It’s the ultimate Anglophile dream: living and working the UK. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, this dream will be even harder to achieve for Anglophiles looking to hop across the pond and it bloody well pisses me off.
Because of my Anglophilia disease, not a day goes by where I don’t think about moving to England, living in London and galavanting around the Dorsetshire countryside. But it’s looking increasingly likely I will only be visiting on vacation for the next few years because the British government is tightening immigration regulations again. First, let me summarize the current routes for people wishing to Work in the UK.
The New Points Based System
I actually run another website, UK Points System, all about Britain’s new points based immigration system. It’s a complicated and difficult program to navigate and it’s designed that way.
I thought it would smooth the process of immigrating but, it turns out, the goal of the government all along was to make it harder and reduce immigration by 12 percent.
If you don’t have a job and want to move to the UK, what do you need to do? Look at this sampling of the requirements for the Tier 1 Work Visa:
- Have Bachelor’s Degree from a certified University
- Speak Fluent English
- Be Under 28 Years of Age (any older and you get less points)
- Make at least £26,000 (about $40,000) in the last Year (at present day exchange rates)
- Have £2800 (about $4200) in the bank for 3 months (more if you have a spouse)
- Pay £750 (about $1100) to apply for the Visa
This is just a sampling of the requirements. The application itself is 70 pages long and designed for you to screw up. You also have to have TWO forms of proof for everything you mention on the form.
As it stood today, if I had $5300 in the bank (which I don’t), I would qualify for the Tier 1 Work Visa which would allow me to come to the Uk when I please and work anywhere that will hire me.
Alas, new regulations are coming that will make it even harder than this. But first, the second route of immigration.
The Tier 2 Sponsored Visa
If you are lucky and can find an employer willing to sponsor you for a work Visa, then you can come and work in the UK. I would qualify for this UK visa as well, if I could find a sponsor. But what many people won’t tell you is that:
UK Employers Will Not Sponsor You (unless you know someone willing to take a chance).
The Tier Two program requires employers to pay a huge fee to the government in order even considering sponsoring an foreigner and then they have to prove that there is no one in the ENTIRE European Union who can do that job.
When you apply for jobs on UK job websites, they won’t even let you apply if you don’t have a Visa already. It’s also becoming politically unwise for an employer to hire a foreigner over a native.
So, I won’t be having an employer sponsor me anytime soon.
UK Government Shenanigans
Due to the economic downturn, the government is facing increasing pressure to restrict immigration to the UK to protect jobs for native Brits. This is nothing but pandering populism and will, I think, damage the UK economy in the long run.
A prosperous 1st world democracy must be open to attracting talented foreigners to work in the country and add to overall economic output. Who knows who will be the next mogul that will employ thousands of Brits.
Alas, the government is going to listen to populism instead of good sense (there have been strikes and protests about foreign workers taking British jobs) and tighten immigration regulations even further.
New UK Immigration Regulations
I read in the Telegraph yesterday that the UK government is going to tighten immigration regulations in April to make it even harder for immigrants to come and find work in the UK.
Sampling of the new UK Immigration Regulations:
- Now they require AT LEAST Master’s Degree
- They are raising the previous Income Earning Requirements
- Reducing numbers of Tier 2 Sponsored Visas
- Restricting Sponsored jobs to ‘shortage occupations’
- Restricting the automatic right of families to come with
Well, Britain, you’ve now made my dreams of moving there in the next few years pretty much not possible. It’s very clear that the British government no longer wants to attract professional young Americans who would only add to the economy. Britain is closed for business for me until I’m a much more successful person. Either by starting to make ungodly sums of money or running a successful business.
The problem though, is that the clock is ticking, once I hit 28 – that’s it, I’m going to have to fulfill even more requirements to make up for the lost points. It’s a bloody crapshoot.
I always thought it reasonable that Americans should have special treatment for immigrating to the UK, after all our two countries have been through together. Alas, we get no special treatment and are lumped into the same categories as everyone else in the world.
Hope for Others
Britain may be pretty much closed to me. But others may be luckier. If you have business connections in the UK, by all means take advantage of that. If you know people over there who want you at their company, you’ve got an in. Also, see if your current employer is willing to transfer you to the UK branch.
And there’s the oldy but goody way to immigrate, marry into the place by falling in love with a Brit. Well, I happen to love my wife more than I love England (she doubts this…) so that’s not an option for me.
I still dream of living and working in the UK. It’s just going to take a lot longer than I hoped to make it happen.
About Jonathan
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dreams of traveling to the UK whenever we want a reality.
Oh my goodness…how crazy! I’m 27 and I have a masters degree, but who knows if I’d fit into the income requirements, and, as you said, I probably would not be able to get any employer to sponsor me. I was also considering further education in the UK (specifically, Scotland). Ah, well, I guess I’m going to have to settle for a lot more vacations ahead!
I have been through the process and I have to say that if you are going to compare UK immigration to US immigration its actually much easier to legally get into the UK and remain here legally. Although I would agree the application is daunting, it is still something that the average person can complete without legal assistance. I would even say its easier than filing US taxes.
When it comes to US immigration it is next to impossible to legally work and stay legal without hiring an immigration lawyer. The costs of hiring an immigration lawyer are going to be a lot higher than the $1100 one-off payment to get the UK visa and you get a lot more bang for you buck from that $1100. That $1100 automatically gets you NHS coverage and for some visas it is also possible to have access to state benefits (although my visa doesn’t give me this privilege).
A former roommate of mine worked for an immigration law firm in Chicago and it boggled my mind how complicated US immigration laws are and its quite easy for an immigrant to miss important application dates and forms and suddenly find themselves in a bad and complicated situation. Even if they have an immigration lawyer, if they don’t have a good one its easy to get into trouble. In contrast, its perfectly manageable to come to the UK and go through the immigration process without legal help.
Brit Fancy, its easier (and cheaper) to get a UK student visa. I think once you are accepted to the University that is one of the only things you need to get your student visa. Check out the UK immigration website, its spelled out pretty plainly.
Brit Fancy, if you have a Master’s now, you would get A LOT more points and it would reduce the amount of income you’d need for the Tier 1 visa. So, I would look into it. You may be able to qualify, and if you apply before April, you won’t get hit with the new regulations.
I agree, the American immigration system is a disgrace. That’s why there is so much illegal immigration. This country was built on the backs of immigrants and now it wants nothing to do with them.
I would consider going on a student visa, I’d love to study in England for my master’s. The only issue with that is you can only work part-time. Being married that doesn’t really work for me (I’m the sole breadwinner).
Sigh. Dreams of Britain will just have to wait…
I was going to suggest that you look for US employers who had HQ’s in the UK. That is what the hubby and I plan on doing. Aren’t you in the IT industry? I know Microsoft and Cognos is there. The other option I plan on looking into is buying a piece of property or even a timeshare so that I can visit for extended periods of time. This might be the best we can hope for.
Good idea. It’s getting to the point where maybe in 10-20 years, we can have a second home in the UK. Depends on how successful I become. It’s nice to dream though.
It has got a lot tougher to enter UK in the last 10 years, a symptom I’m afraid of the overwhelming numbers who want to come here – the NHS & social benefits act as a pretty strong magnet, to non Americans usually, but you get hit with the same regs. As a brit it always good to see Americans here. Although I’ve never had a wish to work in the US it is made pretty plain when I visit that working is not allowed – my sister in law who lives in Philly says it was incredibly difficult to get a green card.
I am currently going through the process of getting a UK visa. I’m sponsored by my employer in the UK, and my company worked with a lawyer to get everything sorted. I thought my portion of the visa process [the final step] would be easy, but I have been trapped living in the US [at my parents' house no less!] for 3 months and am having a hell of a time getting the visa even WITH my company behind me. I have been rejected twice already, both for really insignificant technicalities. My bank [Natwest] has also been absolutely atrocious in cooperating with me overseas — I waited two months for a simple address change and mailing of my bank statements. They kept saying they did it and simply did not change my address and did nor order any statements. When they finally arrived, there were only 2 months and 3 weeks of statements…. which is not three months in the eyes of an entry clearance officer. I can’t believe how difficult and trying this has been, and is still being…
Wow, I complained quite a bit about the whole process of getting my sponsored visa (I luckily started the process before they changed the rules) and I didn’t realise quite how good I had it! What a frustrating experience. I wish everyone working in this issue the best of luck!
I want to express my surprise, how hard it is for US citizens to stay a while in the UK. From my point of view (I live in Prague) it turned so easy to get there and take a job for 4 months in Brighton (in IT). I liked it so much, weather was awesome and I did enjoy riding a bike in the incredible South Downs every day, after work hours were over. It was the most relaxing period of my life in the last 10 years.
I had not been actually employed in UK, I worked as a freelancer, formally employed in my home country. Could it be the way for you?
So do not give up, I wish good luck to all of you, get the visa if possible, England is worth it.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share your story! Hope to hear from you again!
I feel for you Jon I really do and I agree that people from the USA, Oz, NZ, and Canada should have special treatment allowing them to come here, we’re cousins for gods sake. You have to look at it from our point of view though. since 1997 Labour kicked open the doors to immigration and allowed anyone and everyone to come here. Asylum seekers were also allowed to pour in uncontrolled.
We wont let you in but we’d let hate filled Imam preachers come here; house, feed and clothe them.
That’s when Britons had enough and demanded we slam the door shut. Unfortunatley you too are shut out.
Consider also that I would like to emigrate to the USA but I can’t because your criteria is way too high. No different should I want to move to Oz, Canada or NZ.
All these countries only want wealthy, middle class pro’s. Hard grafting, working class folk are a big no-no.
Are any of your ancestors British? Can you use that route to get in?
Thanks for stopping by and chiming in Phill – Glad to know I have a sympathetic ear. I have distant British ancestors – but I’m many many generations removed (we’re talking they came over in the 1700′s). Also, the British government has phased out the ancestry route to residency as part of the new points based system. A damn shame. One day I’ll get in, one day
Hi
I’d just like to add weight to Phill’s comments on immigration attitudes in the UK.
From our point of view this is (as Phill stated) all down to Labours immigration policies since 1997 and also EU free movement laws. Basically the only way we can now limit immigration is to make it difficult for non EU citizens to come here. This is because it is illegal for us to stop any EU citizen from moving here if they so wish. This will probably only get worse once they allow Turkey to become a full EU member also.
I agree that people from the US, Canada , OZ and NZ should have an easier time coming here due to the cultural ties between us.
I just think its a damn shame, but I wish you all the best in try and really hope you succeed.
Thanks for stopping by and chiming in Mark!
I came from the UK to the USA and I must say that the requirements are much harder coming into America, I was married to an American and yet it took 2 years to get a green card, I had to show i had the minimum living costs in my bank for myself for 5 years, and at about $15k per year that adds up quick!! The attorney fees amounted to over $5k in total. In all the process was a complete nightmare, slow and long and designed to drive you crazy!!