₦airaland Forum

ShalewaT:
How do I go about it pls? Any help will do

If you do not get heads up by tomorrow. Just type "divorce lawers in UK" on google, call the numbers you see and tell them what you want. If they cannot help you, ask for referrals. Before you call 10 numbers you will get way forward.

But on a second thought, divorce is not something you should do sharp sharp. Take your time, live apart for a number of years if possible so that you are sure of exactly what you are doing.

ShalewaT:
What if he gets a sponsorship job?
I really want to send him back home, I feel like he only used me to get here

Hasten the divorce process. Start tomorrow.

Sorry about the situation you have found yourself. He should not be able to bring in another spouse since he is a spousal dependent already. Also, his visa and residence permit becomes invalid once he is divorced from the primary applicant. Finally, if the process creeps into when you want to apply for PSW or renewal, you can just not apply for him.

This is page 419 but I will assume that you are telling the truth since there is no avenue of hearing from the other party, because come to think of it, if his goal is to get here and then bring his wife, why didn't he just use that wife as the primary applicant in the first instance. Why use you first? Although it's possible because the other wife may not be qualified or you are your sponsor.

ProfJYK:
Yes You Can. I got my first one as a student barely 3 months in this country.

I recommend co-branded cards or loyalty card for starters as they demand less stringent requirements for beginers.

Try the free British Airways American Express card using this referral link below.

http://amex.co.uk/refer/eJIKeOmcG5?XL=MNMNS

Please don't be shy to embellish your income small by entering something substantial to prevent rejection. You can put up 10 #19,000 in other income as well

Please ensure you pay your full outstanding monthly and don't carry over more than 30% credit limit utilisation at the statement close date. Anything above 30% reported to the registries has an adverse effect on credit score.

Ps. I am also a beginner in the UK.

What does this credit utilisation mean?

If I get a limit of £5k approved on the card for instance, I used the whole 5k to buy something today and pay back in full tomorrow.

Is there a penalty for using everything in the first instance?

ybahrbz91:
@Viruses. I promised to keep you posted.
I was able to put a call through yesterday and I have cancelled the contract. Thanks once again for the info.

I was formerly on Lebara and na £25 for unlimited per month. I was just looking for something cheaper and a contract to boost credit score.
Maybe I should chill with my lebara for now.

Cool

Why is Naira appreciating like this.
I don't even know whether to like it or not to like it.

No charges if you cancel within 2 weeks (14 days). If you cancel after. You pay till the end of the contract.

ybahrbz91:
I actually called them and they confirmed the strength of 4G network in my area is good.. My phone is not 5G.
They delivered the SIM today and I am not happy at all with this network. I just did the unlimited contract.

Internet is my only companion in this country. I am pained

You have 2 weeks to cancel without penalty.

I am very pleased with their service so far. I cancelled my broadband contract because three is serving me. Is like it was their 4G I used in city center. I used to stand behind TV to make call because that was the only place network was in the house.

Everyone keep saying negative things about Nigerians and they are the Nigerians. Those ones advising against associating with Nigerians nai worse pass. Just like stingy people, na them beg pass.

ybahrbz91:
Review on Three network?

Depends on the area.
When I was in City center, I couldn't make or receive calls. To load WhatsApp status na war. But in my current area, I use 5G with it. I stream everything on my smart TV and it does not buffer.
Good news is you can call and ask them to check the strength of their network in your area and any other area you want.

Unlimited 12 months contract £16/month. Unlimited is Unlimited unlike two that Unlimited is good up to 80GB and very poor beyond 80GB

Osoderi:
Good day house pls i need advice, i am in uk on a spouse visa, i have been having challengies on surgery taking time for some medical appointments, e.g for one to get appointment it takes time and even for having medical test it still takes time for test results to come out.is this how the system works?? Not happy here.

secondly, i want to undergo a major surgery here, i want to ask if it is possible for me to have a surgery without paying since i have paid for ihs during my visa application. I want to confirm
will it take a long time to give me appointment for surgery? kindly advice. Thank you

They will access your situation. If it’s urgent and life threatening, they will attend to you accordingly. I advice you call them and start the process as you continue to gather information because if they were supposed to deal your case in Like 6 months time, if you don't start the process, 6 months will still come and go.

I don't have experience on this, it's just what I assume should be obtainable.

akaprince:
Hello Seniors.

Please, can one apply for skilled worker visa using ielts result, PCC and IOM medical certificate carrying the old passport details? Just renewed passport last month after delays in getting sponsorship. Is it okay to apply without updating the three documents with the new passport details? The old passport number is on the new one. Need guidance from those who have experienced same please. Please, please kindly respond. Don't skip. Thanks

I'm sure a lot of people have seen this post as well as the previous ones. But as replies are not forth coming, it is safe to assume no one has response to your query. It is safer to write new IELTS and take new IOM medical since you are in doubt already.

Bourne007:
And yet expects to get PSW. I initially felt she stood a chance if appealed but not anymore after reading the partial story.

Painful how the japa journey has been jeopardised. Na to start another study route again and get a new NI and everything new be that.

steadyMoving22:
But she was a student with a work permit?

Yes
Yet she's working and having the salary paid to someone else's account and does not have payslips. Why?

Truth is she'll only open up and say what she wants people to hear instead of the truth.

LagosismyHome:
At first glance I would say how is this possible, on second glance there are some fraud that happens that until they happen to you, you be shocked and say how is this possible

If its a case of fraud, even if she doesn't need PSW let her fight it to the end and clear the record. Very painful to be punished for money you didn't collect

Read the story again. The person complaining of injustice is the actual suspect. She is working and having her salary paid into someone else's account. Why?

This is very common in US. Immigrants not eligible to work uses someone else's details to work, salary is paid to the details of the person being used and they settle each other afterwards.

There's usually an agreement between both parties because salary is paid into the account of the person that has papers. So if someone is using your documents to work without your knowledge, the salary comes to you except the salary is paid in cash.

jadepinkett:
Oh, thanks. What is cost of living like? Any social life or activities? I'm currently in the UK but in SE. Accommodation is expensive here, but don't want to jump in blind. At least, here I can easily get to London, will not be the case if I move

I can't compare to other cities but I like it here. 2 bedroom flat like 650. Food is affordable depending on the supermarket you choose to shop. I can't tell what you will consider cheap or expensive though. Going to London is by train or national express. Socialising is up to you. I go to Cinema, gym, I bike too.

Truth is you can stay where people say there is life and still dull yourself, it's up to you.

jadepinkett:
Hello. Are there people living in Leicester here? How is the town? Is there accessible naija foodstuff?

The city is OK. There are Nigerian supermarkets.
You don't really need to pay more than one month rent.

Santa2:
.

If you in a city that has flixbus route, you can get a ticket to London (as low as 3.99) pickup and return same day. Done that before. was better than the cost of royal mail.

Thank you. My options are National express and train

Lexusgs430:
Use DPD, hermes or royal mail......... By the time you factor all associated costs........ I hope it would be worth the savings and you no go choke ..........

Thank you

MadeMen4Life:
Lol… that reminds me of when I did my son 3 years birthday party, I invited couple of guys and one family with their children. Can you imagine my friends wife asking my own wife if she has friends, my wife said NO, she kept asking why my wife doesn’t have friends amongst Nigerians ( NB: My wife is Asian )….

I was just amazed, how can you be asking an adult why they choose not to do some things…. Some people don’t really mind their business..

But why your wife no get friends amongst Nigerians

My friend brought foodstuffs for me from Nigeria and he's in London. Does anyone know how I can send foodstuffs (egusi, stock fish etc)?

Amarathripple0:
I followed the instructions below and got my Provisional License in 7 days. I only sent my BRP. My Provisional license was delivered first and the next day my BRP came back as well.

1. Disregard or discard or shred the pre-addressed envelope sent with your form

2. Address your post to

FAO Lee Jones
Head of Vehicle input services
DVLA
Longview Rd
Swansea
SA6 7JL

3. Watch your BRP and PDL come back swiftly

Interesting

The advise wasn't harmful except that the question wasn't answered at the end. I would think that the question should be answered before giving alternative.

The one that annoys me more is when someone says he wants to buy car and you see good people advising him to buy land keep first that land appreciate but car depreciate in value

icon8:
Our people and their penchant for telling people how to live their lives. Someone asked a very specific question about car financing and people would rather advise them of buying a dead car, while ignoring the question asked. If they wanted your advice on what type of car to buy, they would have asked just that.

In fact when I saw the advise I weak because the car I want to buy is about £14k. For a moment after seeing the advise it was like I didn't have sense.

Ticha:
Pension and wealth planning for the future - very long read.

To access full pensions, we have to pay 35 years of national insurance to access the full state pension in the UK and in New Zealand, a naturalised Kiwi aka us has to pay at least 10 years of income tax. It means we can't access the full state pension in both countries.
In both places, I doubt if we could live on the pension anyway even if we qualified for it. The full UK pension is about £7k a year so £14k for both of us. Yes, you could potentially access other benefits, but it means from age 65 for women and 67 for men, you’ll be living on approx. £1k a month unless you have savings to draw on. If you have savings of more than £16k, you also can’t access any state benefits either. So we have been planning for retirement.

We have a Global Vanguard All Shares account (the name has changed over the years) - managed by Henderson Securities. We've had it jointly for more than 12 years (husbot for much longer) and have dipped into it sometimes (mainly to pay for IVF). We haven't touched it for years now and the funds have grown exponentially. If we continue paying into it consistently, we should have about £600k worth of shares (yay compound interest) by the time I'm 55 and husbot is 52. To give an idea, we've always paid a minimum of £150 each monthly into it since 2010. Henderson does the investing and taxes on our behalf. We haven't bothered to check what they invest it in, but we picked an aggressive growth fund for a long time and that really paid off (hence using the profits for IVF). Now it's in a mid-range growth fund and will remain there. We have upped our monthly minimum payments to £250 each a month now because we can afford to do so. The SOA comes every March, but we don’t check it or even look at it beyond seeing how much is there when the SOA comes.

In New Zealand - we pay into the government Kiwisaver scheme (pension scheme). I contribute 3% of my earnings and husbot contributes 5% of his earnings, the government contributes $521 every year. We can withdraw our Kiwisaver once we've been out of NZ for 12 months (6 years of payments), so we plan to withdraw it and dump it into Henderson when we leave.
Onto tangible assets – We have property in both countries. I sold my house in 9ja once I realised it was an albatross and put all the funds into a UK purchase. Our UK family home although rented out is on a full repayment mortgage. Thanks to the current property boom (which can also go bust!) we have some substantial equity in it. We also have other BTLs on interest only mortgages. We can always sell one to clear off the mortgage on the family home if needed.

The move to New Zealand has been the best thing for us financially. I have no employer loyalty. No one goes into education to make money as the pay is poor compared to the level of work and qualifications involved. I often jump ship every 2 years because that's the only way I can increase my wages. Wages in education are much higher in NZ than in the UK which is weird (5m v 67m) but good for me!
Anyhow, when we moved to NZ, we took opportunity of the higher wages and saved and saved and saved but buying a house seemed out of our reach. Then we met another couple who seemed to have the same values as us (family, financial, moral you name it). We pooled our resources and we bought a house in our name (we bought first because we had higher incomes and better credit). With property values going crazy, we within 6 months refinanced that property and gifted the cash to this family (basically paid them back their initial contribution and extra) so they bought one too in their name. They then refinanced and gifted us the cash and we bought another in our names.
Because we want to exponentially grow the money, we are demolishing the first house to build 5 new ones and then leverage that to give them enough to buy a 2nd property for themselves. They can choose to develop or hold or sell but we will have both walked away with 2 initial properties each.

It does mean we're financially tight until we finish the build March/ April 2023 (build starts in Oct 2022) but it's for our future financial security so we're totally happy to have a few tight years. It also means I can't help my extended family as much as I used to and boy! am I hearing about it! I've thoroughly enjoyed the consent and planning process for the development. We now have land use consent ad have just applied for building consent. It has been stressful and a huge expenditure but also a big learning curve. I almost decided to retrain as surveyor last year when we got the engineering bill ��. When the houses are completed, it'll be leased to Housing New Zealand on a 5 year repairing lease. The income from the 5 after tax is about the same as my before tax income (imagine fa) so we know we can comfortably live on that should shit hit the fan workwise.

Our current NZ home was bought with retirement in mind. We went for the biggest house on a large land. We also deliberately bought in a medium density zone. Basically, we can build up to 6 four bedroom houses on the land if we demolish the existing house. If we decide not to retire in New Zealand, then that is what we would do in about 7 years’ time. If we choose to retire in NZ (I seriously doubt it) then we'll sell the UK family home and pay off the mortgage on the NZ one. It has bedrooms and a full bathroom downstairs and is disabled friendly – no stairs to access the whole of the ground floor. I have no intention of going into a nursing or care home.

Shareswise - we've now opened targeted growth fund accounts for the children with Lansdown Hargreaves. We pay £100 a month into each child's account. They will get full access at 18. Hopefully, they can use that to pay uni fees, supplement apprenticeship wages, down payment on a house or even go traveling before uni/ work starts.

We have also created a family trust. I look at the truly wealthy and what they have for going for them is generational wealth and good financial planning. In my family, I'm the first to be in a position to actually start building generational wealth. The trust will hopefully go on forever as it's for the direct progeny of my husbot and his siblings (both his siblings have no children and want none) and me and my siblings so it means my nephews and nieces will get payments annually out of it once they hit 21 but their parents can’t access any of the funds. We've currently set it so it can only be dissolved by a court and no beneficiaries can sell assets out of it including us once the asset has been placed in it.

2 reasons we have done this – divorce/ separation for us or our children. Even though we all hope to remain married till death, the truth is that divorce and remarriage happens. The trust is set up to protect the financial interests of all beneficiaries. If either of us divorces, we will continue to be paid out of it. Should any of us re-marry, the spouse will not be able to access any funds from the trust. Same with the children. Stats also show that first generation immigrants usually create the biggest wealth and subsequent generations waste the accumulated wealth. It is very likely that our children will not have the kind of drive we have because they have been born into or have lived in plenty enough to be happy with state handouts in the future. Therefore, they might actually see us as a burden as we grow older and infirm.

So hopefully at retirement, the trust can top up our pension but also ensure we remain at home till end of life and not be a burden on the children.

This is not financial advice. Just sharing what we have done.

Good planning

A colleague from Iran asked me to send him some Nigerian music to listen to. Dude really seems to like Nigeria.

I gave him Peru by Fireboy, Time to party by Flavour and No one like you by PSquare. Baba saw me this morning and said he was hearing Peru Peru, that what is Peru. I just weak. How do I answer this kind of question.

Viruses:
Does paypal pay in 3 do a hard or soft credit check before approval? Does anyone know please?

Thank you.
Make I no bother, I'm not sure it will be approved because it is my Nigerian address that is still there. I have not been able to change it. Be like na to close am open another account now seff.

Does paypal pay in 3 do a hard or soft credit check before approval? Does anyone know please?

Aphrodite007:
in the UK (unlike America) certificates don’t get you a job, experience does. Certificates only give you the knowledge you need to answer interview questions well.

Anywhere in the world I believe except it is a pre requisite like medical licence, pilot licence etc.

So while taking the course, don't do it with the mindset that once you present the certificate they will take you. Do it to know it. If someone without certificate answer interview questions pass you they will drop you for the person.

ShalewaT:
We never lived together in Nigeria. I'm just disappointed.
He knows I have nobody here and I'd be left with no choice than to use him as my own next of kin

ShalewaT:
Thank you. Can I use my brother who is based on Nigeria?

Next of kin is different from beneficiary. But since we are putting next of kin in context here as someone that will get benefits. I will say trust begets trust, if he does not trust you enough to use you, be the first to show trust by using him, explain what it means and show him it is for the good of the family.

Some people don't use their spouse (mostly when there is no child yet) because they feel the spouse will take the money to his/her own family or use it to marry another person and the new partner will be the one to enjoy their labour. Before I got married, I wasn't using some of my brothers as next of kin because they hardly pick calls but I use them as beneficiaries.

The oga kpatakpata of them all is Will.

Lexusgs430:
Taking your PA into consideration, you don't pay tax on your PA .........

Anything after your PA, is shared .........

If you are considering quiting one job and running to another............ They already thought about that already .....

thank you

Looking at the image below, if someone has a gross of £50,000 and the tax year begins in April. Will he be taxed 20% on 37,250 i.e (50,000 - 12,750) and then split it into 12 months (i.e divide by 12) or he will not be taxed for the months before his pay gets to 12,750 gross before he will start being taxed (i.e if the monthly gross is 4k, he won't pay tax for like 3 months first)?