Problems I must solve before 14 years LTR application

[Zebrudaya]

Dear friends

Please I need your help and advice badly. I will qualify for 14 years LTR in a few years but things are so difficult for me financially. I am now owing a tidy sum on credit cards, owing my landlady about 2 months rent and also actively looking for work now. All these started as a result of the credit crunch and also because the government has tightened up, so many employers now ask for relevant documents to avoid paying £10,000 fine if found employing an illegal etc.

The effect of this is that I can`t generate money to use to pay for the LTR application when the time comes ( I think it is about £1250 now ), I need to have some money in my bank account ( say £2000 - £3000 at least) to prove I am not likely to fall to social welfare if I am granted LTR. I also need money to feed and pay my rent at least to be able to survive till I complete the 14 years etc.

I am hereby requesting our members to help and advice me. I have done carer work, cleaning, painting, factory work and handyman work. I am qualified to work as a security officer but I can`t do it now because of my illegality etc. I am highly skilled professional and have a clean record with the police ( CRB certs available ). I don`t smoke, drink or run after women. Put another way, I am a frugal, shrewd person who only spend his little money on food, rent and exams basically. As a matter of fact, I have had money sent to me from home sometimes, otherwise, I would have probably died of starvation. Also, it was just by God`s grace that I have not gone insane from the problems illegals suffer here as most of you already have apparently experienced.

I therefore will be very grateful if any of you can help me get a job, any job. I live in the London / Essex area and am ready for an immediate start.

Thank you for a quick response.

[kenfrapin]

I'm sorry to hear your plight but do commend you on your resolve to make it through such hard times.

While I cannot add to your post nor assist in anyway, I do have one question - Is there any particular reason for struggling all these years just get the LTR? You said money has been sent to you from home so your home does not sound that bad a place to live in.

Given the condition of the UK in recent times, huge spending cuts on the way with reduction in benefits, will life really improve after you get your LTR? From the sounds of it, you have suffered enough so many years and, even after the LTR, your existence will not change dramatically. Given all this, have you seriously considered returning back home and trying to have a better life there? You will also have your family as your support network which is vital for your situation.

Just a thought but I write this after reading your post 3/4 times and wondering why one would suffer so much just to get the LTR which I must add does nothing at all to improve your finances

Wish you the best ahead
KP

[PaperPusher]

No one on the board should offer you a job because that would be illegal, and as the person would know you have no right to work they would face up to two years in prison on top of a fine.

If they recommend you to a friend then their friend is risking the £10k fine.

I have sympathy for you but employers are much more aware that people must show they can work legally nowadays.

[ElenaW]

OP, I'm so sorry about your situation. Have you tried going to a local food bank in your area? That way you will atleast have food. I've got no job assistance to offer you as I too feel the crunch and even being legally here as a student, I've not been able to secure employment.

Do you belong to any church groups? They may offer you some money to live on. Not much but enough to maybe pay some bills off.

Have you tried moving into a hostel? There are some in London that only charge about £9/day.

Good luck. I'm sending you some good vibes your way and hope that things get better soon.

edit to add: If I were in your situation I would much rather go home and let my family members help me get back on my feet.

[Zebrudaya]

Thank you kenfrapin, PaperPusher and ElenaW for your prompt replies and pieces of advice. It is actually a longer story than I have tried to tell here.....................I have considered most of those lines of action you kindly suggested. I thought of returning home but I quickly shelved it because, those who sent me money from home, did so because they knew that I am not the sort of person who would "cry wolf, wolf" when there was no need to do so. Put another way, they knew I was in dire financial straits for me to request for money from home and that as soon as I got better, that I was going to pay back asap. It wasn`t that my family is well-off etc. As a matter of fact, I came here partly to improve my lot and indirectly that of the family.

I have tried some of these churches that are every where but got no help. Most were more interested in collecting tithes from members etc. However, some individuals have helped and by God`s grace, I hope to pay them back the money loaned asap.

On the issue of ILR / British citizenship, I think having endured 12 years, it is in my own interest to try and qualify. I say this because I was discriminated against in my highly skilled profession ( on account of my age / being a non -EU citizen ), and so, I couldn`t get my professional job etc. When I obtain ILR / British citizenship, those discriminatory practices will no longer have any effect upon me. Besides, I can then register with the SIA and start working as a security officer at least and earn some money.( I already have the certificate as I said in my second post )

Back home, my professional colleagues have been on strike over non payment of salaries etc for over a month and also there is high insecurity to life and property, with kidnapping of people for ransoms running into millions of pounds very rampant. My take on the home sitation is that if I panic and return home, those kidnappers might think I came home with loads of money and might see me as a target etc. I wouldn`t want to put my family in such a difficult postion.

Thank you.

[PaperPusher]

You have to send in identity documents to the SIA, which in case you didn't know is part of the Home Office. Then if you got your card you still have to show a prospective employer that you have a right to work in the UK. I cannot see how you expect to get a job as a security guard. Employers are more clued up than they were in the past.

[Zebrudaya]

Dear sushdmehta

Thank you for your post. Maybe you didn`t understand my arguement. I was saying that after I must have got ILR / British passport, I can then be eligible to work as a security officer. By then, in the eyes of both SIA and HO, I am a UK citizen. I have long since done the door supervisor NOCN training and obtained the certificate. I however couldn`t work / earn my livelihood through it because of my illegality. The illegality ceases as soon as I get ILR, hence my desire to obtain it as soon as I qualify.

Thank you.

[Zebrudaya]

Dear paperPusher

Thank you for your post. I mistakeningly addressed a reply to your post to sushdmehta. Please kindly see the reply in the post recently addressed to sushdmehta.

Thank you.