Hello there, I'm new here and would like to ask a few questions concerning living in the UK but first of all I would like to thank the makers and members of this website and forum for all the information you guys (and girls) give, it cannot be better then this, again thank you !

So here's the situation:

I'm a Belgian guy (21) and I'm married since last year (2008) august with my wife which is Japanese (22) and we would like to move to the UK during next year and settle there for 2 main reasons :
first it's for work and secondly for my wife studies

Apparently everything seems to be easy (I mean paperwork) for us, as far as I could understand and read I don't need anything else except my Belgian identity card to be able to work, live and settle in the UK but my wife needs to have an EEA family member permit valid for 6 months to be able to move with me to the UK and once in the UK she will have to ask a EEA Family Member Permit valid for 5 years at the Home Office.

Now till here no problem except this :

Is it possible for us to ask the EEA Family Member Permit for 6 months BEFORE we move to the UK or should I settle alone in the UK first and my wife should ask after I've settled in the UK to the UK Embassy in Brussels??

We would we really prefer to move together to the UK of course instead of me first but we are scared that her EEA Family Member Permit for 6 months will be refused because I didn't settle in the UK yet...
Which is the best solution?

For asking the EEA Family Member permit for 6 months we need our passports, picture, act of marriage and... that's it?
Do we need something else?

How much time does it take or will it take before she will get the 6 months valid EEA Family Member Permit here in Belgium?

Once in the UK she will have to ask the 5 years valid one right? I've read that most of the time it takes to 6 months before you get it, does that means she will have to go out of the UK and go back to Japan or Belgium till she gets it or can she stay in the UK with me until she gets her card?

And one last thing (actually 2 things >< )

My wife would like to get a foundation degree in interior design in the UK but we read that she will have to pay the International fees as she didn't live for more then 3 years in the EEA or UK yet (just 1 year) and we wondered if there could be any solution so she could just pay the home fees as she is married with an EEA national who (will be) work(ing) and live in the UK?

Now she lives in the EEA for a little bit more then 1 year, does it means that if we live for 2 years in the UK it becomes like she lived 3 years in the EEA or does living in the UK and the rest of Europe being different each other? I guess it's the same, but I prefer to ask to be sure.

I'm really sorry to ask you guys (and girls ) so much but it's really important for us and asking information to the UK Border is kind of expensive, especially the number that ask 13 dollars per call...
Anyway we would really appreciate if you could give us an answer on our questions and we thank you all for it already in advance !

Thank you very much and see (read) you soon !

 

That's great, really thanks a lot mate, it's very nice of you to answer so quickly and completely !

Ok so now we have all our answers we are currently searching for the city we would like to live in.
We want to avoid to live in London but it seems to be easier to get jobs there for foreigners, is that true or is it just a rumour?

Could you recommend us any good place/city to live where it's easy to find a job for us as well as inexpensive apartments/flat or studios for rent?

Are there any cities that we should avoid? (racism towards Asians, Europeans?) my wife is kinda nervous about it...

Again thanks a lot !