# Fiance visa- working as freelance



## Siclhu_ (May 9, 2014)

Hello Everyone,

I have recently started to work as a freelance on my free time...to be honest it's good pocket money and I was wondering if it would be possible to continue doing it once I get to the Uk on my Fiance Visa. I know Im not allowed to work but since this is a different type of work, and my money gets transfer to an Argentinean account I was wondering I can keep doing it??
Any idea? :fingerscrossed:
Thanks


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## mariag (May 1, 2014)

Hi again, it is a good question, I am screenwriter for films and tv, and I was wondering the same, as I can continue writings and sending my work as I do already. But I dont know, hope somebody can answer. 
Good luck with your application!!


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## Siclhu_ (May 9, 2014)

Hello again.....Im answering myself...but I've been doing some research on google  and apparantly is again the law to do any kind of work from within the UK..... So just in case I wouldn't recommend to do it. I don't want to jeopardise my stay in Uk or have any kind of problems.....


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Siclhu_ said:


> Hello again.....Im answering myself...but I've been doing some research on google  and apparantly is again the law to do any kind of work from within the UK..... So just in case I wouldn't recommend to do it. I don't want to jeopardise my stay in Uk or have any kind of problems.....


You are correct... on a Fiancé(e) visa you are forbidden to do any kind of work, regardless of the location of origin, until you get your Further Leave to Remain (FLR) visa... this means no freelancing or remote telecommuting from your home country as well as seeking employment within the UK. You are even forbidden to do _volunteer_ work until your immigration status is at FLR or higher.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

All you can do is if you have a business or an enterprise in your country of origin, you can answer emails or sort out your files etc - just keeping it ticking over, as you would if you were on holiday, What you cannot do is to visit clients or deal with general public in UK. As for doing freelance work, you aren't supposed to but nobody is going to find out or be particularly bothered if you just keep it ticking over. What you shouldn't do is to solicit or look for new work or assignment in UK or even to start a new commission from your country. Just updating stuff you have already started in your country should be ok, but don't tell immigration officer in case they get suspicious.


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

Are the rules for the fiancee visa the same as for tourist visas or more strict? I work as a freelance graphic designer/programmer and was told by British Embassy some years ago that I can do my job from the UK, on a tourist visa, when I specifically asked about this. Basically, once I told them that 100% of the work is done online and my clients don't know which country I'm working from and they don't care about it and I have never ever met a client in person, UK embassy said it's perfectly fine to continue doing this from the UK, on a tourist visa, because me being in the UK is irrelevant for my job.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

The rules regarding work are the same for a visit visa and fiance visa. You said you are relying information you received "some years ago". Rules are constantly changing. Your information is out of date.


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

nyclon said:


> The rules regarding work are the same for a visit visa and fiance visa. You said you are relying information you received "some years ago". Rules are constantly changing. Your information is out of date.


Yes, I do try and keep up with the rules but there are so many changes and I seem to have missed the changes regarding online work. Could you please point me to the relevant official webpage with the new rules and/or how the rules have changed with regards to online work?


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

There are no rules that specifically address on line work to my knowledge. And the rules regarding not working on a visit visa aren't new. They've be been in place for years. As Joppa has indicated it 's reasonable to check in on your work whilst on holiday. 

Additionally, not all British Embassy workers are versed in immigration rules. You quite possibly got bad advice which is unfortunately quite common.


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

nyclon said:


> There are no rules that specifically address on line work to my knowledge. And the rules regarding not working on a visit visa aren't new. They 'be been in place for years. As Joppa has indicated it 's reasonable to check in on your work whilst on holiday.
> 
> Additionally, not all British Embassy workers are versed in immigration rules. You quite possibly got bad advice which if unfortunately quite common.


I apologise, I may not have been clear enough. This happened back in the good old days when one would go to the embassy to apply for the visa and have an interview. During the interview with the immigration officer, I asked specifically about my right to continue my online work while in the UK on a tourist visa, assuming I get the tourist visa. The immigration officer was certain there was no problem with it but at my insistence went to ask their senior person, who came and asked me questions about my work and repeated that I was not allowed to do any standard work which would mean being employed in the UK, actually physically going to work, taking work from British people etc. but that online work in the way I was doing it did not constitute work in the same sense and I am welcome to spend my entire vacation in the UK doing that same online work, if I choose to do so. I was then given the visa on the same day. These were not some British embassy people, these were immigration officers in charge of visa decisions. 

Now, this was some 10 years ago and I know that rules have been changing a lot. However, I have not been able to find any changes that would imply what I was told 10 years ago is not valid any more. It's not relevant to me any more, but I am quite curious about it as lately it seems to me that a lot of things people think when it comes to visas is not actually true. For example, I was just about to book my second IELTS test for ILR because my old one expired, but have since discovered that, apparently, I can apply with my expired IELTS test, something that would normally not occur to me at all. Then also, when I, years ago, asked about working online while in the UK on the tourist visa, I though I would be told not to even dream about it, but two different immigration officers told me it's fine. 

I guess it's a shame that there are no specific information on the internet, it would be nice if the government had some questions/answers part of the website where people could ask questions and then anyone could look at the questions and answers as I think that would make the whole thing much clearer, this way a lot of the things are just one's best guesses, which may not necessarily be correct. 

I am not saying that one can definitely do online work from the UK on a tourist/fiancee visa, but based on my experience, it is either true, or it was true back then but now it's different (which is possible but in that case I'd like to find a document stating that) or I was originally given wrong information.


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## Siclhu_ (May 9, 2014)

Thanks for the advice!  It helps!


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

Well, that's great cause I'm just starting to panic - I *thought* I knew the rules, I was certain I knew the rules but now nyclon is making me doubt my knowledge a bit. It would just be so much easier for all the control freaks like myself if there were online questions/answers sessions organised by UKVI to iron out some rules which may not be all that clear.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

What you need to remember is, as personal circumstances differ so much from one person to another and even a definition of 'online work' is open to wider interpretation, it's just not possible to have a clear, unambiguous yes or no to the question. A lot has changed in the last 10 years and I suppose virtually everyone nowadays has some sort of online work or activity to perform, some paid, some unpaid and voluntary, and it's just not possible to have a blanket rule. And if something comes to the attention of Home Office about online work, they will have to use common sense to decide what action if any to take. It's clearly ridiculous to state you can't answer any work-related emails, but what if you started sending 100s of messages a day to your clients? There is a list of permitted activities, not too detailed but specific enough, for a business visitor, which you can use as a general guide.


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