The day has come!

I got my visa!!! So excited. Cannot believe that I will only  be in Canada for 73 more days. 2 years in the UK. I don't even know what I am doing. I should get my visa in the mail in two days I believe but could be more due to the weekend. 

I don't know if anyone actually reads my blog. I am sure it will be family when I am actually over in Europe but to anyone else out there, do say hi. 

I cannot express so how much I relied on The Aussie Nomad for help on getting the Youth Mobility Scheme visa. It can be very confusing on the UK Border Agency website and he does a wonderful job of breaking it down.

Application Process So far

Hello :)

So I applied for my visa on December 13th, filled out my information online and paid the $330 fee. I printed off the forms at work. Signed the pages requiring dating and signatures and spent the past few days preparing for my Biometrics appointment. I could have booked it for Monday but I thought I would prefer one more day to prepare and I am glad I did. A quick trip to Bellingham with my coworker Beth wiped me out and I needed my sleep come Monday.

I got off work and took the skytrain downtown and got off at Burrard station. I was very early so went to Cafe Crepe and enjoyed a ham, eggs, cheese and caramelized onions. It was so tasty. I was unable to get a mimosa because it was before 9 am so I had an eggnog latte.

I reviewed my forms and everything one last time in the restaurant and I found one small mistake. In the section asking about previous trips to the UK I had put entered 02 March 2013 and left 15 March 2009. I can't time travel and it should have been 02 March 2009.

The place where the Biometrics takes place in Vancouver is at 666 Burrard in the Park Place Building. It is on the 6th floor in Suite 600 but the World Bridge application centre is actuallyin 625.

This is the building. It is directly across the street from Burrard Station.

I arrived finally fifteen minutes before my appointment. I turned off my phone and filled out the address labels they gave me and waited. There was only one other girl in the room with me. After my name was called I went into a small office where the woman went over my forms. She was very nice. I was able to edit my application to change the date mix up, fix a box I forgot to check on my Appendix 7.

The process was very quick and easy. They scanned my fingerprints. I signed a few forms and paid $44.10 to send my application to New York through DHL. They gave me a sim card for the UK which I thought was nice. After everything was nice and sealed they handed me my bright yellow envelope and I headed on my way. 

The fate of my application to be continued...

Applied for my visa!

This day of glorious days I have applied for my visa. I was so nervous filling it out. I did it a few days earlier than I was planning to but I have a really good feeling about today. Now I'm a bundle of nerves.  I have booked my biometrics for Tuesday the 17th for 10:15. It is downtown so I will need to take the skytrain after work. Oh man I am so nervous!

I am also very excited.

Very excited.

Their is a new visa application process and I found it very vague and a bit difficult. It requested a UK address and I have none, I just inputted the hostel I plan to stay at in London's address. Hopefully that will work or else I am screwed royally.

I am so happy it is the weekend. Such a long drag of a week. On Monday, I meet the new supervisor Ebineezer. I hope he's nice. He better be nice.

Planning to go to my sisters for dinner. Yum yum.

SCREAMING1!

I booked my flight!!!!! I know I should have waited until I have my visa but I booked it. I kept seeing all the prices and didn't want them to go any higher.

In 117 days I'm going to London with our without my visa. I am planning to apply in January for my Youth Mobility Visa.  I have made a big list of what I need to do and have printed out the application form and have filled it out, noting what I need to fix and make clear on my more polished one when the time comes.

The flight leaves from Seattle which requires my sister to drive me. I'm hoping maybe we can go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch before my flight, ha ha! I am flying with Iceland Air and have a small layover in Reykjavik. I think thats pretty exciting. I leave on MARCH 16TH and arrive on MARCH 17TH in London at 12 pm.

Flights

Alright, I have started to look at flights but nothing is set in stone yet. I need to figure out how much time I need for my visa. I am planning to leave on March 18th it seems.

I am trying to decide if I want to do a little side trip and travel a little before going to Manchester and trying to find work.  I have found a flight with Icelandair for $398 to Manchester and another to Paris for $409 with Icelandair.  I'm playing around with Momodo.com and getting all excited and at the same time nervous as it makes it all more real. I have found another flight to London for $398 from Icelandair. All these flights are leaving from Seattle which is a two hour drive from Vancouver and will require my sister to take me there. All the flights from Vancouver are at least $150-$200 more expensive than flying out of Seattle. Thats money in my pocket if my sister takes me.

I can find the flight to Manchester for $398 on March 18th, 20th and 25th. This flight is just about $98 more than the fee for the visa application.

I need to get rid of more of my belongings which is going to be difficult. I also need to call my mother and find out what she would like to do with my car. Have to figure out what is going on with the insurance but it ends in June which is when I will be in Europe!

New quotas?

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2013/september/08-rules

This article for October posted in September by the UK Border Agency states that they will be " setting new youth mobility scheme quotas for 2014."

As currently Canada has 5,500 places for the visa. I hope that the number does not shrink and that I am one of those numbers.

Book: Live & Work in Britain

So I took this book out from the library in my quest for more information.

Live & Work in Britain by Nicola Taylor

The parts on the working holidaymaker (what the Youth Mobility Scheme was called ) is very small and I am not sure of its accuracy now. The book was published in 2008 so there can be a lot of changes made to the system since it was published.

The first part mentioned about the scheme is this:

"The working holidaymakers scheme allows young Commonwealth citizens the opportunity to come to the UK for an extended holiday which they may help fund by working in the UK up to a maximum of two years. To qualify you must be a Commonwealth citizen, be aged 17 to 30 inclusive and either be unmarried, or married to a working holidaymaker who is taking the holiday with you.

During the period of stay, you may take employment incidental to a holiday but not set yourself up in or run a business. You can choose when to work and when to take your holiday breaks, but you are not allowed to work for more than a total of 12 months out of the 24. You must also be able to prove you have enough money for your accommodation and living expenses for the first two months after you arrive, or for at least one month if you can show that you have arranged a job in advance."

So I am not sure about the whole working only 12 months of the 24 because I have not read that anywhere else. I think this might just be old information.

The website for the UK Border Agency states that "You will be able to live and work in the UK for 24 months under the youth mobility scheme."

Books

So I read through the two books, and would have to say the Gap Year Guidebook definitely helped me a lot more than the other one. I found How to Work in Someone Else's Country to be more orientated towards people who are moving abroad through companies and how to handle those situations versus going abroad and finding work there. I did enjoy reading on how to acquaint yourself with the locals and other suggestions it had. The Gap Year Guidebook had a chapter on working abroad which I found very helpful. The book is from the UK so has a bit of info about taking a gap year in the UK but that is based on someone not leaving their country so it does not have much info in the regards of the Youth Mobility Scheme.

The Gap Year Guidebook

How to Work in Someone Else's Country

This has a list of books recommended in a travel book. It also lists a bunch of useful websites.

Better luck with the next books that I check out. Got to stay positive.

Love Paige xoxo

There and back again

In reference to me being a small fish in a big pool. Did my pool time this morning. Felt really good. I think I'm going to invest in a swim cap and some goggles and try and improve a lot more. Got a good morning out of this nice old man who said he wanted to say hello but I never stopped swimming. Thought that was sweet and also a boost as sometimes I feel like a snail in the water trying not to sink and just keep going. They had the big pool open to start so that was a lot harder as its a lot more swimming to do in one lap. I just keep thinking of Michael Phelps, Grant Hackett, Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband and just trying to imagine how they ever did/do it.

I got two books out of the library today in my efforts to do more research.
How to Work in Someone Else's Country by Ruth Stark
The Gap-year Guidebook 2013: Everything You Need to Know About Taking a Gap-year or Year Out

Hopefully I can read them and get a better feeling on how to set about this big journey of mine.

Also enjoyed some Menchies Frozen Yoghurt which is fab. If you have one near you. Please do try it.

Love Paige
xoxo

About me

A little about myself. I'm 23. Female. I live in Burnaby and I own a very handsome exotic short hair named Ricky.

He's quite adorable, isn't he?

The goal of this blog is to write down my thoughts, and the roads I will take in order to move to Europe with the Youth Mobility Scheme.  I have been to Europe twice. My first trip was with my school in March of 2008 for a quick jaunt through London and Northern France ending in Paris. This trip only served as a sampler for me and I was determined to return. 

I saved and planned my own trip. My mother asked if she could join me and I quickly agreed and she came with me on my second trip. My second trip was a month long tour of England, Scotland, France and Spain. I had a really great time with my mom and my only regret is that my sister was not able to join us and I think that will always hurt me whenever I think of this trip. I hope that once I move she will be able to come visit me and I can take her on an adventure. 

I am still in the planning stages of this endeavour but to make a blog about it makes it seem more and more real. I am saving for it and have that goal in mind. Today I went on the Burnaby Library website and placed a hold on a few books that I hope will help me read more into the fine details of this adventure I am planning. I have yet to choose my destination  I am leaning towards England but improving my Spanish and exploring more of Spain entices me as well.

This is me. Hi.

I hope to move within the next 6 months. Which puts me at January. I have always dreamed of spending Christmas in Paris, so I may aim for that before flying/busing/training on to my final destination. It's all up in the air, all very exciting, all going to happen.

If you read this and have experienced travelling to Europe with the Youth Mobility Scheme or Working Holiday Visa please let me know your experiences or let me know your blog url.

Lots of love, 

Paige