louisasurreygirl

Hello there,

Just a "wild" thought, but I don't suppose hubbie has any European (British or otherwise) ancestary whatsoever ..... ? I only ask because so many people in Canada have European ancestary of some kind! You never know!

Anyway, I have been looking at the UK immigration rules, and I can't see anything that specified that your husband needs to prove that he has a certain amount of cash to support himself. It reiterates that he is not allowed to use public funds, so as long as he never uses public funds during his residency then I believe that is simply what that means. You are a person who has "settlement" privileges. I think you really just need to set out in good detail in the application your intentions and reasons to be in the UK - i.e. just state that it is your family's future plans to be in the UK and any other reasons you have. I would say that if there is anyway that you can at least attempt to get a job, or make it look like you are actively looking for the sake of getting there and enclose that proof in your application (perhaps send some emails to some agencies enclosing your CV and include that with your application), once your husband's 2 year (or permanent since you've lived together 4 years) visa is through, you won't even necessarily have to take the job, or stay in it very long. As the person said to you today, you only even need to put the address of the hotel or rented accommodation and provide the booking reservation for proof of address initially. Whatever evidence you have of researching your intentions to live in the UK, it will all be valid proof. They will realise that you won't necessarily have a permanent home at the time of the application, and I imagine they come across this a lot as most married couples who've been together a long time (especially with a baby) do not wish to be separated for any length of time.

The good news is that your hubbie gets to have a work permit straight away, and that will be at the very least for 2 years. I am not sure how long these applications take to be processed however (I think I read about 6 weeks earlier but that seems so quick compared to me being sponsored to come to Canada to live and work!), but I am sure you may have found that out already or can quickly find out by googling... !

If I were you, I would definitely get on with the application -start filling out the forms, start working on your case; type up essays on your history together, start gathering wedding photos, photos of family gatherings, written cards to each other etc..., whatever it takes - I sent in 2 huge binders worth of stuff for our application for me to come here!!

Again, I do not claim to be an expert but just want to give you encouragement, and that there will be a resolution for you. It just takes a bit of time to work out what it is as all this information can be very overwhelming and confusing!!

Best of luck - I really hope it works out for you!

nohinsara

Oh, sometimes I wish it were so! I'm afraid there's not much chance of that though, my hubby is Chinese. He was born here, but both parents are from Hong Kong, and as Asian as they come!
Otherwise I'd be all over it, asking his parents for family trees and scouring his genealogy. It would have been a good thing to try though, had he not been Chinese.

I have spent hours looking over those rules. I guess I'm getting a little obsessed! I did call ABTRAN before and ask someone there about the funds issue, and was told I should have enough money to sustain us for about 2 months. I don't really understand why I would need to have so much though, as I am very employable in the office field (tonnes of jobs!) and my hubby is also quite employable. But, given what I was told, I think we might get rejected if there isn't some form of savings in place.

Perhaps then it wouldn't need to be that much of a lump sum of money then, as long as we provided supporting documents that state we both intend to work and settle. Your argument makes sense, and I really hope it's true about the money. That would mean there's very little stopping us from going back, and that thought makes me crazy happy . I will be calling ABTRAN again tomorrow and asking again about the money. I'm just soooo scared of getting rejected, you know?

I guess I'd better start collecting materials for my claim now then! We have so much that we could put in there as we have spent 4 years together, so I don't think it will be a problem. I might need to send a FedEx box over to them filled with stuff though, rather than just an envelope!

Thank you for your reply - it's so nice to have the support of people like you that understand how hard this is. None of my friends here understand. It can be very frustrating - no one to talk to that really gets what you're going though.
Your support means a lot

nohinsara

I called ABTRAN again to ask about funds / savings for the application. I was told that I might be at risk to be rejected if I did not have the evidence to support that we had saved up around two months of living expenses. I suppose that makes sense because we don't have any family or friends to stay with so we will have to pay our way. It's still daunting though.

Anyone know a way to make some cash really quick?

fishfinger

Are you sure your husband can't get a transfer with Ebay, even if it's a slightly different job? They are so big in England.

What about remortgaging your condo to release some capital for living expenses? Then you could just rent out your place here until you decided the UK was where you wanted to be.

nohinsara

Unfortunately eBay doesn't have a customer service office in England (I WISH they did!). They have an executive office, but hubby doesn't even come close to having the kind of experience and background they would want, even if there were job postings. There is a customer service office in Dublin, but hubby insists there aren't any jobs he could apply for there . I would settle for Ireland if the opportunity came up, and Hubby knows that so he's always looking out for jobs there.

As for re-mortgaging I never thought of that! There would be a couple things to sort out though - we'd have to see if our strata would allow us to rent, and we would have to see if the renting price would even cover the mortgage, as it's a lot of cash as it is now just to cover the mortgage and the strata fees (we pay about $1400 per month for a 2 bedroom at the moment). If we refinanced the amount would go up per month and I don't know if I could get that much rent for this area.
It's a damn good suggestion though Fishfinger! I will have to look into it!

YankeemovingAbroad

Nohinsara

Hi

Just wanted to offer you my support and well wishes,and to say hang in there,things will work out. Not sure how long you've owned your home and how much it has increased in value, but I was wondering if a "Equity Line of Credit" might be a great way of tapping into some of your equity,by taking out a second mortgage on your place.Once approved for a certain dollar amount,they will open up an account which you can access just like a checking account.You can take part or all of it out when ever you want to, or you can just leave it in the account to access for a rainy day.Which is kinda nice because no payments will begin until you start to borrow from the loan amount.Not 100% sure if this option is offered in Canada to date.I live in America and we have many banking and mortgage products that are similarly found in Canada as well.Usually its easier to qualify for a ELC type loan and it will not effect your existing mortgage, which can be a good thing if your current rate is at the lower point scale.I'm a mortgage consultant here in florida and have written several ELC's. Might be worth looking into by simply calling up the company which loaned you the money for your home,or can just call up your local bank and they should be able to inform you of the many loan options offered.If you've owned your home for 2-4 years,should have increased in value by 10-20 percent conservatively speaking.This could allow you to attain the money you need with out having to do repairs to your home and with out having to sell it out right.I hope this info is of some help to you.

YankeemovingAbroad

Nohisara

btw,where exactly in the UK do you want to relocate to?

nohinsara

YankeemovingAbroad - Hi there! Thank you for the information on 2nd mortgages and Equity Loans. We may be looking into that as an option because we will need to be doing some updating on our condo to either sell or rent it. Plus, we can take some of that money and stash it into a joint account to prove we have savings to the Visa people. I think hubby's a little nervous about taking out more credit, but you must spend money to make money, as they say!

We're not really too sure where in the UK we will end up, it really depends on where my husband would be offered work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for London (would love to live in Finchley [North London] area), but it doesn't matter too much. Looks like there's a lot of work in Leeds right now so we might end up there.
Short answer: Don't have a clue, but hopefully a major city in England!

ann m

Sorry - butting in here really. Trying to catch up on the saga ! Do your hubby's parents have, or qualify for British passports? Is there another option or route here ?

YankeemovingAbroad

Nohinsara


You are welcome, hope the info helps.Tell your old man that his decision to take out credit is very worth while and its an investment on both your futures.Besides,Canada is not going any where.You're both young and what ever you two build up over time in the UK because of currency exchange will allways be worth double compared to canada.So if you ever want to come back many years down the road,the option will be there.Canada is a very nice country but having the opportunity to live in Europe is just too amazing to past up.Having all the other european capitals at your door step to visit for a long weekend get away is very exciting when you think about it.I'm still trying to figure out a way to live in europe.Not as easy for Americans with out a special skilled job .You go after your dream and make it happen .

fishfinger

Hubby is Chinese I believe.

fishfinger

Well we are all routing for you - Let's make it happen!!!!

nohinsara

ann m -
I'm afraid this is true. What I wouldn't give for there to be some British Heritage on his side! He would say that he is Canadian though, not Chinese. He's what they call a CBC here, which means "Canadian Born Chinese".
But, either way, no chance of claiming British decent.

YankeemovingAbroad -
I totally agree, we are both young and there is so much opportunity in England! He has no idea what he's been missing living here. He does realize that we can come back if we so chose, but as the real estate market is showing no signs of slowing down here, we could never hope to buy again, and that's what bothers him. He's also scared of what his parent are going to think - they will see this as a big mistake for sure. For them, everything is about the money and the bottom line. They will see this as a huge step back for us and will probably withdraw their support.
I can understand his fear, but to be honest I'm done living our lives for his parents and mine.
ANYway... that's a whole other ball of wax

Thanks so much luv! I'm keeping everything crossed in hopes something come through for us soon. It's really hard from this side of the pond though.
So far we've had two calls, both recruiters I think. One wants more information on Hubby's experience, so he's going to get that info off to him, and we're still waiting on the results of that screening call we had a couple days back. With any luck, we'll hear from that lead tomorrow! (*praying*)

ann m

[QUOTE=nohinsara;4535909]ann m -


I'm afraid this is true. What I wouldn't give for there to be some British Heritage on his side! He would say that he is Canadian though, not Chinese. He's what they call a CBC here, which means "Canadian Born Chinese".
But, either way, no chance of claiming British decent.
QUOTE]

I understand hubby is chinese - my brain just went off on it's own little path (it does that a lot you know) - thinking that persons from Hong Kong are, or were at some point, eligible for British passports - ie, before it was all handed back to China - so if they were eligible, could it make your hubby eligible too - somehow? Can you tell I don't know much about these things ??!!

Anyway - good luck - and I'll butt out again now ...

nohinsara

[QUOTE=ann m;4537239] Don't be silly! There is no butting in or out here! This is not a closed thread, I welcome all ideas, advice and suggestions!
It's an interesting point about the British occupation in China. I'm with you though, I have no idea about these things! I have a feeling we'd still be out of luck though - both his parents were born in Hong Kong for sure, but he was born here in Vancouver. It warrants some research though. Will google it and see what I can find!