Was your journey to UK ILR easy or hard? How do you feel?

Hello

I wanted to ask general opinion of people, how easy or hard it was for them to get to the point when they are eligible for ILR in UK. How do you feel at the end of it?

(Moderators, I understand this is not a technical question or question for help, however, I believe this topic may be quite important as means of expression and psychological relaxation for some people, at least for me it is. So I would appreciate if you allow this topic to exist)

My wife got her ILR in 2002, near the expiry of her 1-year spouse visa. We applied in person at the Solihull PEO, and with hindsight it was an easy experience.

However prior to going to Solihull we were of course nervous and worried about the outcome, and very relieved when the ILR was safely in the passport.

[quote="JohnM"]Hello

I wanted to ask general opinion of people, how easy or hard it was for them to get to the point when they are eligible for ILR in UK. How do you feel at the end of it?

(Moderators, I understand this is not a technical question or question for help, however, I believe this topic may be quite important as means of expression and psychological relaxation for some people, at least for me it is. So I would appreciate if you allow this topic to exist)[/quot


ILR successful .Thanks to this forum and Almighty. But it is a tough journey. UK immigration rules changed almost every six months and one was worried all the time what will come next. Drastic changes of Nov 2006 (leading to JR on 8th Apr 2008). Imagine the anxiety from Nov 2006 till 8th Apr 2008. It was an era full of frustration, breach of promises and fear of leaving the country for which you sacrificed your settled homes, settled jobs, uprooted kids and so on. Now again another nightmare for people who migrated after Nov 2006. For ILR you need to score points while till 6th Apr 2011 nobody had a clue on this. Imagine for those who were caught halfway through to meet income criteria whereas they had just relaxed after extension that economic activity will only be criteria.
Long story but I sympathise with all migrants who cannot have peaceful sleep. ILR journey is walking on thorns and you are not sure you will get it. Best of luck to all struggling.

Yes, I totally agree with the frustration because of the rules changes. They change rules very often. And sometimes new rules are not even published in the news, you find about them not in time... I think getting British citizenship is very hard, apart from lucky few who had very good marriage or some work permit by accident, which is very rare. It is especially hard if you're outside EU and even British Commonwealth, like me. But it's probably worth it.

I think getting British citizenship is very hard, apart from lucky few who had very good marriage or some work permit by accident, which is very rare. It is especially hard if you're outside EU and even British Commonwealth, like me. But it's probably worth it.

Is that really so? Over 100000 people a year get granted British Citizenship, and I don't think there is any evidence that non-EU and non-Commonwealth have it more difficult than others.

What is true is that spouses of British or settled people, whatever their nationality, have an easier and quicker path, but that is well defined in the rules. The same applies to their children who came to the UK on a Child Settlement visa.

I don't think there is any evidence that non-EU and non-Commonwealth have it more difficult than others.

Perhaps you misunderstood me. I am not saying that it is harder to get ILR for non-EU non-Commonwealth migrant when you are eligible for it. But it is much harder to complete this journey. If you are from EU country, you can simply come to UK, live here for 5 years and apply, you can even manage it without getting any visas. If you're from British Commonwealth, it is much harder than EU because you will need visa first and then visas throughout your journey. But at least people from BC countries have some good relations and some cultural links with UK. Also some of BC countries are similar in economical terms.

However, if you are from a country like Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Somalia, etc. - it is hardest. Not only your original country is outside many international agreements, you are also on a different economical stage of development, unless you were born in very rich family or became rich. Africa is also tough but at least many African countries had/have some trade/cultural links with UK in the past.

The hardest of them all is probably North Korea because you also can't get out of it in the first place.

It is very different depending on your original country. Imagine, 20 years old Canadian from Canadian or Norwegian village and compare with the same 20 years old from Chinese or Somalian village. Who have better chances of getting UK ILR in their life?