Newbie who is here for help!

Hello everyone!

I'm a 25 year old woman living in Michigan and hoping to move to the UK in four years when my contracts here expire.  Guess you could say I'm getting the earliest start I possibly can!

I've always felt a strong desire to move to the UK and next summer, my fiancé and I are visiting to explore the country and make sure it is the right move for us.  I've been outside the US before, he hasn't, but we're both committed to this move.

My main reason for coming here is that I'm confused and upset with a lot of what I find online.  My fiancé is getting a graduate counseling degree in Substance Abuse, I have an MLS and am a trained Data Analyst and yet, every place I encounter tells me to turn back, no one in the UK will want us...

The websites are confusing regarding Visas because even though we both have advanced degrees, saved funds, etc, we never seem to meet the point requirements or don't have "desirable enough" fields to work in.  This presents us with a problem because we're at a loss for how to get someone in the UK to give us a work permit.  I've tried going through major American companies, but the economy here....well you know... they're not exactly looking to hire someone just to send them overseas.

I plan on getting a PhD once in the UK, but a friend of mine told me to avoid the student visa because none of that time will count and they might boot me out once my degree is finished.  She did it, but she married a Brit, so I guess it was easier for her?

I know it's tough, but it seems terribly unfair that a pair of hard-working, non-criminal record, advanced degree holding adults cannot even get their foot in the door.  Yes, life is unfair and there's many like us, but I have a lot of friends who live abroad who do nothing but lay around and suck off the public system, so why is it so hard for us???

So far, I've been told to A: Ditch my fiancé and marry a Brit, obtain citizenship, divorce him and bring over my man or B: Give up entirely because I'm not a viable candidate.

There's also been mention of simply "squatting" in Europe to get citizenship by default, but that seems a little illegal to me.

Can someone help me to have some hope with this process?  I'm aware I sound whiny, but when two years of research has yielded nothing...  I'm a little depressed to say the very least.

Thank you!!!

Unfortunately, people are right when they tell you that it's very difficult to move to the UK, and the government keeps making it more and more difficult.  At this point, there's absolutely no telling what the immigration scene will be like in four years.  The best thing you can do is keep your ear to the ground and not get discouraged.  Pay attention to changes in the policies and work towards developing your career as much as you can. 

Good luck, and welcome to UKY!

Thank you for the welcome!

I really hope things don't get even harder in the next four years....

Welcome to UKY.  I can understand the sentiment of wanting to move here- I'm a worker bee myself!

But I actually think a student visa would be a great option.  It would allow you to live here, then make connections and you could hopefully get a post work visa or skilled visa afterwards to try and continue.   However, who knows what it will be like in 4 years- so you'll just need to keep an eye out.
Good luck!