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Hi,
I am french Citizen and my wife is chinese. We are living in Chengdu and we would like to leave and settle in UK.
Anybody knows if my wife can get a spouse visa to UK, (we are married)?
Because as a french i think i don’t need a visa to settle in uk. I tried to find information on website but it’s not really clear.
Any help information will be appreciate
thanks!
Short version: you’re screwed.
Long version: visit visa center in Chengdu (UK one i mean), spend 2 hours as they tell you what you need, then give up.
But in theory its possible.
Gov.uk has all the information you’ll need. I’m not sure of your situation, so you can spend a bit clicking around this section of the website.
There’s also a UK consulate in Chongqing. Though I’d consider just living in France, as the UK’s pretty shit in my opinion.
thanks for the website and information. May i ask you why you consider living in France instead of UK would be better?
i left France 7 years ago and i am really scare to go back there when i read news or see what’s happened, gloomy economy and tension/trouble between community. I know that there is many french live in UK and they are happy, even if there is trouble also and nothing perfect…but the big difference seems to me it’s about positive vibe in UK, I means spirit, good vibe that we lost in France. It’s just my opinion and maybe i am wrong. I still think that is a nice country but the negative vibe there is little boring.
also my wife speak English fluently and me as a french teacher we think will be easier in UK.
but the big difference seems to me it’s about positive vibe in UK, I means spirit, good vibe that we lost in France. It’s just my opinion and maybe i am wrong.
I think it depends highly on where you go, what you see, who you know, etc. But to me, UK has to be one of the gloomiest places I have been. Germany can also be very dour though, despite being the economic foundation of Europe – it’s not all about economy. I hear Spain is a pleasant place to live… if you don’t need to find a job there.
May i ask you why you consider living in France instead of UK would be better?
Yes. My problem with the UK is that it filled with very grey and cynical people, like myself. People who sit and complain about how everything is going to shit and then make no attempt to try and fix it, so that they may continue to moan and have the ability to say ‘I told you so’ as things get progressively worse. The privatisation of national institutions like the NHS and Royal Mail means that the public have no say in their operation, and many fear that this will inevitably lead to price rises. Politics are annoying as the fascists gain more and more traction, no one can work together and people go back on promises. The weather is grey and gloomy and constantly ‘mild’, meaning there’s no snow in the winter and no sun in the summer.
I just don’t see what it has to offer.
I just don’t see what it has to offer.
London has an amazing amount of culture and activity, and is cutting-edge in so many fields. Unfortunately the cost of living is astronomical and it’s very hectic and high pressure. But if price is not an option, it’s one of the best places to be IMO. If price is a factor, I would choose Berlin.
But if price is not an option…
London remains one of the most expensive cities I’ve ever lived in, if you can’t be ‘where you want to be’ you can expect to give up a portion of your life to hanging around for the tube to show up.
I just don’t see what it has to offer.
Ditto.
I read an article recently about the Chinese ambassador in London who commented on how ridiculously difficult it is for Chinese to get Visas to the UK. It was before a visit by a top Chinese politician (I don’t think it was the President) so got big headlines and caused a lot of embarrassment .
As a result I believe they changed the rules to make it easier. Although I’m not sure it will help you much as it was mostly talking about business visitors to the UK.
The change was very interesting though because they effectively added China to the Schengen arrangement. Meaning that if your wife has a visa for France she can now go to England on the France visa. But as I said this seemed to be mostly relating to business and not residence or even holiday.
Please check the details of this though as I am only going by recollection of a recent article I read.
You need separate UK and French (Shengen) tourist visas. A friend has just applied. She said the French one is easier to get….
I know that it is easier for me to take my Chinese wife to live and work in Continental Europe than to return with me to the UK. I would assume it is similar situation for someone from Continental Europe bringing their non-EU wife to the UK; EU law applies rather than UK law.
What pisses me off even more is that the UK charges every time I return home with my wife to visit family. However as an EU citizen, I can get a Schengen visa for her free of charge!
@ Luca
I am led to believe that for any EU national to take up residence in another EU country with their Chinese wife, they must first spend a minimum of 6 months resident in their own country – in your case you would need to get her into France first before you could emigrate to the UK. That said, although you, as an EU citizen, qualify for residence in the UK, your Chinese wife will not be eligible to the same privileges as granted to an EU citizen. Even an English born native now finds it very hard to get their Chinese wife to the UK for residency and proof of income and savings are included in the requirements along with demonstrating a genuine marriage where the couple have been living together as husband and wife for (I think) 5 years.
Perhaps it is easier to get her into France, make her a French citizen after a couple of years and then emigrate to the UK – they shouldn’t be able to stop her with a French passport. Alternatively, jump on a lorry at Calais and experience for yourself just how lax border controls are. 🙂
I am led to believe that for any EU national to take up residence in another EU country with their Chinese wife, they must first spend a minimum of 6 months resident in their own country
That might be the case, but I can’t find anything on the europa.eu website to support it. It also doesn’t fit with some of the articles that have been run in UK news papers claiming that a shortcut to residence in the UK for a non-EU spouse is through other EU countries.
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/worker-pensioner/non-eu-family-members/index_en.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23029195
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/uk-immigration-policy-britons-spouses-trauma
@ Ben
My wife is acquainted with an English man and his Chinese wife who live in Chengdu and tried to move to Spain. I have double checked and he claimed that they were refused by the Spanish visa office as she needed to establish a minimum of 24 months residency in the UK before she could be accepted for residency in Spain.
Interesting links though.
Here are some links to articles written about the previously mentioned UK visa restrictions change. They were written last month. Sadly, they probably won’t be much help.
Here is a quote.
“George Osborne announced during a visit to China last October that Britain would introduce a 24-hour “super priority” visa service for business leaders. A separate pilot scheme allows certain Chinese travel agents to apply for UK visas by submitting the application form used for the EU’s Schengen visa.”
Again, it seems only business and tourism are the focus of these reforms. Not surprising given the political gains made by the anti-immigration parties in the UK recently.
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