Canadian trying to live and work in the UK

[beckyb25]

How can a Canadian with nothing but a highschool diploma live and work in the UK?

I'm currently on a Working Holiday Maker Visa but it's due to expire soon and I can no longer work because I've used up the 12 months allowed.

I love the UK and I want to stay here, my boyfriend is here and I'm very happy but we're both becoming increasingly frustrated over my situation. (Personally I think we should just get married but he seems to be avoiding that topic like the plague)

Are there any other options for me? I read some information about becoming a British Citizen but the visa website is absolutely useless when it comes to telling me how to go about applying.

If anyone else has been in my shoes, or is currently there themselves and has some advice I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!

[Joanne]

Hi beckyb25,

It would be a lot easier to get married and apply for a spouse visa , I can't see a lot of options for you because you cannot qualify for a work visa (you would need a higher education degree).

The only visa I can thing of is if you would like to study in the UK (full time for a recognised degree), you could apply for a student visa (but you are not allowed to work more than 20 hours a week) and the fees are really high for overseas students.
I can't see much more options. If you would have live with your boyfriend for 2 years (with bills and documentation to prove it ) you could have applied for a unmarried partner visa but you only have been here for a year.

You cannot apply to become a British citizen this is available only for permanent resident who has been living in the UK for 5 years or more.

Hope this helps !

Joanne

[beckyb25]

Thanks very much for your help! I had a feeling that those were pretty much my only options, but my boyfriend seems to think there's some magical visa that I haven't discovered yet

Guess it's back to Canada for me!

[Artful_Dodger84]

Do you have grandparents who were born in the UK? If so you can apply for a UK Ancestry Visa, which would allow you to live and work in the UK for 5 years and at the end of those 5 years you could apply for UK Citizenship.

I have a cousin from the UK who came to Canada and met a girl here and he was able to stay here and work and get Canadian Citizenship. So I recommend you keep searching as Im sure the UK should have some option like that as well. She went back to the UK with him for a year or two and worked and then they made the permanent move to Canada. And they weren't married.

I've spent hours and hours reading over Immigration papers between UK & Canada for my own citizenship/immigration process, so let me know if there's anything else, I may be able to help.