Hi!

My name is Chelsey. I am a senior at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. I've studied in the UK on trips a couple of times (Uni. Westminster and Oxford) and am including UK schools in my grad school quest.

For this summer, I have been offered a (BUNAC) internship with the Royal Association for Disability Rights (I'm disabled, have been an advocate for years). I'm working on finding funding sources for airfare and such, and was wondering whether you lovelies had any ideas.

Also, what's the best option for 3 month housing in London?

Hi all,

This is a US travel visa question, more specifically regarding UK citizens who have a caution on their record.

My boyfriend is unfortunately in this situation. He has a minor caution—NEVER went to court—from 2 years ago for possession of a very small amount of cannabis. Just to add to that, he has never once done a drug in front of me and the cannabis wasn’t even his. But anyway…

He was supposed to be flying out to the US with me next week for Christmas. He just went in for his US visa interview today—he got the police record for £75, applied for the interview, £80—only to be told that if his caution for possession of drugs happened 2-3 years ago, he needed to submit for a medical examination, which would cost him another £120.

He has already paid £150 + £15 worth of phone calls to the embassy, so as you can see, this is getting to be QUITE an expensive trip. AND he could still very well be denied entry. I feel terrible for him--and even worse that he will be spending Christmas alone--but I don’t think we want to give up on this now, as we've spent the last month and a half working on it.

Has anyone ever been in a similar experience like this or know someone who has? Have you GOTTEN your visa or were you denied? I feel like he has a better chance of coming over here because we are BOTH flying back and forth to the UK at the same time (as I live and work here) and he will be staying with my family.

Oh, and also, I know that many people just tick 'no' and lie on the form, but he didn’t want to do that because if we do decide to get married, we figured there would extensive checks on our records. So it probably wouldn’t look too good to see that he had entered the US illegally numerous times if they discovered the caution.

Thanks for your advice and or help!

Hi,


I'am seriously considering studying at The University of Manchester in about a year for my master's degree. I know it differs from area and personal needs but was wondering the usual average amount someone would take out?? University needs + personal needs (from the US)...


Thank you :)

My fiance is coming to New York and we will be married here (2/2010) I will then move to the UK about two months after that. Have already received info on the spouse/visa and the biomet thing. What I would like to know is the cheapest way to ship personal items; computer (will work with converter-plug), books, cds, tapes and other boxes (toy chest size)....can any body help? (will ship by boat)

Thanks,

Michael--MicahVita@Aol.com
Tags: moving to uk

Are there any other high school seniors in this community who have applied/are applying abroad for undergraduate university education? If you're an American applying to U.K. schools, have you received any responses yet?

(To be honest I really mainly wanted to make this post because I JUST GOT ACCEPTED UNCONDITIONALLY TO STUDY CLASSICS AT DURHAM and I'm walking on air right now and I wanted an excuse to share my unbelievable present joy with people!)

so i just found out that liverpool museums can't take non EU interns because of the new rules. i'm so irritated. when i think of how a generation or two ago situations like this would be beyond imagining i get more annoyed. the woman i spoke to said that some of the london museums might have dispensations to allow international interns and while i will call and ask them the idea of having to deal with the london cost of living even for a summer overwhelms me with dread. i'm also cursing the fact i decided to go to graduate school state side. even though i know my logic was sound.

and i'm wondering several things. does this mean that it's not going to even be worth bothering to apply to jobs in the uk, (internship is the last thing i have to do to have my MA) or are there more loopholes with that. has anyone with us citizenship managed to get an internship since the new rules have passed? why would some institutions be allowed to and others not? and can i have some sympathy and i've been there-love?

oh and for those who don't recognize me i'm not another anglophile crazed kid. i lived in shetland and cork and my academic interests are transatlantic globalization and maritime and labor issues. and this is a more a practical desire then a romantic one. though moving overseas is always a bit of a romantic ideas no matter how you spin it.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I am going to have less than a month to apply for my post study visa. I've been looking for information about expediting services in the UK for UK visas, but I am coming up with very little. I've searched Google and UKYankee. Does anyone here have any experience with expediting a visa? What are the fees like? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Is there any place in London at all like Active Surplus? Specifically I am looking for a cable to attach to a vcr; it attaches to the aerial and thence to the back of the vcr itself. Thanks in advance!

Sorry if this is patiently explained somewhere else, but I can't seem to find it...

The other half (aka shove_this_job is applying for a fiancee visa to join me in the UK. I understand that I, as the sponsor, will need to provide a shedload of supporting documents (passport, bank statements, mortgage, wage slips etc.)

- Do I provide originals or notarized copies?
- Will these be sent in the post or will she present them at an interview at the Chicago consulate?
- Should I (as the Brit) prepare to go to an interview somewhere in the UK to support her application? Do I then need to bring my original versions of these supporting documents?
- Is there a definitive list of these supporting documents?

Ta for your help :)

Andrew

Recent chat on chocolate and the like reminded me I might want to send some US friends some British chocolate as gifts this year, but I remember reading something about needing to jump through extra hoops when sending food-stuffs, beyond just filling in the usual customs form/label that sticks to the outside of the package. Its so long since I sent anything edible across, I'm just not sure any more.

Can anyone tell me more about this - would hate to either cause trouble for the recipient, or have my parcel of goodies go astray thanks to its (tasty) contents. Logic suggests a couple of bars of chocolate travelling overseas to a US friend shouldn't be an issue for anybody, but logic and customs don't always intersect!

I was just wondering, with such shows as So You Think You Can Dance? and America's Best dance crew, I was wondering are dances like hip hop and contemporary popular in the UK? I don't know if you guys Have a competition shows like SYTYCD? I'm just curious.

Hi All!

Anyone know of any American shops around London where I could buy some classic American Thanksgiving ingredients/stuff?

Also, I may end up being too lazy to cook, so if anyone could recommend a great restaurant serving a Thanksgiving meal that'd be great too!

Thanks and Happy early Turkey Day!!!!

: )

Hello everyone,

I have a bit of unique situation and I wasn't sure if it'd be fitting in here (I didn't see any entries on it) but I'm going to try this anyway. I recently got accepted to a spring internship program for the US Department of State and will be working at the US Embassy in London. My security clearance was recently granted and I just have to arrange to get my visa with the UK Consulate and then I can set a work date. I can begin anytime between January and April as long as I fulfill my 10 weeks. So naturally with it being unpaid, I have to arrange travel, housing arrangments and so on by myself. I'm no longer a student and recently graduated but I DID study abroad in London during my sophomore year so I'm all too aware of the pain staking process it takes to head over there. I am planning to apply to graduate school for 2011 (the program I want to apply to has a deadline that ends in April so I'll have to wait until the following year). The good news is that I have some leads on flats for my stay so that's almost taken care of.

My only real problem is funding. I only just got a job 3 weeks ago so naturally I'm saving as much as I can for next year but I know I can probably only afford the airfare on my own. Does anyone know of any type of private loans that aren't student-related? I don't think I can get an extension on my Stafford loans now that I'm no longer enrolled but I thought I would try anyway.

If I did try and ask, would they accept me even though I'm not a student for the moment? Technically the internship program is for students and since I'm a recent graduate I guess they decided to accept me anyway since it's less than a year. I'm just a bit lost on what I should do or who to turn to. I am going to attempt to contact my university again and see if anyone there can help but I'm trying to come up with other options in case that falls through.

Thank you all for reading and I'm sorry if this is in the wrong community *waves*

Hey everybody, I'm considering getting my Master's in Science Education, and I'd like to do so in Europe. As far as language proficiencies are concerned, I know a smattering of Japanese and Korean, so I'm leaning towards schools in English speaking environments.

What sort of requirements would I be looking at? I have a 4-year degree in Secondary Education with a focus on English, but I have a background in electronic engineering and went out of my way to take as many science courses as I could.

Also, I wouldn't actually start applying for a while. In three months I'm moving to Korea to teach English for a year, maybe two, I'm just trying to line up my life for after that ends. Figure getting transcripts would be easier while I'm still stateside and all.

For the record, I do not have a teaching certificate. I considered going abroad through a teacher exchange program, but the lack of a certificate is a pretty damning condemnation.

(and if you happen to be from Lancaster Co, even better!)

I paid $10 to get a "certified copy" of our marriage certificate for my visa application, and all I got back was a plain white 8.5x11" sheet of paper that says across the top "County of Lancaster / Marriage License Duplicate Certificate" and then has the same wording as the marriage certificate the judge signed (only without his signature) and then under it "I, Mary Ann Gerber, Clerk of the Orphans' Court inand for said county of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, hereby certify the forgoing to be a true and correct copy of the Duplicate Certificate as it appears in Marriage License Number [number]. / Witness my hand and seal of the Orphans' Court of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this 13th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2009" and then it has her (fake looking) signature and the raised seal of the court.

Is that really all we need? Or should I also send along the original? I'm really confused, as I was told the original can't be used as it wasn't a "certified copy", but the original is so much nicer looking than the copy AND the original has the judge's signature on it.

Help!

(I figured I'd post here over UK-Y, since I had a better chance of reaching the PA brides!)


*edited to add* For clarification: He's the UKC, I'm the USC, and I'll be applying for my spousal visa to join him in the UK ;)