UKBA on the net

The UK Border Agency starting page is at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/  But most people reading this page will want to see the immigration rules, and specifically the rules for family members.  Visitors can check on what healthcare is available on this page.

If you have submitted a visa application from the US and it is taking too long, you can initiate an enquiry by following the steps on this page.

Some consulates engage the public via Facebook, here's the link for the New York Consulate General

An UKBA booklet describing public funds as they relate to the immigration rules is here.

EU Resources

The Citizens Signpost Service (CSS) is aimed at EU citizens who encounter problems with mobility in the European Internal Market. The CSS is an advisory service which gives guidance and practical advice to citizens on specific problems they encounter in the EU and its Internal Market.

Freedom of movement in the EU is a advocacy blog that tracks the implementation of EC directives and provides numerous relevant links for those with EU mobility problems.

UK Organizations

Advice Now is funded by the the Legal Services Commission and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. (impressive internet FAQ with annotated links)

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. (publications and a free advice hotline)
       

Internet discussion forums

A note about discussion forums:

There's lots of discussion forums on the internet where the members offer immigration advice and help of one sort or another. These can be helpful for learning about the personal experiences others have had, but it's a foolish idea to base your immigration strategy solely on advice from an internet discussion forum. Why?

• Discussion forums very rarely (if ever) issue a retraction or correction when they give poor advice.
• Inaccurate or misleading information is often vectored on the internet from one forum to another.
• There are major changes to UK immigration law at least once a year, but more often two and three times a year. It means that personal experiences are often out of date.
• There are a number of intangible factors that make each case unique: age, position, standing in the community, and so on which may be radically different from your situation.
• Like any other policy administrating function, issuing posts are subject to changes in personnel and changes in the political climate, and these affect the degree of rigor applied to various applications.
• The UKBA  is under pressure to demonstrate a fair and uniform treatment in the processing of applications across all countries; this makes it axiomatic that there will be at least some refusals in each country.

Having said that, there are a few high-quality discussion forums on the internet worth mentioning. These forums have a track record of giving high quality advice and/or having a regulated advisor who monitors the discussions:

Immigrationboards.com covers all aspects of UK immigration except asylum. This forum has a highly informed set of moderators, and is monitored by one or more regulated advisors. Of particular interest are their PBS boards, which has an up-to-date FAQ. This forum is not aligned to a particular nationality.  This forum remains our top pick for 2012.  The downsides are the abysmal 'sticky' system and the length of time some people have to wait for a response.

Gay.com UK is a solid internet resource for enquiries about student, visitor, and unmarried partner applications. This forum is aligned with Stonewall.

The Thailand-UK Forum is oriented towards UK/Thai relationships, but it's a "must read" for any visa national contemplating a visitor or settlement visa to the UK. There's a FAQ, and a permanent thread entitled Build your own settlement visa supporting evidence folder. A well presented site, and sympathetic moderators make this a valuable internet resouce!

Turkish Love Let's get something straight right away: this forum  is not going to win lots of awards for insight into UK immigration law; but as a compendium of personal experiences, it's quite likely the best on the net.  The forum is populated mainly by British women who have fallen in love with a Turkish national and are now facing the hurdles of fiance and spouse immigration.  Personal experiences run the gamut from con artists all the way to allowed appeals, and there's lots of them.  There is something invigorating about reading an account from a woman with only secondary education somehow managing to reach the upper tribunal to get her husband a visa and finally win her case.  It's a great site for personal experiences.

Still evaluating:  ExpatForum no show-stoppers found so far...

And a few forums to avoid are...


UK-Yankee.   The American audience in this forum makes it a popular target for con artists, sock puppets, and bottom feeders.  Abysmal editorial policies; moderators altering content is an on-going problem.   It is always best to double check your results in this forum with a more reliable source.  Caution for any scams.

UKResident.  This heavily commercialised forum is populated almost entirely by bottom feeders, most of them apparently identifying themselves with a logo or sig line.  Terse, but timely and accurate responses to corner cases. Good first level advice, but they seem to draw the line on how much advice they will give and begin insisting upon a fee.  Best used as a way to double check what you have received in another forum, but avoid this one as a primary source.

Russian Women Discussion Forum is too off-the-wall and just plain weird to take seriously. It seems to have an odd preoccupation with sex tourism and related scams.  Steer clear.

Some final notes about internet forums

There is an inverse relationship between accuracy and post age.  This is to say that forum articles that are older are less reliable simply because they are likely to be out-of-date or less relevant.  Always check the posting dates.

Also, immigration happens in a lot of different contexts.  So be sure that the article you are reading pertains to your particular situation.  For example, if you are a spouse, there is little point in following articles about somebody's experience getting a work permit or claiming asylum.

As a matter of disclaiming, we visit all of the forums listed for FAQ research.  But we are not associated with any of the above forums.  We do not receive compensation or other benefit for issuing a favourable review, and we have no conflicts of interest in issuing a negative review.  Webmasters at the forums above always have full right of reply. 

What about Yahoo Answers, and related services?

These services allow you to make an enquiry, and respondents compete for the best and most complete answer.  What we have observed is that the 'best answers' are those which have collected the relevant links from the UKBA site along with a few credible FAQ's (like us, there are 150+ inward links to us from Yahoo Answers), and posted all of these together as a kind of 'shotgun' approach.

All well and good, but if you can't do that on your own, then you shouldn't be on the net in the first place.  That constitutes our view on various types of internet answering services.

Further research

Looking for something?  It might be in our News Watch archives.

If you want to learn about the Voluntary Assisted Return Program for overstayers, visit IOM

Civil registration procedures are documented at the General Registry Service

Comment?  Is there a forum we should check out?  talk@transpondia.co.uk

Complaint?  complaints@transpondia.co.uk

Reviewed/updated 5 May 2012