ladywebster

Hi everyone.....not sure if this has been posted before but im very new to this and not sure excatly how it all works!
Anyways ive recently visited St.Lucia because my partner moved back there (he's Lucian) im concidering moving out there next year with my son who is 5. Will be moving to the south of the island, when i last visited i made a few connections with a local hairdresser which is my trade and she is willing to help me find work. My main concern is schooling for my son, visa's etc. Would be great to hear about other British peoples experiances of moving to the island.
Thanks

pgtips

Hi ladywebster, welcome to the forum. First things first, are you married to your St Lucian partner ? If not how would you go about getting a work permit to work on the island as a non St Lucian or non resident ? Are your parents St Lucian, could you get citizenship and residency through them ? Once you have sorted out the first steps I don't think you will have a problem with schooling for your son. If your partner is also his father he will qualify for citizenship by descent. You really have to sort out what your status will be on the island before you can move onto the work part otherwise immigration will just be tossing you from pillar to post.

ladywebster

Thankyou for your reply, Im not married to my partner nor is he the father to my son. My son's father is from St Vincent but i dont think thats much help! Also my parents are British, Ive searched the internet but not really found anything about applying for citizenship or if i even can with out having and solid links to the Island. I really want my son to experiance the Caribbean way of live as it is part of his heritage plus i love the place!
Can you give me any advice on applying for citizenship??? Also would it make a difference if i only wanted to stay for a few years???

pgtips

From What you have told me the most you will get stamped in your passport is a 42 day maximum visitors stamp. Unless you are married to a St Lucian, and taking your profession into account, that would be the easiest way forward for you. However they have tightened up on just granting work visas to spouses and would have to satisfy themselves the marriage was for the right reasons and legitimate. Your new husband would be expected to support you whilst this was going through. The other route is going to the island independently and securing employment and then applying for a work visa. Your employer would have to do this for you and satisfy the authorities a local could not do the work, which is pretty rare. To be frank as just the girlfriend of a st lucian, this will carry no weight for you, and you will be treated as just another tourist who wants to stay on the island for an extended holiday.

Pistolpete2

Hi pg! Long time no.....!

The only thing that I can throw in here is that IF you have an interest in St Lucia property you can possibly satisfy the authorities that you can stay six months at a time in St Lucia to live in that property. That is how I stay in St Lucia, in spite of being married to a St Lucian (sixteen years on Tuesday) and having a St Lucian son. You lodge a copy of the title deeds at Immigration. At (stamp) renewal you simply drop your passport off at Immigration and return one week later to pick it up.

pgtips

Hey Pistolpete2, how are you going. Come on, married to a St Lucian for 16 years, own property on the island, you are a St Lucian and could have a St Lucian passport years ago if you wanted. Anyway happy 16th Anniversary for Tuesday. If you don't get those papers soon, the next time I am on the island I will personally bring you to immigration and insist on you getting your own passport.

Pistolpete2

If you wanted!

Thanks pg!

Pistolpete2

My wife obviously has a St Lucian passport but never travels on it. Her UK passport has born in Dennery in it so St Lucia Immigration know who they are dealing with.

As for me, well I won't jump through any more hoops. Did quite enough of that in Bermuda for one lifetime and I lived there 30 years.

pgtips

Pistolpete2, I also use my British passport but sometimes will carry a copy of my citizenship certificate to speed things up at the airport. However you still have the right to citizenship through marriage if and when you choose. I was reading about Lord Glenconner leaving his estate in St Lucia to his loyal St lucian servant. His wife is not to happy about this and is trying to persuade the servant to give part of it to his grandson, he must have had his reasons why he did this.

Pistolpete2

Saw this in today's papers. I guess his man-servant was the only real person who stuck with him in St Lucia and contributed to his vision and what's more the only one who really needed the cash. His wife was wealthy in her own right through the Coke Family of Norfolk.

However, I'm not sure that Glenconner was "of sound mind" when he changed his will in this fashion. Eccentric to the end!

pgtips

I think he was of complete sound mind. His wife wanted him to leave everything to his 17 year old grandson who most probably has absolutely nothing to do with St Lucia and would have just sold and squandered everything. My uncle was the long time butler to an english millionaire and was left the estate in Barbados, that was quite a few years ago now.

Pistolpete2

Hi Pg,

You would have to tell me why somebody at age 60 would want to go through all the hoopla to get another citizenship.

It's not as though I'm here to work NOW and I discovered pretty early that age discrimination is alive and well so I soon put that out of my mind.

As for property, you can set up a company to own real estate (almost: 55/45) jointly with your St Lucian spouse.

It's not as though I would be inclined to vote - none of the politicians of either party deserve the waste of gasoline involved in my getting to and from the polling station.

I personally rather dislike dual citizenship anyway as it gives one the right to jump ship when the going gets rough or to benefit shopping which is hardly fair and I have no intention of renouncing my UK citizenship.

At this point, not speaking patois or kweyol is far more of a barrier than citizenship.

Am I missing something?

pgtips

I hear you, as long as you don't have to leave the island a few times a year and mess about then I don't blame you. My situation was different as I got my citizenship through descent and as I own property on the island it was the best route for me. My Dad who was not St Lucian insisted on getting his, he got it at age 66 after applying at age 65. He was not happy it took a year, but still he wanted it.

Pistolpete2

Why do you say that Pg?

pgtips

Sorry was mixing you up with someone else who said they had to leave Barbados every few months for a couple of days.