wareeswally

Please bear with me as this is rather a long question!
Our situation is that we moved out to Canada in Aug 2008 with our two children (then aged 18 and 16). A very difficult age to make the move but the application had taken such a long time, then they were midway between GCSEs and A Levels - so we moved out once they were finished.
For various reasons we only stayed a year and came back in Aug 2009. Our eldest is now at UK uni but is really keen to go back once he has finished his degree. So is the youngest once she has finished A Levels!
The course our son is doing at uni offers at the end of the second year, either a years studying abroad (Canada being and option) or a work placement abroad. This is the last possible year out of 5, to keep up his residencey which he is desperate to do. He would have to come back to the UK after that year to complete his final year of uni but my main concern is that for that year abroad, would he be within his rights to still be registered with a UK uni but also being clocking up his Permanent Residency? We would be going back out at the same time as our daughter is keen to return to Canada but, obviously, we wouldn't come back the following year.
Its all very involved - I just hope someone may have been in a similar situation or know someone who has.
You could say we are potential 'ping-pongers'!!

kazchug

As your son is a PR in Canada is he classed as an overseas student in the UK?

wareeswally

At the moment no because we are all resident in the uk again so thats why I think we may overlap in both systems.

kazchug

Yes your right, this is going to be a difficult one. I'm just applying for an on line degree in UK and have the issue of my PR status making me an overseas student even though we will move back in just over a year or so......

wareeswally

Its so hard. My son is doing a Brtish degree in the UK but the third year takes him to Canada whether he is PR or not - its because we are going to be moving back there at that time which is tricky. Then when he has to come back to the UK for his final year, we will then be in Canada so does that make him Internatonal for the last year even though once he has finished the last year, he will join us to live and his residency will have been kept open. ARHHH - I'm even confusing myself!
We don't want to inadvertently do anything we shouldn't but we're not sure who would have the correct info.

kazchug

Speak to the university and ask there advice, as he'll be residing in the UK for the final year it should make him a UK resident. It could be a bonus spending the year in Canada to be able to renew the PR. Check out the fees for overseas student as well. Sorry I'm not able to help further.

wareeswally

Yes, I'llhave a chat with them and see what they suggest. I'm just concerned about keeping the PR valid.
Sorry I can't be of any help with your online degree query but all the best anyway!

Pebblebeach

That is definitely a tricky one. As far as I understand it , as long as your son has spent the 2 years in total out of 5 physically in Canada he should be ok for PR (if he wants to come back to the UK for the holidays though he might not have enough days).

The subect of local/international student seems a bit complicated in our position doesn't it? Perhaps someone else is already further down the line with this one?

I have one son currently in his second year at Uni in the UK. He plans to complete one of his two remaining years at a Canadian uni which will count towards his uk degree whilst allowing him to live in Canada for a year, notch up time towards his PR and get him some Canadian engineering contacts. He will hopefully join us when he graduates. I believe he will still count as a domestic student in the UK as he has lived here all of his life to date, even though we will have moved to Canada this summer.

You might be able to find the rules re domestic v. international status on the uni website, if not, I would contact them to ask.

My other son is doing his A levels now and as yet is undecided whether to go to uni here in the UK or in BC (even though we are now moving to NS!) It is quite tricky either way to figure out what his student status will be and even more trickly to figure out the funding and the logistics.

Hope you manage to work everything out ok.

Almost Canadian

How is the residency status of others on the same degree determined? If others choose to spend a year in, say, France, doing whatever work the course mandates, does that make them a resident of France?

Bob

That wouldn't make any difference because it's in the EU.

To get the UK rates, try and show that the move is only temporary in nature because of a job for instance, but having PR status usually makes it a pretty hard sell.

It's a discussion that has come up in the MBTUK and US forums a few times, so maybe have a search in those too?