Help!!! Recieved original copies of documents back but no letter??

[futuremrsmorrisson]

Originally Posted by AnAmericanInScotland

Congratulations, when you peel yourself off the ceiling, have a great time packing, arranging you flight, and taking a last look at the places you'll be leaving behind to start your new life in the UK

Thank you so much for telling me that!!!! i thought we'd been denied!!!!! I cant wait to leave stinky Los Angeles and start my new life with the love of my life!!!!!! SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CRAZY CHAPTER!!!!!

[AnAmericanInScotland]

Originally Posted by futuremrsmorrisson

Thank you so much for telling me that!!!! i thought we'd been denied!!!!! I cant wait to leave stinky Los Angeles and start my new life with the love of my life!!!!!! SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CRAZY CHAPTER!!!!!

I left LA in the mid-seventies. Went back for a couple of years in the mid-eighties, went back again for a two weeks visit in '99. The changes between the mid-seventies and the late 90s were, to this country girl (raised out near Ontario on a cattle ranch) horrific.

But still, do take the Last Tour. Visit the places you grew up and remember to take photos. You'll be glad you did after you've been over here for a couple of years. I look at my pics every few months or so just to remind myself of where I came from. I absolutely love Scotland (the whole UK, actually), but sometimes it's nice to look back at where I've been.

[Mervinia N]

I just wanted to say how lovely this thread is... I can feel the excitement! Congratulations and I hope you have a wonderful life on this side of the pond

[LVB]

CONGRATS!!!!! Its an amazing feeling seeing it in your passport. Enjoy your flight. My flight "home" is Friday.

[WestCoastCanadianGirl]

Originally Posted by futuremrsmorrisson

yes its 1am and i'm dancing around my bedroom!!!!! just woke up and decided to check expats and saw the post to check my passport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS, Mrs. Morrison!!!

FWIW, I'm laying in my bed crying while reading this because I'm so happy for you!

Gotta say though, I think it's a little odd that you didn't think to check every page of your passport when you first got it back, just to make sure you didn't get approved, given that there was no letter. (kinda like how a kid might do a final check under the tree to make sure Santa didn't leave anything out)

In any event, I'm extremely happy for you!

I also agree with others about the last look. I'd be sending in my application now if it weren't for the fact that I've wanted from the start to spend one last major holiday with my extended family (Canadian Thanksgiving, same w/e as Columbus Day), so because of the 90 day limit, I am waiting until July to apply. Vancouver is so much better looking in the summer (it doesn't snow much here in winter... just rain, like London), so there's better photos to be had as well (besides, I forgot my camera in London earlier this month, so I have to wait for Ed to bring it when he visits in July).

[travelspice]

Hey so happy for you!! I loved the positivity on this thread and wanted to ask you about life in the UK and please can you share some positive observations?

It seems everywhere I turn someone is saying to me stuff like this"
*why would you want to move THERE? The UK is filled with social problems and crime and not enough housing!
* The UK is super expensive, you will crash and burn and run out of money!
* you won't find the little Beatrix Potter-type life in a village you want, it does not exisit.
*The UK will be very xenophobic towards you.
* you will face endless problems as a single mum of 3 kids and lack of acceptance.
* why would you want to leave Canada to go to the UK where it is crowded and expensive??
*you will never fit it and always be an outsider.
*the UK are having huge problems with immigrants flooding the country from Europe and beyond, all trying to escape the economic problems.

Anyway, I love the UK and was raised in a very English household in Canada with an English mum and it has always felt more like home to me...not sure where I am going with the kids yet, I want to travel around and figure out where we should settle...may spend some time in the Hebrides, love the isles, so quiet and peaceful...love the lake district and cornwall and the cotswolds...

I guess I want to hear the counter side of all those negative words that keep being hurled at me and if any of your enthusiasm or happiness about the UK could come in my direction, I would super appreciate the boost!

Cheers

[futuremrsmorrisson]

Thanks so much to all of you!!!

I didnt think to check my passport because I thought for sure there would be a headed letter saying yes or no, so lesson to all you visa applicants- CHECK EVERY PAGE OF YOUR PASSPORT!!! I'm so excited and barely slept last night with everything I have to do and sell!! I'm hoping to get over there by June 21st so I can see Pearl Jam in Manchester with my fiance!!!!

I just want to thank the expats community because this board has been so helpful and it made me feel like I wasnt the only one going through this insane anxiety and hope for the future!!!

Thanks again!!!! and I'm sure questions concerning immigration and all else once I get to england will be forthcoming!!

[futuremrsmorrisson]

Originally Posted by travelspice

Hey so happy for you!! I loved the positivity on this thread and wanted to ask you about life in the UK and please can you share some positive observations?

It seems everywhere I turn someone is saying to me stuff like this"
*why would you want to move THERE? The UK is filled with social problems and crime and not enough housing!
* The UK is super expensive, you will crash and burn and run out of money!
* you won't find the little Beatrix Potter-type life in a village you want, it does not exisit.
*The UK will be very xenophobic towards you.
* you will face endless problems as a single mum of 3 kids and lack of acceptance.
* why would you want to leave Canada to go to the UK where it is crowded and expensive??
*you will never fit it and always be an outsider.
*the UK are having huge problems with immigrants flooding the country from Europe and beyond, all trying to escape the economic problems.

Anyway, I love the UK and was raised in a very English household in Canada with an English mum and it has always felt more like home to me...not sure where I am going with the kids yet, I want to travel around and figure out where we should settle...may spend some time in the Hebrides, love the isles, so quiet and peaceful...love the lake district and cornwall and the cotswolds...

I guess I want to hear the counter side of all those negative words that keep being hurled at me and if any of your enthusiasm or happiness about the UK could come in my direction, I would super appreciate the boost!

Cheers

There will always be naysayers and negative nancy's but honestly I FELL IN LOVE WITH ENGLAND!!!! Yes it has a what most Brit's consider a problem with rampant minority problems, but what westernized country doesnt have countless amounts of people that want to immigrate!! As far as America goes, it's something we were founded on and I'm proud my UK ancestors and greek ancestors made the trek!!! England is rich in history and beauty and for a history buff like me who is planning on having a "Jane Austen Wedding" it is heaven!! I cant wait to travel the country and around Scotland and see all that it has to offer!! I also love how they spend afternoons going to the beer garden and having a pint! I think in time the American jokes will fade, or maybe not, but I do know my life is going to have a richness to it for having come through the immigration process and leaving my home country and striking out into the great unknown with the love of my life that it wouldnt have had otherwise. You just tell those naysayers to "sshhhhhh" and smile your heart out

[WestCoastCanadianGirl]

Ha ha, this makes me laugh, given the province that you and I live in!

Originally Posted by travelspice

It seems everywhere I turn someone is saying to me stuff like this"
*why would you want to move THERE? The UK is filled with social problems and crime and not enough housing!
* The UK is super expensive, you will crash and burn and run out of money!
* you won't find the little Beatrix Potter-type life in a village you want, it does not exisit.
*The UK will be very xenophobic towards you.
* you will face endless problems as a single mum of 3 kids and lack of acceptance.
* why would you want to leave Canada to go to the UK where it is crowded and expensive??
*you will never fit it and always be an outsider.
*the UK are having huge problems with immigrants flooding the country from Europe and beyond, all trying to escape the economic problems.

1)Two words "BACON BROTHERS."
Clearly they've not spent ANY time in the Metro Vancouver area over the last 5 years! If it was so good here in BC, why did the RCMP have to form (I-HIT) Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. (which is a rather sad and ironic acronym, given that the RCMP in BC has a recent history of hitting people unnecessarily with billy clubs and even tasers)

The vacancy rate in Vancouver is less than 3%, and I certainly don't see any huge rush of people wanting to move to the NWT or Nunavut!!!

2) Clearly, they've not tried to live in Metro Vancouver... my parents' home is in the suburbs and almost 40 years old and on a standard .25 acre lot and it's worth at least a half million dollars (who's got that kind of cash these days?!). Translink keeps jacking up the cost of gas and wants to increase property tax to pay for the (sh*tty) transit system. The cost of gas hit $1.50/litre again the other day (and I was horrified to see this).

3) It may not exist per se, but if they visit Yorkshire, they'll at least get the scenery.

4) Oh and like BC has never been like this in its entire history? That's certainly a case of the Pot calling the Kettle BLACK!

5) Like that's a problem unique to the UK? Ha....

6) See response #2

7) I'll bet that the people telling you that weren't born and raised in BC...

8) See response #5.

If you ask me, I think the nay-sayers are just jealous that you have the option of getting the heck out of Dodge and you're taking full advantage of that option for your children.

BC is a great place as is the UK and I think that it's wonderful that you have the option to live in either place, and it would seem to me that other than the exchange rate (which seems to be tanking again in the £'s favour), all things are more or less equal between the two locales.

[travelspice]

Thanks for so many encouraging words. I really needed to hear this, especially today with so many people in my family in Canada telling me I am a misguided fool and will never make it. They tell me my money will run out and I am messing up mine and the kids lives with my foolish desires.

Vancouver is bad news for crime, etc, as is every North American city really...and in the UK, but I have no plans to live anywhere near a big city. I don't here either...I live in a rural spot a ferry ride away from Vancouver on the Sunshine Coast...peaceful, ocean views and serene.

But I chose to homeschool my kids because I do not like the schools here...I find the entire education system here to be a joke. And the bullying even in a quiet spot like this, is insane. So many judgements and if your child does not follow the status quo, a label like autism or adhd will be suggested not just by educators but the cliques of gossipy parents too. And we faced this at more than one school too...and I hear about it from all across Canada from friends.

Not sure how it is in the UK but I am hoping the schools in small places are better...if not, we will continue to homeschool but with the advantage of self made field trips to castles, museums, historical sites...I prefer the British sandy beaches to our rocky pacific shores too. And nothing beats the hikes through the English countryside...I do not hike in Canada because I do not want to encounter a bear (has happened!) or a cougar...another reason we do not go camping here. But I love camping in the UK! Yet my ultra-Canadian family here all think I am wimpy to not embrace rugged Canadian outdoorsy pursuits...it just is not my thing! But I have a goal to hike the entire southwest coast path with my kids in the UK!!

My family says if I don't find a job I will be considered a big chav with my 3 kids in the UK but I have a goal to find a job where accommodation is included...and these jobs do exist! I have seen them advertized, looking after rural campgrounds or running a forlorn tourist office on a small island, or manning a wildlife centre in some forested spot...and I plan to find this type of job, no matter how long it takes me, but everyone just tells me I am crazy and it will never happen.

I aim to have a pint and prove them wrong.

I have saved hardcore, gained small earnings from staying up late when the kids are asleep to write small articles, have sold music memorabila, etc...and I have amassed over 20,000 Canadian dollars and I plan to make this work for us...I just find it so hard to keep the faith when every person in my life keeps telling me why it won't work or don't come crying to me for help when you fail because we don't support you or you will never be able to deal with how expensive england is on your small monthly income from Canada.

But I will find a way because England calls to me. And always has.