Visitors Visa -Extension?

H. Marmot
New Member



Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Posts: 2

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:27 am

 

---

Hi, I have questions for anyone can help regarding: Extending a visit of 6 months.....here's my story:

I met my Scottish boyfriend while he was on a working holiday visa in Vancouver. We were together 9 months in Canada and decided to continue our relationship in Scotland. So here I am in the UK. But I wan't able to secure a nice long 1-year visit with a working holiday visa because I am too old. I am 32 and you have to be between 19-30, which is just discrimination!!! I didn't qualify for an ancestry visa or anything else, so have just come over as a Canadian Visitor for the allowable 6 months, no working allowed. I have looked into finding work sponsorship by talking with companies, but that's another long story (you have to be superwoman with lots of lawyer power). Simply, I want to stay another 6 months so we can figure things out. I called the Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau and they repeated that a visitor can only stay 6 months and has to be home at least 6 months out of the year in order to return to the UK. Has anyone tried simply leaving the UK to go to France or somewhere, and then coming back across to the UK? Or, Has anyone ever heard of a Canadian Visitor applying for an extension to stay? From what I've read it seems that extensions to stay are only for those people who were already granted work visas. Any suggestions? THanks!
_________________
Save the Hoary Marmot!

---

Susie D
Senior Member



Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 91
Location: North Vancouver

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:58 am

 

---

I'm not sure I can tell you much that's promising. If you qualify for a work permit, you still have to leave the country and return with an entry clearance. However, if you're only applying for a 6-month work permit, you don't necessarily have to return to your home country - you could go to France (or wherever) for a week or two (two's better), then come back into the UK.

As for the work permit, I don't know what your circumstances are. You could apply as a domestic worker, possibly. Check out the work-based schemes here:

http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/working_in_the...d_programmes.html

I tried to go the work permit route when I needed a 6-month extension, but I became entangled in the red tape because I'm an office worker (software), which doesn't fall under any of the schemes. It's a long, complicated story. Suffice to say I went the Unmarried Partner visa route. Check out the thread on unmarried partners to see more on that.

One more option is to apply under the Unmarried Partner scheme. Unfortunately, you'd have to be able to prove you've lived together 2 years, which sounds like it might be difficult. Again, check out the thread on unmarried partners on this message board.

Good luck! These cross-continent relationships sure test our strength and patience!

---