Hello everyone,
I have a question and looked for similar questions but drew a blank.
Currently, my wife, daughter and myself are in the UK. My daughter and I have British citizenship (daughter has dual British-Filipino) but my wife came here on a 2 years visitors visa. We arrived back in July. As some of you know, the visitors visa is limited to a stay of 180 days tops per 12 month period even for longer term visitors visas (even if the immigration officer didn't actually stamp her passport at the airport when we arrived!). We came here because I was offered a rather nice work contract and we don't want to be apart. All well and good.
However, I've since been offered an even nicer contract that is 5 months long and will move my career to a very high level - it's a dream job. Because of this, we want to stay here for another few months in order to clean up.
So how can we do this without us having to leave the country?
1) Extend her visitors visa - I understand this is only done in exceptional circumstances and I doubt our case will be seen as such but if anyone knows any different, we'd love to hear.
2) Apply for residence when in Britain. Is this possible for a wife on a visitors visa? Again, personal experience or expert knowledge would be welcomed! The Border Agency page mentions that it is possible for people with visas longer than 6 months but we're not sure if my wife's visa qualifies as such: she should (if the immigration officer had been a bit sharper) only have been granted a 6 month stay which says that she cannot apply for residence when in the UK; however, her visa is valid for 2 years which implies that she is. We're just not sure which 'part' of the visa they're referring to.
I get the impression that she will have to leave the country and apply outside but this is something I want to avoid. I spent some time working away before and I'm sure it affected my 2 year old daughter; and besides it's an expensive and long trip for my wife and daughter to take. I cannot get time off from work or I lose this dream contract but I would rather lose the contract and leave the country with them than have to be apart even just for a couple of months.
Originally Posted by Welsh_Italian
