How to get a Visa for the United Kingdom from Australia
Uprooting your entire life and moving to a whole new place takes a kind of courage and determination that not many people have and moving to the UK is no easy task. However, that’s no reason not to do it.
In recent years Australians actually voted the UK as one of the top places to move to. As an Australian resident you are part of the old commonwealth which means the visa application process to the UK is far easier than some other countries.
When do you need a Visa?
Here is how you can get your UK visa as an Australian citizen travelling to the UK. First of all, you don’t need a visa for every trip to the UK. As a general rule, if you are travelling to the UK for a short visit or holiday, then you have the freedom to enter the UK using only your passport. In fact, you can stay in the UK as an Australian for as long as 6 months as a tourist, but you cannot work during this time. Working in the UK requires a special type of visa.
The most common UK visas:
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Work in the UK
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Family in the UK
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Study in the UK
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Spouse Visa
Right to live in the UK
If you seek the right to live in the UK after 6 months, you may not even need to apply for a visa. There are 3 key features you will need to have if you want to stay in the country:
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Either one of your parents is a UK citizen
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you were born before 1st Jan 1983 in a Commonwealth country
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or you never stopped being a commonwealth citizen after 31st December 1982.
If you do not meet any of these requirements then you will have to go through with the visa application process to stay in the UK past that crucial 6 month point.
How to Apply for a UK Visa
Your best chance of applying for a visa is to hire a visa application lawyer who can guide you smoothly through the process. Those who seek legal representation for their visa application are those whose applications are dealt with fastest.
There will be a lot of paperwork to complete, which is another reason you should hire a solicitor to help with your visa application process. The average wait time for a visa application to be processed is longer than usual. The government site says an average of 6 weeks but advises you to leave as much as three months of time. An immigration solicitor will speed up this process substantially.
Our experts at SilverOak Solicitors – Personal Injury, Housing Disrepair and Immigration Services can act on your behalf regardless of where in the world you are located. We always provide a free 15-minutes initial consultation with no obligation to engage afterwards.
The UK Visa Points Based System
The UK visa application process works on a point based immigration system. This allocates points to your situation, which decide on the priority level of your application. To give yourself the best chance of having your UK visa accepted as an Australian citizen is to hire a solicitor to take you through this system. They know the points system and how to make the most of it for your application. This will give you the best chance of a successful application.
