Please help me!

Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help me. I am a New Zealander living in the UK on a British passport. I used to live in the US but had to come here for work and my American boyfriend would like to join me here in the UK. We've been wading through the Home Office Website and am just getting more and more confused, so I figured some people on this site might be able to help me.

What is the best visa for him to come on? He is 28. (I know he does not qualify for the Highly Skilled Migrant one) He wants to work. Is six months the longest period he can get or is there a way to get longer? Can he work on a visitor's visa? Would he then be able to get sponsered or return on a fiance's visa after that?

Is it best for him to mention on his application that he has a girlfriend already over here or would that be a bad thing?

I somebody can help explain to me it is all so confusing. I didn't have to get a visa to come here so I have no clue where he should start! Any tips, or hints about loopholes etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much. Hope you can help as I miss him like crazy!

Hmm sounds like a tricky situation!  Did you live with your boyfriend in the US?  If you lived with him for 2 or more years, and can prove it, then he may be eligible for an unmarried partner visa. 

Aside from that, does he have any British/EU ancestry in his immediate family (e.g. parents, grandparents)?  If one of his immediate family members was born in the UK or Europe, he would then be eligible to live and work in the UK on an ancestry visa. 

Beyond that, the only other option would be for him to work in a shortage area -- is his current occupation in an area that is considered to have a shortage of employees in the UK? (e.g. teaching, nursing, etc.)

Failing all of those options, is marriage an option for the two of you?  Unfortunately, getting a visa to work in the UK is very difficult if you don't fall into any of the categories I mentioned above. 

If one of his immediate family members was born in the UK or Europe, he would then be eligible to live and work in the UK on an ancestry visa.

Just a quick note- the ancestry visa is only for Commonwealth citizens (based on a grandparent born in the UK.) If he's got parents who are British, however, he'd probably qualify for a British passport, but there aren't any concessions for British grandparentage for Americans.

To kiwigirl- that is definitely kind of a sucky situation, but as hummingbird says, unless he can claim UK or EU citizenship, his options are quite limited.  Work permit (easier for shortage occuptions, much more difficult without special skills) or marriage are the visa categories you have to choose from, unless he can qualify as an unmarried partner or falls into one of the really specialised permit-free visa categories, which most people don't.

If you want to get married, he can live with you in the UK for up to six months on a fiance visa before getting married. However, he can't work until after the marriage. He also won't be able to do any work on a visitors visa either.

OK we've decided we want to goet married. Something we wanted to do anyway so it's exciting!! But now we're wading through all of that stuff! Is it best for us tp get married here or in the US?We just want as little red tape as possible...

if you want the minimum amount of red tape and immigration stuff to wade through, get married in the US and then apply for a spousal visa in the US before leaving for the UK.  Once he has a spousal visa (which he can work on), you won't have to do any more immigration stuff until he applies for ILR (indefinite leave to remain/permanent residence) right before his spousal visa is up two years later.

Do we both have to be in the US to apply for spousal visa? Or could I come back to the UK and he could join me when it's all through? I don't have much vacation time and I'm worried about time frames (I'm a teacher so i dont get to take my vacations when I want!)....
Or would I have to stay in the US til he got the spousal visa?

It is so confusing! We just want to be together!

Do we both have to be in the US to apply for spousal visa? Or could I come back to the UK and he could join me when it's all through?

No, and yes   You can fly to the US, get married, and then fly back to the UK before he applies for the spousal visa.  Once it's all sorted (and it doesn't take that long- can even be the same day if he applies in person!), he comes over to join you.  Easy peasy

You don't have to be there but he will need either your passport or a certified copy of it (among other things from you). I've heard the certified copy is expensive because it has to be every page...I'm sure someone here can tell you what it costs. I'm not sure where he lives, but if he's anywhere near LA, NYC or Chicago, he can go in person to apply and it's faster that way.

Or he could apply for a fiance visa to come over here and get married here and apply for his FLR spouse visa here.  It depends how many visa fees or airfares you want  to pay for! or how soon you want to be together, bearing in mind the fiance visa will not allow him to work.