Craggybogg:
Hello House! I want to ask what app do those based in the UK use to make strictly dollar payments? Or how do you open a dollar account in the UK?

Revolut has Dollar account opened very easily within seconds on the app.

Superex:


Lol 😅 Stormont Rd, London SW11 5EJ, UK. Make I know before I go see myself for somewhere else🤣🤣 besides how do I pay without cash. 😅

I assume you don't have Contactless card nor Google Pay. I would advise you just use uber

I'm happy with the good progress on Mortgages for folks here. Quite encouraging.

I changed my mind recently not to buy with my wife jointly to take advantage of the stamp duty-free purchase for first time buyers twice. That way, we can buy again without stamp duty using her name next time. Unfortunately, half of our savings for the house is in her LISA so we have to save further.

EDIT: Folks here say this is not allowed so I gotta confirm and go back to plan A.

deept:


@lightnlife

Plus management company wahala....

Yup, and random increase in Service Fee charges and Ground Rent

SamReinvented:
Registering my presence here, as I’ll be getting my first home this summer

Carry us along o. If you see any Lender that accepts 5% deposits for visa holders earning less than £100k, let us know

Superex:
Please how do you guys transport in the UK. I just booked my flight from Lagos, but I don't know what type to transit to take from Heathrow airport to my destination. Thanks

You have so many options. The cheapest should be National Express. Just go to their website nationalexpress.com

Geloj:
Top men in the house, I just booked for my nigerian passport renewal and the appointment date I could secure was the end of October.

Is it possible to get an earlier date for appointment?

How can I go about it?

I have a huge deadline soon.

If anyone can help, please help me with update abeg.

Unfortunately, I doubt you can do much. If it's really urgent, go there and beg, unlikely, but they may help if it's life or death.

AgentXxx:
Please look at this evidence from their Croydon’s website in the picture attached. “A non British spouse of a full time student whose visa restricts work or claiming benefits”. How do we explain that @justwise

They have a good case then. They should just reach out to the Council in clear terms. HOWEVER, in the meantime, they should be paying their Council Tax. This happened to me and when the Council finally granted exemption, we were refunded for all paid Council Tax.

Zahra29:


According to gov UK:

Discounts for full-time students
Households where everyone’s a full-time student do not have to pay Council Tax. If you do get a bill, you can apply for an exemption.

To count as a full-time student, your course must:

last at least 1 year
involve at least 21 hours study per week
If you study for a qualification up to A level and you’re under 20, your course must:

last at least 3 months
involve at least 12 hours study per week
You’ll get a Council Tax bill if there’s someone in your household who’s not a full-time student, but your household might still qualify for a discount.

So they have to pay council tax, but should apply for a discount from the council on the basis of the student being disregarded/exempt.

They have to apply for the discount though - it's not automatic. In any case they definitely should not ignore letters from the council because the council has the power to take enforcement action to recover the debt, which could result in a court summons, bailiffs or even a prison sentence. Croydon council is bankrupt and will not joke with its money. It recently hiked up its council tax by a substantial amount even though there are many struggling households in its borough.

Edited to add - bear in mind they will also be liable for the tax arrears that has accumulated. They should engage asap with the council to try to agree a payment plan.

Absolutely, the discount is to be made by the Council. Some Councils can give a total exemption, others a discount, and a few may stubbornly insist on collecting their money if there is an adult dependant occupant.

hayesconcept:
I’m currently working in healthcare sector.

Yeah, uhmmm... I don't get. By the way, what I stated is on the Gov.uk website and I have a friend who was affected.

hayesconcept:
You don’t need passport to apply for visa. The birth certificate will do

That's good! I didn't know that.

Before someone asks again, if you want your newborn to have access to the NHS without bills after 3 months:

- Get the Birth Certificate from your Council.
- Apply for NIN in your closest centre.
- Apply for a Nigerian Passport in London.
- Apply for a Dependant Visa for the child.

Unfortunately, these steps could take up to 4 months so the earlier you start, the better. Also the entire process would cost quite some Thousands of Pounds depending on the length of the Visa.

P.S.: Folks are saying you don't need a Passport and NIN so it makes it faster then cos that is the major delay.

abuhusna1:

Using nhs us not public fund as long as you work and pay for nhs or you are in healthcare job.

Services in the NHS is for only Citizens and Residents. A baby born here to immigrant parents has access for free for 3 months after which you either pay out of pocket, or get a visa fornthe baby.

The exceptions are some Emergency services that are for every person in the UK... Also, for minor cases, vaccinations, etc, most GPs won't bother charging. But such parents should pray the child doesn't need a surgery or treatment like hernia, the BILL would be heavy.

Viruses:


If this story is true and the police were truly involved, if the govt. is able to use this to uncover fraud, will the victims be given another jobs or asylum seeing that they helped investigation?

They will most likely be sent back to their home Country with a visa ban.

hayesconcept:
First one year for the baby the NHS is free. I will call citizen advice if the baby are still entitled to free NHS till five years.

This isn't true. I think it's just first 3 months.

Agbekehorla:
How can one go about renewing Nigerian passport in this UK. It expires March 2024. Is it too early to renew. Ancestors pls reply. Thanks

Strange that this question keeps coming up few hours or days after we just discuss it. Folks don't read older posts any more?

I remember when I came into UK, I read through over a thousand pages of this thread. Took me months but the knowledge I got helped me so much.

Jcole123:
Hi guys,

A friend of mine applied for a trainee Job in an engineering company. He was invited for a physical interview at the company's office. After the interview, he said the interviewers sounded very impressed and told him that his previous experience makes him over qualified for the trainee position and they would like to fit him into a qualified role with an improved pay. He was asked to come for a 4hrs trial work session to familiarise himself with the work environment and so they can better access his understanding of the job. After the trial session, the director once again reiterated the fact that my friend is very knowledgeable and would consult with the senior staff that accessed him to know the final step. However, he was asked to provide a reference from previous employer.

After providing reference, he recieved a mail from the company requesting additional 4hours trial work session and my friend feels a bit frustrated about the back and forth.

Please any advise for him?

He was applying for trainee and got bumped up. I think he should endure. If it's a really good job, then it's worth it. My opinion.

My job took almost 4 long months from application to Day 1. But working there made it all worth it because it was my dream job. I understand the process can be a lot better but hopefully it pays off.

bigtt76:
He should request the trial sessions to be treated as a contract and get duly paid for it. He can't be using his hard earned money to transport and work for free. If they know he's knowledgeable, there should be no need for trials.

Hmmm... that's a little too bold for me sha.

chimexview:


I tried but it didn’t work out too. I’m less than a year in uk and part time worker maybe that’s the problem. Thanks anyway

Just. Give. It. Time.

Stop all Credit applications and keep doing every other thing right. The more you apply, the more your scores takes a hit as you will seem desperate to the system.

Knowlegeseeking:
Hi guys,

Please i will like to know how sponsorship works.

When a company sponsors a person from T4 to T2, is the application also put in for the dependant? or the dependant (in this case, just the spouse) applies separately after MA is sponsored and pays the associated costs (visa and IHS).

Thanks.

Either. Some sponsors will pay, others won't. Just drpends on the agreement and the type of job.

hustla:


Well, influx of people into the UK may be a reason...

Also, it seems London is the only place you can get it done .. hence the palava

Nope. There was a crowd end of 2021 as well as a huge backlog due to scarcity of booklets but they were able to do few days timeframe. So it's doable, there's no excuse, it's just Naija.

DadR:
Collection may not take up to 3 months I think. My Son did biometrics on May 23rd and his new passport was delivered to us on July 15th.

@hustla

Nigerian matter, keeps degrading. As at last year, it used to take less than 1 week. Now people are looking months.

[quote author=igbsam post=124759001][/quote]

This is not true

eniola1010:
Guys is it true that when you change industry your ilr countdown will reset (for example changing from a nhs sponsored job to a graphic design sponsored job that is not under healthcare)?

Also

Is it true that even if you change enployer under same industry your ilr countdown will still reset (for example changing from a nhs sponsored job to another healthcare sponsored job which is nhs but still under healtcare)?

This was discussed few days ago. Just scroll back a little.

babajeje123:

You don't even need her bank statement, yours only is enough.

This is not true. He would typically need her statement especially as a Pensioner. I think that will just show them her financial situation is consistent with what was stated in her application. Also, I always advise the applicant to contribute to her trip if she's earning: say, £100.

igbsam:


These guys do soft search and not like amex that will be searching for your intestines

They will still do a hard check for application. But at least, there's an eligibility checker first so he can know whether to proceed or not.

OmichaelO:
Morning Guys,

Please if I want to invite my mother say in the next 6 months.

Is it too early to start depositing money in her account ? Though she's a pensioner but just to be on a safe side.

And what else do I need to do for those that tried inviting their their parents.

Hmmm... another topic that needs to be visited. I will try and prepare a detailed explanation later, please remind me.

If she's a pensioner, why are you depositing money in her account I have applied for pensioners with little money in their account. Equivalent of like £150. As long as they have a sponsor and their regular pension inflow shows, it should be fine. Dumping unexplainable money in her account is one of the quick ways to get her visa denied.

babajeje123:
Can someone advise how a visitor can book appointment for NHS pais services? Is there any link for that?

Just go to your GP, they will probably charge about £80 to register the person, then charge accordingly for subsequent service. Ensure the person is registered as a visitor, not resident.

igbsam:


Try this....Thank me later

https://www.vanquis.co.uk/raf-app?code=84EB4BDA03A988AE2222

Since they will do a soft search for eligibility check, this is fine. If not, I will tell him to stay away from Credit applications for some time.

brine:


Yes, that's actually very possible. I don't buy clothes monthly but I know I spend more than that (£200 x 12) yearly on clothes and shoes. I looked at a food delivery app I used some time ago and I discovered I spent roughly £12k on takeaways between Jan 2020 - Dec 2022 alone!

£2,400 annually on clothing. Some people might be spending more here but don't know. The issue is that many folks don't closely track their expenses and would be in for a shocker if they do.

Schoolhike:


Also very cheap accommodation with almost free council tax, got this info from a thread on Twitter about people sharing how much they spend monthly on bills, very interesting thread with lots of info about places in UK.

Nice! Where can I find the thread. Looks like a good read!

Accomodation is relatively cheaper here than big Cities in England but Council Tax is similar, if not higher actually.

Most Nigerians would live in South Wales though: Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. North is less culturally diverse, you'd see lots of people speaking the local language - Welsh and the Economy is not as great - low salaries with fewer jobs.