I had to hold back from calling this post “Welcome to Hell”, but I have to admit my day wasn’t quite as bad as I expected. I spent it in Croydon, queuing, waiting, hoping, stressing and finally getting my Indefinite Leave to Remain visa.
This means I’m now free to stay in the UK for as long as I’d like, and it’s up to me whether I want to get British citizenship or not in a year’s time. I probably will get it, if only for the fact that travelling around Europe will be possible without filling in those bloody Landing Cards every time and slowing down entire queues of people at airports!
I’ve had so many emails from Canadians asking about getting a visa to come to the UK, I’ll most likely build a page with information on the topic to help the legal, hard-working, educated people who want to come to this country know what to expect from a day visit to Croydon. It ain’t a fun-filled day, to say the least, but walking out of there with the necessary visa feels great!
Jimena
Or tell them to check out my work website.
Vero
I think in most cases, the emails I received went well beyond what one can find through a government website, and were more about finding out the details of how many hours they should expect to wait while in Croydon, what some regions of the UK are like to live in, whether to shop for shoes before leaving or buying new stuff here, etc… The human side of things 🙂
But to any readers needing the straight-up procedure info, Jimena’s right, it’s here: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/menu-en.asp
vegcat
Congratulations!!