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

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.

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

Hey,

Well. lying definately wasn't the way to go. I tend to limit my responses to whatever information they request. If they ask you about a boyfriend you ought to have said you had a boyfriend. *shrug* In my estimation lying will get you nowhere especially if you are found.

Okay If you do tell them you have a boyfriend here what they will want from you is some sort of proof that you intend to return to canada. So you will have to have a return ticket to canada if you are entering on a visitor visa.

The only other option you haven't mentioned in your post for an entry visa is HSMP the highly skilled migrant program. This is a points based system under which you could possibly qualify. However you know your circumstances better than any one else.

I'm afraid that otherwise you have already negated any other options which I may have suggested.

Personally I have found that unless you have an in demand profession you will have a very hard time finding a company to sponsor you for a work permit as it costs them time and effort. Plus they have to prove that you would be better suited to the job than anyone currently available for hire within the country.

Which I were more hopeful.

Take Care.

Wow, another great source of information here too.

My wife is applying for the UK Ancestry Visa in July, and I will be applying as a dependant. As we have a house and contents to sell, plus bring a dog, we have to wait until at least late September to leave with him, as per the PETS Scheme.

We have ample $$$ in the bank already, plus my wife's, her father's and then grandmother's long form birth certificates, up-to-date passports and accomodation already lined up (I used to live there on a WHM visa in 1998-2000), and, "essentially", jobs. My concern is the time from when you apply to the time the visa "entry window" expires. As mentioned, we hope to apply in late July, and complete the biometrics by 1 August. From some people on various forums, I hear that you have to enter right away (i.e. 2 weeks), and other people have stated that you can have up to 90 days (ideal for us).

Are there some Ancestry visa holders out there that can shed some light on this?

Many thanks- this forum, along with others, really helps with the research and saves on those US$12 calls to the Consulate (or their agent, rather).

Peter

In my experience with the teachers that I have going to England, the biometrics testing seems to actually be speeding up Ancestry & WHM visa applications. Virtually all of my teachers have rec'd their visas within a week of applying and doing the finger print stuff. Shocking isn't it? I had advised them all to apply sooner rather than later, which most did and now they have their passports with visas stamped, ready to depart for late August to early November.

I have an ancestry visa myself, but didn't have any problems with when I had to arrive. I don't remember there being any documentation that stated any kind of time frame for when I had to arrive in the UK actually. My visa just states that I have ancestry and can be in the UK for up to 5 years. If they don't state it in the passport, I wouldn't worry about it. I think they're reasonable and will understand a family moving to the UK won't likely depart within 2 weeks of receiving their visas.

Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Victoria

(Owner of Classroom Canada)

Thanks for your information which is very useful.

Hi,

I was hoping that I could get some advice. My husband is a UK citizen and is currently in Canada going through the immigration process. We would like to have the option of going back to the UK to live if need be in the future. I am wondering what the best way for me to go is.

My father was born in England, and still retains his british and canadian citizenship.

My grandparents were both born in the United Kingdom.

I am a skilled worker, in the lower level (I have a Bachelors Degree)

I know you can apply for Ancestry Visa, Settlement Visa by Spouse, Work Visa and Right of Abode (I am confused about this one). Can you apply for all, or do you choose one, and what would be the best option. I don't know if spousal settlement is the best choice because obviously my husband holds no job in the UK now that he moved to Canada and maybe his status will change once immigration goes through in which he is no longer a british citizen? Does he get a right of abode once gets residency status in Canada?

Anyone with answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Katiebear,

Further to my private response, you apply for one. They cost you, so I'd only apply for one! The right of abode and the Spousal one (I believe-haven't looked into that one too much myself), if you can get it, gives you more rights than the Ancestry or the work visa, so I'd recommend going for one of the former two if you can.

Hope that helps!

You can go for studying some years and then stay there and work and you can get the visa. Some of my friends did that

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