Coming to UK from CANADA.

[wooly]

Hi,

I fell in love with a lady who I met on the internet about six months ago.
She is a Canadian Citizen living in Canada and I am a British Citizen living in England.

We have arranged so that she will come and stay with me in UK for one month and then return to Canada.

I have looked through the UK visa web sites... It says that Canadians and Brits can come and go without visa's for a period of six months at a time.

Does that mean that she can come and stay with me upto 6 months then go back to Canada for a short time eg. One week or one month.. And then come back and stay with me for up to six months again. and repeat this process indefinately?

Thx.

[avjones]

"Does that mean that she can come and stay with me upto 6 months then go back to Canada for a short time eg. One week or one month.. And then come back and stay with me for up to six months again. and repeat this process indefinately? "

No, it doesn't. As a rule of thumb, no more than 6 months in a year.

[wooly]

Thank you .

This now poses a long term problem..
How can the two of us remain together without having to wait six months at a time.

She had a great grandparent who was a UK citizen and I was thinking of asking her to apply for an 'ancestry visa' but someone told me that is not possible. Only 'Grand parents' are allowed for this visa. Is this correct?

If she comes for a visit and then goes back to Canada. Does she then have to apply for a 'marriage visa' to come back to the U.K. to marry me?


To put it in a nutshell.. What is the best way for us to live happly ever after (together) in the U.K.


thx.

[sakura]

Thank you .

This now poses a long term problem..
How can the two of us remain together without having to wait six months at a time.

She had a great grandparent who was a UK citizen and I was thinking of asking her to apply for an 'ancestry visa' but someone told me that is not possible. Only 'Grand parents' are allowed for this visa. Is this correct?

If she comes for a visit and then goes back to Canada. Does she then have to apply for a 'marriage visa' to come back to the U.K. to marry me?

To put it in a nutshell.. What is the best way for us to live happly ever after (together) in the U.K.


thx.

She has many options,
1. HSMP, if she is highly skilled
2. work permit, if she has good skills
3. student visa, if she wants to do further/higher education
4. Working Holiday Maker (two years) as she is a Commonwealth citizen (never heard of that? Shame on you! It might just save your relationship )
5. marriage

I strongly suggest you don't use the visa waiver to stay together - I don't understand how she can stay so long anyway - doesn't she have a job, or is at uni or something? She'd just be lingering here all the time, not able to work, study, or even volunteer.

No. 4 is your best bet. Go to www.workingintheuk.gov.uk and read up about it there (I think!). She can stay for two years (but only work for one year). Conversly, you can also use this same programme (as a Commonwealth citizen) to go to Canada, although I think they only give one year visas (work for 6 months only), but it's good for you both.

Ancestry visa...from what I know thus far, it's only available as far back as grandparent generation. Otherwise half of the US could well argue their right to British citizenship (although, granted, they're not in the CW).

[wooly]

Thank you.

I have looked at all those options listed and for one reason or another ( age, lack of skill etc.) the only one open to us is mirrage.

And I don't fully understand the gargon used by the visa office.


She will come to vist me for one month.
then she will go back to Canada.
And a month later I will go and visit her for one month.
then I will come back to UK.

Does she then apply for a 'marriage visa' to come and marry me?
And how long can she then stay with me?

thx.

[Wanderer]

There's the fiancee visa too to consider. Can I ask if you two have actually met each other?

[sakura]

Thank you.

I have looked at all those options listed and for one reason or another ( age, lack of skill etc.) the only one open to us is mirrage.

And I don't fully understand the gargon used by the visa office.


She will come to vist me for one month.
then she will go back to Canada.
And a month later I will go and visit her for one month.
then I will come back to UK.

Does she then apply for a 'marriage visa' to come and marry me?
And how long can she then stay with me?

thx.

If she wants to get married here, yes. You can visit each other, and then when you decide you want to marry, apply for the marriage visa.

I think the marriage visa is for 6 months, during which time you should marry and apply for a spouse visa. Bear in mind that 1. she cannot work/study whilst on this visa and 2. you need to apply for a spouse visa before it expires!

BTW - a work permit has no age limit - as long as she finds an employer to sponsor her, she can get a work permit.

[wooly]

Thank you.

We will be meeting for the first time next month.

We want to be together and have talked about it alot. We didn't realise the headache involved with immigration etc. until very recently.

thx.

[sakura]

There's the fiancee visa too to consider. Can I ask if you two have actually met each other?

Clarification - the marriage visa I'm reffering to is only if she wants to marry here and return - which she doesn't want!

You need the fiancee visa, which allows her to stay here with you afterwards.

My bad But the fiancee visa is also still valid for 6 months, and the same conditions apply.

[sakura]

Thank you.

We will be meeting for the first time next month.

We want to be together and have talked about it alot. We didn't realise the headache involved with immigration etc. until very recently.

thx.

Hmm...I don't think they will give the fiancee visa if you haven't yet met? I don't know for sure. Listen: all of this can be sorted out by the end of the year;
1. she comes to meet you on a visa waiver, she returns
2. you go to meet her on a visa waiver, you return
3. you then propose to get married, she accepts and applies for a fiancee visa
4. she comes to the UK, you get married and apply for a spouse visa

Sorted! They might give you a fiancee visa before having met, I'm not sure, but if you two need some more one-to-one time, then it might be better to start out with the visits.

[wooly]

Thank you.

I did ask about the work permit and was told that it would only be issued to people that had a special skill or type of people who couldn't easly be found on the UK job market.

Are work permits difficult to obtain... are they like a 'sponsership'?

thx.

[sakura]

Thank you.

I did ask about the work permit and was told that it would only be issued to people that had a special skill or type of people who couldn't easly be found on the UK job market.

Are work permits difficult to obtain... are they like a 'sponsership'?

thx.

They're not easy or hard. It depends on what job industry she's in. If she's an engineer or even a teacher, it might be easy (my friend has a work permit, and she's a reception teacher). So it just depends on what her skills are. If she's only an admin assistant - forget it, unless she speaks many languages fluently (I'm thinking Kazakh, Urdu and Fijian or some weird combination!). She should look into it herself - do some job searching.