Russian Woman Journal

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Letters

Friday 30 May  2008

Letter from Stanley (Scotland), asking for advice and information

 

Hello Lana
My name is Stan, my wife is Russian, from Siberia, still living there at present. We were married in Siberia in August 2006.

We are in the process of beginning the visa applications for herself and her two children, a daughter aged 8, and a son aged 19 to come to live with me here in Scotland, you may think that it has been a very long time since we were married and we are only now applying for here visa, there are several reasons for this, the most important reasons were my job and home situation, I was one of the owners in a small Highland Hotel, the hotel was not doing well because of its location, so we decided to sell the hotel after three years of ownership, it was sold in January 2007, l then went to live with my wife for a period of six weeks, during the Christmas and New Year, it was a very natural feeling, and l love my wife very much.

When l returned home l lived with my Sister in Central Scotland, this enabled me to look for work then find a home for us to live, l had an Engineering background, l worked on the shop floor for two years, then moved into the offices as a Materials Buyer, l was with the Company for twenty seven years before l left my work and sold my home to buy the hotel with two of my friends, it was not easy to find work, l found myself out of work until the beginning of April 2007 on a temporary contract, this made it very difficult to get a mortgage to buy a home, with the help of my financial advisor he eventually found a Building Society that would give me a mortgage based on my work situation, l then found a home, and moved into this home in September 2007. They Company l worked for then offered me a full time position in March 2008, l felt l had to sort out my life before we applied for the visa otherwise they would refuse the visa.

The British Government have made many changes for the application for the visa, the main change was that she had to make her application online and there is a substantial increase in the costs for the visa applications, l now find my work is making changes to their Company name and Logos along with changes to our Company and direct email addresses, all phone numbers will remain the same.

My wife has a University Degree in Paediatrics and also in Psychiatry, my wife would like to continue her Career here in the UK, l have emailed the BMA seeking advice on her qualifications and would she have to gain additional qualifications to meet the requirements for the BMA, they have pointed me in the direction of websites advising that all the relevant information will be there, l have looked at these sites, and l find them very difficult to understand, is it me, is the information all there, but l just cant see it.

I am now turning to you for any possible information and direction you can supply me and my wife with to enable her seek a career here in the UK.
Can you please advise me if it would be better for my wife to apply for jobs here now in the UK in the Medical Profession, if yes, where can we look for such jobs and how will we present her qualifications or conduct a job interview when she is still in Siberia.

I do appreciate that you are a very busy woman and you have many people asking you to help them, but it is nearly two years since we were married, l miss my wife very much and want to be with my wife very much, we want to live together as man and wife with the children, any advise you can give on the children’s visa, especially the son, he is 19 and speaks very little English so he cant attend College straight away.
My wife and l will appreciate any help and advice you can give us on this matter. I wait your reply.

Yours Sincerely
Stan

 

If you would like to share your opinion or your story on this matter, please write lana@russianwomanjournal.com

 

Lana Hurrell:

Hi Stan,
I'm glad you sorted out now your job and home situation, because this is exactly what you need to show British Embassy for your wife's (you didn't tell us her name) visa application to be successful.

I see here two problems, actually the same as you. First of all none of the Russian qualifications is recognised here. Unless you, I mean your wife or anybody, is prepared to accept a lower standard of work than their qualification justifies, this is the main problem for Russians coming here. So your wife is not on her own, but I don't think it makes her or you feel better.

To give you more precise information and find relative links I'll need a bit more time, but right now I can tell you what I know from mine or my friends' experience.
To work as a doctor here or any medical profession from such a country as Russia, she will need to prove her degree, , which may not be accepted as a degree here. So she will need to pass medical exams. But before she will be allowed to do so, your wife will have to pass English language exam at the certain level, which is higher than the highest level of any general college English courses.
I did know a woman who managed to confirm her medical Degree from Russia (unfortunately I don't have any contacts with her now), but she spent 4 years doing so.
It's possible in theory, but very difficult in real world.

I don't think she can apply for job from Russia for the reason above and also you said she holds University Degree in Paediatrics and also in Psychiatry. To work with children (Paediatrics) and vulnerable adults (Psychiatry) in the UK, she will need to have a police check certificate, which she has to apply for only when she is here. And it will take some time to proceed this application - from 6 weeks to 6 months. It is very strict now.

And on top of all this there is one practical matter - it is very difficult to get any first job in UK for the reason that all the employers want workers with experience working in UK.
The second problem is that her son is 19. According the rules you can take as a dependant just children under age 18. If there are any exceptions - I don't know, I have to look for it. But I personally don't think she will be able to bring him here as a child, but maybe possible on some other basis

About prices for visa applications - yes, everything is very expensive and getting worse. So prepare yourself, all other extensions of your family visas that will come when they are here will be expensive as well.

Hope this information was helpful and I will look for links for you and send it later today.
Also I will publish you letter on the English part of my website today and we'll see maybe somebody else will give you reply. And tomorrow I'm going to publish letters on Russian part as well and I'll give there some summary of your letter, maybe somebody knows more that I am and share it with us.

Finally just to remind you that I give you information based on my personal and my friends' experience and this is not a substitute of obtaining legal advice if you need one.
I wish you all the luck to sort out all the problems and bring your family to live with you in Scotland as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Lana

 

 

Stanley:

Hello Lana
I thank you for your prompt reply, l should have mentioned that my wife's name is Tatiana, she is a very beautiful and wonderful woman.
Yes Lana l do agree with you that Tatiana,s son Alexander, aged 19 years maybe a little harder to gain the visa. I was going to apply for his visa using the settlement visa, l dont know if this is correct, what l dont want, is submitting this visa application and paying the relevant costs, to find out that this visa type ir wrong. He speaks little English, so l dont think he can come here on the students visa.
I would very much like to hear your advise on this, and if there is set rules for people over the age of 18 years.

Kindest Regards
Stan

 

If you would like to share your opinion or your story on this matter, please write lana@russianwomanjournal.com

 

John (from Kent):

My reaction varies from horrendous to no chance.
First visa problem is the son. I have a Canadian friend, her name is Summer.
They wouldn’t allow Summer's elder child in, even though Summer and her younger (dependent) child was accepted, she had married an Englishman with his own farm.
They all had valid Canadian passports.
I think he has no chance at all.
When is he liable for military service?
Second visa problem is work for wife.
Russian University degrees can be checked against their register. Some are acceptable.
Without good standard of verbal, and written English, I can’t imagine she will achieve graduation starting from zero like that. How old is she?
As you know 'they'( 'they' is my blanket word for all bureaucrats. 'They' can hide behind procedures and committees and all other blocks. 'They' don’t face having to answer a question, or justify their decision.) prefer that the wife does not work. She cannot claim on social services either.
So he will need to plan financially for supporting her and the younger child and seeing her through school. If the child gets that far, she will not have to pay fees at a Scottish University. She will at an English one.
One possibility is that Scottish Law does not always follow English.
Scottish graduation is often not recognised in England! So maybe this situation can be used to ease their immigration.
Both professions of Paediatrics and Psychiatry have their own Societies. Their suggestions may help. The Home Office and Foreign Office certainly will not.
The political climate Russia v UK has hardened considerably last two years. Neither will help the other.
He needs to check on Scottish requirements both for entry and qualifications, also the Societies I mentioned.
To me it looks very gloomy. But I will revert.

 

Lana Hurrell:

Hi Stan,
I published your letter and there is another reply for you as well.
I don't think you can get Alexander here on the settlement visa, because you don't have a basis for it. Reason is the same - over 18.
Other possibilities are here http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/
And you can see that there are not too many of them anyway: studying, working, visiting. If he speaks little English first two out of consideration. And visiting in a long term won't help either.
Look also here: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/
I agree with John, chances are remote. I think you maybe better go to immigration solicitor for consultation before you do anything, it will be much cheaper than to pay for the application and be refused.
There is another letter from John with contacts for you that you might find useful if you decide to go ahead.
I wish you all the best,
Sincerely,
Lana

 

John (from Kent):

Having investigated the Professions setup in UK, I here add some contact details for Stan.
Thinking over his general problems, I think he will need to 'grasp the nettle' and accept the following unpleasant facts:

I assume the MAIN intention is to live together in Scotland as a family.

1. Trying to organise UK professional status for his wife will delay and even block this ultimate target.
2. The chances of the son being allowed in are remote. Persisting with his case will probably ruin everything else.

Neither British nor Russian bureacrats will help. They are more like to hinder. Certainly do not rely on either. They don't care.

Stan may find a good contact in one of the Societies I listed.
Don't forget Stan needs personal contacts. We call these 'networks'.
Their importance is not who you know but who those contacts know.

But my opinion is Stan should forget this plan. Keep everything simple. Get his wife and daughter into Uk as first target.
Then look for other income sources to consolidate. If a professional qualification allowing her to work is not possible, find a different income source.
A small business perhaps? What can she do better than anyone else?
I realise the word 'businessman' is the same as 'crook' to a Russian!

I think it is a serious mistake to let this dominate the MAIN plan, for Stan to have his family living in Scotland.

Regards, 

John

 

 

Published in Woman's Magazine Russian Woman Journal  www.russianwomanjournal.com -   30 May 2008

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