in need of major advice!
 

hi there i am in need of some very important advice... i am a british citizen i moved to canada when i was 12 and have been here on student visas, now here is where it gets intresting, i have been in canada for 6 years and i have not had up to date paperwork for close to 2 years now and i am trying to get back to the uk.

i will be coming back alone with no family left over in the uk i will not have a place to go or even anyone to meet me at the airport.

are there any seveices out in london that can help me with my sistuation i am only 19 years old and have no clue whats next or even if my citizenship still stands

if anyone has any advice or knows what i can do please dont hold back
i need all the advice i can get right now

my time line for returning is in the couple months once i have figured out where i have to once im there and if i am able to apply for assitance

Re: in need of major advice!
 

I don't see why your citizenship would be revoked. Do you have a UK passport still? You will need a passport to travel anywhere internationally. By no paperwork, do you mean that your Canadian paperwork expired, or that your British passport expired?

If you go to the website direct.gov.uk, that will tell you about government services that might be available to you when you get back.

ETA - you might also find some useful information in the 'Useful UK Links' sticky thread too.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

You will need to apply for a British Passport which should be no problem. However there is not really a support network for returning expats. Perhaps you could tell us more about your circumstance which might help us to make suggestions. Are you worried about being deported from Canada due to your incomplete paperwork? What skills do you have? How much money do you have to support yourself. Most benefits require a period of residency so that may be an issue.

You may have distant family members who may give you a roof over your head until you can get work.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

You can't 'lose' your UK citizenship.

If push really comes to shove, you could ask the UK embassy to repatriate you, tell them you have strayed from the path due to bad advice, and can they help you.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

You are expected to pay your own fare back to the UK. I think first of all the OP needs to apply for a British PP.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

I do have a valid British passport and the reason why my paperwork wasn't updated was because my legal caregiver at the time went over seas to afghan and his wife couldn't sign them because he forgot to leave a letter saying that I am in his wife care until he returns so it just got put on the back burner... Sorry in advanced for my bad spelling and grammar I'm doing this off my iPod. I do not have any money to my name since I was in Canada on student visas so therefor I can't work. And yes Being deported is my worst fear, my step family out here is the only family i have known. My mother passed away when I was 5 and my farther was never in the picture. I do have one step aunt who lives in bermingham where I used to live before I moved to Canada and she has already told me that she can't do anything to help me out and closed her door to me

And now I'm 19 just graduated highschool last June
I'm surposed to be in the prime of my life and I'm watching it fly by me

I do not have any specific skills but i am wanting to get into modeling and also go back to school to work on becoming a child psychologist

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Janet I suggest you contact Dean via BE Private Message and explain your situation. He'll be able to offer you advice.

Plse let us know how you get on.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Unless you have no money, then they will loan it to you. No freebies though, they want it back eventually.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Exactly.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

We don't know why you came to Canada, and why those looking after you didn't adopt you or do something to get you permanent status when you arrived. What on earth were they thinking?.

However, if there is a geniune humanitarian reason behind all this, then it might be possible to apply for permanent residence on that basis.

Find a Canadian immigration lawyer. If you choose a good one who has experience of this kind of case, it might at least be worth discussing.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

What a horrible situation to be in so young. You caregivers really did drop the ball, shame on them. I hope you can at least get Canadian permanent residence and then take your time to sort out where you want to be.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

its not my caregivers fault they have done everything they could for me. and yes i have looked in to h&c cases and it would take 3-5 years to even be processed when in those 3-5 years i could be living a fullfilling life back in england where i can actually work and go to school and really better myself

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Do you realise if you want to go to uni you will have to pay International Student fees?

Re: in need of major advice!
 

please explain more, if im a british citizen then would i be accepted for some sort of loan after a couple years of being back there.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

I don't think so...but that's just a guess. Normally you have to be a resident of the UK for 3 years prior to attending uni.

There's loads of info in past threads...use the BE search function to search for past threads. It's located in the pink bar at the top of the page. Go to Advanced Search...then in the box on the left hand side of the page put in International Student Fees...click on Search Titles Only. Make sure you highlight the MBTTUK forum before you search.

There may also be info in the BE Wiki.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

3 years is the rule for university fees, but there might be other relevant courses you can do in the meantime. It could be worth looking at A-Levels to get your qualifications up to that level, especially if you are competing for uni places. Maybe look at the entry requirements on university websites and see what you can do in the meantime to make sure you look awesome on the application :)

Whenever you get there, I would suggest that you get to the nearest job centre, they should be able to explain any benefits you can get, and might be able to advise on training or trying to get a job in the meantime while you wait for those fees to drop.

Good luck!

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Yes there are such services in London. But you really want to avoid that if you can. You'd be much better off (safer) somewhere else. Bristol is somewhere with a good support system. I have no doubt there are others.

Here are some details of agencies in Bristol and some other links. Ignore that it's caring at xmas, the info's still good.

It would really be a good idea if you could at least get a decent B&B for a few days on return.

I suggest you make contact with some of those organisations.

Off The Record on page 6 is good. The Hub on page 8 too (a strong recommendation for that one). You could do a lot worse than contact the Salvation Army too. Somebody from these organisations will make a huge difference in guiding you through the systems, including housing, benefits and employment/training

Here's a recent thread regarding Job Seekers Allowance. It won't take long to read through and it will give you an idea of pitfalls. There's an encouraging end too.


Could that person in Birmingham at least put you up for a few days? The earlier refusal of help might have been limited to financial help. You'll have a lot to do to sort things out. Some stability for a few days will make a massive difference.


You need to have someone on your side when you get back. I can't emphasize that enough.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

I am no longer in contact with my step aunt and I have no choice but to go through sevices London has since that is where my plain is going to land and since I have no one to meet me at the airport I won't know my way around.
I will still look into it to see what they can do for me and if there is anyway someone can pick me up from the airport.

And for uni I wasn't planning on going until I was on my feet with my own place ad a good steady job. I dont think I will be ready for uni for atleast 3-4 years because I would like to pay my own way through so if I do need to take out a loan it would be as little as possible.

I have another question that just popped into my head
Would I be able to get duel citizenship in the uk and Canada
Since the only family I know are located here... This again wouldn't be for 5-6 yeas after returning.

Thank you everyone for all your advice and help
I feel more calm and clear headed about everything now
But I know this is only the start of what's to come next

Re: in need of major advice!
 

If by London you mean Heathrow have a look at this link for Heathrow Travel Care.

http://www.heathrowtravelcare.co.uk/

http://www.heathrowtravelcare.co.uk/...newsletter.pdf

When I worked at Heathrow they were very good for helping people in similar situations to yours arriving back in the UK. You can email them and ask what help they can offer these days.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Okay. Perhaps just use them for information as to what's "out there" after you're more settled.

That Heathrow Travel Care link. It looks perfect for your needs. They must have some good contacts too. I hope they are as good as they sound.:fingerscrossed:

That needs to be stickied. :thumbup:

In the meantime I've put it in the links at the top, but llikely to get "lost" there

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Yes you can have both Canadian and UK citizenship. I suggest you post in the Canadian Immigration Forum regarding your status in Canada. The people who post in that forum will help guide you.

Re: in need of major advice!
 

Much as I'd love to sticky every post with a useful link in it, thats just impossible as we would end up with pages of "stickies". The thread you put it in is probably the best place as it has a multitude of useful links :)

Re: in need of major advice!
 

I agree that once you get to London, you can get a train to pretty much anywhere else in the UK fairly easily. You would have to travel to somewhere, even in London, and find your way around.

With regard to Canadian citizenship, yes it is possible to have dual Canadian/British nationality and both passports, but you would need to be eligible, and apply for, Canadian citizenship before you leave Canada. The requirement is that you have been a permanent resident for 3 years, and although I think your student visa might help a little towards that, being without PR status at the moment, I don't think you would be eligible.

Also, the application takes well over a year to complete, once you have been here for the 3 years. If you are certain that you can't be here for that long and get permanent resident status, your UK passport will allow you to visit Canada for 6 months at a time in the future.

You've been given some good advice regarding Bristol, and there are many places that would probably be easier for you than London where costs and population are so high already. There are certainly a lot of decisions to be made.

Do you have your flight booked already? You say that you're flying into Heathrow. There are cheaper options if you were to fly into Gatwick, such as Air Transat, depending where in Canada you're flying from.