when Jose Maria Amor And Ingrid Serra They decided to move to the UK in mid-2023, and they had no idea how much effort and time it would take. The two had been thinking about leaving Barcelona for a while and spending a season abroad, an opportunity that finally came through his work. “I asked Transfer to London After six months they accepted it. From there we begin the process. Visa processing “I work with my company,” explains Omar, 33, who works in the fintech sector.
Although his company was able to manage much of the process, Omar still had to submit several documents, such as: English language competition Certified or registered Criminal recordThey waited several months until the British authorities finally accepted their application. “The company accepted my transfer in February 2023, but the visa was not approved until July,” he says. The couple’s problems mounted as they began to Sierra Visa Processingwhose company refused to sponsor his move to the UK.
The only alternative for the 32-year-old lawyer was to obtain a visa as a dependent of her partner’s family member, a process that proved more complicated than expected because they were not married. “It all started with showing what we had Two years of living together“We were both in the rental contract for our apartment in Barcelona, but they told us that wouldn’t be enough and that we had to prove that we were living together there,” Amor explains. This situation represents a set of Bureaucratic procedures Which neither of them expected. “We never realised that we had to prove all this, because we initially planned to go to countries in the European Union. By the time we realised that everything we needed was a bit too late, so We had to reconcile“.
From that moment on, the process of collecting receipts for supplies and purchases online began, in addition to delivering them. Translated and certified documents. “Our parents had to write a letter, with a copy of their passports attached, stating that we were in an official relationship and living together,” says Serra, who decided to hire someone. Law firm Specialized in UK immigration to help with administration. To the fees of the legal team, payment of fees, preparation of documents, translation and legalization, an advance payment for two years from Social Security was added, which increased The total bill is about 5000 euros.
Visa processing
In case Eva SanchezFor a 33-year-old orthodontist, the process of settling in the UK was quite daunting. Sanchez arrived in London in August 2022 to join his partner, a Spanish national who had been living in the UK for 10 years. Unlike Amor and Serra, she had never lived in the same place with her partner and was not married either, so the only option was to get a work visa“The first step was Verify my address In the UK and take an English language test, as well as obtain certified copies of the necessary documents and submit them. Written references From previous employers.
In addition to translating documents and taking an English language exam, Sanchez had to do Receiving vaccines Being health workers and taking a personal first aid course, this raised the risk level Invoice over 1000 euros. After her certificate was authenticated and registered with the General Dental Council (the College of Dentists in the United Kingdom), she began a job search that lasted for several months. “To be able to work in the UK you have to be sponsored by a company here, and several small clinics have told me that They didn’t know how to manage. Getting my visa ready. I had to rule out some interesting offers for this reason.
Sanchez finally found a company willing to process his visa and began work in March 2023. After five months To register in the United Kingdom. Despite the whole process, the orthodontist confirms that she was lucky to have the support of her partner, who had already settled in the British capital years ago. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this whole process on my own. You need a lot of savings “Spending five months in London without working and paying rent, which is very expensive here,” says Sanchez, who describes the efforts to settle and work in the UK as “bitter.”
the Migration of European citizens The country has shrunk significantly after Brexit, reaching negative values as of December 2021, due to its large size. Bureaucratic obstacles faced by new arrivals. Since then, by nearly a million people from the EU who have left the UK have outstripped the number of people who have entered to stay for the long term.
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