How to get a visa to live / work in the UK

Stratus - I've just passed the Life in the UK test. If only the questions had some relevance to British life, like the ones you suggest! Instead you get questions on how often children receive an allowance, and what is the day after Christmas called. There wasn't a single question on the social relevance of Big Brother, or define "chav"

The good news is that the Life in the UK test now counts as proof of English. The bad news is it costs £36.

Hi All,

Does anyone know of a company which can assist me with getting a visa to go live & work in the UK?

Pete

Hi All,

I have dual British/Canadian citizenship and am planning on moving to Scotland in November of 2007 with my boyfriend but he'll need a settlement visa. Here's my question:

I just noticed on the High Commission site (and I don't know if this is something new) that the sponsor needs to show proof of pay slips from the UK and since I'm not moving to the UK until November with my boyfriend I obviously won't have any pay slips. As well, since we have to send in the Visa application 3 months in advance I won't have a job set up in Scotland. We will be able to show that we have enough money to cover our costs 'til we find jobs so I'm hoping that's enough. I don't want to call our consulate in Canada because they charge $2.80/minute and won't answer emails. I am so frustrated! My questions are pretty straightforward but they make it so difficult to get in contact with anyone.

guys, apologies, this might be a question already answered but i must have missed it.
hasn't application for PR for a spouse been changed to 5 years waiting period now?

3) You absolutely NEED an original copy of the birth certificate of your UK ancestor in addition to your own.
If its a granparent, as it was in my case, you need your parent's original birth certificate (that shows your UK grandparents name on it) as well as your grandparent's birth certificate and your own legal birth certificate.
I had to order a copy of my grandmothers birth certificate off the Scottish Govt births/deaths records website (as my grandmother had passed away decades ago)& it cost under $50 (not sure exact amount) and took about 2 weeks to arrive in the post.

Thats just some of the added info I found out through my phone calls to the embassy. If there's anything your unsure of or want to make sure what you have is sufficient, don't hesitate to pay the long distance and call the Ontario UK Visa office for help, it's worth the cost for the peace of mind that you have dont it correctly.

Because I made sure everything I sent them was meeting or exceeding their criteria, my Visa was stamped in my returned passport (sent by courrier) within 2 weeks of having sent it to them (also by courrier for peace of mind that the important documents wouldnt get lost by Canada Post) - Hope this helps other Canadians planning on immigrating here :D

Hi AngelKiri,

This is very useful information, as is everyone else's. My grandfather was Scottish, and just before Britain went EU I tried to apply for my dual citizenship (which they were allowing then), but couldn't get hold of my grantfather's information. Have you the link to the correct website for this? I've managed to get redirected several times, thus I gave up. Perhaps that was their intention :) Now I would like to try to get a Visa again.

Perhaps you (or others) could help me with another question. I am a freelancer, and my primary client is in the US. The cheques could be deposited directly into my CDN account. I wonder how feasible it is to live and continue working abroad (UK or Europe). What pitfalls must I look out for? (Medical insurance, I suspect, is one).

Thanks for the advice.

Best
t

British citizenship is about the most useful one to have, because in addition to the EU benefits, many British Commonwealth countries (not Canada or any of the Dominions) give preferential treatment to people coming from other Commonwealth countries. Also because Britain is in the EU, it's somewhat easier to get permission to live in EFTA countries and some of the European micro-states.

So if you want to live in the Falklands, Kenya or New Caledonia, it becomes much easier if you're British.

Which is great because I couldn't stand living in the UK.

All this information has been helpful, and I'm sure this has been asked or covered, but here's my situation.

I just returned from the UK from a week visit (which I really did not want to come home). But I have been in contact with a club about a possible job. Now my issue is, I have a 4 year old daughter who I will of course need to bring with me. I do have a place to stay when i first arrive there, an aunt who was married a british man, and lives there currently. *Question 1: Can I still get an ancestry visa with a dependent.

Now if this isn't all so much to handle, my mother refuses to let me have a copy of her birth certificate, she was born in Canada but her mother came from Northern Ireland when she was 8, but also refuses to allow me access to a copy of my Grandmothers as well. Its my understanding that Northern Ireland is part of the UK which works well for what I am looking to do. *Question 2: Is there a way to obtain a copy of these birth certificates with out having to battle them out of my unwilling mother? (lol)

Any information would be very helpful. Fell free to email me directly about this, as I am just sitting on this email from this Club, afraid to email them and say, well I want a job, just not yet, if you all understand that.

Thanks again,

Jess

Hi there! I am A canadian looking to move to the Uk. I was thinking about applying for the Working HolidayMaker Visa and going over and trying to find work. My Boyfriend lives over there. So my story is, I am currently legally separated from my husband and the divorce is taking its good old time to go through. I was wondering if I would still be able to apply for the working holiday visa? It say's you have to be single, and I guess technically I'm not, Im separated from my husband though. Anyways, If someone could help with this, I'd appreciate it! Thanks,

Tara Campbell

Hey guys,

Hope your all ok and everything. Just have a few questions that i would love help with! definately need a bit of peace of mind. My Girlfriend is currently living in Canada as a Canadian citizen but she would like to move here with me now we havent been together too long to be honest but there is nothing i would love more to have her living here with me. What she wants to do is sell her current house (that she owns herself) in Canada and then move over here so we can buy a house together, now ive visited websites but i just cant seem to put anything into place and its really bugging me and im having sleepless nights because i just dont know what to do . And also she has a 5 year old daughter who will also be moving to this country with her, any information would be great on how we need to go about it and if this is at all possible obviously i dont want her to sell her house and then end up having to go back to canada i would like her to become a perminent possibly working citizen of britain. Thank you for your time and i hope to hear from you.

Andy

Andy, my boyfriend and I are in the same situation. Minus the house part. We have contacted lots of ppl about this and we get nowheres with it. MY boyfriend lives in Scotland and I live here in Canada. I know exactly what your going through, the both of you.