Well, that’s a relief
17 November 2008

When I have to fill out forms and make my way through red tape, I almost inevitably get completely entangled and am much like the fly to the spider, i.e. I get stuck and the worrying just about kills me. So to give up my passport to the UK Border Agency a couple of months ago was a very worrying time — I was applying for permanent residency, or in the lingo, Indefinite Leave To Remain.

I hate being without my passport! Getting paperwork to prove your relationship is difficult if:

  1. You live together but do not own or rent your residence
  2. You live together but do not have either or both your names on the bills

Given the bureaucratic nightmare (exaggerating somewhat given there’s never been a horror flick about paperwork) we went through moving from China to Singapore (everything in Mandarin Chinese and little to no official paperwork because we left an extremely light adminsitrative footprint there), I was super stressed about it all. Delboy gave some advice on documents to submit that hadn’t even occurred to me and I’m sure that helped. Plus that whole getting married thing and rather amusing home video of the ceremony that my uncle shot must have added a few points in our favour, showing the UK immigration authorities that we know each other, like each other, and probably shag on a regular basis:

my visa!

w00t w00t!

For the first time in my life, I didn’t screw up the paperwork. I got my visa on my first application. And all in time for Neil and I to go to his company Christmas party down south later this month (yes, Christmas in November)! I am so relieved that I don’t suddenly have to resign from my job or travel down south to plead my case, so here is some advice if anyone should ever be thinking of applying for ILTR in the UK:

  • Show evidence that you are contributing to the community (charity fundraising, community groups that sort of thing — this was the tip from Delboy)
  • If you are qualified to vote in the UK (member of the Commonwealth, ordinarily resident in the UK, and over 18), put yourself on the register of electors, and make sure you avail yourself of that privilege whenever there are elections

While there is no one item that will tick the right boxes and guarantee a successful application, always send more than you think is necessary, no matter how sentimental and silly you may think it is. You get it all returned anyway, so unless you’ve recorded a video that you really don’t want to see on YouTube, always be prepared to share too much.

Allow me to go be over-excited now. This is a real weight off my mind.

6 Comments

  1. Congrats!

    Though possibly it should be comisserations, you get to stay in this fine country.

    I've thought about emigration a few times. The idea of having to fill in the paperwork does factor in. The cost of trying to export 3 cats outweighs it, though.

    Comment by Mr mist — 17 November 2008 @ 3:18 pm

  2. woohoooooooo! good on ya! bloody brilliant to have that out the way :)

    Comment by shauna — 17 November 2008 @ 4:53 pm

  3. Shauna, you will know exactly how good it felt to open the passport and see that damned sticker in it!!!

    Mr mist, oh yeah. I didn't bring my cat when I left Australia because he would be miserable and he already had a home.

    Comment by Andrea — 17 November 2008 @ 5:55 pm

  4. Good news! How much did you have to bribe officials to put such a good looking picture in your formal documents? :D

    Comment by Terry — 17 November 2008 @ 10:55 pm

  5. I second Terry's comment. And is that… lipstick?

    Comment by Jeff Trull — 17 November 2008 @ 11:31 pm

  6. Haha, it's a digital photo taken at work and then photoshopped to make sure I have the whiter-than-white background as required by the Singapore ICA.

    And no it's more likely to be lip balm!

    Comment by Andrea — 18 November 2008 @ 11:59 am

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