# British Citizen bringing wife



## Mayhem (Sep 10, 2010)

I've had a look at the homeoffice website:

And I can't seem to figure out if my wife requires a separate visa to work in England.
I am a British/Australian citizen and my wife is Malaysian.
I will be required to work in London for 12 months.
While we are there, my wife wants to work.
Does she get any benefits from be being a British Citizen?
Could someone point me in the right direction of where to read up on what is required?

Thanks.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Mayhem said:


> I've had a look at the homeoffice website:
> 
> And I can't seem to figure out if my wife requires a separate visa to work in England.
> I am a British/Australian citizen and my wife is Malaysian.
> ...


Your wife has two options:
Either to come as a visitor (for which no visa is required as a Malaysian), but can only stay for up to 6 months and cannot work;
Or apply for settlement visa as wife. If you've been married 4 years or longer, she will be able to stay indefinitely and take any job, or if less than 4 years, up to 2 years.
Look at the details on British High Commission Canberra site:Visas


----------



## Mayhem (Sep 10, 2010)

Joppa said:


> Your wife has two options:
> Either to come as a visitor (for which no visa is required as a Malaysian), but can only stay for up to 6 months and cannot work;
> Or apply for settlement visa as wife. If you've been married 4 years or longer, she will be able to stay indefinitely and take any job, or if less than 4 years, up to 2 years.
> Look at the details on British High Commission Canberra site


Thank you very much. Greatly appreciated!


----------



## Mayhem (Sep 10, 2010)

So I have been given the go ahead for secondment to London.
I am expected to be there on 17 Jan.
This doesn't leave too much time for my wife to get a settlement visa.
The expected waiting time is 10 weeks.
Is it possible for my wife to enter on a tourist visa and apply to stay longer from within UK?
We would like to travel to UK together and she is keen to work while she is there.

Cheers.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Mayhem said:


> So I have been given the go ahead for secondment to London.
> I am expected to be there on 17 Jan.
> This doesn't leave too much time for my wife to get a settlement visa.
> The expected waiting time is 10 weeks.
> ...


Situation is still the same as before. Your wife can either enter as a visitor - no visa required but can only stay for 6 months and no work, or apply for settlement visa while still in Australia. She cannot come as a visitor and switch to settlement. If she tries that, she will be refused (and gets a black mark on her immigration record) and told to reapply from Australia or Malaysia. If you stress the fact that you are moving in January to take up a position, they may speed up her application for settlement visa, but no promise can be given. It's usual for non-EU spouse to have to wait until they can rejoin their partner after getting their visa.


----------

