Need Help Determining if I am Eligible for any Visa

[nrramsland]

Hi everyone. I just joined in hope that someone could help direct me on my search to determine which visa I am potentially eligible for, and if it is worth pursuing based on my situation. I have reached out to a few agencies, and I am not having any luck getting a clear answer without first paying a whole bunch of fees. I am okay with doing that once I determine which visa type, and if I am eligible.

Here is my situation:
I am a married 26 year old currently living in NY, USA. I work as a business analyst in IT consulting at healthcare and financial firms. Essentially I work for a consulting firm that places me with clients in anywhere from 9 month - 2 year contracts. My wife will not be working in the UK, but will be travelling with me.

I want to essentially do the same thing in the UK that I am doing in the US. I understand in order to apply for the general (tier 2) visa (since tier 1 general is closed), I would need a job offer from a client. The problem I am having is that consulting in the UK works in a way that I would need to form a limited company in order to partner with my consulting firm and to then interview with various clients. My consulting firm cannot sponsor the visa, and the client will not sponsor the visa, because I am not technically working for them. I would be working for the limited company that would be formed in my name. I also cannot interview at the client to get a job offer or work with my consulting firm until I am authorized to work in the UK. It almost sounds as if I can form the limited company and sponsor myself, but the problem again is that I cannot form the limited company until I have a residence in the UK.

I have also looked into the Tier 1 (exceptional talent), but I do not think I would qualify based on the conditions.

The last option looked like the Tier 1 (entrepreneur visa), since technically I would be forming my own business, but I don't have the funds needed to do this.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on how I should approach this based on my situation? Basically I want to get the visa to be able to interview clients in the UK through my consulting firm, then once I get the offer I would move over and live/work.

[mulderpf]

So your general assessment of the situation seems accurate. Tier 1 is closed or just too difficult to obtain and Tier 2 is only for employed individuals.

The options I would investigate is family routes. You don't say whether you are a US citizen, but if you or you wife are commonwealth citizens, then you could look at ancestry visas.

The other option is to explore whether your wife is eligible or could find an appropriate job for a Tier 2 visa. The dependents on a visa of those allowed to work are also allowed to work or have their own businesses.

[nrramsland]

mulderpf - thank you for the response. My wife and I are both US citizens. My wife will not be working while we are in the UK, so I'm not sure we can pursue that route.

I am thinking the route I need to take is to find an umbrella company in the UK that can sponsor my visa, then I can pursue my contracting company. I just need to determine if umbrella companies can sponsor visas for contractors.

[mulderpf]

Well, there's this.

I don't necessarily agree with it and I would approach it with EXTREME caution. The spirit of Tier 2 is not intended for people coming here to be self-employed, but if the option is available then there's nothing stopping you from investigating.

[goldsurfer]

Hi ,

I am a senior java developer having 8 years of experience. Currently working in Mumbai.
Almost all immigration websites boast about their experience in visa processing, but i have read horrible reviews of them, about ow they cheat people .

I am looking for a tier 2 visa for UK. Any help, reference of some firms which can assist in job search and visa processing.

Thanks. & Cheers.