Hi there!
I've been reading these forums for a while, as the immigration process is headache-inducing to say the least, and my fiancée and I will need to dive headlong into it. I've read up here and there, but there are still a lot of murky areas I need to cover, so I decided to write this, hopefully someone will enlighten me.
I met my fiancée, Ellie, some years ago, when I was 16. We were good friends for the first few years (she is four years younger than I am) and that was great. As we got older and more involved, however, it developed into a fully-fledged relationship, and finally we were a couple once Ellie turned 18. It's been great, we know each other well, complete each other's sentences - I am sure, from what I've read here, that people know what I mean when I say she is the one for me. We're on the phone a fair bit (mainly through Skype, since I'm currently in the UK), we meet up every summer during the holidays, we talk constantly on MSN or what have you. I proposed to her a few weeks ago, and having come down from the clouds, as it were, I am starting to look into who will settle with whom, as the immigration history is a little bit complicated.
She is Canadian - from Ontario - born and raised there. However, I was born and briefly raised in Venezuela. I left the country in childhood to settle here in Scotland, sometimes moving with my family elsewhere for brief periods of time (which interrupted the ticking clock on naturalisation), like Israel, or the USA. I am 22 now, almost 23. Due to a legal error and bad timing, I turned 18 in the UK meaning that legally, I was independent and could no longer go under my Father's Exceptional Worker visa. I got that sorted and am back in Scotland under a student visa, which will likely be extended for a number of years as I do my PhD in medicine and bioscience research. My Father (who, along with my Mother, attained British nationality) is adamant Ellie settle here instead, although that will be difficult on its own, since I (as a Venezuelan citizen) can't bring her over on a UK Fiancé(e) Visa.
So, having talked to her, we decided it might be of interest for me to forego my British nationality and settle instead in Canada. I could likely get a TRV, visit Canada after the three months she'll be spending here in Scotland with me, and marry her in Canada then kick-start the immigration process as soon as possible (apparently it takes years?). Hence, am I right in thinking that we will need to do an Outland Application through the UK (it is absolutely imperative that I not return to Venezuela, all my family is in the UK, so the interview is worrying me), in some years to come? We're both university students and whilst I am saving up from a part-time job I hold, as a chef, proving that we have enough money will take a few years, though I am prepared to wait to make sure things are done right. Proving it's a genuine relationship I imagine would be fine, there will be many photos of us with family and we plan to hold a wedding ceremony this summer, in both Britain and Canada. Since I am studying a good degree, I endeavour to find a reasonable job in healthcare; whereas Ellie will likely become a teacher, as that's what she's studying at the moment.
Wow, that was far longer than I anticipated, apologies. Is there anything I'm missing, though?
Cheers,
Samuel
I've been reading these forums for a while, as the immigration process is headache-inducing to say the least, and my fiancée and I will need to dive headlong into it. I've read up here and there, but there are still a lot of murky areas I need to cover, so I decided to write this, hopefully someone will enlighten me.
I met my fiancée, Ellie, some years ago, when I was 16. We were good friends for the first few years (she is four years younger than I am) and that was great. As we got older and more involved, however, it developed into a fully-fledged relationship, and finally we were a couple once Ellie turned 18. It's been great, we know each other well, complete each other's sentences - I am sure, from what I've read here, that people know what I mean when I say she is the one for me. We're on the phone a fair bit (mainly through Skype, since I'm currently in the UK), we meet up every summer during the holidays, we talk constantly on MSN or what have you. I proposed to her a few weeks ago, and having come down from the clouds, as it were, I am starting to look into who will settle with whom, as the immigration history is a little bit complicated.
She is Canadian - from Ontario - born and raised there. However, I was born and briefly raised in Venezuela. I left the country in childhood to settle here in Scotland, sometimes moving with my family elsewhere for brief periods of time (which interrupted the ticking clock on naturalisation), like Israel, or the USA. I am 22 now, almost 23. Due to a legal error and bad timing, I turned 18 in the UK meaning that legally, I was independent and could no longer go under my Father's Exceptional Worker visa. I got that sorted and am back in Scotland under a student visa, which will likely be extended for a number of years as I do my PhD in medicine and bioscience research. My Father (who, along with my Mother, attained British nationality) is adamant Ellie settle here instead, although that will be difficult on its own, since I (as a Venezuelan citizen) can't bring her over on a UK Fiancé(e) Visa.
So, having talked to her, we decided it might be of interest for me to forego my British nationality and settle instead in Canada. I could likely get a TRV, visit Canada after the three months she'll be spending here in Scotland with me, and marry her in Canada then kick-start the immigration process as soon as possible (apparently it takes years?). Hence, am I right in thinking that we will need to do an Outland Application through the UK (it is absolutely imperative that I not return to Venezuela, all my family is in the UK, so the interview is worrying me), in some years to come? We're both university students and whilst I am saving up from a part-time job I hold, as a chef, proving that we have enough money will take a few years, though I am prepared to wait to make sure things are done right. Proving it's a genuine relationship I imagine would be fine, there will be many photos of us with family and we plan to hold a wedding ceremony this summer, in both Britain and Canada. Since I am studying a good degree, I endeavour to find a reasonable job in healthcare; whereas Ellie will likely become a teacher, as that's what she's studying at the moment.
Wow, that was far longer than I anticipated, apologies. Is there anything I'm missing, though?
Cheers,
Samuel
