How many people here have emigrated from their native country? and how did you do it? I'm particularly interested in anyone who has emigrated TO the United Kingdom

I haven't, really. I'm still officially a resident of the UK. I'm not much more than a tourist. I'm just married to a Thai so my visa has an 'O' instead of a 'T' on it, costs a bit more and is one month longer. Still doing visa runs every 3 months and they're being stubborn about giving me a 1 year multiple entry. I've gone to sleep and woken up each day in Thailand for about the last 5 years (save for maybe 3 months) so I'm convinced despite all the above that I am actually living here.

Oh, and how did I do it? I put some clothes, toiletries and a few CDs in a backpack and got on a plane to Thailand.

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[Edited 9/17/08 20:21pm]

NoodleSoup said:

you have no idea how much I would love to just pack, book at ticket and get on a plane back to the UK and just wing it... unfortunately in the UK you just can't do it

GOOD FOR YOU Nick you seem so happy to be there, which is awesome!

grimnt said:

Yeah, staying in the UK is no cakewalk unfortunately. When Mon applies for a tourist visa it's now a breeze (still quite a big deal for a Thai though as so many get turned down) but I'm not even thinking about trying to move us both over there.

Thanks. I am very happy here. I'd like a bit more security as far as my visa, but it used to be worse and I'm so used to it now it's just part of living here.

I hope that in time things work out for you, Nat.

NoodleSoup said:

as long as you're together and happy

and thanks hon

aren't you from a commonwealth country? shouldn't it be easier for you? i've only looked into uk emigration from an american standpoint and it kinda feels like i'd need an act of god to be able to live and work there sometimes.

grimnt said:

Education, a decent wage and career prospects be damned!

I really am just going to get by on love and honesty and humility.

evenstar3 said:

It's easy if you want to go over for a couple of years and you're under the age of 31 from Australia, yes ...but if you're over the age of 31 it's very hard.

The USA have extremely tough rules too, to come there to live/work

grimnt said:

oh, i see. 31 seems like such a random age...stupid countries.

the usa is asinine our stupidly strict rules are probably why everyone else has such strict rules towards us. it's SO frustrating.

evenstar3 said:

I hate to say it, but you may be right it would be so amazing to spend some time living and working in the US but as someone not from there it is EXTREMELY difficult in a lot of cases.

wouldn't it be amazing if we could all experience life in other countries if we wanted to?

I'm an American, but I'm now in my third year of living in Canada on a student visa.

How?

Basically, I applied to a graduate program here, got accepted and, thereby, established a reason to be here for an extended period. From there, I simply had my school's registrar write a letter to confirm my enrollment -- and I took it, along with passports, proof my family could financially support ourselves during our time here (bank statements and a tentative household budget plan) and a truckload of our stuff (with a written inventory), to an office of Canadian Customs & Immigration when we crossed the border. They processed my visa request and my wife and daughter's visitor visas, which piggyback on mine, right then and there. Cost just a few hundred bucks.

I was lucky in that my visa could be processed immediately, but for some countries -- and for some immigrants, depending on their background -- there is a significant lead time. For the UK, you may want to check out this site: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/

Lammastide said:

that's an incredible story, awesome!! wow! that's fantastic you can all be there!

and thank you for the link I'll check it out now

grimnt said:

Canada is known for its relaxed immigration policies (at least in comparison to the U.S.). But I suspect rules will soon tighten. Because you're from a Commonwealth nation, I bet you'd have a fairly easy time. Canada's west coast is crawling with Australians. Best wishes! You can certainly do this if you want!

Lammastide said:

my Brother is coming to live in Canada in Feb... he's 30 but he's also a very qualified and experienced plumber which, I'm told, they're crying out for over there. So he's set lol and his girlfriend too. they're in the UK right now still.

grimnt said:

Have you ever considered coming, like me, as a university or grad student?

Lammastide said:

I'll have to look into it see what I can find...

grimnt said:

What is emigration?

Isnt it immigration?

toots said:

yes, it should be really

toots said:

Emigration is the act of leaving one's native country; immigration is the act of arriving in a new one. They go hand-in-hand, but it does appear they are being used one in the place of the other occasionally here.

But we get the point!

Lammastide said:

ahhhhh, I see Thank you for clarifying that

I emigrated from Australi and immigrated to Israel.

It was easy in many ways since I'm Jewish (and even the question of "native country" therefore is a tenuous one - I'm somewhat more native here than where I was born).

But it's also been hard a lot of the time. Got a family here now, so I'm settled and happy, but it has its ups and downs (then again, this is Israel...)

wasitgood4u said:

I'm curious...

Did you have to convert to Orthodox Judaism when you arrived in Israel? And of what movement were you in the country of your birth?

Lammastide said:

Noooo! Firstly, you don't have to convert between movements in Judaism in general - if you're Jewish you;re Jewish, do what you like.
However, you need to prove that you're Jewish to immigrate as a Jew - this is a tricky one. The law doesn't recognize only one movement's definition (e.g. you can receive citizenship as a Jew with just a Jewish father, even though Orthodox won't recognize you) - you just have to have at least one Jewish grandparent. The problem about proving it is that when an ultra-religious partycontrols the Interior Ministry they can create all kinds of problems for people who don't fit the orthodox criteria.
By israeli law, by the way, if you converted OUTSIDE of Israel by any movement you can immigrate as a Jew. If you convert here, though, it has to be Orthodox.
The other problem is that marriage and divorce here are controlled by religious courts (Jewish, Christian or Moslem) and if the Orthodox don't recognize you as Jewish this can cause all kinds of crap. (BTW this quagmire was set up by the Turks when they controlled the region 1517-1917 and just was never changed by the British or Israeli governments).

Sorry for the lecture - but you asked!

Oh, and I was brought up non-practising Orthodox, What's normally called "traditional" - reform's wasn't strong then in Australia and there was no conservative. It's a bit more pluralistic now...

wasitgood4u said:

This is really very interesting. Thanks!

Note to Lammastide: We changed the locks when you left, brotha...

evenstar3 said:

That's pretty much what I figured out. It's next to impossible, it seems. Unless you can find someone there who can get you a job and even then, it's not easy for them to get you a visa.

wasitgood4u said:

You moved from Australia to Israel?! wow! you're enjoying life there?

ThreadBare said:

As long as I can still get to my mother's Thanksgiving turkey and dressing, man! I'd go to war over that stuff.

Lammastide said:

OK, we'll make an exception there...

it's very difficult for a person from brazil to move to the united states! my husband went through a nightmare process to get here! even though we did everything they asked, and reqiured. the INS made a mistake with his paper work and stamped it with the wrong stamp, and it screwed up his work visa for 8 months, so during that 8 months he couldn't work in the United States, and i was pregnant at the time, and needed for him to be working. if it wasn't for a congressman's office helping us, he would of never been able to get his work visa corrected! thank God now he has his green card, and next jan. he will apply to become a citizen. the whole INS system needs to be adjusted, they make too many mistakes!