# US citizen wants to move to be with UK boyfriend...is it possible?



## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Hi there 

My girlfriend (35 y.o) is American and lives over there, while i (30 y.o) am English and live in England. 
We have been together for just over 6 months but we're both sure this is "it". I have just returned home from an amazing trip to see her, and we have got that strong feeling of not wanting to be apart if we don't have to be. The plan is for her to come over to the UK to live with me, but our initial foray into the rules and regulations shows this is not going to be easy to manage...

Instead of just writing out my story, which could go on for ages, here are some bullet points - i'd be grateful of any advice, options, opinions, questions you may have, although to be honest i'm kind of pessimistic at the outcome in the near future:

- We have known each other less than 1 year, and been together 6 months, but of course not lived together except on our couple of visits to see each other.

- She has come to visit me once, and i have just returned from visiting her.

- I have a full-time job with a salary between £22-25k. She is currently bartending part-time while she goes through her Masters. She has just made some last minute applications to some UK uni's with hopes of getting in for Sept 2013 with a student visa, but the chances of that are very remote considering that's only a couple of months away.

- My savings recently took a big hit because i bought a flat, which of course we would live in together should she get over here. Her own savings are not substantial. We don't have £62,500 between us, let alone untouched for 6 months.

- Because of my new flat and elderly parents i can't consider moving over to the US at this time.

- We have all the proof in the world that we are a genuine couple.

- Ideally we don't want marriage to be the route we take just so we can be together, but would being married either in the US or UK make things simpler for her to come here and live with me?

- She is very happy to work for her living when here and so doesn't want to come over and not be allowed to be employed.

I expect there is a lot more important details i've missed there, but that's a start...what say you all?

Thanks


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

confusius said:


> Hi there
> 
> My girlfriend (35 y.o) is American and lives over there, while i (30 y.o) am English and live in England.
> We have been together for just over 6 months but we're both sure this is "it". I have just returned home from an amazing trip to see her, and we have got that strong feeling of not wanting to be apart if we don't have to be. The plan is for her to come over to the UK to live with me, but our initial foray into the rules and regulations shows this is not going to be easy to manage...
> ...


Work visa/student visa/marriage visa - that's it for options. 

She needs a visa to live in the UK - and there's no "just want to be together" visa.


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

You don't qualify for an unmarried partner visa, and as one of the other members here (Nyclon) likes to say, there is no shack up visa. So your choices are marriage or fiancé visa.

Your salary qualifies, so the rest is up to you.


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

No shack up or just want to be together option? what kind of place do i live in?! 

We are both new to actually looking into this, and normally i am happy doing preliminary checks, but i figured it would be useful to ask people who know at the same time, so forgive me if some of what i ask/say is easily found elsewhere...

Re. a work visa - she is heading towards a specialist field - speech language pathology - so i think it would be worthwhile her applying for jobs local to me. She thinks it's unlikely anyone will be willing to take her on and go through the paperwork of employing someone from overseas, but that is worth a shot, right? because if an employer was interested, she'd get a work visa.

Re. the student visa - hopefully she will be offered a place at a uni she has applied to - that will get the student visa...but i don't think that is realistic.

Regarding marriage - is it correct that she could come here as my fiancee for 6 months and we would get married before that time was up? if that was the situation, what happens after we are married - is she free to stay with me?

Thanks for your responses!


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

There is no shacking up/try before you buy visa so your options are limited.

If she doesn't get into a degree program your only option is going to be marriage. It doesn't matter whether it's in the US or the UK. The difference is that if you decide on the UK then she will need a fiance visa which gives you 6 months to get married. During that time she will not be able to work or take classes. If you don't intend to live in the US there is no special visa required to marry there and while requirements vary slightly by state they are usually minimal. Getting married in the US saves the cost of 1 visa.

The financial requirement for both a fiance visa and a spouse visa is that the UK citizen make £18,600/year. It sounds like you make enough to satisfy this requirement. The non-UK citizen's income doesn't matter until they are in the UK on a visa which allows them to work. You own a flat so you can satisfy the accommodation requirement. If you have photos together, trip tickets, skype logs, email logs etc then you satisfy the relationship requirement. Once she is in the UK on a spouse visa she has the right to work.



If she has any EU ancestry she can see if she qualifies for citizenship. With an EU passport she can live and work in the UK.

**Edited to add: Thanks for quoting me, Amy!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

confusius said:


> No shack up or just want to be together option? what kind of place do i live in?!
> 
> We are both new to actually looking into this, and normally i am happy doing preliminary checks, but i figured it would be useful to ask people who know at the same time, so forgive me if some of what i ask/say is easily found elsewhere...
> 
> ...


It's always worth a shot to see if one can get a work visa.

If you go the fiance/marriage route then once the visa is issued she will be able to stay with you in the UK and take up employment.

See here for the process:

UK Border Agency | Family of British citizens and settled persons


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

confusius said:


> No shack up or just want to be together option? what kind of place do i live in?!
> 
> We are both new to actually looking into this, and normally i am happy doing preliminary checks, but i figured it would be useful to ask people who know at the same time, so forgive me if some of what i ask/say is easily found elsewhere...
> 
> Re. a work visa - she is heading towards a specialist field - speech language pathology - so i think it would be worthwhile her applying for jobs local to me. She thinks it's unlikely anyone will be willing to take her on and go through the paperwork of employing someone from overseas, but that is worth a shot, right? because if an employer was interested, she'd get a work visa.


As she hasn't graduated and probably has little or no experience this is a long shot. If this job isn't on the shortage occupation list an employer can only offer her a job if they can find no one in the UK or EU who is qualified. That's about 500 million people. Work visas are extremely difficult to come by.



> Re. the student visa - hopefully she will be offered a place at a uni she has applied to - that will get the student visa...but i don't think that is realistic.
> 
> Regarding marriage - is it correct that she could come here as my fiancee for 6 months and we would get married before that time was up? if that was the situation, what happens after we are married - is she free to stay with me?


After the fiance visa comes 2 rounds of spouse visas. So, she's not exactly "free" to stay with you. She must apply for a spouse visa after you get married and before the fiance visa expires and of course you must continue to meet the financial, accommodation and relationship requirements.


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Thank you very much for those answers.

I'm glad to hear there is a little good news in that what i have with the income and accommodation is sufficient. And yes, we definitely have all the criterion listed to prove we're "real".

It did look to me as if the marriage option was the only one that seemed realistic, and based on the comments that seems to be the case. I agree that it is unlikely an employer would be willing to hire somebody without their full qualifications in such a specialised field, but it's definitely worth a shot.

It's especially good to know that if we did go down that fiance/marriage route that she would be able to work under that visa - this was something i wasn't sure about yet.

The EU ancestry is definitely something we should look into too. Say she does have something, what would that mean with her citizenship - does she become a dual-citizen? i know one thing she would not be keen on is her passport not showing "American" any longer.

I really appreciate all the responses you have given me - it's a lot to think about, and i guess we'll first be waiting to see if some kind of miracle happens with the uni applications! 
If we choose the marriage route, you all get e-invites


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

confusius said:


> Thank you very much for those answers.
> 
> I'm glad to hear there is a little good news in that what i have with the income and accommodation is sufficient. And yes, we definitely have all the criterion listed to prove we're "real".
> 
> ...


Just to be clear, she can't work whilst on a fiancé visa but once she has a spouse visa she can.

As far as dual citizenship, the US sort of tolerates it and it would depend in the EU country but I think most would allow you maintain dual citizenship.


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Oh, i misunderstood there then. So she could live here for 6 months while we were engaged but not work. 
That would be doable, but not ideal.

It really is a shame there is no "just want to be together" visa...would make life so much easier!

The EU country i know her family have recently found history with is Sweden - not sure how much lineage there really is though.


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## Water Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

*Spousal visa choices*



confusius said:


> Oh, i misunderstood there then. So she could live here for 6 months while we were engaged but not work.
> That would be doable, but not ideal.
> 
> It really is a shame there is no "just want to be together" visa...would make life so much easier!


If you decide to go the marriage route, it is usually much easier for you to come here, get married, and then she applies for spousal visa. Our laws here don't require you to obtain any special visa to come and get married, as long as you return home. Then you only have to pay for the spousal visa which with priority processing amounts to roughly $1700 USD. Just be sure to read up on what is required for paperwork so you make sure you bring everything you need with you.

My fiance is from Scotland and we are hoping to work through this process in August. Each state has it's own rules, but here in Maine, all he needs is his passport and copy of his divorce papers, and a marriage license that costs $40 and is good for 90 days.

Good luck on deciding what is best for you both.
Laurel


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

confusius said:


> Oh, i misunderstood there then. So she could live here for 6 months while we were engaged but not work.
> That would be doable, but not ideal.
> 
> It really is a shame there is no "just want to be together" visa...would make life so much easier!
> ...


No work is allowed on a fiancé visa paid or unpaid. 

You'll have to research what is necessary or if it is even possible for her to acquire Swedish citizenship.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I think Swedish nationality is transmitted to one generation only, i.e. one of your parents must be Swedish.


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Ha, well that is just typical! 

That would count the EU option out...

Thanks though


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## ataraxia (Jun 3, 2013)

Your situation is very similar to mine. My boyfriend and I have been together 6 months and he is 35 and I'm 31. Anyway, unless your girlfriend has direct lineage to Sweden it is unlikely she will be able to get Citizenship. The most lenient is Irish and I missed out on that because my parents never filed for their citizenship. You can pass Irish citizenship along through Naturalization (have a few friends that have Irish passports because of this). 

I'm personally trying to work the inter-company transfer route or that never comes to fruition I guess we will have to decide whether we want to get married. We have trips planned through December (which would be our one year).

Good luck!


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

ataraxia said:


> Your situation is very similar to mine. My boyfriend and I have been together 6 months and he is 35 and I'm 31. Anyway, unless your girlfriend has direct lineage to Sweden it is unlikely she will be able to get Citizenship. The most lenient is Irish and I missed out on that because my parents never filed for their citizenship. You can pass Irish citizenship along through Naturalization (have a few friends that have Irish passports because of this).
> 
> I'm personally trying to work the inter-company transfer route or that never comes to fruition I guess we will have to decide whether we want to get married. We have trips planned through December (which would be our one year).
> 
> Good luck!


The Swedish link is quite distant, which is unfortunate.

Yes, the work transfer does seem to be a good option if there's the possibility - i remember that way in the past before this was ever something i was concerned about a friend did the same thing. I hope everything works out for you guys, whichever route you take!


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Hi again!

So, after a few days of lots of discussions, we have decided to pursue the fiance visa route, which is both terribly exciting and daunting at the same time (the process, not the actual fact of being together!).

We have started looking at what we need and the applications to fill in etc, and i have a few questions. As usual with me, some may be very obvious, but i'd be much more comfortable having them confirmed or clarified, so here goes...

On the Visa4UK online application form:

- She is onto her second passport, because the first was stolen. If she just states this in Q.19, is it sufficient, or does she need the old passport number and exact dates of issuance/expiry? if she does, how can she go about getting those details?

- As she has traveled to the UK and other countries outside the US in the past 10 years, does she need to list them all? these would be on her stolen passport and it might be difficult to find the details of every trip.

- For the question asking "where is your sponsor now?" (i am the sponsor and was born and reside in the UK) and "when did the sponsor arrive in the UK?" - do we simply put my date of birth and say that i am a UK citizen?

- Where is the "place of issue" of my UK passport? the guidance suggests city and country...i have no idea about the city.

- "Is there any other info we wish to be considered as part of our application?" - do we tick Yes and state in the next blank box that we'll be providing Appendix 2 and a file of documentation showing supporting evidence of our relationship?

Ok, i believe that takes care of the questions on the initial application form. 
Say we had filled that in and were ready to submit it, what is the procedure after that regarding the submission of Appendix 2 and the file of documentation with pictures and email logs etc?
I know she will have to attend a meeting in person - does the file of evidence get taken along then, and is appendix 2 included in this file or added somehow as an attachment with the application form? i'm just a little unsure of the basic order of everything and timescale between each stage...

I will have more questions as we proceed, no doubt! really want to make sure we get this spot on first time...

Thanks for the continued help!


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Anybody have any answers on the above?

Thanks


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Ok, as my other questions must be too difficult to answer, i'll try another one!

We are currently filling out Appendix 2, and as mentioned, i as sponsor meet the £18,600 financial requirement from my employment and have been employed by the same company for almost ten years.

I have filled in the section for salaried employment (category A) part 3A.

Q 3.76 asks "what is the total cash savings you/your sponsor hold?" - do we need to specify this even if i meet the £18,600 requirement from employment?

Thank you


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

No. You shouldn't have to answer 3.76 if you don't have to use savings to meet the requirement. If you answer Yes to 3.73, you skip the whole of Part 3F Cash savings.
Read the form very carefully to see which sections and questions you need to answer, and which to leave blank.


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## confusius (Jun 3, 2013)

Thank you for that answer...that is what i thought - just wanted to make sure.

Again just to be on the safe side, as i have completed 3A, does Part 4 also get left completely blank? i just worry that with so many boxes being left empty something could slip through the net at my end!

Also, my 6 months worth of payslips and my P60 form show my previous address because my work's computer systems have not been updated. Should i mention this in the Part 5 additional information section?


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