in need of some advice!!!!!!!!!

becsholmes
New Member



Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 1

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 6:34 pm

 

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hi! i need some advice...as im very new at this and dont know anyone who has done this...i really want to move to London by september...how easy is it to obtain a Visa without having a degree? I have 2 years of university (art school) and my grandmother is english...im working right now and saving up all my money...so i should have about 6000 by when i apply/leave...any help/advice? will it be possible? i sure hope so

thanks

Becs

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themeone
Senior Member



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 75
Location: London UK

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:09 am

 

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As far as I understand it, if you have a UK-born grandparent you can apply for a visa to live and work in the UK for 4 years. Whether you have a degree or not makes no difference.

The best course of action would be to get in touch with the British High Commission in Canada. Meanwhile, have a look at their website:

http://www.britain-in-canada.org/Visa/uk_ancestry.htm

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Blue and White Army
Senior Member


Back to Vancouver in March!

Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Posts: 110
Location: West Sussex, UK

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2004 8:05 am

 

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And if you don't have a grandparent born in the UK, like me (great grandparents don't count?!?!?), you can get a two-year working holiday-maker visa.

This visa doesn't require any post-secondary education either.

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pkennedy1990
Junior Member



Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: London

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 6:42 am

 

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You can get a visa for having a grandparent born in the UK, just make sure you have the information on your parents as well, which sometimes takes MONTHS to get. I had a grandmother born in Ireland, Belfast which is Northern Ireland now but was all one country back in the 1800's, which makes it easier for me to get Republic of Ireland citizenship which falls under the category of EU citizenship which gives me more than just a four-year visa. About contacting the British Embassy in Ottawa, make sure they don't mistake your UK ancestry visa application for a Student Visa one, though, like they did mine! They have this tendency to do things wrong in their overseas consular offices, unlike Canada.

The working holiday visa doesn't require a completed Bachelor's degree either. But the thing about visas from Canadians going to Britain is this; they seem to have started "cracking down" on Commonwealth citizens coming over here and running out of money. The currency conversion rate is TERRIBLE; it's like $2.60/£1 and it goes FAST once you get here. For a visa of any kind they want to see more money, like around $10,000 Canadian, in your bank account before they will issue it; they're starting to act like we're "Americans" and thus have no right to be here if we happen to not have brought enough money to support ourselves until we find a job. The visa will help a little but not if you don't have a Bachelor's degree yet at all. I have the required, Bachelor's degree, 2 years of teaching experience, and because the teaching placement agencies SAID I could come over here as a "visitor" and get the UK Ancestry thing or the Irish citizenship thing straightened out once I got here, I came over, only to find out that they don't really want to hire teachers (no matter how severe the shortage of Math and Science teachers is that they advertise even in Vancouver and Toronto!) who meet the stated minimum requirements if I didn't bring my own Visa, my own Criminal Record Check, etc. These are things that they are supposed to take care of here, the UK employer is supposed to sponsor all of that and take care of that, but they don't seem very willing to DO it. It's not like Canada where people are told outright that they have to interview with the Canadian Consulate's office in the country where they are currently before getting on Air Canada and coming over if they want to come over to a job offer. That and, Canada doesn't make job offers over the phone and then decide to throw red tape in the person's face when they see them in person - you'll have to excuse me, I'm an Aboriginal person of Nova Scotia and after dealing with many years of that runaround from the United States, cities that said they're crying out for Math teachers and then giving me some sort of stupid excuse or red tape thing when they saw me in person, I'm starting to think that England is becoming Americanised in that sense.

Anyway, the Visas will help with the "legal to work in the UK" part but because you're Canadian, employers won't want you because you won't be considered qualified. Even if you're not a teacher, most London jobs will look at that. They are just screwing Canadians over one way or another, and it's not just me because I'm First Nations. They're treating us like we're "the rest of the world" and have no business being here seeking "their" jobs. Only in teaching Math and Science is it excusable for a person from overseas to have come over here at all!

I'm originally from Halifax and I keep getting "you're an American" and/or "go back to America" one hell of a lot! I'm tempted to leave them to their so-called Math teacher shortage and go back to the Reserve where I won't be called THAT anymore!!

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Saskman
New Member



Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 5

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:34 am

 

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Best advice...Visit London, but live in Edinburgh. Nice, friendly city. Easy to get around. Loads of temp jobs due to concentration of financial head offices.

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Gen E
New Member



Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 4

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:56 pm

 

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You can check out this website: www.swap.ca
for information on how to get the 2 year working-holiday visa. You do not need to be a full time student, although keep in mind that most university student services departments carry the brochure. Hope this helps!

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