Sue

I honestly can't say. We had to fill in such a questionnaire too for some of the universities my son applied to.

I suggest you call them! Go on, give them a call ... they won't bite.

sarah64

Look into the fact that you only moved over there because your parents decided it, you were a minor and had no choice. As it is a temporary stay (albeit long) and it was your parents choice, that's the only thing that can possibly work for you. We went through this a few years ago, failed and stayed here in the US for that reason. Ours wasn't a temporary move tho. Good luck!

sarah64

I agree, call them, we called them all and spoke directly to each admissions office

Englishmum

Perhaps Patrick101 could consider taking a uni course in his home country (Cyprus - he says he's a Cypriot national) as I'm sure the fees would be automatically classed as 'home' status? I've never been there but surely there is a university there.

Perhaps he might consider going to uni in Ireland if he wants to go to study in an English speaking country, maybe their criteria is different for tuition fees?

mabsy

we will be in this situation in Sept 2013. but my daughter will only have been overseas with us for just under 2 years,then she will start uni in uk. we are in uae so will never be allowed permanent residency here,though my husband has a permanent expat contract. We own a house in uk and daughter will not be returning to uae after uni, we will probably be back in uk by then anyway.

Do you think daughter will qualify for home status for fees and a loan? thanks

patrick101

Hey Mabsy,

What's the reason that you went to the UAE? If you have documents and evidence to prove to them that it was only a temporary absence, then there should be no problem. And having a house in the UK is definitely a plus! My situation is similar to your daughter's, concerning the duration of the absence. By the time I (hopefully ) begin my course in September 2011, I will only have been away from the EU for under 2 years. I really hope that it helps when you haven't been away for so long...

Good Luck !

mabsy

thanks Patrick, good luck to you too my husband has permanent job there on expat package if that makes sense?! we will always only ever have temp residency tho in uae and plan to come home in 6ish years. my daughter will only be with us for her a levels for 2 years then back to uk.

Englishmum

My daughter managed to get home status fees a few years ago: We were living in Singapore, where she went to an international school and took her IGCSE's. Just after she took them we went on another posting to New York (NJ) so she decided to return to the UK to do her 'A' levels at boarding school. She then took a Gap Year (working part time for a few months, then spent about 4 months trekking around India and the Himalayas.

However, to show that our daughter hadn't gone to school in the UK purely for educational reasons (despite being a British citizen and born in England) and still having sufficient ties to the UK we had to send in to the universityaAdmissions depts proof of:

A copy of (either) my husband's contract to show that it was a temp. overseas assignment (or) copies of the visas in our passports.

A recently-dated letter from the company's HR dept stating the start and end date of the assignment (ie. we had to show that we hadn't applied for permanent residency overseas). I seem to recall that it also stated that he was continuing to pay NI contributions and paying into the UK company pension scheme.

Proof that we still had a property in England (we had an estate agency handling the letting, so sent in copies of the monthly statements).

Basically they wanted enough proof that we were not sending her to uni in the UK to get her degree there, benefitting from home fees status (ie. subsidised by the British taxpayer) and then her buggering off to live overseas again once she'd got her degree.

killerhales

Mabsy, the two fee status questionnaires that I have seen both ask for sight of employment contracts as proof that time spent overseas with an employer is "temporary". So regardless of whether or not it is possible to settle permanently in the UAE, the fact that your husband has a permanent job is likely to be problematic.

If someone works for a UK employer (eg Heineken UK) and they are seconded to go work for another Heineken company in, let's say, Africa, for three years, then this would clearly be temporary and they would be able to demonstrate this.

Your case seems different to this

Englishmum's experience shows just how much evidence is required.

Good luck

JT1

My daughter is in a similar situation. She was here in the US on a H4 attached to her dad's H1B. She went back to the UK in October 2010, applied in January 2011 and in early Feb, got unconditional offers for any of the 3 courses she wanted. We're currently doing battle with the finance dept who initially classed her as international - we're appealing on the definitions of "ordinarily resident" and "temporary", so we'll see. I am concerned that if we are correct and she can be classed as a home student, that the original offer will be withdrawn but it doesn't say in the letter that the application is conditional on her being international.

I can provide the finance dept with a temporary contract for her dad but I would have thought the fact that a H1B is a temporary visa would have been sufficient, possibly not.

Student loans - if she's classed home, there is a strange question on the loan application form asking if she or us have worked or lived abroad since September 2008. If she's classed as international, I am then concerned about getting non-government backed loans.

One thing going against us was that we had to sell our house in the UK - this had nothing to do with whether we intended to stay in the US but for economic and personal reasons which I'd rather not have to discuss with a nosey person in a finance dept but may have to swallow my pride and do so. I'm curious which bit of H1B/temporary visa they don't get.

I have been informed, independently, that come 2012, international students 'could' end up paying less than UK students - that will be an interesting scenario. This information was from a Uni admissions officer not connected with this case - a friend of a friend so to speak.

@ Henry - I've messaged you to see if you'd like to swap information directly with my daughter. Her only advice so far is unless you have a Uni place or a job, don't even think of going back to the UK - yet . She's currently applying for about 10 jobs a month and so far hasn't even had the courtesy of a reply to say no thanks.

formula

It's your "temporary" bit that might be the problem, as I see you left the UK 8 years ago.

JT1

We'll see what happens - 1 year, 3 years, 7 years and 1 month - it's still temporary by virtue of a temporary visa, unless they then give a further definition of the word temporary, which isn't given in their current definition - they decide the wording and shouldn't be allowed to change the goalposts to suit. I shall let you all know when we get an answer

mabsy

verfy best of luck

Sue

I don't think it's just the visa one is on that they look at, but also the actual status of the employment. Eg. one form we completed stated that in order to be assigned as someone who is "ordinarily resident in the UK (or EEA if applicable) but has been living temporarily outside of the EEA during the last 3 years (or the dependent of such a person)" has to provide evidence of that.

The evidence they wanted was: "A letter from the employer of the person concerned confirming that the employment was temporary (eg. contract/secondment) and any other evidence that shows that you are/were only temporarily resident in the overseas country." Whilst a L1 visa holder could show evidence of that, I would imagine it would be far more difficult for a holder of a H1B/H4 to show. As H1B employment may not be deemed a secondment/contract/transfer.

Best of luck it with anyway. Let us know when you've heard back.

formula

Except that you tried to get a green card.

And even argued at the hardships your children would face if they returned to the UK, to try to get green cards.

We are in the middle of the biggest farce of my life dealing with the DOL/Green Card application - it's been going on 5 years now! As a result, our son is in danger of "aging out". I now need to present, as part of our appeal, what "hardships" our 2 kids would face in England as a result of growing up in the US (they were 12/14 when we first arrived and are now 18/20).
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7755836

And now you are applying for FSW in Canada, where you will be a citizen after 1 year residence.

It reads like you emigrated 8 years ago.