We hope to spend nine months in London, not in rendition

March 26, 2006 8:17 PM

In four days, I will leave with my family for a nine-month sabbatical at a university in London. Late in the game, we found out that I need a work permit, even though I'm still being paid by my US employer [a non-profit research institute] because we're staying in the UK for more than six months. I filled out the 'Work Permit for Sponsored Researchers' form, but the permit hasn't arrived yet. I haven't gotten a straight answer on what will happen when we arrive in London. Please tell me that we won't be bundled onto the next flight back to the US!
posted by lukemeister to law & government (12 comments total)

Have you called the nearest UK consulate about this? Definitely you should talk to your host institution about this ASAP, as they may be able to get you some kind of temporary document.
posted by atrazine at 8:45 PM on March 26, 2006

Atrazine, thanks for the suggestion. I looked at the web page for the Denver consulate. It seems to indicate that phone calls about visas will be handled by an outside party for $2.10/minute. That could be worth it if I had any idea who Abtran is. I guess outsourcing is all the rage.
posted by lukemeister at 9:15 PM on March 26, 2006

Wow tough one! If you can't clarify - preferably in writing - with the UK Embassy then I'd recommend delaying departure rather than risk arriving without a valid work permit.

As part of the entry process, Immigration will ask how long you intend to remain in the UK. At that point if you mislead them you may have a problem later on. On the other hand, once you tell them you're here for nine months and will be working , they'll (naturally) ask to see your work permit.

If you tell them your work permit is "in progress", I'm not sure how they'll handle it, but I do know they have refused entry to folks not holding a valid work permit who admitted they were coming to look for a job.
posted by Mutant at 9:37 PM on March 26, 2006

They will surely turn you away if you tell them you will be in country longer than a few months without a work permit, no? Hell, I was almost turned away for being unemployed in the U.S., even though I was planning on heading to the continent a month later (and had the ticket to prove it).
posted by lunalaguna at 10:21 PM on March 26, 2006

Go to the consulate in person, in my experience it's impossible to do anything with the UK govt over the phone and paperwork typically moves very slowly. If you show up in person they can generally sort it out for you in a day or two. Also call the UK university , they deal with this all the time and will be able to help you.
posted by fshgrl at 10:36 PM on March 26, 2006

If you were just wanting to get in it might be worth not being totally honest with UK Immig, but since you presumably want to travel again in your life, you need to get this sorted.

Contact the UK University ASAP. Find out when/if they did the paperwork - it is their responsibility to verify you. Tell them you can't come if it isn't sorted. They should be able to deal with it though I doubt in four days. Realistically, you shouldn't have let it get this close to the wire...
posted by A189Nut at 11:21 PM on March 26, 2006

The most excellent website in the world for Americans trying to live and/or work in the UK. It got me here with absolutely no troubles whatsoever, from visa to permit to (next week) job!

Search the threads in the Visas and Citizenship section. If no joy, there are two professional Immigration Advisers on that board, VictoriaS and garry. Drop them a private message with your query or post a new topic in Visas and Citizenship with your query and they will get back to you, or may even make enquiries at the Home Office for you.
posted by By The Grace of God at 12:19 AM on March 27, 2006

Responses to other advice in here:

Abtran is the bee's knees. Perfectly legitimate service, call and use it if you want (but the board is the first place to look). They are simply a contracting service for British folks who can answer your enquiries perfectly well. I used them when I forgot to send a document for my visa and they were able to pull my case file and read the notes from the caseworkers on it, and confirmed that I should indeed send the document.

Don't lie to the Immigration Officer at the border. You'll be risking refusal of entry which could potentially complicate reentry in the future.

I am not sure about going in on tourist visa then getting work permit. I am pretty sure, tho, that you HAVE to get your work permit whilst outside the UK, I think (double-check on the board and on the Government visa info site). Furthermore, for tourist visas they check for various links back to the US, and for your touristy plans, when you come in. Plus, heck, it's lying to the immigration officer which is a no no.

Going to your consulate in person, in conjunction with getting your university in the UK to help, seems like what I would do.

Email's in my profile if there's anything I can do to help. If you're anywhere near Scotland, come by and have a pint!
posted by By The Grace of God at 12:26 AM on March 27, 2006

The passport gate at Heathrow is pretty strict about Americans - or anyone - entering the country for work. As a musician, I showed up with a fiddle case in my hand, and when asked, said I was in London to play a concert. Well, that's work, where was my work permit? I was taken aside, but at least they followed up on my story and called the concert sponsor - an embassy, and let me in because it seemed diplomatic to do so after a converstaion with the ambassador. My bass player (carrying just his bow) told the passport folks he was visiting his girlfriend and had no problem getting through the gates. The band leader (also a US citizen) showed up at Heathrow later in the afternoon and was allowed in only after being held for three hours and having his passport confiscated to insure his departure.

So, yes, don't expect to slide easily into the UK if you seem like you will be working there.
posted by zaelic at 2:05 AM on March 27, 2006

This brings to mind the story of the Bolivian musician who I met in Paris. He had saved up his money to fly to London (via Paris), where he planned to make music with a group of other Bolivians who were already there. Unfortunately, he was honest about his intentions with immigration in London, and they packed him on the next plane back to Paris. He spoke no English, and I had a six hour layover in Paris due to a missed flight, so I employed my rusty Spanish translation skills to help him get a ticket back to Bolivia. That included riding into downtown Paris to get him to the Argentinian Airlines office, which almost caused me to miss my second flight of the day.

My brother and I (Americans) went through London immigration together another time. When asked about employment, I told them, truthfully, that I was a software engineer and got a 6 month stamp in my passport. My brother told them he was unemployed, and he got a 24-hour stamp.

You don't want to play fast and loose with UK immigration.
posted by syzygy at 2:56 AM on March 27, 2006

Do you intend to go home for x-mas with the family? A vacation at any point?

When I arrived in London in September for my 8 months MA course I told them truthfully that I would be in the country for 3 months 'this time' (till x-mas vacation) and was through customs in about 3 seconds, traveliing on my US ppt. I got the visa anyway, (had it sent over in my cdn ppt after I'd already arrived) but they never even asked about it when I came back after x-mas.

So my offical advice is to do everything you should to get the visa, but in the end if you fly without it just don't say you're planning on staying for more than 5 months 28 days in a row.

If you can't stand lying, promise the kids a day trip to Paris in 4-5 months time and you're fine. Remember, it's 6 months at a time not in total.
posted by tiamat at 9:54 AM on March 27, 2006

tiamat: I will be going to continental Europe every month or two, with at least one trip with the whole family to Italy three months after we arrive. Thanks for the advice.

The person dealing with my work permit in the UK contacted my sponsor at the university in London today and told him to tell me not to worry. I'll try :-)
posted by lukemeister at 10:16 PM on March 27, 2006