anarchist_nomad (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anarchist_nomad) wrote2016-03-26 11:04 am
anarchist_nomad) wrote2016-03-26 11:04 am
Entry tags:
Ten
Need I say more?
Of course, I am celebrating by leaving; I write this entry from Manchester Airport, en route to Japan.[*]
My, what a decade it has been! Ups and downs, to be sure... but mostly ups. In fact, I have described the year just ended[**] as my best so far!
Looking forward to the next decade, my beloved![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat and I are currently house hunting and putting down roots in Sheffield, whilst I am planning for my next triathlon and my first marathon, plus have grand schemes for both my research and teaching.
Here's to the next ten years!
[*] The pre-celebration happened Wednesday evening, when I repeated the same journey from O'Hare to Heathrow -- these days en route to Sheffield, not Oxford -- but still. Speaking of which, it was lovely seeing many of you at the birthday party on Monday!
[**] By which I mean February 2nd 2015 through February 1st 2016. Not exactly the conventional calendar year, but since when did I hew to convention? These dates bookend a year, but are not arbitrary. It starts with the job advertisement for my faculty post and ends with the news that the chemo was successful and my father's cancer is in remission. Much more in-between, but that is more fitting for a separate post than a footnote.
Of course, I am celebrating by leaving; I write this entry from Manchester Airport, en route to Japan.[*]
My, what a decade it has been! Ups and downs, to be sure... but mostly ups. In fact, I have described the year just ended[**] as my best so far!
Looking forward to the next decade, my beloved
cheshcat and I are currently house hunting and putting down roots in Sheffield, whilst I am planning for my next triathlon and my first marathon, plus have grand schemes for both my research and teaching.Here's to the next ten years!
[*] The pre-celebration happened Wednesday evening, when I repeated the same journey from O'Hare to Heathrow -- these days en route to Sheffield, not Oxford -- but still. Speaking of which, it was lovely seeing many of you at the birthday party on Monday!
[**] By which I mean February 2nd 2015 through February 1st 2016. Not exactly the conventional calendar year, but since when did I hew to convention? These dates bookend a year, but are not arbitrary. It starts with the job advertisement for my faculty post and ends with the news that the chemo was successful and my father's cancer is in remission. Much more in-between, but that is more fitting for a separate post than a footnote.
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You two too eh?
Shropshire for us.
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For us, it's Hallamshire.
Thirteen viewings so far, mostly this month.
Have made three offers.
Withdrew the first after sleeping on it, due to the location being a bit inaccessible by public transportation. (Shame, as the house was lovely!)
The second house we made an offer on was fantastic and we were eager to get it. So were nine other people, as there were ten buyers bidding on it. We didn't win the bidding war.
Third offer was made on Saturday, and we are now waiting to hear back. The house is very spacious and in an extremely convenient location. The catch is that is needs a lot of internal modernisation work -- new windows, new wiring, that sort of thing. Not ideal, but I figure that we can renovate the inside in parts if finances require. In contrast, we can't easily make a house much bigger (or move it to a different location). So I'd be happy to get this one and then work with the inside as needed. It's not terrible, but it is old. Single-glazed windows and the like.
Fingers crossed!
Actually, yes.
(is very tired from stressful weekend and Missing Husband)
Re: Actually, yes.
It has indeed been ten years since Chesh and I moved to Merrie Olde England. We touched down in London on March 26th 2006 and, after spending a day with Chesh's future partner, set foot in Oxford for the first time on March 27th.
You're also mostly on target for when we got our citizenships.
The thing about naturalising is that it takes time. And money.
When we arrived in 2006, I had leave to remain in the UK on a two-year work permit visa. Chesh had leave to remain as my dependent, given our status as an unmarried couple.[*]
A work permit visa is tied to one's job. Lose the job; lose the visa. Not terribly secure. Thus, in 2007, I applied for the status of a Highly Skilled Migrant, based on my PhD and my salary. I was successful and used that status to obtain a two-year Highly Skilled Migrant visa in 2008. At the same time, we renewed Chesh's visa as an HSM dependent. The HSM visa (which no longer exists) was tied to the individual, rather than the job, and allowed me to look freely for other work. Lots more security and flexibility. On this visa, I switched from my position at Oxford, which was ending, to my post at Imperial College.
When the Highly Skilled Migrant visa expired in 2010, I replaced it with a three-year Tier 1 (General) visa, which was basically the same thing under a different name. That was a really useful visa, and it's a shame they don't exist anymore. Again, we extended Chesh's leave to remain for the same period of time, now as a Tier 1 (General) dependent.
Although the Tier 1 (General) visa was expensive and lasts for three years, we only used it for one. Adding up two years on a work permit visa, two years on a Highly Skilled Migrant visa, and one year on a Tier 1 (General) visa brought us to five years in the UK. At that point, we became eligible to apply for 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' (ILR), which is permanent residency. Basically the same as a green card in the USA. So we became permanent residents in 2011.
After a year of permanent residency, one can apply for citizenship. Which is what Chesh did in 2012. I had to wait a little longer, as I had a driving conviction that kept me from meeting the 'good character' requirement. That fell off my record in early 2013, and I quickly followed with my own application for citizenship.
Immediately afterwards, we registered to vote... and since May 2013, there has been no difference between my legal status in the USA and in the UK. I have the same rights and privileges in both countries now. Chesh is almost the same, with one exception -- she has never obtained a driving licence in the United Kingdom.
With a permanent position on the faculty of the University of Sheffield, all that we really need to do to finalise our roots in our adopted country is buy a house. Which we are currently working on, having seen over a dozen places this month!
So that's our long journey. Hope it makes things clearer!
Meanwhile, I'm sorry to hear that your weekend was stressful. *hugs* If you need a listening ear, just let me know and we can arrange a call. Skype is our friend! :-D
[*] The UK allowed unmarried couples the same status as married couples for the purposes of immigration if the couple could prove they had been living in a situation akin to marriage for at least two years. When we applied for our UK entry clearance in 2006, we had been together for nearly 12 years (since Aug 1994) and had been living in a situation akin to marriage for nearly ten (since May 1996). For the visa purposes, showing cohabitation and shared bank accounts was sufficient proof that we were living as if married.
Re: Actually, yes.
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I've been out of LJ-touch for a couple of months, particularly when I was busy with teaching. Most of that news will be lost to me, but I just caught up on your page. I'm glad to hear that your father is still holding on. How are they treating him? You mentioned acupuncture. What about chemo?
No need to talk about it if it's too painful. Believe me, I understand. Just being a sympathetic ear to listen, if it will help.
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Unfortunately there was no chance of chemo or anything like that. The cancer was discovered too late and the doctor told us nothing could be done. One of the worst days of my life was spent sitting in a doctor's office, two days before Christmas, being told that my father was going to die soon and there was absolutely no hope at all.
Dad didn't give up quite so easily and made appointments with other doctors and looked into alternative medicines and cannabis oil, which might be why he made it a bit longer than predicted, but it wasn't enough in the end.
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In light of this awful news, I will switch the question from 'How is he doing?' to 'How are you doing?' The offer to talk remains as open as ever, if you think it will help.
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Sorry, that sounds dumb. Not because I don't care (I do) or because I can't sympathise (I can picture it all too well given what I just went through)... but just because I don't have the words.
So, yes, angry at the universe makes a lot of sense. I've been there. Not in this case, since we got lucky with my father's cancer, but with other stuff that I'd prefer not to talk about in LiveJournal (but would share in a less public setting).