_Aidan_

Hello,
A friend of mine has a UK passport but has never lived there (she's Australian.) How difficult do you think it would be for her to apply for an IEC visa? I know it says you have to have lived in the UK for the last three years, but if my friend could have proof of address - maybe a bank account and invoice with a UK address on it, would that suffice as proof of living in the UK?

Thanks for any help,
Aidan

christmasoompa

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking - how can she provide proof of address for the UK if she's never lived there? What bank account would she be using for proof?

_Aidan_

See her Aunt lives in the UK so she could set up a bank account with her Aunt's address. Sounds dodgy but if she has "proof of address," and gets a UK police check and uses her UK passport....wouldn't that be all she'd need to get the IEC visa next year?
You see my friend is coming to the end of her Australian temp visa in Canada and looking at this for another option to be able to stay.

christmasoompa

Oh good grief. How does she think she'd be able to open a bank account in the first place? Money laundering laws would require her to prove she lives at the address.

But even if she could get a bank account set up, is she seriously considering committing immigration fraud and breaking the law just for a WHV?

Why on earth doesn't she just use the Australian program to apply?

_Aidan_

Well I think she has come to the end of the Australian program - don't think it's possible to extend it any further.
It was my idea to set up the bank account - I figured if she travelled to the UK on a holiday and stay with her Aunt, she could get that set up with her passport relatively easy.

Maybe we need to go back to the drawing board....

christmasoompa

It is - you can have unlimited WHV's if you are from Australia.

She'd need proof of address to open a bank account though, so how would she provide that? Plus, it's fraud!

When does her WHV expire? You definitely need a Plan B, as what you have proposed is illegal and unlikely to work anyway.

Samstown

Hi! So here is the deal:

I'm 34 - I'm Australian (too old to renew my WHP)
I lived in the UK for 6.5 years from 1999-2006.
I have an Irish Passport.
My WHP visa expires January the 19th and I want to stay!

I've been working full time in Canada as a receptionist for an architectural firm for pretty much the duration of my visa (minus 2 months). This is not a skilled position however.
My previous career experience (16 yrs) is one of broadcast media - this is a skilled position - but I've been trying to get work in this field since I arrived in Canada and have found it very difficult to secure a position. I have however been working part time for a telelvision station on the weekends for over a year. Canadian experience program is not valid to me since I've not had fulltime employment within my skilled field. (apparently)

So, what are my options? I want to apply for an Irish WHP since it's up the age of 35, I'm a citizen of Ireland born in a foreign country (Irish Passport).

Please help me!

christmasoompa

Hi Samstown, and welcome to the forum.

Forget the WHV - both the Irish program and the UK one (which has an age limit of 30 btw) have already closed for the year, so there's no way for you to get a new visa before January even if you were eligible.

Sounds like your only option if you want to keep working past January is to ask your employer to apply for a LMO for you. Which province are you in?

catpea33

I'm not sure there's much you can do. As other people have said, you'd be committing fraud. Also, your personal details wouldn't have changed (date of birth, place of birth etc) and I know for a fact that Canadian Immigration can do searches based on your personal details - a friend works for them in Ottawa - so even if you did do all the fake UK address stuff, you'd probably get caught and I'm sure the penalties for lying would be quite severe.

Have you asked your employer if they'd sponsor you to get a temporary work permit instead?

Lastly, the number of UK IEC places are limited and I think it's only fair that other people get a shot at moving out there, especially if they actually live in the UK. If I couldn't get my IEC next year because someone fraudulently got theirs, I'd be pretty annoyed!

Samstown

Thank you! I wouldn't be applying for a UK Visa, it would an Irish one I'd be looking into - since I'm an Irish Citizen.

Yeah - the LMO would be for skilled jobs.... reception is not one of those!
I'm in Ontario.

Samstown

I would be too - but it's the IRISH one that I'd be looking into, since I'm a citizen of Ireland, with an Irish Passport it would be that that I would like to get, as it's valid up to 35 yrs of age. Now I've lived in the UK and my family are from Northern Ireland - but I've not lived in Ireland. So that was where we were questioning the Irish WHP validity.

christmasoompa

But as I've said above - there is *no* way of you getting a new WHV before January as the program has *closed*.

Even if you were eligible, then you can't apply for a new WHV now anyway unless it's the Oz one.

Just so you can check it yourself, here is the USIT Work Canada website.........http://www.usit.ie/work-abroad/canad...-2011/book-now

And re: the LMO, your job doesn't need to be skilled to get one? It may make it harder to obtain than if you were in a specialist job, but LMO's are granted for all Skill Levels. And that seems to be your only option at the moment, although unfortunately Ontario PNP doesn't have a semi-skilled stream, so you can't apply for PR until you get a skilled job.

But at least if you can get a LMO/TWP then it would give you a bit of breathing space so you can try and find something else to be able to stay longer.

Samstown

Yep - I'm aware of the WHP now, I was just clarifying it was not a UK visa, but an Irish one, so there was no confusion.

I'm not sure what you mean by this: "Ontario PNP doesn't have a semi-skilled stream, so you can't apply for PR until you get a skilled job"

Thank you so much for your advice! I really appreciate it.

christmasoompa

Ah, I see. I thought you were still under the impression that you could apply for one now.

Just that some of the provinces have a 'semi-skilled stream' under their Provincial Nominee Program (i.e. BC/Alberta) which may have allowed you to apply for PR, even though your job is Skill Level C. But unfortunately, Ontario doesn't have anything like that, so your only option to apply for PR is to find a job that is Skill Level A, O or B.

HTH.