advice on a visa for american citizen

mikeouk

id like some advice on the best way an american citizen can get a visa for the uk?
Ive started a relationship with an american woman who I met whilst in jamaica in may.I have sinse been to visit her twice and shes coming to the uk for the first time on monday for a week. Things are going nicely,we get on great and obviously the subject of where the relationship is actualy going has cropped up. I actualy like the idea of emmigrating at some point but its just not the right time at the moment due to having my own business and children here. She has no children or real ties and has hinted she wouldnt mind coming to live here. I think she wants to suss out the uk and my home town before she conciders it any further. Im looking for advice from anyone who has actualy been in a similar situation, ive looked at immigration websites and it seems like a complicated process. She would want to work because shes very indipendant.
any advice appreciated

Aldeney

My husband is American & went through the visa process just over 4 years ago. I found the best source of advice & information was ukvisas.gov.uk which will tell you what kind of visa she could apply for.

With the marriage visa my husband had to apply in the US before he could travel here. Once here we had a short time in which to marry & then once married he applied for a two year extension on his visa & he couldn't work until that extension was granted.

It is fairly long winded but, I think, worth the effort. Hope the above website is of use to you & I wish you all the best.

mrtg0525

@mikeouk - she doesn't really need a visa to come and visit you, as long as she can convince the immigrations people passport control that she'll only stay for a fixed (short - I think it's either up to three or up to six months, but you'd need to verify that) time. Obviously this'll be a tourist visa and she won't be able to work on it. But it should help with the sussing out part.


Unfortunately I can't help much with the 'how to get her over here permanently' part as slightly different rules apply for myself (I'm an EEA national and my wife's a USC) than would apply for you. I would, however, look into the various options like getting married before applying for a visa for her vs applying for one to get married like Aldeney did. Also, keep in mind that if you're married to a USC and want to visit the US, it may be slightly harder to get in as you may have to convince the immigrations officer that you are indeed planning to return to the UK when you are saying you will.

@Aldeney - while it may be a bit of a palaver to get a USC citizen spouse into the UK, doing it the other way looks like a lot more fun and AFAIK takes a lot longer. We'll be starting that process in a few months...

BernadetteN

US nationals are not visa nationals and therefore any entry to the UK for 6 months or less in a category where a visa not mandatory for all (eg mandatory categories could be marriage/settlement, accompanying a work permit holder) does not normally require a visa. However, a visa can still be applied for, even if it is not mandatory.

For entry to the UK for periods above 6 months, EVERY non EU/Swiss/EEA national requires a visa to enter the UK, visa and non visa nationals alike.

If your girlfriend is coming to the UK on Monday, it's far too late to apply for a visa. If she is coming to the UK with any intention to work on this occasion, she falls to be refused entry. If she plans to enter the UK as a visitor and then changes her mind and wants to marry you or look for work, she is not able to "switch" categories from "visitor" to something else, except outside the Immigration rules. If she tries to switch anyway, she falls to be refused and removed back to the USA. If circumstances change and she wants to change category, she would have to return to the USA and apply for a visa there. It really is not worth applying to switch in the UK because the probability of getting new permission to remain in the UK outside the Immigration Rules is really low, it will be wasted money and there is the prospect of enforced removal. Any refusal of permission to remain in the UK is marked in the passport and remains on the database so there is no hiding it, even with a change of passport.

I personally would not recommend any use of Immigration Advisors as all the information on emmigration to the UK is freely available over the internet.

The biggest thing for your girlfriend to do when she arrives in the UK on Monday is to BE HONEST. If there are intentions to marry or to settle in her own right (on a highly skilled migrant work permit visa for example), she MUST SAY it and also ADD that she knows to do this means a return trip to the USA to obtain a visa.

You can look up all the information you need from the Home Office's Immigration website. There you will see the link for UK Visas (the part of the Home Office/BIA that issues visas abroad at UK diplomatic missions), for Highly Skilled Migrant Workers programme, for the Immigration Rules, for the Immigration Directorate Instructions which staff at the Home Office follow when granting visas or granting permission to remain in the UK for those people allowed to switch categories.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/

Immigration Instructions here (hard to find without knowing where to look)
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/policyinstructions/idis/

highly skilled migrant scheme (also hard to find!)
http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/working_in_the_uk/en/homepage.html

mikeouk

BernadetteN wrote: »

If your girlfriend is coming to the UK on Monday, it's far too late to apply for a visa. If she is coming to the UK with any intention to work on this occasion, she falls to be refused entry. If she plans to enter the UK as a visitor and then changes her mind and wants to marry you or look for work, she is not able to "switch" categories from "visitor" to something else, except outside the Immigration rules. If she tries to switch anyway, she falls to be refused and removed back to the USA. If circumstances change and she wants to change category, she would have to return to the USA and apply for a visa there. It really is not worth applying to switch in the UK because the probability of getting new permission to remain in the UK outside the Immigration Rules is really low, it will be wasted money and there is the prospect of enforced removal. Any refusal of permission to remain in the UK is marked in the passport and remains on the database so there is no hiding it, even with a change of passport.

I personally would not recommend any use of Immigration Advisors as all the information on emmigration to the UK is freely available over the internet.

The biggest thing for your girlfriend to do when she arrives in the UK on Monday is to BE HONEST. If there are intentions to marry or to settle in her own right (on a highly skilled migrant work permit visa for example), she MUST SAY it and also ADD that she knows to do this means a return trip to the USA to obtain a visa.

the visit next week is just for 7days. I think what she has in mind is to see if she would like to live here and then come back next year some time. She has a job and a rented appartment in the us, so things would take a while to sort out on that score anyway. Im just thinking ahead here.
thanks for the advice

izoomzoom

Having recently had a relative of ours denied entry at Heathrow and sent back, make sure your friend meets all the criteria for entry as a visitor. Make sure she has evidence of this flat and job in the US (ie rental agreement / contract of employment) as well as evidence of funds to support herself (ie bank statement / travellers cheques). If you are to support her whilst here, get her copies of your wages slip / bank statement, and make sure she carries NOTHING with her with regards to looking for a job here. Our relative was sent back because of a contact detail she had on an email about prospective work !!