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

[travellingt]

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

[Steven]

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.

[lilone]

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

[TaraCampbell]

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

[Slim486]

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

[TaraCampbell]

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.

[riverfox]

Hey guys, you really should read through the archives there's tons of information which applies to your varying stuations just have a look when you have time. It IS alot of reading though.

In anycase the main options you have are really to have your significant other look into an ancestry visa or a work permit. Barring eligibility for either of those options it may come to a fiancee visa or spousal one. Although it sounds like those would be a little premature.

You are eligible for an Ancestry visa if you have a parent or grandparent whom was born in the UK. If this is the case it's just a matter of sorting out documentation and applying.

HSMP ( highly skilled migrant program ) Is a points based system which may prove a little more problematic depending on the profession of the one applying for the visa.

I Suppose depending on age you could look into the WHM visa which would allow entry into the uk for two years and allow you to work in the UK for 12 non consecutive months.

*shrugs* I would suggest finding a solution sooner rather than later as I've heard alot of rumblings about tightening up the immigration systems here, but who knows how that will pan out.

Either way I wish you luck.

Also have a look at :

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front ... 8696631238

This is the government page with visa information and eligibilty. Hopefully you'll find something that will help resolve your situation.

[klm]

hi everyone

some rather helpful info on here! after my hours of reading british visa and immigration sites i was pretty up on the ins & outs but it helps to have it all laid in normal speak, in just a few lines. somehow those british gov.uk sites manage to take a whole page to say something that should just be a few sentences.

anyway - my story. I have an English boyfriend that i met on a visit here, thru a friend. we're rather certain we want to spend our lives together. i'm currently in the uk on my third visitor visa since my first visit in late october. this was to be my 'move' here, assuming i'd be granted another 6 month visitor visa when i arrived at customs, giving me 6 months to sort out how i'd manage working here, getting a work permit, or setting up a business of some sort, or even going to uni. however, i was only given 1 month.


my questions.
what is the risk of being here past the date in my passport? will they hunt me down at the address i put on my landing card? and will they do that promptly?

and when i leave, can i perhaps go to another country in europe for a bit and then return to the uk, hoping for another visitor visa of a longer duration? and what can i do at customs to encourage that?

should i be honest about my relationship? how do customs officials react to that? will they immediately flag me as a threat because i may want to marry an englishman and try to stay and work here? should i keep the 'boyfriend' thing under wraps or come clean?

lots of questions, i know. sorry. i'm just at a bit of a loss and not keen on the idea of heading back to canada. want to stay here with my love.

to avoid replies with info i've already sourced - i can't get an ancestry visa as my UK ancestors are in the great grandparent category, and i'm 33 so no Working holiday visa. i think my only options are student visa or fiancee visa. but right now, my main concern is figuring out how to legally stay in the country. sorting out how i'll make an income comes next.
so i'm hoping for the Visitor Visa, then maybe i can change to student, or make some contacts while I'm here and arrange a job with a company that will be willing to apply for a work permit to employ me.

whew! sorry so long - but desperately seeking some counsel on how i should proceed.

thanks so much
klm