canadianexpat

I'm not sure if anyone here can help me and I apologise if I'm posting this in the wrong forum. Well, not being a British Expat essentially guarantees that this is the wrong forum but there are not any resources around, that I have found, that are helpful for Canadians.

My situation is - I'm Canadian and I live in the UK on a UK ancestry visa. I'm looking into applying for permanent leave to remain (settlement). I have satisfied and continue to satisfy all of the conditions of my ancestry visa and the conditions of the indefinite leave to remain application (SET(O) when I eventually apply) except 'employment.' I don't work in the conventional sense – I don't have a UK job or GBP income. I have been living off my savings and some (Canadian) investment income (all above board and verifiable, no bank robbing or anything ) for the last few years. I can support myself without accessing public funds.

My question is, how do the IND people assessing immigration applications see this? How do they view 'employment'? Are they operating from very strict guidelines or is there room for people who don't quite fit into a precise box?

Any help would be great. Thanks.

newlooks

I dont think so that anyone here will be able to help u. Visit the following forum and i am sure you will get an answer

http://www.immigrationboards.com/

Good luck

newlooks

JAJ

The Moving Back to the UK forum is the best place on BritishExpats to ask about UK visa/citizenship issues.

However it's unlikely that a complex question like this will find anyone able to help.

Your options are:
1. Go to http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk and click on 'Law and Policy' to read the immigration rules and the policies underlying this; and/or
2. Hire a good UK solicitor specialising in immigration law. The latter option is recommended.


If you have Usenet access (and know what Usenet is), try misc.immigration.misc

Jeremy

canadianexpat

Thanks for that link!

canadianexpat

I've previously hired a UK solicitor who specializes in immigration law and although going over my situation helped to clarify things for me, it still left me without a answer; ie, how are the laws applied in unique circumstances. Perhaps my solicitor had not comes across circumstances like mine before - who knows?

I probably won't get an answer until I actually apply!

Thanks for the reply and reminding me about usenet.

JAJ

It's unusual for an ancestry visa holder to do what you've done. Did you not consider getting your original entry clearance on some other basis (eg investor) which would possibly have made the process of obtaining ILR easier.

If ILR is not feasible then you should talk over other options with your solicitor, like a new ancestry visa, or switching to investor status now, if you still qualify and your solicitor doesn't see any significant downsides.

I would suggest you ensure your UK tax affairs are up to date (another area to get professional advice on, given that you may still be considered non-domiciled).

Jeremy

canadianexpat

Yes, I'm gathering it is usual what I've done.

Though I have some 'financial freedom' and security at the moment, I'm not a GBPs millionaire so the investor category is one I do not qualify for, not yet anyway . My solicitor and I went over a few options available to me but I'm just trying to get a sense of how the immigration rules are applied in 'real life' - for example, my solicitor knows that there are people who access public funds when their visa prohibits it and are still allowed ILR. I'm wondering if that flexibility would extend to someone like myself. I'll keeping asking around!

Up to date in the tax area.