesterday I got a job interview doing my old job before I had quit to go to England for 2 years (which turned into 9 months due to no work). So we're crossing fingers and toes that I get this job! We want to move out from under my Dad.

The thing is, my boyfriend is finding it hard to get work here and we now believe he is on the wrong visa. If I get this job, we can move out and we can just be us for once without the stress my Dad puts on us. My Dad has been hassling my boyfriend to do volunteer work at hospitals (because my boyfriend worked at a hospital in England as a medical records clerk) and so my Dad thinks if he volunteers at a hospital here and does some study (perferrably my Dad wants him to study to become a nurse) he'd be able to make a living here (if he chooses to live in Oz). The thing is, my boyfriend says he doesn't know what he wants to do and my Dad is really pushing the issue. Yesterday my Dad called me when he was at work and asked me if he had called people or applied to do some volunteering or even chosen a course to study. I said no and explained. My Dad then thinks because my boyfriend isn't doing what my Dad wants him to do, that it's a lack of committment to me! So he wants me to talk to my boyfriend and try to push him into doing something he doesnt want to do.

My Dad gets way too involved in my relationship! I now have a stressed out boyfriend who thinks my Dad doesn't approve of him. So my boyfriend and I are discussing ways to have us be together permanently. I have researched about a de-facto visa for Australia- which seems straight forward, but if I chose to go and live with him in England, the home office website doesn't really have a de-facto visa like Australia.

We don't know what to do! My boyfriend is trying to find a visa to fit us but if we chose the UK partner/fiance visa, he needs to earn £18,600.00 a year for 6 months- then get married if the visa is granted within 6 months. My boyfriend is jobless as he quit his job to come here to Oz on his working holiday visa. So he can't see how he'd be able to earn that much unless we were apart for like...10 years or something :/

We need some help...

[Zephii]

English visas I have no experience with, but Aussie ones I can help with

The working holiday visa for Oz, unless they changed something - You can work for the whole 12 months, just not with the same employer. At the end of the 12 months you can apply for an extension of 6 months to work with one of the two employers you already had in the original visa.

It isn't easy to find work here if you're foreign and not trained sadly, but for temporary relief he can probably find a cash in hand job on gum tree. It's not ideal, but it's an option.

If you're thinking of marriage anyway, the prospective marriage visa for Australia might also be an option, then once married, you's could apply for the English spouse visa and move there as a married couple? I don't know, just brainstorming options!

Where abouts in Oz are you?

[Sav88]

English visas I have no experience with, but Aussie ones I can help with

The working holiday visa for Oz, unless they changed something - You can work for the whole 12 months, just not with the same employer. At the end of the 12 months you can apply for an extension of 6 months to work with one of the two employers you already had in the original visa.

It isn't easy to find work here if you're foreign and not trained sadly, but for temporary relief he can probably find a cash in hand job on gum tree. It's not ideal, but it's an option.

If you're thinking of marriage anyway, the prospective marriage visa for Australia might also be an option, then once married, you's could apply for the English spouse visa and move there as a married couple? I don't know, just brainstorming options!

Where abouts in Oz are you?

I'm on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland

The working holiday visa only allows him to work 6 months within a year. The work he has to do to be able to gain his 2nd year working holiday visa has to be harvest work, mining and landscaping (planting trees etc). So he can't just work for anyone which is sad.

So right now, things aren't looking great with jobs here that meet those requirements. My Dad wants him to study but if he wants him to study to become a nurse, he has to study at least 2 years which his visa won't allow- he can only study 4 months.

With my Dad putting stress on him, he's really upset. He wont even go talk to my Dad- my Dad is a hard man to talk to. So my boyfriend is thinking of going back home soon if things don't improve

[Zephii]

Weirdness. I've had mates come into the country before on the working holiday visas and I'd never heard of this one. The government sounds like they are going out of their way to make it difficult, and I mean... he's a pome. They should just let him in lol.

Awe, sorry about the situation with your dad, I'm sure he means well. A lot of people don't "get" the visa thing and how difficult it is.

Are you eligible for the defacto visa?

[Tooki]

I know with the visa situation, it can be really hard to get a job. A fair few unskilled jobs that I have encountered either want you long term (more than the 6 months allowed on a WHV) or they specifically state that you must be a Permanent Resident/Citizen/Kiwi.

It's a shame that you aren't in Sydney/Melbourne, because I know of a lot of work that is available for people on WHV. Try and see if he can get a telemarketing job somewhere. I've worked at a place that happily takes on WHV holders from English-speaking countries.

And on the study side, he would have to fork up international student rates (up to $30,000 a year). So unless he is really rich, it will be highly unlikely that he could study in university as well.

[Sav88]

My boyfriend and I just saw on the home office website the EEA Family Permit.

I am a non-EEA citizen as I'm Australian but he's British so he would count as a EEA citizen right?

Here's the link- https://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/

Would this work for us? It's free which is good- just need to fill in the forms and provide evidence of our relationship etc. And then wait until it's granted.

Is this possible for an Australian to get to join her fiance? (we will get engaged before he leaves to go back to the UK at the end of his visa).

[Tooki]

I've never gone through the process of moving to the UK, but the UK is in the EEA.

On the 'evidence of our relationship', try to get him added to some bills in your household as soon as he arrives and has an Aussie bank account set up. Plus, perhaps open up a joint bank account. It is concrete evidence and it does show commitment on your guys part.

[Zephii]

I am a non-EEA citizen as I'm Australian but he's British so he would count as a EEA citizen right?

Would this work for us? It's free which is good- just need to fill in the forms and provide evidence of our relationship etc. And then wait until it's granted.

On the list of eligible countries it doesn't actually say Britain or England that I can see. I bet they have a hotline you can call with questions though

[pink elephant]

My boyfriend and I just saw on the home office website the EEA Family Permit.

I am a non-EEA citizen as I'm Australian but he's British so he would count as a EEA citizen right?

Here's the link- https://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/

Would this work for us? It's free which is good- just need to fill in the forms and provide evidence of our relationship etc. And then wait until it's granted.

Is this possible for an Australian to get to join her fiance? (we will get engaged before he leaves to go back to the UK at the end of his visa).

Are you talking about joining your significant other in the UK through the EEA Family Permit?

From the UKBA site on EEA Family Permits -

Although the UK is a member of the EEA, a non-EEA family member of a British citizen should not generally come to the UK using an EEA family permit. However, a non-EEA family member of a British citizen living abroad can apply for an EEA family permit to join the British citizen on their return to the UK if:

the British citizen has been living in an EEA member state as a worker or self-employed person; and
the family member, if they are the British citizen's spouse or civil partner, has been living together with the British citizen in the EEA country.

It should be noted that the UKBA defines "family member" in your case as "husband, wife or civil partner" so you cannot come to the UK under this permit as his fiance. You must already be married.

An EEA family permit can be granted to you provided that: a. you are married to a UK citizen who has been living and working in an EEA member state that is outside the UK full-time and his purpose of stay in said country is to live and work there for an amount of time (I believe 6 months, but don't quote me on that) and b. you have been living with said UK citizen in that EEA country. Even though your boyfriend is a member of an EEA country, he has to be exercising those rights as such in a member country other than the UK in order for this to work. Otherwise, if it were that easy, there would be a helluvalot more immigration going on to the UK..

(My husband's sister is a UK immigration lawyer, and we've thought about trying this route - having my UK guy work in an EEA country for awhile while I live with him then applying for UK settlement through the EEA Family Permit.)

Argh, I hate writing downer posts like this, but I don't like being left or leaving other people in the dark. But I sincerely hope whatever you both decide to do turns out all well in the end. Currently our close the distance plan has been spanning over six years now - so don't lose hope! It's great that you're investigating all of your options.