want to work in the uk legally.

[michaelionheart]

What do i need to do to be able to work in the uk legally, please help, thank you.

Just a little insight.. i plan on moving to England soon and LIVING with my girlfriend.. just really want to know what i need to be able to work legally.

[PaperPusher]

What is your nationality? Your girlfriend's nationality? How long have you known each other? Have you lived together? If so, for how long? How old are you? What work do you currently do? Have you met your girlfriend? What is your highest level qualification? Are you planning marriage? How much does your girlfriend earn? How much in savings do you have? And your girlfriend? Would you consider coming to the UK on a student Tier 4 visa? Do you have any entitlement to any other nationality? UK ancestry via a British grandparent born in the UK? Would your girlfriend consider moving and working in another EU country for, say, a year? Do you work for a multinational company with a branch in the UK? A branch in another EU country?

[Wanderer]

What do i need to do to be able to work in the uk legally, please help, thank you.

Just a little insight.. i plan on moving to England soon and LIVING with my girlfriend.. just really want to know what i need to be able to work legally.

I suspect you are American, you can't just move here, if you are not married you need to have lived with your girlfriend as man and wife for two years.

To work legally you'd need to be married to a Brit/EU citizen, or be sponsored on a work permit (highly skilled) or have a student visa (20hrs a week allowed, but freakishly expensive).

[michaelionheart]

What do i need to do to be able to work in the uk legally, please help, thank you.

Just a little insight.. i plan on moving to England soon and LIVING with my girlfriend.. just really want to know what i need to be able to work legally.

I suspect you are American, you can't just move here, if you are not married you need to have lived with your girlfriend as man and wife for two years.

To work legally you'd need to be married to a Brit/EU citizen, or be sponsored on a work permit (highly skilled) or have a student visa (20hrs a week allowed, but freakishly expensive).

So if we get married do i still need to wait the 2 years?

[Wanderer]

What do i need to do to be able to work in the uk legally, please help, thank you.

Just a little insight.. i plan on moving to England soon and LIVING with my girlfriend.. just really want to know what i need to be able to work legally.

I suspect you are American, you can't just move here, if you are not married you need to have lived with your girlfriend as man and wife for two years.

To work legally you'd need to be married to a Brit/EU citizen, or be sponsored on a work permit (highly skilled) or have a student visa (20hrs a week allowed, but freakishly expensive).

So if we get married do i still need to wait the 2 years?

No, but your girlfriend will have to sponsor you, and meet the financial requirement of earning at least £18,600 pa for at least the previous six months.

[michaelionheart]

So you're telling me, even though im not planning on studying, I need a student visa? I want to go there to work and live. I'll be living with my girlfriend and her family, and they will be supporting me. What do I require?

[Wanderer]

So you're telling me, even though im not planning on studying, I need a student visa? I want to go there to work and live. I'll be living with my girlfriend and her family, and they will be supporting me. What do I require?

No, a student visa would enable you to live and work (part time) in UK while you live with your girlfriend. It would also cost you about $50000 in fees so forget that.

The only other way is to marry her if she earns enough to sponsor you. Also third party support from family is not allowed.

There are a few other ways but I doubt they will open to you.

[ouflak1]

I want to go there to work and live. I'll be living with my girlfriend and her family, and they will be supporting me. What do I require?

At the moment, there doesn't exist a visa that meets your specific situation/requirements.

[michaelionheart]

I ended up taking the settlement visa to see if i can apply for it-- link here: https://www.gov.uk/settle-in-the-uk and i answered everything and it says i CAN apply for it but the 2nd part throws me off saying i need to stay there for 2 years first or something.. can you or anyone clear this up to me?

[Casa]

You're looking at the wrong category of application. This is for someone who is already resident in the UK and has completed their probationary period and are now applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (permanent residency).

[michaelionheart]

You're looking at the wrong category of application. This is for someone who is already resident in the UK and has completed their probationary period and are now applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (permanent residency).

Sorry i'm new to this.. i just want to know WHAT visa i should be looking at.

[Casa]

Your only option appears to be a fiance visa, assuming you intend to marry within 6 months of your arrival. Evidence would have to be submitted with the application that a marriage is being planned, together with proof of your fiancee having the financial income per annum of £18,600. After the wedding you would have to apply for Further Leave to Remain from within the UK. This would grant you an initial 2.5 year probationary visa, after which you would apply for an extension of 2.5 years before qualifying for permanent residency.
Bear in mind that the visa fees are considerable.
£885 for a fiance visa
£601 for each 2.5 year extension = £1202
£1,093 for permanent residency (ILR)

[michaelionheart]

So there isn't ANY other option? What if she isn't earning that?

[Wanderer]

So there isn't ANY other option? What if she isn't earning that?

The only other possible option is you marry, she moves to another EU state thereby exercising a treaty right for about a year (the rules just got tougher) you can join her immediately as her Family Member and after that 12 months or so, both move back to UK. There is no financial test via this route. Obviously it involves major upheaval and not one for the faint of heart or bereft of gumption.

Otherwise it's get a job and pay the fees like we've all had to.

Have you even met this girl?

[michaelionheart]

Would we be able to just marry during a 6 month visit, what would happen then?

[Wanderer]

Would we be able to just marry during a 6 month visit, what would happen then?

You might just get away with that (there is a special Marriage visit visa) but it's frowned upon because then you would not be a 'genuine visitor' which could be construed as an attempt to settle with all the bad things that incurs.

In any case you'd need to return to USA, and apply on form VAF4A for a spouse visa as Casa outlined above meeting the all the tests/criteria so you'd be no further ahead. You cannot switch visas from a visitor visa (or waivered visa) in-country.

If there was another way we'd know about it and tell you about it!

There is BUNAC of course, I know nothing about it - you're on your own there research wise but it is something to do with USA'ians in UK...

[PaperPusher]

BUNAC could be an option, this is now Tier 5 short term.

https://www.gov.uk/tier-5-government-au ... d-exchange

Have you met her? If not, a fiancé visa is not an option.

[michaelionheart]

I thank you all for your answers, ALL of you have been a LOT of help. just got another question though.. would it be possible to just go over there on a 6 month visit without a visa then once i'm there i can apply to remain in the uk with family then after each 2 years i can just extend it and once i hit 5 years or so i can just apply for citizenship?

[PaperPusher]

No, not allowed. Doing that would also involve using verbal deception, a criminal offence. If you come an intend to stay as a visitor, you have to say so, but you don't get to come as a visitor.

In any case, I don't rate your chances of getting in the UK as a visitor.

[michaelionheart]

No, not allowed. Doing that would also involve using verbal deception, a criminal offence. If you come an intend to stay as a visitor, you have to say so, but you don't get to come as a visitor.

In any case, I don't rate your chances of getting in the UK as a visitor.

Then what is the extension for?

[PaperPusher]

Extension of what? If it is as a visitor, some categories of visitor can stay over six months, for example visitors for private medical treatment.

[michaelionheart]

- my point is, i intend to come with just my passport for the 6 months I'm allowed. During this time, I want to apply for that visa so i can extend my stay for a further 2.5 years, then when that has expired, renew it for another 2.5 years. Then once the years stack up, I'll apply for citizenship. The whole point in me doing it this way is that i want to live in the UK , with my girlfriend, and work. Legally. This is pretty much the last option for me. What is that visa for if it's not for extending my STAY while NOT on a visa in the UK, but legally for 6 months.

[Wanderer]

- my point is, i intend to come with just my passport for the 6 months I'm allowed. During this time, I want to apply for that visa so i can extend my stay for a further 2.5 years, then when that has expired, renew it for another 2.5 years. Then once the years stack up, I'll apply for citizenship. The whole point in me doing it this way is that i want to live in the UK , with my girlfriend, and work. Legally. This is pretty much the last option for me. What is that visa for if it's not for extending my STAY while NOT on a visa in the UK, but legally for 6 months.

But you would be on a visa - albeit a waivered visa that you don't see but it is there. It's automatically granted on landing if you are a genuine visitor. A virtual visa if you will.

I've already told you it's not possible to switch from visit (or waivered) visa so your plan is doomed to failure. In addition you've been told that entering the UK as a visitor and intending to settle is a criminal offence liable to a 10 year ban. You can't muck about with the immigration rules and the UK HO, they'll gobble you up and spit you out and with the utmost respect, you don't seem to have the nous to take them on.

Do it the proper way and save yourself a lot of grief. Can you answer these questions?

1. How old are you both?

2. Have you actually met?

3. What is your Nationality?

4. Does you GF meet the financial requirement?

Answer those and we'll try to help but I suspect I already know the answer...

[ouflak1]

Just a few points of clarification.

• * All non-British citizens who enter the UK, enter on some kind of leave. Even visitors from visa waiver countries are technically on a visitor's visa with all of its restrictions.
  
  * There is no such thing as a boyfriend/girlfriend visa. The reasons for this are myriad and disputed, and have even been debated on this forum. Whether that is right or wrong is a topic for an entirely other discussion. But whatever the case may be, it is the way it is and that's it.
  
  * The people on here are extremely knowledgeable and genuinely want to help. But the rules, while they do accommodate some flexibility for very special specific cases, are rather black-and-white for the vast majority of people wanting to come to the UK.

My first advice would be not to take any of this personally. They did not design the rules with the idea in mind of keeping you out. There are plenty of non-citizens who come to the UK every day on a variety of visa types. Most are temporary in nature, but some of those are genuine immigrants such as you want to be. The hurdles for those wanting to immigrate permanently are more frequent and much higher than for most of those coming temporarily, and it is getting more difficult and restrictive, in general, for all non-citizens to enter. There are reasons for this which you can Google. To sum up, the United Kingdom simply does not have an infinite amount of resources to take everybody who wants to come, and a LOT of people want to come.

This forum is composed of people who genuinely want to help, I suppose myself included, and that's a great thing. But I am always wary of suggestions for visa types which are not in the spirit of the actual (truthful) intentions of the person wanting to come to the UK (I'm guilty of this myself). It invites trouble, even perhaps lifelong problems. My recommendation is to consider a longer term approach. Consider a 3 - 5 year plan where you can both build up the means to qualify for immigration via a couple of routes without having to depend on anybody but yourselves, and where you have a backup plan if things don't work out. Learn the visa types that you might want to try and qualify for, and keep in mind that the rules are always changing (in the current climate... getting stricter).

[Casa]

Basically, a summary of what we're all trying to tell you is:
Can you come to the UK as a visitor and stay on? - No
Can you apply for an extension from within the UK - No
Can you apply for a fiance visa to marry in the UK if your girlfriend doesn't earn £18,600 per year? - No
Can you apply for a fiance visa if your girlfriend has £64,000 in savings held in an account for 6 months - Yes
Can you apply for a fiance visa if you haven't met in person - No

It doesn't appear that you actually want to marry, as you mention 'living with your girlfriend', If this is the case then you wouldn't qualify for a fiance visa.