US to UK visa question

Dila · Post by **Dila** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:39 pm

Hi all,

Firstly, I'm VERY sorry if there's already a topic about this same thing and admins/mods are welcome to merge it if they feel the need to.

Ok, I'm a British citizen and live and study in London. I'm studying for an undergraduate degree. My boyfriend lives in the USA and is a US national but would like to come to live here in London with me - at least until I finish my studies. He has a BA degree in Graphic Design and has only just graduated this past summer. He is 25 years old if that makes any difference to anything. We're not married or engaged but are considering it for the future. But this means a spousal visa wouldnt be possible. Is there any help/info you could give me about what the best method of him applying to live here would be? He would also need to be able to work so that he can support himself with rent and general costs.

Someone suggested that the best option would be for him to go and live/work in another EU country then apply here via EEA but could this actually work for him?

Any help by anyone would be VERY much appreciated as I've no idea which direction to take with this stuff

paulp · Post by **paulp** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:37 pm

As usual, first port of call would be work permit (Tier 2). HSMP (Tier 1) might be a bit hard if recently graduated. Does he have any grandparents born in the UK?

Dila · Post by **Dila** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:47 am

No unfortunetly. His family are originally from Mexico. With the work permit, it'll be extremely difficult because his line of work is Graphic Design and most jobs dont offer stability but rather one off work. But thankyou, I will definitely look into that

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 10:00 am

Any Spanish ancestry?

jayen · Post by **jayen** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:59 am

My best friend does graphic design and he works for a graphic design firm. Steady paycheck and all that nonsense. Your BF might be working doing freelance now, but that doesn't mean he has to.

Anyhow....

What about Working Holidaymaker?? He is young enough and if you feel all his work will come as freelance he can regulate the number of hours he works.

Or there is Tier 1 which might be a bit harder.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 12:22 pm

jayen wrote:My best friend does graphic design and he works for a graphic design firm. Steady paycheck and all that nonsense. Your BF might be working doing freelance now, but that doesn't mean he has to.

Anyhow....

What about Working Holidaymaker?? He is young enough and if you feel all his work will come as freelance he can regulate the number of hours he works.

Or there is Tier 1 which might be a bit harder.

WHM is for Commonwealth Citizens only but it's replacement due soon, the Youth Mobility Scheme, might include citizens of other countries. US is dragging it's feet over reciprocal agreements so don't hold ur breath. Dunno about Mexico...

jayen · Post by **jayen** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:34 pm

Wanderer wrote:
jayen wrote:My best friend does graphic design and he works for a graphic design firm. Steady paycheck and all that nonsense. Your BF might be working doing freelance now, but that doesn't mean he has to.

Anyhow....

What about Working Holidaymaker?? He is young enough and if you feel all his work will come as freelance he can regulate the number of hours he works.

Or there is Tier 1 which might be a bit harder.
WHM is for Commonwealth Citizens only but it's replacement due soon, the Youth Mobility Scheme, might include citizens of other countries. US is dragging it's feet over reciprocal agreements so don't hold ur breath. Dunno about Mexico...

Ah....my mistake. I didn't read the post closely enough.

Sucks that the US gives such a hard time over these kinds of things. It would be wonderful to see the world becoming truly more global. Everyone is scared out of their minds about immigrants, yet at the same time they want a global economy to work. People must immigrate to make a global economy happen!

I get a bit frustrated that rather than cracking down on illegal immigrants, countries (US included - so don't think I am giving the US a free pass) are just getting more strict on legal immigrants. Its like paying for the sins of your ill-behaved brother.

OK...rant over.

Best of luck to you and your boyfriend. My best suggestion at this time is to tell him to get work for a graphic design firm or a public relations firm that needs an in-house graphic designer. There are steady jobs out there in that field. However, it might be difficult to prove that there is no one to fill the position in the UK because the UK seems to be in no shortage of qualified artists. But where there is a will, there is a way.

Dila · Post by **Dila** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:09 am

jayen wrote:
Wanderer wrote:
jayen wrote:My best friend does graphic design and he works for a graphic design firm. Steady paycheck and all that nonsense. Your BF might be working doing freelance now, but that doesn't mean he has to.

Anyhow....

What about Working Holidaymaker?? He is young enough and if you feel all his work will come as freelance he can regulate the number of hours he works.

Or there is Tier 1 which might be a bit harder.
WHM is for Commonwealth Citizens only but it's replacement due soon, the Youth Mobility Scheme, might include citizens of other countries. US is dragging it's feet over reciprocal agreements so don't hold ur breath. Dunno about Mexico...
Ah....my mistake. I didn't read the post closely enough.

Sucks that the US gives such a hard time over these kinds of things. It would be wonderful to see the world becoming truly more global. Everyone is scared out of their minds about immigrants, yet at the same time they want a global economy to work. People must immigrate to make a global economy happen!

I get a bit frustrated that rather than cracking down on illegal immigrants, countries (US included - so don't think I am giving the US a free pass) are just getting more strict on legal immigrants. Its like paying for the sins of your ill-behaved brother.

OK...rant over.

Best of luck to you and your boyfriend. My best suggestion at this time is to tell him to get work for a graphic design firm or a public relations firm that needs an in-house graphic designer. There are steady jobs out there in that field. However, it might be difficult to prove that there is no one to fill the position in the UK because the UK seems to be in no shortage of qualified artists. But where there is a will, there is a way.

haha! it will be difficult to prove it but luckily he is very talented at what he does so the company can easily say "he's the best talented out the lot/best suited for this job". he's done freelance in the past but looking at a stable graphic design job now. We've looked into the Tier 1 visa and it says you need 70 points. The challenge now is to find him a stable job which pays at least 20k a year which will give him the 70 points he needs. I'm crossing my fingers now!

Wanderer: No Spanish ancestry unfortunately.

bani · Post by **bani** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:06 pm

Could he get a BUNAC visa as a recent university graduate?
http://www.bunac.org/USA/workinbritain/

A friend of mine from the US came here last year with a BUNAC visa and started his job in London with that. I think he renewed it once in the US, but his company has now sponsored a work permit for him.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:06 pm

Dila wrote:
haha! it will be difficult to prove it but luckily he is very talented at what he does so the company can easily say "he's the best talented out the lot/best suited for this job". he's done freelance in the past but looking at a stable graphic design job now. We've looked into the Tier 1 visa and it says you need 70 points. The challenge now is to find him a stable job which pays at least 20k a year which will give him the 70 points he needs. I'm crossing my fingers now!

Unfortunately it's the HO who decide - and they only want a non-UK/EU person if there is no one else - being the best isn't in the criteria.

Dila · Post by **Dila** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:34 pm

bani wrote:Could he get a BUNAC visa as a recent university graduate?
http://www.bunac.org/USA/workinbritain/

A friend of mine from the US came here last year with a BUNAC visa and started his job in London with that. I think he renewed it once in the US, but his company has now sponsored a work permit for him.

I will look into this! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Wanderer -

I guess I can only hope for now and after these steps are taken can I really worry.

Thankyou to everyone who has offered help. It's very much appreciated!

jenevive · Post by **jenevive** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:17 am

they're going to be phasing BUNAC out so he has to apply soon if he wants to come over on that..

yankeegirl · Post by **yankeegirl** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:32 am

BUNAC is already no longer available to US citizens.

http://www.bunac.org/usa/workInBritain/

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US to UK visa question

US to UK visa question