Hello!

Nice to meet you!  I'm Cyndi.  I am a chef and baker from St. Louis currently living in North Carolina.  I'm a bookworm and a history fiend.  I wanted to live abroad since I started reading.  I thought I would do that for a few years before I settled down and started a family.  I've always had a desperate need to see the things I read about.  It seems that my favorite authors and historical figures are British and my favorite novels take place in the UK.  My ancestors are from there.  I read so much about the history there.  You just can't see enough on a vacation and I'm not wealthy enough to travel really so I need to work where I go so that I can get out and explore on my own on my time off.  It's my lifelong dream.  I'll be 46 next week and my nest is newly empty so it's time to just do it.  I'm not real sure where to start.  I'm looking for work now with American companies with a presence in the UK and I am working on a Culinary & Hospitality Management degree.  I have a Culinary Arts degree.  I am sure that I don't want to cook in a large commercial kitchen but otherwise I'm interested in anything in the hospitality field.  Actually, I am interested in any field.  I was a secretary for most of my adult life and I was a live-in nanny for a couple of years before I raised my own child.  I would consider a domestic position as a housekeeper or a cook or a nanny.  I am also in the process of getting a tefl certificate but I don't know if that is useful at all in the UK.  I would appreciate any advice at all that anyone has for me.

Welcome.  You'll have an uphill battle getting a work visa at the moment.  I can't help you with the hospitality stuff, but I work in TEFL, so if you have any questions about that, feel free to PM me. 

Welcome, I am afraid you don't have an easy task ahead of you but I wish you luck on your path.

Welcome to the site! I'm afraid I can't help you on the path to moving to England but wanted to pop in and say hi and I'm sure you will find loads of information on the site.
We have some things in common, I've also always wanted to live abroad and am also very much into history. I've also had a strong desire to see the places I have read about. So exciting!

Have you been to England?

Thank you for popping in!  I have not been to England yet.  I got sidelined with raising my daughter and didn't get to travel.  I was even a travel agent for several years.  I did go to Italy to cook for a week during my culinary school externship.  I was completely fascinated by how old everything is there.  Our hotel was built in 1392 and built into the medieval wall around the city.  I was just awed by it.  My classmates thought I was weird.  Stuff just isn't that old here in America.  We cooked so much and had half-day excursions so I only got to be in Florence for half a day.  It's just not enough.  Italy would be my next choice if I couldn't go to the UK but there is so much in the UK that I have to see.  I need to be there for longer than a vacation.  I am really open to almost any kind of job that I can do.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your plans to move here .

I need to be there for longer than a vacation.  I am really open to almost any kind of job that I can do.

Unfortunately, the problem with this is that you can't just come to the UK to do 'any kind of job'.

In order to qualify for a visa you need to get sponsorship from a company for a specific type of job... usually a job that no one else in the UK or any of the other 26 EU countries is qualified to do (and there are 500 million people in the EU)!

Basically, if you want to qualify for a work visa, the job you do must either be listed on the Tier 2 Sponsored visa skills shortage list with the job title and salary meeting the requirements on the list (link on this page), or the company needs to prove that they have advertised the job for a specific amount of time, in both the UK and across the EU, and they were unable to find a single suitable candidate out of all those 500 million people in 27 countries, before they will be allowed to hire you.

However, if you are a chef and you are qualified to the high level required to secure a job on the skills shortage list, then you may be able to get a Tier 2 Sponsored work visa based on that (you would need to be employed as an executive chef, head chef, sous chef or specialist chef, and the salary must be at least £28,260 after deductions for food/accommodation etc.).

If not, though, you may find it extremely difficult to get a visa to move to the UK.

Like you, I also put off travelling until later-ish in life.  What you could do is go to the UK as a tourist for 6 months which is the longest time you're allowed to as a US citizen.

Others on this site can advise you as to what documents you'd need to prove to the IO that you had ties to the US and weren't planning to stay in the UK or work in the UK.  If you're still unsure about this route you could get pre-approved for travel to the UK for 6 months by applying for a visitor's visa beforehand.

I think it would be a good compromise.  You'd have fun planning the trip, all the old sites you'd like to see, where you'd stay (I highly recommend hostels!) and even what restaurants you'd like to visit since cooking is a passion of yours.