Post
by RobinLondon » Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:12 pm
I don't know what your personal situation is, so please take this as very general advice. In general, it's not worth it for a US citizen to immigrate to the UK. The salaries are not altogether higher and the lifestyle, not altogether better. Unless you have family ties to this country or are moving over for love, I would really recommend a long, good think about this one. Moving here is very expensive, staying and living here all the more so. And to top it off, frequent changes to the immigration system make for a certain amount of chronic, existential anxiety.
Those are just my two cents, of course. You can always explore Europe with your perfectly valid and useful little blue passport. There's absolutely no urgency to have a little burgundy one as well.
And by the way, if you come here on a work permit, you need to wait SIX years (as it currently stands) before you apply for citizenship. The rules state that you must be resident for at least five years, with no limits on your stay for the last year. With a work permit, you don't become eligible for this no-limit stay (i.e., Indefinite leave to remain) until you've completed five years. So then you've got to wait another year before you apply for citizenship. There are different rules if you're married to a UK citizen, but why don't you cross that bridge when you come to it?
Good luck with whatever you decide.