# US self-employed translator thinking of relocating to Britain



## sultancl (Feb 13, 2012)

I'm a self-employed translator in the US who wants to move to Europe. France was my first choice but it's proving to be pretty daunting. I have two basic questions:
1) How difficult is it for a non-EU person to move to the UK and be self-employed there? France has all kinds of restrictions that make it very difficult there. I work for a German magazine and would basically be doing the same thing I do here in the US, i.e., nothing that would take away jobs from anyone in Britain.
2) How difficult is it for someone from the US (my partner) to get a work permit and get a job in London in advertising (the creative side)?

I know my questions are very broad, but I just want to get a general idea, especially on how Britain compares with France on these issues.

Thanks!

Chris


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

sultancl said:


> I'm a self-employed translator in the US who wants to move to Europe. France was my first choice but it's proving to be pretty daunting. I have two basic questions:
> 1) How difficult is it for a non-EU person to move to the UK and be self-employed there? France has all kinds of restrictions that make it very difficult there. I work for a German magazine and would basically be doing the same thing I do here in the US, i.e., nothing that would take away jobs from anyone in Britain.
> 2) How difficult is it for someone from the US (my partner) to get a work permit and get a job in London in advertising (the creative side)?
> 
> I know my questions are very broad, but I just want to get a general idea, especially on how Britain compares with France on these issues.


If you think getting a visa for self-employment in France is difficult, you won't like what you encounter in UK! 

There isn't a visa category that caters for what you are planning to do. There is an investor visa that requires a capital of £1 million, or entrepreneur visa that needs injection of capital to the tune of £200k into a new or existing UK business and you need to take an active part in running it.
Other visas are for internationally-renowned artists, sportsmen, academics or musicians etc. 
If you work for a US company with UK presence, they can transfer you to UK and this is one of the easier ways of relocating. But it's no good for the self-employed.
If your partner's employer can transfer them to UK, you can come as their dependant and work as self-employed translator. 
Most Americans who are in work in UK are either transferred by their employer, married to a UK or EEA citizen or first came as a student and upon graduation managed to find a sponsored work.


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

Hi Chris,

It is impossible unless you have a company sponsor you, you have £200,000 to invest in a company in England (an entrepreneur visa), or you enter on a relationship visa (ie the fiancé or spouse of a British citizen). 

Immigrating anywhere is going to have a lot of "restrictions".

Edited to add: oops, I was posting at the same time as Joppa.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

sultancl said:


> I'm a self-employed translator in the US who wants to move to Europe. France was my first choice but it's proving to be pretty daunting. I have two basic questions:
> 1) How difficult is it for a non-EU person to move to the UK and be self-employed there? France has all kinds of restrictions that make it very difficult there. I work for a German magazine and would basically be doing the same thing I do here in the US, i.e., nothing that would take away jobs from anyone in Britain.


I think it's impossible. As a non EU citizen you need a visa to live and work in the UK. There is no visa which covers being self-employed. You need an employer who can sponsor you for a Tier 2 work visa. Can the German magazine do that? Wouldn't moving to Germany be a possibility? 




> 2) How difficult is it for someone from the US (my partner) to get a work permit and get a job in London in advertising (the creative side)?


It's hard for anyone to get a work visa. There are a limited number available. If your job doesn't fall on the shortage occupation list which advertising does not, an employer has to prove that there is no one in the UK or the EU who can fill the job.


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## LaraMascara (Oct 19, 2012)

Perhaps a student visa would be worth looking into? 

You could go to school in Europe... Just a thought!


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## sultancl (Feb 13, 2012)

Thanks for all your help. What about Ireland? Does anyone know what restrictions are like there?


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

Everywhere is going to have restrictions, income requirements, and limitations to who can come live. There is no place on earth you can just decide to move.


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## sultancl (Feb 13, 2012)

Thanks, AmyD. I realize that there are restrictions everywhere, but they obviously vary from one country to the next -- like France and Britain. I'd like to move to Western Europe at some point in the near future, and before I start making all kinds of preparations (like learning French, for example), I want to figure out where my/our prospects are the best. I'm learning that France makes it incredibly difficult, so I though the UK might be another option, but that doesn't seem to be the case, either. So Ireland's my next choice. If anyone has any feedback on living and working in Ireland as a self-employed translator, I would greatly appreciate it.


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## LaraMascara (Oct 19, 2012)

Ireland is just as hard as France.


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## Jeliza (Dec 14, 2012)

I'm an American freelance translator and I have lived in France since 2008. I got a long-stay visa to come and the status on my carte de séjour is as a visitor. I have to renew my carte de séjour every year and I have to prove I have enough money in the bank to live on for the year, plus I have to prove I have my own health insurance. I'm not allowed to have a "real" job LOL but I'm allowed to do freelance translation work for non-French companies. It is a pain though. It just depends on how much you want to live here.


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## sultancl (Feb 13, 2012)

Hi Jeliza,
I'd be really interested in your experiences and how you did it. I posted on the France forum and got a lot of discouraging advice. Basically, I was told it would be very very difficult and that the French would be very arbitrary in deciding whether or not I'd be allowed to live there and work as a freelance translator. I work for a German magazine and would have absolutely no negative impact on the French economy (actually, positive, since I'd be spending money there, paying taxes, possibly buying property, etc.). Are you paying into the French social security system, and do you qualify for French health insurance? Ideally, I'd like to become a permanent resident there, buy a house, settle down, etc. To complicate things even further, my partner would have to get a job in Paris in advertising or a related field. 

I'd appreciate any tips you can give me!

Thanks --

Chris


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## Jeliza (Dec 14, 2012)

Hi,
The arbitrariness is probably true. It probably helped me that I'm a French to English translator, so when I applied for a long-stay visa, I emphasized that I would gain a deeper understanding of French language and culture by living in France, and that this would impact my translation work.
I only pay US taxes and so do not pay into the social security system. Since you'd like to be a permanent resident, make sure you do pay into the social security system if you manage to come. Also, for a long time I thought that since my status is as a visitor, I did not have access to French health insurance. But it turns out that I was wrong and that I could have had French health insurance. I have private health insurance through a US company.
One of the hardest things for me was coming up with the money that I need to prove I have, it's something like $22,000.
Let me know if you have any more questions )


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