Does anyone think that they have special circumstances where they would amend the AGE 60 part and allow a retired person under 60 to come?
No. They're strict on the rules for a reason. My father has the Retired Person visa and I had to send a lot of my paperwork - I.D., marriage certificate, letter that came w/my permanent residence visa, daughter's birth certificate, etc. to prove his 'close connection' (read: immediate family) to the UK to his attorney. From his end, he sent my birth certificate and a bunch of other records. He's 69, though, and my mom is 64.
If you cannot afford to go back and forth every six months, you may not meet the criterion for the Retired Persons visa, as you cannot seek employment at all and you need to be drawing a rather large pension - I think it works out to about $55,000 USD+/annum at a minimum - in addition to demonstrating the close connection and other assets to prove you can support yourself entirely w/o working. AND, you need to purchase - or be in a position to purchase - some property in the UK to establish a domicile here.
Paula might have some good alternatives, such as re-training in a shortage profession.
