I've been reading around the forums, and elsewhere around the net. It seems obviously an approved employer sponsorship definitely helps things along a lot quicker. My issue though is that I don't have a college degree, though many applicable hours. I do however though have technical certifications and great references which the points calculator doesn't process and won't allow me to classify in any category but tier 2.
Yeah, unfortunately, without a minimum of a bachelors degree, you can't qualify for a Tier 1 - in fact, until just a couple of month ago, you needed a minimum of a masters degree to qualify (they reduced it to a bachelors, but then increased the earnings criteria to a really high amount!).
I'm not wealthy though I make a decent living, but I imagine having an employer willing to issue sponsorship is likely my best bet to be approved? I still haven't gathered precisely how long they're issued for, or how difficult renewal would be? So many hoops to jump through, it's going to be interesting making this more than just a possibility and into reality....yikes!
Another unfortunately coming up here... Tier 2 sponsorship is unfortunately the most difficult visa to get. The reason? Unless your job/skills are listed on the
Tier 2 Jobs Shortage list, before the UK company can sponsor you, they have to prove to the UK government that they have advertised the job in the UK for a certain number of weeks and couldn't find anyone suitable. Then they have to proved they advertised the job across the EU (27 countries and 500 million people in total) and show they couldn't find anyone suitable... then, finally, they can offer you the job. So, in general, unless you have some really specialised skills that very few people across Europe are able to do, you won't easily get Tier 2 sponsorship. Plus the new UK government have plans to restrict the number of people allowed to get Tier 1 and Tier 2 visas.
In terms of how long a Tier 2 Sponsored visa is issued for, that will depend on the company and the length of the job contract. You could only renew the visa if the company is willing to keep you on in the job. If you are made redundant or leave the job, your visa will no longer be valid and you will have to return to the US unless you can find another company to sponsor you for a visa.
To be honest, it would be much, much easier visa-wise for you to go with your girlfriend's suggestion and get married. Almost all fiance/spousal visa applications in the US are approved. If you got a fiance visa, it is valid for 6 months and you must marry and send off the application for a 2-year FLR(M) marriage visa before the 6 months are up. You cannot work on a fiance visa though and you'd have to wait for the FLR(M) visa to come through before you could start work. For a spousal visa, you would need to marry in the US first, then apply for a 27-month spousal visa in the US... once you arrived in the UK, you would be allowed to work immediately without needing a Tier 1 or Tier 2 work visa.
