Latest news for Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK

You might have already heard about the Facebook group For Equal Student Rights for the Bulgarian and Romanian Students in the UK that was started last year.

As one of the administators of the group, I feel that I should share the last post there:

Credit for the cover image: Roman Paunov
Credit for the slogan: Stefan Tomov

“We were in touch with the EU Rights Clinic, which is willing to assist us in the following issues:

1) the situation with Student Finance as of now

2) the issues with the registration certificate (yellow card) and the comprehensive sickness insurance required before 2014.

In order to be able to get the best advice possible in regards to any further actions, we need your help.

1) Can all parties having issues with Student Finance forward us any letters to equalbulromstudents@gmail.com?

2) Prior to 2014: if you faced excessive delays in getting a registration certificate (yellow card) of more than 1 month (especially more than 6 months), please get in touch with us via email equalbulromstudents@gmail.com.

How can you also help out? Spread the word, mention this post to your friends that have issues or had issues in the past and share. 

By sending us the information you agree for the group’s admins to forward it to the EU Rights Clinic, who may or may not be in contact with you later on.”

Don’t hesitate to contact us, if you had experienced any of those issues!

 

What would you ask a Bulgarian about the “ïnvasion”?

Some time ago I promised myself to stay away from the Bulgarian/Romanian “invasion” topic, because I can use my energy more efficiently. However, it seems that many English politicians don’t have ideas for better topics to deal with, so I feel obliged to say a couple of things, provoked by the latest publications that describe us in a certain way.

1. We are normal people.
2. We have jobs, houses, cars, friends, family, running water, etc. that we wouldn’t just leave on the 1^st of January, in order to take advantage of the awesome British weather.
3. The whole EU will be open to us. Not just Luton airport.
4. Bulgaria and Romania are not the same country. It’s not like Bosnia and Herzegovina, so a difference should be made between the two countries and their populations.
5. I do understand that the best way to unite a nation is to have a common enemy, but I’m tired of our new role of “invaders.” Talking about something that some people are expected to do at some point in the future is an easy PR. However, the question is: “What will happen if no Bulgarians and Romanians come in January?” Will somebody look like a fool?
6. When you spend so much time talking about the “influx” of “hordes” of Bulgarians and Romanians on the national and local media, you will most probably be the cause of xenophobia in the society.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from Greg Pulver. He is just an ordinary citizen interested in the effects of immigration. He has found my email after researching the topic and he wanted to ask me some “interesting and challenging questions regarding next years proposed influx.”

I’m publishing them along with my answers, because a friend (an English friend – yes, we happen to talk with locals and we don’t live in our own small isolated communities) said he’ll also want to read them and it might be of interest to others, as well.

How do you feel about the work and benefit restrictions being lifted next year?

This doesn’t affect me in any way. I’m studying in Bristol and I was patient and lucky enough to get my work permit last year. However, I’m extremely glad that any other Bulgarian or Romanian students won’t have to undergo the long procedure of applying for a work permit. When I arrived in the UK last September, the average waiting period for the issuing of the so called “yellow cards” was about 11 months. After a lobbying campaign that we started, it was reduced to 4.

We come here to study and many of us want to take the knowledge back home and use it there. However, the average salary in Bulgaria is 260 pounds a month. This means that it is impossible for most of our parents to support us financially and we need a part-time job.

When we leave the students aside, I shall say that I don’t except anything to happen after the 1^st of January. The picture that some politicians are trying to paint of 29 millions Bulgarians and Romanians landing in London on the 1^st of January is absurd for three main reasons:

–         There are 27 millions Bulgarians and Romanians altogether

–         They all have their lives and it’s not likely that all (or even most) of them will decide to leave it.

–         Even if they do (and Bulgaria and Romania just disappear from the map), they have the right to choose between countries from the whole EU.

Would you prefer or like to see unlimited arrivals settle perhaps?

No. I’m quite sure that Bulgaria and Romania need their intelligent professionals and their normal workers.

The question which may follow from that is “But what are you doing here?”

I’m here to study and I do plan to go home after I gain some experience which I will be able to use back in Bulgaria.

Do you think there should be no real borders and perhaps, within time, a Central EU Govt and no national governments etc?

I am not really sure. I can’t imagine a Central EU Government that will be able to function properly. Will we manage to stay united in the diversity?

Is it a fair system that allows migrants workers to replace local workforces?

Yes, it is. This is one of the main principles or aims, if you wish, of the EU. Everybody can go everywhere and work there. The benefits for the individual are great – it’s so easy to get to know different cultures and to develop yourself in such a globalized world. In the same time the local economy can profit from a broader spectrum of workers and professionals, if it needs them.

Is it a fair system that the UK is tied into the EU even if, perhaps, vast majority of the UK wish to leave?

I can’t really answer this question, because I don’t know the percentage of the British people that actually want to leave the EU. I’m in favor of an EU referendum, because it will be a democratic and fair solution of the issue.

This post officially puts an end of me reading anything more from the British press that concerns Bulgarians or Romanians until I hand-in all my assignments.

Close-up: UKIP

I talked with Marc Hale from UKIP. This is the interview for OneEurope. 

 

UKIP (UK Independence Party) is one of the most controversial parties in the UK. One of the main topics it is dealing with is the EU and the “invasion” of Bulgarians and Romanians, once they get free access to the British labor market in 2014.

The cupcake I got on the Freshers’ Fair from the UKIP society

Every now and then there is a representative of the party that manages to make it into the news for his egocentric behavior. There was the guy who had a photo in Facebook where he is making the Nazi salute; there was the guy who said that each city should have special holding cells for illegal immigrants; there was also the guy who called women “sluts” and some other similar stories.

There are a couple of UKIP societies in different universities across England. Interestingly enough, one of them is at the University of the West of England which is situated in Bristol – the first refugee city in the UK. After listening to – for almost a year now – how the Romanians and my fellow Bulgarians will steal everyone’s jobs, I just had to meet the president of the society, in order to better understand UKIP’s views.

Marc Hale is studying History at UWE and started paying more attention to the politics a year ago. He then realized there was no UKIP society in the university, so he spoke with the chairman of the party for Bristol, who was fascinated by the idea. During the Fresher’s Fair they received 37 signatures.

Read the whole article.

P.a.t.i.e.n.c.e.

It’s been ages since my last blog post, but this doesn’t mean that I have forgotten that TeaStoryBox exists. I just wanted to write a post with two good news – that I got my yellow card on the 8th of March and that I have an interview with someone from UKIP. It seems that the second won’t actually happen. Their choice. Despite this, I often feel like a movie star, because we (Bulgarians and Romanians) are still the most discussed topic in the UK and we even appear to be the reason why Cameron was accused of shameful rhetoric by an European watchdog. 

Let me leave the BulRom issue on a side for a moment and tell you that I realized how important patience is. In the beginning of my realization process, which lasted for a good month, I thought that it is important only for a journalist – in the end, they are extremely dependent on other people for everything they do – editors, interviewees, cameramen etc, etc. As if people are not enough, but you have additional factors as technology and even the weather. But soon(ish) I found out how important it is to be patient in every day life, as well. And I’m usually not. Now when I have my work permit and my National Insurance Number, I want to start work asap. (My UKIP readers, sorry that I’ll be taking your job. You started too late with the campaign against Bulgarians and Romanians and I decided to come to study here. Before you now start hating me, remember what amount of money I am giving for the tuition fees in the university. Better now?)

Which somehow leads us back to the semi-star status of the Bulgarians and Romanians in the UK. Forget what I said! There is only one real Bulgarian star here! No, it’s not Berbatov! No, it’s not Stiliyan Petrov! (When he gets better, he would probably be offered a position as a trainer of the kids in Aston Villa, by the way.)

Photo: Slavibinev.com

His name is Slavi Binev! Never heard of him? Shame on you! He was the star speaker on the UKIP conference last weekend. Apart from that his celebrity career is also really impressive: he is a MEP for Bulgaria and a vice chairman of the Bulgarian taekwondo federation. As if it’s not enough, but he is also the chairman of the political party GORD (Proud), for which I am not sure at all if it stands any distinctive chance on the upcoming elections. He was elected to be a MEP from the Bulgarian equivalent of UKIP – Ataka (it means “attack”. Hitler’s party was called Sturm, which means…. “attack”. Just some odd facts.), but then left it.

His biggest achievement, however, should be his title of an archon, although he has never had something to do with the church. His past is quite dark – he was abducted back in 1993, because of his business. Some of the most famous Bulgarian night clubs were (are?) his. And yet this guy is being welcomed with the Bulgarian anthem and all UKIP fans admire him. In the same time, however, they find Bulgarians and Romanians that come to work legally in the UK, awful.

Mr. Binev started his speech with a couple of jokes, so that he could win the UKIP delegates on his site: he assured them that he has bought a return ticket and that his horse is not traveling with him. Haha. (Betting what percentage of the people in this hall actually believe now that every Bulgarian rides a horse to work now? Wait… we are beggars at home – we don’t have work…) Binev also told them about his dream – to be like Farage.

In Bulgaria we have a TV show for kids, where they sing songs and tell what they want to become when they grow up. In the end of each show there are two winners – one girl and one boy. The presenter asks them if they want to merry and regardless of the answer they have to kiss each other at least on the cheek. An year ago the social media suddenly found one old clip from this show. There a boy was telling that he wants to be a dealer, because he was eager to hear the noise of the money. The year of this admission was somewhere around 1996, when the so called mutri (people, usually with a background in a martial arts, whose business was not that legal) were popular in the country. The boy didn’t actually know what a dealer is. Certainly, he has heard the word from his parents and because it sounded as something that everybody wanted to do, he found his dream career. A later discussion with the presenter revealed that the kid actually wanted to be a Batman, but his daddy has told him that becoming a dealer would be more profitable.

Probably, this was just a joke that the boy has taken too seriously, but when we add the song this child sang, I can’t stop making analogies with the speech of our MEP from last week – instead of the song for the Pink Panther the kid chose one about a tiger. And when I say “a tiger,” you should not think just of a tiger, but rather of a man with or without money.This type of music was played in Binev’s night clubs. The lyrics  of that particular song are extremely loving and explain the differences between a tiger with sufficient money and one without any and their relations to the women.

OK, so why am I telling you all this? It ruins the lovely picture of Bulgaria that I’m usually drawing! No, it doesn’t. It just builds a more real picture of Bulgaria – the era of the mutri existed in the first years of the democracy. The soundtrack of these years were indeed songs like the one I described (and that I won’t translate). But this all feels as ages ago. The country has made a huge leap and that’s why it’s ridiculous to think that half of its population will move to the UK as benefit tourists.

Talking about the changes in Bulgaria, I should mention that we have a new Government for some weeks now and that the real elections will be held in the beginning of May. All Bulgarians who are living abroad might register their desire to vote here.

So after you were so patient to make it till the end of this post, I can’t do anything than tell you what I actually found out: until we learn to be patient, the world will offer us again and again a thousand new opportunities to learn our lesson. Breath deep and don’t give up, if something doesn’t happen immediately!

The UKBA with a new mistake

Last week the UKBA announced 400 additional interviews for Bulgarians and Romanians, applying for a work permit. The news were just too good to be true, so it’s not such a surprise that there is a slight mistake in the procedure.

Since the announcing of the appointments, people have been hoping that their struggle to get hold of the lovely work permit will come to a positive end. It was announced that the first 400 to send their applications will have the opportunity to go to Croydon and get their yellow card in the same day.

However, it appears that the system has stopped working. As a result, everyone who has so far sent their application form, should do it once again and hope to be among the first 400. The email is: PEOCroydonAppointments@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk. You can download the new form from here. 

It looks like someone is playing with our patience and I can’t stop wondering why is this whole system of mistakes not receiving any media attention in the UK. Let’s once again make it clear that the problem is that students have to wait for months for their work permit and not any other part of the society that might live on benefits, which presence is often underlined and overestimated by some politicians.

400 UKBA additional interviews for Bulgarians and Romanians

The Bulgarian embassy in London announced that the UKBA is launching 400 additional interviews for Bulgarians and Romanians who need a work permit.

Each nation will have 200 from them between the 4th of March and the 2nd of May. The Boarder Agency will have 10 additional interviews with Bulgarians every day (according to the site of the Bulgarian embassy), in comparison to the seven interviews a day for both nations until now. How to book one of this appointments? (alternatively, if you are from Romania, visit the site of your embassy)

The development follows after a long debate between the Bulgarian ambassador Mr Konstantin Dimitrov and the Boarder Agency. The campaign For equal student work rights for Bulgarian and Romanian students, however, will continue running, as this is not the best solution.

Do not forget to sign and share the petition: Show your support for the Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK.

Finally, if you are waiting for more than six months for your work permit, follow these steps. 

Keep calm and #chooseBulgaria

I told you that I can’t keep calm, because I’m a Bulgarian. 

However, I decided to calm down. Not that I have changed my views about the ridiculousness of the #avoidBritain campaign, which will aim to discredit the UK in front of Bulgaria and Romania, so that we don’t “invade” the country in January 2014, but I think that there is no point to get angry.

#AvoidBritain doesn’t humiliate Bulgaria or Romania, it humiliates the UK. Moreover, I have to underline that it has nothing to do with the majority of the ordinary people in either of the countries, but just with a group of British politicians. So, maybe it is logical to say, that the only ones that should feel humiliated in a way are exactly these UK politicians. I can’t imagine that an adult, even more, an adult who has interacted with other people before, will think that #avoidBritain might work.

So having calmed down a bit, despite being a Bulgarian, I want to tell you what a great idea a group of Bulgarian youths have – to show the world why we #chooseBulgaria. The site is only in Bulgarian, but in the end, one of its main aims is to calm us down. It has managed so far. Many Bulgarians are sharing their views on why they #chooseBulgaria and this certainly unites us.

I really enjoy to watch how politics and media are bound together. All that is being said about the future “invasion” is drawing away the attention from many other problems that the UK is facing. I wouldn’t have minded that so much, if it wasn’t the fact that the media is missing the point with the awful situation of the Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK. I emailed so many journalists to remember them that it is not a good way of doing journalism, if you don’t present all sides of an issue. No one answered. Does this mean that the media here prefers to cover only the topics that the politicians want to talk about?

I would even not accept an excuse about how busy the journalist are, because in the letter they read the whole information that they might need, even quotes from the law.

To summarize the problem with the Bulgarian and Romanian students once again, we are being discriminated even in comparison to non-EU students, as only we need the magical “Yellow card” to be able to work and finish our studies. If you are lucky, you need to wait 6 months to receive it (a month ago this number was 11), although the work permits should be issued in 20 days, as we qualify as “highly skilled”.

Everyone can support us with this petition.

Because of the lack of information in the UK media, I feel obliged to tell you that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing its best. Today they have talked once again with the Boarder Agency and the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in two weeks time a commission should decide if the  UK will apply the measures that we proposed.

I have the feeling that the outcome will be clear around the middle of March, so let’s not get overexcited about these “two weeks”.

Having said all that, I want to tell all Bulgarians and Romanians, reading my blog, not to get anything that is going on in the UK too personal. As I said yesterday to Channel 4, the point of the EU is to travel around freely. 50% of the British trade is with the EU, so they will never leave it. These means that Farage and Cameron can talk as much, as they want about us, but they will hardly do anything. Especially something as pointless, as #avoidBritain.

So… keep calm and #chooseBulgaria.

Stop the panic attack! Or how is everything going on : )

There are more than 1,290 signs in our petition.

It seems that we’re getting closer to achieving our goal. I can proudly say that our government supports us. Yesterday, our Minister of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the Minister, responsible for the EU issues in the UK, urging him to support us. Luckily, our government also doesn’t agree that even 6 months are a “normal” period for you waiting for a work permit, while being an EU-citizen.

Today, I went to a cafe with a friend and I was so glad to hear that the people on the next table were talking about our campaign. And they were really supportive.

This is due to the fact that we’re receiving quite a lot of media attention right now. One of the biggest newspapers is following the topic closely. Yuliyan Popov, a Bulgarian journalist, based in London, wrote an encouraging article and ensured me how important everything is. He supports us & we might ask him for help in the future.

I have to mention that I love how unite we are. It may sound as a cliche, but this is the best of all. In the beginning of our twenties (I even haven’t turned them yet :D), we see how much we can achieve. This is quite a good sign, as it means that when (and not IF) we return to Bulgaria in some years, we will be able to achieve even more and I’m positive that we can change the country and make it more attractive to all.

Bulgaria is a wonderful place, indeed!

P.S. An article by Ivan Krastev for the Guardian, explaining why should the panic attack, caused by the thought of millions of Bulgarians and Romanians coming to the UK, be stopped.    

We, students, can influence the politics of 3 EU countries

My article for Western Eye – UWE’s newspaper. 

Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK are launching a campaign to urge the authorities to change the devastatingprocedure, which they have to undergo, in order to obtain a work permit.

Bulgaria and Romania have been part of the EU since the last enlargement of the Union in 2007. Due to the accession measures, they will be facing work restrictions in the UK until 2014.  Now, if a Bulgarian or a Romanian wants to work in Great Britain, they should possess a work permit. Students are not an exception and they need the Yellow Card, even if to only work part time.

Why are the work permits crucial to all Bulgarian and Romanian students?

To begin with, in both countries the average salary is below £300 pounds. You can imagine how hard it is for a family to support their child in a country as expensive as the UK. Apart from this, many courses in the UK cannot be completed without a work placement. Many international students choose to study in Britain exactly because the education here is so practically oriented. However, if you are a Bulgarian or a Romanian, you need a work permit, in order to benefit from this and graduate.

What exactly is the procedure?

You need bank statements; a filled out form that’s asking for uncountable details; original document of identification and health insurance. The last one is quite problematic, because you are often advised to obtain a Comprehensive Sickness insurance (worth up to £500 a year), although you, as an EU-citizen, have a European Health Insurance Card.

What is the problem?

According to the UK Border Agency, 99% of the cases should be decided within 6 months of receipt. The reality, however, is that in the last few years the average waiting period was up to 10 months. What’s more, since the beginning of the year, the ‘urgent requests procedure’, through which employers could contact the Border Agency in order to speed up the procedure, is no longer available.

Being one of these students, I can say that all this is even harder than it sounds.

You are indeed an EU citizen and you expect that you will be treated as such. All other EU nationals receive automatic access to the labour market based on their treaty right. As for the non-EU citizens, their Tier 4 Visa serves as their work permit. Thus you are being treated worse than the citizens of non-member countries, which is against the EU-legislation.

I wanted to be a Student Representative. After several attempts from the SU representatives to get in touch with the Border Agency, I was informed that I could be one, but they were unable to pay me. I was about to accept this, as I wanted to engage, but then I realised how unfair this is. So now I’m not representing my coursemates, but all Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK. I would like to ask you on their behalf for your support!

The campaign

The campaign, which originally was initiated by Anna Dimitrova, a Bulgarian graduate from the University of Dundee, and soon spread of in both countries, started with letters to MPs, MSPs and MEPs, asking for their support. There is a petition which everyone can sign here . An open letter was sent to the Bulgarian authorities and letters to the Romanian and British politicians will follow.

The key point is that students qualify as “highly skilled” individuals. This means that they should receive their registration certificates immediately. The UKBA interprets this as up to 20 days.

UWE

The University of Dundee came up with an official statement of support and is now offering a small amount of money to all students who are still waiting for their work permits. Ideally, UWE can follow this example and show its position.

Furthermore, the university consists of students. Whether British-born or not, we are all students – we pretty much live the same lives, we are here to study and to evolve. In the meantime we socialise and experience Bristol. The right to study is not a privilege, although due to UK politics, it turns out to be exactly this for the Bulgarian and Romanian students.

Looking back in history, we can see how important the role of the students in a society is – they have the power and the courage to change it.

Take 30 seconds of your time and sign the petition, so that we can prove once again that the authorities should take care of and show consideration to students.

In the end, we are the future of the world.

Bulgarian and Romanian students fighting for their dreams

My article published  in http://www.foreignstudents.com

(edited by Jivko Jeliazkov)

“Despite being part of the last enlargement of the EU in 2007, Bulgarians and Romanians are still facing work restrictions in the UK. Although they will be lifted in 2014, many students face the risk of not finishing their studies. Not only are the living costs a problem, but so are the paid placements that are part of many undergraduate and postgraduate courses around the country.

Imagine you are a student coming from Bulgaria or Romania. You are passionate about the course you have chosen and you are impatient to settle down in the UK. You are ready to study hard and to work part-time in between the lectures, because you are coming from one of the poorest countries in the EU with an average salary of under £300 a month.

In the middle of September you say good-bye to your friends and family; you arrange your new accommodation; start meeting new people… everything seems perfect except the money issue. You know that you have to apply for the so called “yellow card” – the work permit you need as a Bulgarian or Romanian.

Necessity of a Yellow Card

You like the country, so it doesn’t matter how many documents you need to provide. Some even say you need a Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (worth up to £500), despite already having a European Health Card. You do it because you have to work. Even if you are coming from a richer family and they can support you financially, you still need the yellow card, as many courses include a paid placement.

Now you are about to prove to the world that patience should be a good life strategy and you start waiting. According to the UK Border Agency, 99% of the cases should be decided within 6 months of receipt. The reality, however, is that in the last few years the average waiting period was 10 months. In fact, up until the 2nd January 2013, the website showed that the UKBA was currently working on cases received in February 2012. This has now changed to July 2012.

What’s more, since the beginning of the year, the ‘urgent requests procedure’, through which employers could contact the Border Agency in order to speed up the procedure, is no longer available.

Unfair and Illegal

If we leave aside the personal perspective that we have adopted and look at the legal side of the problem, we will find out that the current situation is not only hilarious, but also seems illegal. The students qualify as individuals who should receive their registration certificates immediately, at least according to the British and European law. The UKBA interprets this as up to 20 days.

Added to all this is the fact that according to EU legislation, the citizens of a member state cannot be treated unfavorably compared to the citizens of a third country. This is indeed the case, as all other students receive the right to work up to 20 hours per week during term time prior to their arrival in the UK. In the case of all other EU nationals, they receive automatic access to the labor market based on their treaty right. As for all third country nationals, their Tier 4 Visa serves as their work permit.

Therefore, it is easy to understand why Bulgarian and Romanian students have initiated a campaign and Facebook group with more than 3,700 members. They are not only Bulgarians and Romanians but people from around the world that care about the students’ rights. Letters to MPs, MSPs and MEPs have been sent, asking for their support. There is a petition which everyone with a UK address can sign here. An open letter was sent to the Bulgarian authorities and letters to the Romanian and British politicians will follow.

If the Bulgarian and Romanian students manage to solve the problem now, it will not only be to their benefit, but also to that of Croatian students that will face the same bureaucracy problems once the country joins the EU. Furthermore, this is a good reason for all international students in the UK to show they can stick together and to prove to the world that young people can change political injustice and should follow their dreams regardless of the obstacles in their way.”

http://www.foreignstudents.com/student-news/bulgarian-and-romanian-students-fighting-their-dreams/4695

Big things and normal people

Late yesterday I saw that the Boarder Agency has changed that particular sentence which we all were looking at – “This week we are working on cases that were received in July 2012. ” The day before it said “February 2012”.

This shows, I believe, that things are going in the right direction! (And I’m more than happy, because it means that they’re coming closer to my documents which were sent in October.)

But let’s leave this whole thing aside for a while…

I just want to say I feel so happy right now.

People usually don’t write when they feel happy. How many songs or novels were written when the author was happy? Not that many. The reason is because when you’re happy you don’t feel the need to write. But of course, you can write so that you can later come to that moment of joy when you’re down. And that’s what I’m doing.

Why I’m happy? 

I love Sofia! Meeting random people on the street; going out to see a friend and ending up with 10 other people; drinking coffee, real coffee; the underground (no, I’m not thanking our prime minister with that, I just missed how convenient it is, while I was in Bristol)… Sofia’s spirit as a whole ❤

On the other hand, January for me has always been a month of realizations and this makes me feel, as if I’m flying high in the sky.

A friend yesterday told me that when she was younger, she didn’t believe she can do anything big. “But now I see big things around me every day.  And I love it!”, she added. She undoubtedly has right!

Big things are all around us and each of us can do something big and good! Help a stranger today! Just to brake the habit of ignoring the world around.

Or be brave enough to change something!

If each of us changes something that is not so productive, sooner than expected we will notice such a positive transformation around us. But if the world seems too scaring, try changing yourself first and living in peace with you. It’s more than enough.

I met the author of this film the day before. He has a Hollywood prize and lives in peace with himseld.

 

P.S. My long interview by Milen Milenkov.

The power of the media

Since the article was published in The Independent, interesting things had happen.

To begin with, in less than 6 hours it was translated and started circulating in all Bulgarian sites for news and in the online editions of different newspapers. In the same night there were 10 pages with result in Google with the same title. To be honest, this is not such a surprise, as every time something is written somewhere about a Bulgarian, our media reacts like this. We are a small country, in the end.

More interestingly, my grandma called yesterday night to ask why haven’t I told her that I won’t continue my studies. Can you imagine they have said this on TV? It was so ridiculous! I haven’t taken such a decision. It’s just a possibility and I hope that it won’t be the case and I will get my work permit soon.

(One more lesson how you should do journalism! Not to scary my grandma! 😀 )

After this family issues, I received a letter from Kerry McCarthy MP. It starts:

“Dear Ms Kosharevska,
Thank you for your email regarding the treatment of people coming to study in the UK from outside the EU.”

I hope this is just a typing mistake, because Bulgaria and Romania are in the EU. However, she is really supportive and:

“On your behalf, I have written to the Minister of State for immigration, Mark Harper MP, to express your concerns. In particular, have asked the Minister to address your concern regarding the employment restrictions placed on Romanian and Bulgarian students, while they are studying in the UK.”

I’m really positive that she will help us and I’m looking forward to the trip to the parliament, organised by UWE.

Apart form this, my “Other” inbox in Facebook got quite crowded with people congratulating us and giving ideas. (Good for Facebook that they are now visible – before some months they weren’t and I missed important messages about our fundraising campaign.) I really appreciate this, but of course I don’t expect only positive reactions – a short look in the comments in The Independent and the Bulgarian translations will show that I’m right 😀 However, this is a risk worth taking.

The petition is going on and I would like to ask each of you to sign it. An open letter is being prepared and will be send to the authorities.

Yesterday I gave a long interview to a Bulgarian media and today it should appear. It feels so awkward to be the one who answers the questions and not the one who asks them. 😀

As a conclusion, I can say that the most important thing at the moment is that all Bulgarian and Romanian students stick together. If each of us starts doing something alone and doesn’t keep in mind the whole picture, we won’t succeed.

New Year and newspapers

“Yuliya Kosharevska, a first year Bulgarian student in Bristol is passionate about her studies, but she has one big concern. It’s not the workload, it’s the fact that she feels trapped as bureaucratic dithering prevents her from getting a job.”

Madalina Ciobanu for The Independent

This is a part from the article of my friend Madalina (the Romanian girl, I met on the airport, if you are following me :D) that was published today. You can read the whole article here.

I really appreciate the fact that people in England are open to hear about our problems and that they join our petition. (You can do it, too… and don’t be afraid to tell your friends about what is going on).

Apart from that today The Acwri Weekly also published my appeal to sign up the petition –

Now the holidays are over, I hope more MPs, MEPs and universities will support us.

That reminds me to wish you all a happy new year! One of my wishes this year is to work in the UK! Fingers crossed : ))

Keep calm and….

The yellow card project.

http://www.facebook.com/TheYellowCardProject 

We can change the situation, if we stick together! : )

For the first time since I started this blog, I have some great news for all Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK.

But as with many things in life, for now only the possibility that things will change in a good direction exists. It is up to us to make this happen, to prove them wrong and to be equal to the rest of the world.

Maybe you are not aware of the fact that the only 2 countries out of 193 that face so strong work restrictions are Bulgaria and Romania – ironically, they both are indeed EU countries. Even non-EU students that come to study in the UK can work for 20 hours a week, once they have their visa. Only Bulgarian and Romanian students should pray to get a work permit. At the moment this takes 10 months on average. As a result not only are many Bulgarian and Romanian students missing their placements that are part of their degrees, but even more are facing serious difficulties to survive, because their families can’t support them financially.

This all not only sounds hilarious, but it appears to be illegal.

You might have seen the picture I posted some weeks ago:

A couple of days afterwards I found out the Facebook group from where it was taken and some days later I even met one of the organizers, almost by a chance.

To sum up what all that guys have come up to: we can change the current situation of the Bulgarian and Romanian students, because we, as students, classify as highly-skilled individuals and this means that we should get our registration certificate immediately. According to the UK-law immediately means up to 20 days. So the very fact that they say that we should get our yellow cards for 6 months is an infringement, what’s left for the current situation, where we are facing delays of 10 months?

Now we all have to change the situation and this is possible! Just follow the 4 easy steps below!

What each of us has to do is to:

1. Join the Facebook group, to keep updated.

2. Sign the petition, so that we can prove how important the change is.

3. Write to your own MP. You need just to type your post code. The sample letters are to be found in the group.

4. Write to your university – the International office and other departments that are responsible for financial issues for example should be able to help. Again, there are sample letters.

And this is all!

It won’t take more than 20 minutes, but each single email is really important, because together we are stronger. And remember that you don’t have to be a Bulgarian or Romanian student to sign the petition.  You can support us regardless of your background. Maybe you know someone in this position and you feel sympathetic about them or maybe you just value the human rights… it doesn’t really matter, the only important thing is that you care! In this way we will furthermore help all Croatian students that will face the same restrictions for at least 3 years, once they join the EU (this information is already on the site of the Boarder Agency).

Thank you very much for the support on the behalf of the 10,000 Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK and their families and all the Croatian citizen that will decide to study in the UK, when they join the EU!

And have great last days of 2012,

Yuliya

xx

Don’t judge students by their passports

We MUST be equal.

Courtesy of Facebook