moving and how?!

i will be moving within the year....first time to be outside the US....but I'm moving to manchester to be with my girlfriend... she has moved there and is stationed there as well....now i want to move there to be with her.... and need resources and advice on how to do this.... as of this moment i am waiting on my birth certificate so i can begin getting my passport...but i have alot of questions....how long can i stay..and if i do want to stay how do i go about staying?....do i need a work visa before i leave? if we get married how does that affect citizenship in either country?... what risks should i know about and are there anythings i need to know before i get to customs and some random person tells me sorry you are not allowed to cross ..what do i do then...

at this moment i have full intentions of buying a one way ticket....

someone please help me i feel so lost and not sure exactly what to do..

Chris

Hi Chris,
You haven't mentioned if your girlfriend is a UK citizen?  What does she do, and what do you do?

You might want to check our Visas board, there's lots of info for people in your situation.

Good luck, and welcome to UKY!

Welcome, Chris, and good luck with your venture. Also, check out the moving issues boards as well as the On The Job boards. They contain a lot of good information about issues you probably haven't even thought about. When I first joined UKY I spent hours and hours just reading old threads before I even knew where to start and what questions to ask.

You would want to hold off on buying a one way ticket unless you have a UK settlement visa. You will be sent back to the US if you show up with that on a visiting visa. If you enter the UK as a visitor/tourist,you are only aloud 6 months to stay per a year. You can't get married on a visitors visa either. As saf asked, is she a US or a UK citizen?

And Welcome to UKY

she is a UK citizen. and is currently working as a nurse in catterick garrison for Queen Alexanders Royal Nursing Corps. so your saying either way i am going to need a visa and not just a passport alone....what do i do?...i'm a certified sous chef for an italian restauant... so if we have planned to get married and i do plan to stay which i've allready made the decision to. and which visa am i going to need to apply for..man this is confusing...lol so excited yet so darn complicated..

you might not be able to get a work visa since chefs aren't in the catagory of highly skilled migrants. if you are planning on getting married within 6 months you can apply for a fiance visa,or if you are a student you can apply for a student visa.