Comments | brits_americans: Moving to the UK permanently and gaining citizenship.

deathschoice in brits_americans

Moving to the UK permanently and gaining citizenship.

Jan 29, 2012 13:19

Hi, there. I heard about your community in immigration and thought I'd post here as well. I read your FAQ and first I'd like to say I am not a student yet (I do plan on going to school sometime in the next few years), don't have any UK relatives, I am not looking to marry a UK citizen and I work from home as a web/graphic designer and have a small internet ( Read more... )

visas, moving to the uk, citizenship, immigration (to uk)

Comments 29

myfirstkitchen January 29 2012, 18:30:09 UTC

I'm afraid the clue is in "It doesn't seem like I qualify for any of them". You don't. A computer graphics supervisor isn't a graphic designer - we have thousands of those spilling out of universities each year, many of them unable to get an agency job and barely scraping a living freelance or unemployed. Computer graphics supervisor is a highly-skilled, experienced role in supervising, managing and administering CG workflow for TV and film. If you aren't doing it yet, the UK doesn't need you. The reason it's a shortage occupation is it's hard to get into and requires years of specific skills and experience - someone who does graphic design from home is not who they have in mind ( ... )

deathschoice January 29 2012, 18:33:05 UTC

I figured as much. Thank you. But I also was a tad confused since I do web/graphic design on my own for people who live in entirely different states/countries than I do now so I was just curious about how that would factor in since I wouldn't really be taking job opportunities (seeing as I would be doing the same work for the same people just in a different country)

myfirstkitchen January 29 2012, 18:36:44 UTC

We don't care unless you're making enough money to come in under a Tier 1 so you can pay us lots of taxes. As you aren't a world-leading exceptional talent in your area and your internet and design business has not made you enough money to come here as an entrepreneur with over £200,000 in cash to employ any of us, we don't need you. The government says we're full.

celebestel January 29 2012, 19:28:13 UTC

There's no way to settle without a visa, and if you don't qualify, then . . . you don't qualify.

School is an option, but international fees (apply until you've lived here for three years) are astronomical, and last I checked time in school doesn't count towards naturalisation anyway.

Ask your friend if she knows anyone she can set you up with, that's probably your brightest hope. Don't uproot your life and career for the UK because you've enjoyed your holidays here.

tisiphone January 29 2012, 20:02:31 UTC

IANAL, but here's what I can reasonably tell you based on doing this within the past year. Yes, you will need a visa to stay here more than six months or to work (no matter what type of work you do). You cannot just get citizenship - you need to put in some time under a visa first, though how much time depends on how you do it. Given your current situation, I'd suggest two things. First, see if you qualify under Tier 2 (General working) visa; this can be seen here. Second, I'd recommend that getting a degree would be a good idea, at whatever level is applicable. This is incredibly expensive, I will not jest, and you're unlikely to get financial support (though it's not impossible). It also does not have a guarantee of permission to stay; as of April the current program is going to be discontinued and a modified Tier 2 (General) without the EEA supply requirement will be put into place (according to my university's foreign student office), but this arrangement changes a heck of a lot. A long shot is if you have any parents or ( ... )

tisiphone January 29 2012, 20:04:31 UTC

And I should clarify, the time you spend in school here won't count toward naturalization - whatever their graduate scheme replacement is likely will, but you've got to find someone to hire you, so choose what you major in carefully if you decide to go that route.

velum_cado January 30 2012, 06:13:24 UTC

Unrelated, but how is IANAL a thing? It sounds like an Apple product you'd have to go to certain speciality shops to get.

tisiphone January 30 2012, 07:11:56 UTC

I Am Not A Lawyer... (i.e. don't take that as any sort of legal advice, it's just my assessment of recent experience of trying to wrangle this stupid system.)

(The comment has been removed)

velum_cado January 30 2012, 06:07:04 UTC

There is also a way in if you're married to an EU citizen who's exercising treaty rights; not sure about the living together thing in that situation.)

That's how I came into the country... My husband is Irish living in England. You don't have to have lived together before getting the visa, but you do have to be married. It's essentially the same as a UK spousal visa, only it's free, and it takes 5 years to get ILR instead of 2.

belle_marmotte January 29 2012, 22:01:08 UTC

You mention that you are in love with the UK, but this sounds to me like a very rose tinted view. What exactly is it you're in love with? Our wonderful weather? The resentful customer service, our class ridden political/social structure, our delightful NHS? (I was hospitalized last year and I guarantee if you were to experience the realities of what I went through in an average NHS city hospital, you'd be screaming for a ticket home ( ... )

loganberrybunny January 29 2012, 22:44:03 UTC

On the other hand, you seem to be taking a very jaundiced view. For example, my own (extensive) recent experience of the NHS has been almost entirely positive. That's not to say I disagree with you about everything -- the broken property market especially -- but I don't think this is "broken Britain" any more than it's some Earthly paradise.

arosoff January 30 2012, 00:51:12 UTC

It's incredibly regional. I gave birth in north London and had a horrid experience from the day I got pregnant. This was a while ago now, but I'm told from friends still there that it hasn't improved a whit--too many pregnant women and not enough resources. Friends in other parts of the country didn't experience anything like it.

Alas, I fear the Tories want to make it all like what I got.

belle_marmotte January 30 2012, 03:04:54 UTC

Just speaking from my own experience in the NHS as a disabled person for the past 24 years and those I know who had similar experiences. Now I'm in the US 43 yrs old and pregnant with a high risk pregnancy, the care I'm getting is INCOMPARABLE with anything I had in the UK. I get monitored every couple of weeks by the fetal medicine team of doctors only (no midwives) I will get my own room and my own designated nurse when I give birth. Contrast that with my best friends experience of giving birth last year with ONE obstetrician on duty for 60 women in labour. It took him 2 days to get around to her to discharge her ( ... )

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