So, this happened!
After 8 years of going through endless visa paperwork, work sponsorship and immigration stress - I am so relieved, grateful and happy that this country that I've called "my home" since 2013 will finally grant me British citizenship (post ceremony)

It hasn't been easy. In 2014, I only had 4 months after wrapping up my masters degree to find a sponsor to switch my visa from student to work. After plenty of interview rejections (because of my passport), I managed to get a work visa 1 week before my student visa ran out.

Once I was finally on a work visa, I realised how difficult it is to actually change sponsors. You see: your work visa is tied to your sponsor so changing a job meant getting a work visa from scratch. It doesn't matter how strong of an applicant you are IF you need a visa.

Over the next 5 years, I managed to switch sponsors twice. Each time, it was a financial burden and there was the constant stress of collating my entire life in a series of paperwork and the 'waiting game' of the decision that will come through. Will my application be accepted?

One time, my change of sponsor work visa got rejected due to a mistake that my potential employer wrote in their Certificate of Sponsorship. I lost my application fees even though the mistake wasn't from my end. The employer ghosted me and never responded to my emails after.

When I was finally granted indefinite leave to remain in April 2019, I no longer needed a sponsor. I applied for a job and got an offer within one week. I cried that day because I realised this is what 'normal' feels like for strong candidates who don't require visa sponsorship.

I speak to students all the time who are in the same position I was in back in 2013. I tell them that it IS possible. It's really hard work, it's stressful, it's nerve-wrecking and it's easy to lose hope. But it IS possible for this country to finally become your permanent home.