How do I move to England in a year?
August 23, 2010 2:10 AM Subscribe
I'm a US citizen, and I'd like to move to England in about a year.
I don't intend to stay forever (maybe 3-4 years, tops), but I definitely want to find a job and settle down somewhere. At the moment, I don't have a job history, but I intend to remedy that over the course of the year. If it matters, I have a BA in computer science and music from a great public university. What steps should I take in order to accomplish my goal?
I don't intend to stay forever (maybe 3-4 years, tops), but I definitely want to find a job and settle down somewhere. At the moment, I don't have a job history, but I intend to remedy that over the course of the year. If it matters, I have a BA in computer science and music from a great public university. What steps should I take in order to accomplish my goal?
Is it too obvious to point you at the official govt line on working and settling in the UK?
posted by Slyfen at 2:35 AM on August 23, 2010
posted by Slyfen at 2:35 AM on August 23, 2010
Have you visited England before? Do you know where you want to live? Though it's no way as diverse as the US, there are different 'feelings' in parts.
Unfortunately the uk ecconomy isn't great at the moment. Stagnent growth predicted for the next few years. Jobs are very tight for anything publically funded.
I do know computer programming was a growth sector in the NE which might be worth investigating.
Theres a book called "watching the English" which does a humourus study of the English population. I found it fun and not a million miles off.
Hope you have a great few years over here. Feel free to memail about anything particular.
posted by 92_elements at 2:45 AM on August 23, 2010
Unfortunately the uk ecconomy isn't great at the moment. Stagnent growth predicted for the next few years. Jobs are very tight for anything publically funded.
I do know computer programming was a growth sector in the NE which might be worth investigating.
Theres a book called "watching the English" which does a humourus study of the English population. I found it fun and not a million miles off.
Hope you have a great few years over here. Feel free to memail about anything particular.
posted by 92_elements at 2:45 AM on August 23, 2010
My one piece of advice is start earning a good salary, now.
The first thing you need to do before you go any further with this is read the links that Slyfen posted, but I'll give the Cliff's Notes version. There are several ways you can get permission to work in the UK:
1. Be a UK citizen, or citizen of an EU state. Out.
2. Be the child or grandchild of a UK citizen. Unknown.
3. Study in the UK. Doable, but you would only be able to work part-time while you studied (this is the legal requirement, you may be able to get round it).
4. Get a work permit via employer sponsorship. Very unlikely. The government has launched a massive crackdown on the number of non-EU migrants it lets into the UK. The number of available work permits has been severely cut. The big firms here are screaming blue murder that they're not being allowed to bring in non-EU workers. But that's how it is. You *might* find someone to sponsor you, but without a work history it could be difficult.
5. Qualify under Tier 1 of the Highly-Skilled Migrant Programme. You don't need a job offer, and can work anywhere. This is calculated based on your education, salary, and age. The salary is measured over a 12-month period.
Assuming you're, say, in your early 20s, you would pick up points for your age. With your degree, you would need to be earning maybe £40,000 p/a - roughly $60,000 (this is a rough guestimate: see the points calculator on this page to work out exact details).
If you're able to earn that much, you're probably looking at a 15-18 month process: at least 12 months of earnings, plus application time and actually getting to the UK. That's how long it took me (from New Zealand). It would then give you a 3 year visa, which you can renew reasonably easily. Though also note that they change the requirements quite frequently, usually to make it harder to qualify (especially now, when there is massive pressure on the government to cut immigration - they can't cut EU immigration, so it's either limit the number of refugees, or the number of non-EU migrants, or both).
Happy to discuss any questions you might have about this process.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:08 AM on August 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
The first thing you need to do before you go any further with this is read the links that Slyfen posted, but I'll give the Cliff's Notes version. There are several ways you can get permission to work in the UK:
1. Be a UK citizen, or citizen of an EU state. Out.
2. Be the child or grandchild of a UK citizen. Unknown.
3. Study in the UK. Doable, but you would only be able to work part-time while you studied (this is the legal requirement, you may be able to get round it).
4. Get a work permit via employer sponsorship. Very unlikely. The government has launched a massive crackdown on the number of non-EU migrants it lets into the UK. The number of available work permits has been severely cut. The big firms here are screaming blue murder that they're not being allowed to bring in non-EU workers. But that's how it is. You *might* find someone to sponsor you, but without a work history it could be difficult.
5. Qualify under Tier 1 of the Highly-Skilled Migrant Programme. You don't need a job offer, and can work anywhere. This is calculated based on your education, salary, and age. The salary is measured over a 12-month period.
Assuming you're, say, in your early 20s, you would pick up points for your age. With your degree, you would need to be earning maybe £40,000 p/a - roughly $60,000 (this is a rough guestimate: see the points calculator on this page to work out exact details).
If you're able to earn that much, you're probably looking at a 15-18 month process: at least 12 months of earnings, plus application time and actually getting to the UK. That's how long it took me (from New Zealand). It would then give you a 3 year visa, which you can renew reasonably easily. Though also note that they change the requirements quite frequently, usually to make it harder to qualify (especially now, when there is massive pressure on the government to cut immigration - they can't cut EU immigration, so it's either limit the number of refugees, or the number of non-EU migrants, or both).
Happy to discuss any questions you might have about this process.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:08 AM on August 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
If you really only want to be here for 3 or 4 years then the (expensive, exacting and time consuming ) routes to becoming a permanent settler might be overkill. Bear in mind that you can live (but not work) in the UK for periods of a few months at a time using an ordinary tourist visa. Getting permission to study is only slightly more involved.
But it you are looking for permanent settlement here are some routes:
1. Enrol on a postgraduate course in the UK and explore more permanent settlement options while you are there (such as option 3 below).
2. Marry somebody from the UK.
3. Apply for settlement under the SET(O) scheme. The latter is a points based system set up for groups such as business people, investors and those with skills which are in demand. Some more details. You should be able to use this now to determine whether you have enough points to get in now - and what else you might need to boost them.
Bear in mind that the right to be able to work in any country in the EU is dependent on you being a citizen of one of its countries - not on merely having indefinite leave to live in one of them. In other words your first hurdle would be to get the right to settle in the UK - and a further step, if you choose to do so after 3-5 years, would be to become a British Citizen (and hence to have, in all likelihood, dual US/UK nationality).
posted by rongorongo at 3:18 AM on August 23, 2010
But it you are looking for permanent settlement here are some routes:
1. Enrol on a postgraduate course in the UK and explore more permanent settlement options while you are there (such as option 3 below).
2. Marry somebody from the UK.
3. Apply for settlement under the SET(O) scheme. The latter is a points based system set up for groups such as business people, investors and those with skills which are in demand. Some more details. You should be able to use this now to determine whether you have enough points to get in now - and what else you might need to boost them.
Bear in mind that the right to be able to work in any country in the EU is dependent on you being a citizen of one of its countries - not on merely having indefinite leave to live in one of them. In other words your first hurdle would be to get the right to settle in the UK - and a further step, if you choose to do so after 3-5 years, would be to become a British Citizen (and hence to have, in all likelihood, dual US/UK nationality).
posted by rongorongo at 3:18 AM on August 23, 2010
Apply for settlement under the SET(O)
Though archagon would have to have lived in the UK for five years to qualify for permanent settlement under this programme.
the right to be able to work in any country in the EU is dependent on you being a citizen of one of its countries - not on merely having indefinite leave to live in one of them
I may be misreading what you're saying here, but to work in the UK, archagon wouldn't need to be a UK citizen - leave to remain is sufficient.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:28 AM on August 23, 2010
Though archagon would have to have lived in the UK for five years to qualify for permanent settlement under this programme.
the right to be able to work in any country in the EU is dependent on you being a citizen of one of its countries - not on merely having indefinite leave to live in one of them
I may be misreading what you're saying here, but to work in the UK, archagon wouldn't need to be a UK citizen - leave to remain is sufficient.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:28 AM on August 23, 2010
1. Be a UK citizen, or citizen of an EU state. Out.
It is worth bringing up, because everybody seems to forget about it but...I am neither a UK citizen nor a citizen of any EU state but I do have the right to live and work in the UK. I am the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen, but I inherit all the same rights she has.
I suppose this might be relevant to the OP because if you are already married, for example, and your wife is able to claim, say, Italian citizenship, then both her and you would be able to come and live and work in the UK almost immediately.
posted by vacapinta at 3:31 AM on August 23, 2010
It is worth bringing up, because everybody seems to forget about it but...I am neither a UK citizen nor a citizen of any EU state but I do have the right to live and work in the UK. I am the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen, but I inherit all the same rights she has.
I suppose this might be relevant to the OP because if you are already married, for example, and your wife is able to claim, say, Italian citizenship, then both her and you would be able to come and live and work in the UK almost immediately.
posted by vacapinta at 3:31 AM on August 23, 2010
What IJ said, basically. I'm here on a Tier 1 general, and I've had a number of friends visit, decide that they love the place, then come up short on their visa applications. The previous earnings scale is a harsh mistress.
There is one sub-point to make about IJ's "2.", though...children and grandchildren of citizens of many EU countries can claim passports by jumping through some bureaucratic hoops. Ireland is particularly famous for this, but a lot of countries do it. Any EU passport, even if you've never set foot in said EU country, will get you in here, no questions asked.
posted by Kreiger at 4:32 AM on August 23, 2010
There is one sub-point to make about IJ's "2.", though...children and grandchildren of citizens of many EU countries can claim passports by jumping through some bureaucratic hoops. Ireland is particularly famous for this, but a lot of countries do it. Any EU passport, even if you've never set foot in said EU country, will get you in here, no questions asked.
posted by Kreiger at 4:32 AM on August 23, 2010
Vacapinta: This might be relevant to the OP because if you are already married, for example, and your wife is able to claim, say, Italian citizenship, then both her and you would be able to come and live and work in the UK almost immediately.
Vacapinta is of course correct here. I'd assume that archagon would have mentioned if he had an EU spouse, but maybe he didn't. Also worth noting: you don't need to be married: marriages, civil partnerships (same or opposite sex) and de facto marriages are all accepted. If I understand correctly*, the USA doesn't have the concept of de facto marriage, but I'm not sure if that's important, as the UK does: (basically, you have to show that you have been living together, in a state akin to marriage, for more than two years. This is how my girlfriend is in the UK - I've got a visa, she qualifies because we've been living together).
So if archagon is married or in some kind of LTR with an EU citizen, that's another option. (Again, happy to give feedback on this process if you need it, having been through it myself).
*(from some posts on here, in the current gay marriage thread on the MeFi front page)
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:28 AM on August 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Vacapinta is of course correct here. I'd assume that archagon would have mentioned if he had an EU spouse, but maybe he didn't. Also worth noting: you don't need to be married: marriages, civil partnerships (same or opposite sex) and de facto marriages are all accepted. If I understand correctly*, the USA doesn't have the concept of de facto marriage, but I'm not sure if that's important, as the UK does: (basically, you have to show that you have been living together, in a state akin to marriage, for more than two years. This is how my girlfriend is in the UK - I've got a visa, she qualifies because we've been living together).
So if archagon is married or in some kind of LTR with an EU citizen, that's another option. (Again, happy to give feedback on this process if you need it, having been through it myself).
*(from some posts on here, in the current gay marriage thread on the MeFi front page)
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:28 AM on August 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm here on a Tier 1 visa. The advice above is excellent - i just wanted to add that there was a recent change to the education requirements on the Tier 1 visa that means most US Master's degrees won't give you any points, so if you're thinking about trying to qualify via postgrad education, definitely try and do the degree in the UK (which is what I did), rather than in the States.
posted by ukdanae at 6:02 AM on August 23, 2010
posted by ukdanae at 6:02 AM on August 23, 2010
You couldn't do it in a year, but if you're Christian, some UK denominations (particularly the Methodists) temporarily import freshly-graduated US ministers to tend to their dwindling flocks. A number of my friends spent a few years in the UK as ministers right after earning their M.Div.s, often serving in more rural areas or taking a "charge" with 3 churches. Lots of wrong-side-of-the-road driving. :)
The qualification typically takes 3 years.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:17 AM on August 23, 2010
The qualification typically takes 3 years.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:17 AM on August 23, 2010
If you come to the UK and take a 1 year masters (or another degree), you probably qualify for a 2 year work permit.
posted by plonkee at 8:03 AM on August 23, 2010
posted by plonkee at 8:03 AM on August 23, 2010
Just to reiterate that now is a very bad time to move to the UK, especially trying to find work. The coalition government are a bit all over the place at the moment as well, so you may want to take your time until things settle down.
All that said, you may want to consider Scotland.
posted by Quantum's Deadly Fist at 8:07 AM on August 23, 2010
All that said, you may want to consider Scotland.
posted by Quantum's Deadly Fist at 8:07 AM on August 23, 2010
Response by poster: I have a Russian citizenship, but that's not EU.
Thanks for the great advice, everyone!
posted by archagon at 9:46 AM on August 23, 2010
Thanks for the great advice, everyone!
posted by archagon at 9:46 AM on August 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Do you have or can you acquire EU citizenship? Otherwise getting a masters degree in the UK might be the easiest way of doing this legally (if not the cheapest).
posted by plonkee at 2:32 AM on August 23, 2010