My move is employer-sponsored but my wife would come as a dependent. That side feels like an afterthought in everything I read. For those who've done it — what should we be doing now, months ahead?
Started my partner’s paperwork in parallel with the main application rather than after it was done — saved real time compared to doing it sequentially.
Following, exact same setup here, still months out.
Dependent routes and the evidence they want vary a lot between countries and change over time, so I'd treat any specific "they need X" here as a starting point, not gospel. The Visa section for your destination is the place to check the actual dependent path — then build the folder early, because the evidence is the slow bit no matter the country.
Does the dependent partner usually get full work rights too, or does that vary a lot depending on the specific visa route?
Important thread. Spouse/partner visa rules — what relationships qualify, the evidence required, and crucially whether the partner can work or study on that status — are country-specific and change. Please confirm the current requirements through the Visa section of your destination guide, and get qualified advice for anything borderline. The reassurance here is a starting point, not the official rule for your case.
Checking the guide for this specific point now, thanks for the nudge.
Rajesh, I'm a few months behind you on exactly this. I came over first for a nursing job and my wife Ada is applying as my dependant now, so this thread is gold.
What we're doing, in case it helps anyone at the same stage:
@Sofia Mendes on work rights: from what we were told it depends completely on the route, so we checked the official page for ours rather than trust anyone's summary. Worth doing early, because it changes how you plan money for the first months.
The shared folder going back years is a good shout, Chinedu. We'd only gathered recent things. My wife's application went in last month, so I'll report back when there's news.
Slightly different angle: I'm the partner in my case. Giulia is Italian and I came as her family member, and the thing nobody told us was how long the gap between arriving and holding the actual card would feel. Everything was fine on paper, but my new employer wanted to see the card before I could start. If your partner plans to work straight away, ask about that gap specifically.
We did the family version of this for Germany, so a different system, but a few things matched what Chinedu listed:
The birth certificate one cost us about a month. Check it before you submit anything.