I have posted this on another forum but haven't had a response yet, so thought I would post it here too...

Hi everyone,

Its been a while since posting, but I hope everyone had a great new year!!!

I need a little assistance. My Canadian Husband and I (UK Citizen) got married in Canada in March while I was visiting. I returned home to the UK after a two week vacation.

However, we are at a cross roads, neither of us can decide where to live??!!!! We have been together nearly 5 years, but trying to decide where is best is actually starting to drive us apart.

Option 1: UK - I live in a rented council property with my 6 year old daughter who is in school, has friends and a lot of family who love her. I am unemployed and have tried finding work over the last year with no joy, as I need to have an income to sponsor my husband to come to the UK. The economy in the UK as a lot of people know is depressing. We had agreed that my husband would immigrate here. He has savings through his job but they cannot be accessed until he resigns. But he needs to remain in work until he gets a visa. We are also having doubts if living in the UK is the better option for my daughters future and our own.

Option 2: Canada - My husband is a Canadian citizen and works full time as a delivery driver, he earns a reasonable wage. He currently lives with his mother which was always just temporary until one of us made a move. He has 2 children in Canada from a previous marriage and they are just getting into there early teens and he is finding it hard coming to terms with leaving them. He also has to pay maintenance. I would have to get permission from my daughters father to go to canada, even though he is a British citizen going through canadian immigration himself.

Even though we are struggling to make the best decision for our family/families I wanted to give some background and any advice/opinions are welcome.

My question is.

I know that my we can visit Canada on a visitors visa up to 6 months and either return to the UK or apply for an extention but what we are not sure about is how will my 6 year old be schooled? Can she apply for a study visa before we go or would we have to apply for a change of visa when we are there or would I have to home school her using UK education resources in canada. I know that I cannot work. We are just not sure if going to canada as a spouse with dependant is possible on a temporary basis, as we are unsure if we will want to stay permanently or not.

Confused?? We are. My husband at the moment is in the UK for 2 weeks, leaves on Saturday and we want to try and resolve our issues before he returns home....

Thanks in advance..

Sounds like you've got yourself in a right situation, lol.

My instinct would be to go to Canada.

Almost every economic reason to go, only one for staying here seems to be friends and family.

But surely you must have talked about this before you got married?

Me too

I don't know the people involved or their various situations. However, given you've posted to this forum asking for advice and having read the information you've given, it seems to me that Canada is the obvious choice. If you move to Canada, you, your daughter, your husband and your husband's kids will all be in the same place. Your daughter's father is also emigrating to Canada.

You'll find information on study permits here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study-minors.asp

If I were in your shoes it would be a no brainer. CANADA CANADA CANADA. Just the idea of being unemployed and stuck in council housing would be enough incentive to make me want to change my situation. Can you imagine if your husband gave up his job and couldn't find employment in the UK he'd be so resentful and miserable. If you have an amicable situation with your ex it also means your daughter can still see her dad (although you could be opposite ends of the country) Give Canada a go, I can't imagine you'll be saying 'but I had a lovely council house and no job in the UK' anytime soon. Could you really ask him to give up his job and his relationship with his kids to join you on the UK benefit system? Good luck.

Thank you for replying!

Yes we had made the decision he would come to the UK. Maybe I was slightly nieve in thinking that I would be able to get back into work easier than it has been and if I can't get back into work here (UK) then how hard is it going to be for my husband. Listening to the News etc and how friends and family are struggling to keep jobs it has brought doubts as to whether the UK would be the better option...

Thank you for replying MillieF...it says on your profile at the side going to NB, is that New Bruswick? As thats where my husband is from.

Thank you for the link, I will have a look at it once I have finished posting on here

My daughters biological father is also in the middle of immigrating to Canada which is a seperate sitiation in respects of any application we would make however emotionally there would be barriers that we would have to deal down the line and he would also have to give his permission for her to go.

Thank you for your reply

1. I had always worked, before and after leaving school however I gave up my job to go be with my now husband on a Temporary Visa, it wasn't the right time for us and it didnt work out and my daughter and I came home after 5 months. that was in 2008 and we have I have been umemployed since then except for the odd short term part=time employment here and there and your right I look at my situation and think is this it??? I always aimed higher and now seem to be 'stuck'.

2. I don't have an amicable situation with my ex. He has given up all communication with his daughter and hasn't paid a cent either which will bring its barriers if we go to back to canada.

3. I really do agree with you on this, you have no arguments from me...lol


4. I also struggle with this too, even though he is prepared to come here and wants to, we both have issues with him leaving the kids particularly at such a hard age (teenagers, we have all been there) and I feel a little guilty as his oldest has found his parents seperation hard and I worry that his father coming here might send him over the edge a little.

Canada, do it, if your daughters father isn't paying maintenance then tell him to go shite.
Have no ideas about all the visa stuff but these are just minor hurdles in front of your happiness.
And just buy something nice duty free for your mother-in-law and you can bunk with her for a few years - cheap as chips!

LOL This made me laugh. such a down to earth response I like it!!