Visiting to look for housing

My wife and I are set to move to Scotland this fall. We would like to visit some time before then to look for housing. The Uni where she will be working is actually agreeing to help pay for such a visit.

A couple of questions regrading that:

Can we come over as tourists to look for housing? Will there be any problem if we tell the officer at the airport that we are there to look at houses? I know you are not supposed to look for jobs if you enter as a tourist, but is there any problem with housing?

Also, would there be any problem visiting while her application for a work permit is being considered? I've seen on these boards some people have had trouble if visiting while applying for fiance/marriage visas. I know that is a different situation, but I don't know if it is analogous at all to applying for a work visa.

Plus, do you need to send your passport off to the consulate to get a work visa? How long do they keep it? It would be difficult to visit if the office has our passports at the time.

I'm confused, I realize. Just want to make sure we do everything right.

Thanks
David

Looking for housing implies that you are planning to stay permanently.

I visited the UK 4 times to visit my fiance before getting my fiance visa.  On my 4th visit, the officer was suspicious, but I told the truth. I explained that I had an appointment to get the visa when I returned to the New York, and I had a printout of the appointment with me at the airport. I was allowed in.

So if you had proof that your wife's application was being considered, it would be helpful. It's really up to the individual officer.

Can we come over as tourists to look for housing? Will there be any problem if we tell the officer at the airport that we are there to look at houses? I know you are not supposed to look for jobs if you enter as a tourist, but is there any problem with housing?

If the University is paying your expenses pursuant to recruiting your wife for employment, then she would be a BUSINESS VISITOR.  The gounding is that it's related to negotiating a contract and it's a *completely* different kettle of fish than boyfriends and girlfriends trying to bluff their way past an Immigration Officer. 

The correspondence between your wife and the university will be entirely sufficient.  Plus the return leg tickets, etc etc...

Oh!  Business visitors need to show hotel (or whatever) reservations.  I suggest checking the rules for business visitors if there's any lingering doubts.

Thanks, Garry. I thought that the fact that the application was only in the "consideration" stage meant that at this point,  they were just considered tourists.

Thanks for the correction.

Thanks for the correction.

Aw shucks.

But just to add that BV's can come and go while an app is in the pipeline so long as there is something scheduled and they can show it.  But they need to make it clear that they are not working, just negotiating and attending meetings.  It's good advice to carry through on this cuz one can never discount the possibility of a jealous or disgruntled colleague anyway.  Even on Tier 1!

Thank you Garry.
We have a contract saying she's to start work September 1st, so we could bring a copy of that to show.

David

Piggy-backing on this thread... will it be a problem for my gf and I to go look for a flat before she has her visa or has put in an application?  We're going to need a place to live and a lease before she can apply for the visa, so we have to get the flat first, and of course I'd like her to go with me and for both of us to be on the lease from the get-go.  Is that a problem--is she not allowed to be put on the lease without a visa?

I actually don't think we'll get any problem when we enter for our flat-finding visit, as we'll be visiting for just one week and staying in a B&B.  And my gf has been to the UK only once, two years ago.  So I don't think any red flags will be raised and she's unlikely to be asked many questions about her visit.  But I don't want to do anything improper.

Of course, she will have the intention to move permentantly to the UK, but not on that trip.  Our intention for that trip will be to return to the US after a week, apply for the visa, and then make the settlement move.  So that would make our flat-finding visit a legit visit for her, right?

Our intention for that trip will be to return to the US after a week, apply for the visa, and then make the settlement move.  So that would make our flat-finding visit a legit visit for her, right?

Yes, this is fine.