Immigrating to the UK

Sinbad said:
180 days in a 12 month period.
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Ah thought it was over the entire duration of the visa. Didn’t really bother to look into it as I wasn’t even close to hitting it when I applied for ILR. Have ILR now so it no longer matters anyway.
 
potter123 said:
I'm considering a possible job offer in Bath but its difficult to gauge the relative purchasing power and cost of living. I know this depends on a range of factors but I'm curious for those in Bath or similar places what a typical month/year of expenses may come to?
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When it comes to food allow me to offer this little piece of personal experience... your food costs are identical to that of SA.
If you spend R3k in SA, then convert that R3k to Pounds and that's how much you will spend. You can spend more and shop at M&S or Waitrose (****ing baller!) or you can spend less. But in terms of what actual food items cost... its basically identical (and there is no VAT of food items that aren't extreme luxuries).
 
Priapus said:
So, it looks like the visa fee increases will be substantial. The IHS charge going up to 1000 GBP per year the visa is valid and the actual visa will increase as well - probably close to 2000 GBP - up from 1500 at the moment.

Looks like the increase will either be in October or April.

If it’s April; we are thinking of applying for the Spouse visa at the end of March then - if it’s October, we will just have to find the money somewhere, as that is far too early to apply for us, unfortunately.

If we apply for it in April; I think it might take two to three months - so might have it around Jun or so?
Once we have it, I assume we need to get into the UK as soon as possible to collect the BRP, right?

Can my wife collect it for me instead? As we might still be wrapping things up in SA by then.
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Wow, they are more or less doubling it? That it WAY to much, the cost for a 5 year visa already is rough.
 
Priapus said:
So, it looks like the visa fee increases will be substantial. The IHS charge going up to 1000 GBP per year the visa is valid and the actual visa will increase as well - probably close to 2000 GBP - up from 1500 at the moment.

Looks like the increase will either be in October or April.

If it’s April; we are thinking of applying for the Spouse visa at the end of March then - if it’s October, we will just have to find the money somewhere, as that is far too early to apply for us, unfortunately.

If we apply for it in April; I think it might take two to three months - so might have it around Jun or so?
Once we have it, I assume we need to get into the UK as soon as possible to collect the BRP, right?

Can my wife collect it for me instead? As we might still be wrapping things up in SA by then.
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My fok, that’s rough. Looks like I chose the right time to come over…although if my wife cannot reinstate her residency then she will have to pay the same fees I did. Going to find out soon.
 
2023 said:
Wow, they are more or less doubling it? That it WAY to much, the cost for a 5 year visa already is rough.
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prod said:
My fok, that’s rough. Looks like I chose the right time to come over…although if my wife cannot reinstate her residency then she will have to pay the same fees I did. Going to find out soon.
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Yeah the increases are mad. So going to see if we can apply before they kick in. Unless they come in, in October.
 
maumau said:
Just paid R16k for a 5 year visitor's visa.
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I once considered getting the 10 year visa. As I visit the UK on average once a year.

That’s around R20k and I was just not willing to bet with that kind of money if they said no.

My spousal visa is going to cost R80k. So there’s that…
 
Priapus said:
I once considered getting the 10 year visa. As I visit the UK on average once a year.

That’s around R20k and I was just not willing to bet with that kind of money if they said no.

My spousal visa is going to cost R80k. So there’s that…
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Agree, it's a gamble because there are no refunds and R20k is a lot of money. GL with the spousal.
 
killerbyte said:
When it comes to food allow me to offer this little piece of personal experience... your food costs are identical to that of SA.
If you spend R3k in SA, then convert that R3k to Pounds and that's how much you will spend. You can spend more and shop at M&S or Waitrose (****ing baller!) or you can spend less. But in terms of what actual food items cost... its basically identical (and there is no VAT of food items that aren't extreme luxuries).
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Fact. I still dont understand why some locals dont shop at ALDI. I love my local ALDI.

Pubs & restaurants are a different thing tho
 
Tman* said:
Fact. I still dont understand why some locals dont shop at ALDI. I love my local ALDI.

Pubs & restaurants are a different thing tho
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Eating out is expensive, takeaways sit in the middle in terms of cost between eating at home and eating out.
I shop at Aldi, Tesco (they carry the 1kg box of Crunchy Nut), The Food Warehouse, and even Lidl on occasion. Sainsbury's has been replaced with Tesco after I found the Clubcard specials beat Nectar.
But my Sainsbury's petrol station is the cheapest (139.9p per litre of diesel).
 
killerbyte said:
Eating out is expensive, takeaways sit in the middle in terms of cost between eating at home and eating out.
I shop at Aldi, Tesco (they carry the 1kg box of Crunchy Nut), The Food Warehouse, and even Lidl on occasion. Sainsbury's has been replaced with Tesco after I found the Clubcard specials beat Nectar.
But my Sainsbury's petrol station is the cheapest (139.9p per litre of diesel).
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I don't play favourites at all, I will shop at Lidl and Aldi out of choice for some things, and get the balance from ASDA, Tesco or Sainsburys depending which one I'm passing.

Petrol is Costco without any hesitation, it's similar to the premium brands like BP Ultimate for additives and last fill up was 136.9p, they're always the cheapest.
 
Dave said:
I don't play favourites at all, I will shop at Lidl and Aldi out of choice for some things, and get the balance from ASDA, Tesco or Sainsburys depending which one I'm passing.

Petrol is Costco without any hesitation, it's similar to the premium brands like BP Ultimate for additives and last fill up was 136.9p, they're always the cheapest.
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Alas no Costco in my area.
 
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