Getting a UK Visa: One woman’s saga

Yankeebean — thank you soooo much for sharing your VISA sagas. Here I thought I’ve had problems and I can see that I had better shore myself up for the long-haul! Tier 1 Work VISA = rejected. Student VISA = pending. Plan B (or at this point C) = fiancee VISA. But you’ve just made me consider — after these points — the plot will just thicken! The fact that you’ve made it through as much as you have and are still smiling gives me courage to face the red tape!

I think my heart just plummeted to my tummy. Getting a UK job from the States is hard enough, but I guess getting that coveted visa is even harder that I first imagined!! Thanks for sharing this, though. Your visa saga was incredible!!!!

also take into account the time off the application. things change at the border agency faster than you can imagine. the circumstances matter also. as a tier 1 visa holder my road would be completely different as i already live and work here. i would need to apply for permission from the crown to marry for instance. read through the border agency’s web site. it’s a shlog, but they are trying to be helpful.

regarding dual passports when traveling, it’s actually illegal to enter the us on a visitor visa if you are a us citizen. that’s why you must enter the us on your us passport. and as a uk citizen who lives and works here, you must enter the uk under your uk visa/passport in order to be legal as well.

so nice to see this post now after i’ve finally made it here. mine was a bit like this… study abroad visa – or whatever it was (2007): accepted. bunac work visa (2008): accepted. tier 2 visa app #1 (2009): rejected. tier 2 visa app #2: rejected. tier 2 visa app #3 rejected. tier 2 visa app #4: ACCEPTED.

it’s been two amazing months since i’ve finally gotten back here, after what seemed like an endless hell. but for anyone considering it…i think i’d do it all again. definitely worth it.

Thanks for that detailed post! People have asked me about how difficult it would be for an American to get the equivalent of a green card in the UK and I’ve had to answer that I had no idea! Now I know – just as difficult as getting a green card!

BTW, here’s the US Dept. of State take on dual nationality. As Dyana said, you have to make sure you enter each country on the appropriate passport. I don’t know what the UK inheritance rules are like for foreigners, but in the US if your US citizen spouse dies and you are not a US citizen then you don’t automatically get to inherit everything from them tax-free!! That was my number two reason for becoming a US citizen! (Number one of course being the desire to avoid having anything to do with the INS ever again!)

Thanks for this post! I really do like hearing about the visa process from people that have been through it. I am preparing myself for the drama once I’m over in England again. I plan on going to graduate school in London next year and am hoping to get a work visa for a year after I graduate with my English diploma. (Unless they go and change that law!) Love reading your blog, makes me miss England!

Lindsey, the law already changed. it’s a 2 year post-graduate visa now. and they’ve even changed it again since it went into effect last autumn. now you need to prove three months of £1600 in your bank account. the rules change very often, the only thing that stays the same is change!

Hi – just some info about holding multiple passports – my son has three passports: Swiss, American and British. And the governments of all three countries know that he holds the passports of the other two. So it’s OK to have both British and American passports, and it’s OK to tell. Just be sure to travel on the right one!

Dyana, thanks for the info! I will have to keep that in mind when I go over. I am going for my post-grad but I haven’t been looking at any 2 year courses….yet. This may make me change my mind

Dyana and Lindsay,

I think I need to jump in the fray now. I think Dyana was saying (and correct me if I’m wrong — pretty please!) that you can stay for 2 years after your UK graduate program. I don’t think she was saying you had to go to a 2 year program. Also — once you have a Masters-level degree, you are eligible for a Tier 1 VISA. At least — please please correct me if I’m wrong about this because I’m just about to embark on a 1 year graduate program in the UK this next week.

Hi All – Visas to go and live in the UK can be so confusing. I think Dyana is correct that the only constant about the visa issue is CHANGE. I stayed an extra year on the Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme after completing a MSc in 2007. That programme no longer exists and was replaced with something else – but I have no idea what the situation with that is now. Then I received an unmarried partners visa based on having lived with Mr. Charismatic for 2 years (in the UK).

That being said, a quick look on the visa website tells me that my experience is already totally out of date. Be careful about making your decisions on anything unconfirmed by the UK Border Agency. In my case it was pretty much always worth it to give them a call and ask them my questions before I made any decisions or sent any applications.

Here is the website too: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/

Good luck ladies!! We are behind you 100%

Hi Rachel,
You are correct, unless it has all changed, which may be the case.
No I don’t think it matters how long the course is, but I am assuming most are 1-4 years anyway.
I managed to get a visa to stay for two years after my UK grad school programme finished and then transferred to a Tier 1 visa after that. The Tier 1 grants me 3 years stay. You just have to earn enough money in those 2 years after grad school to qualify for the tier 1 so be warned!! Take on as much work as possible!!

Maybe I’ll make the UK Visa website my homepage Thanks for straightening me out, I feel a little better, as I only really want to do my masters in a year. But I will keep watching for changes anyways…sigh…

hello there yankeebean. guess what…i just got through my 4th ultimate meltdown (tears galore) via skype with the boy after spending about 2 months reading all information possible about every visa possible. the past 2 months have gone like this: there was a slither of hope down one road…then i found a barricade. then there was another little hope..then another barricade. and so forth. which led me to right now, being crawled up in bed, miserable, emotionally exhausted, going back to re-read this post i read back in august. *sigh* i dont know what to do now.

BUNAC has most certainly changed…def NOT only $300 anymore!) . and finding a sponsor in this economy is slightly more laughable then just trying to find a job. weve been doing the long distance for over 1 year now. (i cant imagine 4 years..how and why?! college?). i just finished grad school so now im just trying to decide what to do next. he obviously is one of the top priorities on the agenda. anyways…blah blah…sorry…..on to my question: how did you bring up the fiance visa bit? me and him have a very open and wonderful relationship and i know he would tell me what he felt about it. but still im so nervous to bring it up/suggest it. i mean, naturally, i would have to think he’s thought it too but i dont know… anyways, can you indulge me with your story? tips? advice? *just a claimer..i most certainly want to be with him for the rest of my life so to do it would be fine. a little earlier than i thought id be doing it..but fine. i guess we’ve just been taught: a girl says ‘marriage’…and a guy starts running…ya know? anyways – thanks for listening me ramble. awaiting the story….

[...] recently had a comment on the post ‘Getting a Visa: One Woman’s Saga‘ that got me thinking.  Dreamer asked how I brought up the ‘fiance visa’ issue [...]

Hi Dreamer – I blogged a reply to your comment here: http://www.shesnotfromyorkshire.com/2009/12/15/how-do-you-bring-up-the-fiance-visa-thing/

Thanks for stopping by, and please keep in touch!

Found your blog, and looks like you are ahead of my girlfriend! I am a Brit, currently dating a Japanese, and I have been looking into visa`s for her should we decide to relocate to the UK.

One thing I did find, the UK allows dual nationality. They will give you a UK passport even though you hold a US one. The one thing they do say, is that should your “other” government place some kind of legal requirement on you, British assistance will be limited.

The US (and Japanese, should I choose to do so) governments do not allow dual nationality. You officially have to give up your previous nationality, when you apply for American nationality. However, they dont check too hard on that one…

[...] beautiful tourist-central.  I waitressed and worked retail until I knew what was going on with the visa situation.  Because York is so touristy, I met a LOT of Americans, which I thought was entirely fantastic. [...]

Hi all.
My daughter have been expelled from London, just 5 hours after she arrived there. She is a student and US citizen. She went to London for 3 month to go to Art College and the friend of mine, who has her own company, offer to teach her some work skill. She was not offering her any job and was not going to pay her. But unfortunately, my daughter told at passport control at London airport that she is going for internship. Because, she didn’t have a work permit, they force her to airplane back to US. She was requiring a layer and I was not able to speak with immigration officer, was a bad connection and it happened so quickly. It was happened just 3hours ago. What can I do now?
Why they didn’t let her stay as a tourist? Any advice? Nina