Help settle a debate about Americans and work visas

Right,

On a travel board that I moderate I am having a (soon to be) heated debate/discussion on Americans getting work visas for the UK. Specifically I've said you cannot get one unless you are:

a) a student or within 6 months of your university graduation through www.Bunac.org and this visa is only valid for 6 mo.

b) an allowed "repeat offender" to the above organisation

c) married to a UK citizen having gone through all the proper channels

d) highly skilled and have an HSMP

d.1) highly skilled in a job that is in desparate need (i.e. nurses, doctors and teachers with proper qualifications)

e) not highly skilled and get that Hospitality visa (only allowed to work low wage hospitality jobs) -- not sure if this visa is still offered

f) highly skilled and sponsored by a company

g) transfered by your present company

h) can prove you support yourself as an artist/writer/musician etc

i) have dual citizenship with a Commonwealth country and get a WHV (working holiday visa)

j) ancestral ties (parents/grandparents)

k) born in the UK but grew up in US, thus able to get a passport

l) born in any other EU country, thus able to get a passport in said country and work in UK

m) oh yeah: enrolled in university in the UK and thus given a student visa (restrictions on how much you can work)

Basically this kid who has spent a total of one week in the UK has suddenly (and annoyingly) become an expert to immigration and is handing out incorrect and refuses to believe me when I tell him that there are rules in place for a reason however unfair they may seem.

Has anyone found a way to get a visa other than through the proper channels listed out above and on the home office website. I think by saying things like:

But- if this is your dream- I wouldn't focus on things like work visas. Millions of people immigrate and emmigrate every year- they do it. So can you. Don't sweat the details you can't control!

I truly believe he is giving people false hope and belittling the seriousness of relocating to a foreign country; that is isn't just a game and a fun thing to do on a weekend or just because you feel like it.

Am I taking this too personally or perhaps can you help me settle this debate by either backing up or disputing. I am curious to find out if anyone has just "walked in" and emmigrated to the UK from the US.

Many thanks in advance (and also for letting me vent out my frustrations!)
-delara

If you give us the link to the thread in question, I'm sure we'd be only too happy to back you up 

The ancestral ties in j), the tie has to be your parents if you're a US citizen.  Grandparents don't count unless you're a Commonwealth citizen.

As for k), UK nationality is not conferred automatically just b/c you were born in the UK.  

Furthermore, a person can be born in the US to British parents and get a UK passport.

The only people I know who've 'walked into' the UK came in on visitor's visas and never left.  They're here illegally and are now trying to find a way to settle legally.  It's not been easy for them.  I would never recommend anyone do what they did.

I can see the point of 'don't give up on your dream of the UK' though because I'm in the middle of trying to figure out a way to stay.  I came here to attend uni for my MA and now that my course is nearly over and my student visa expires in December, I'm looking for work in hopes that I can stay.  If I get really desperate, I can apply to my uni to do my PhD but the never ending international student fees will be the death of me. 

I truly believe he is giving people false hope and belittling the seriousness of relocating to a foreign country; that is isn't just a game and a fun thing to do on a weekend or just because you feel like it.

Am I taking this too personally or perhaps can you help me settle this debate by either backing up or disputing. I am curious to find out if anyone has just "walked in" and emmigrated to the UK from the US.

Many thanks in advance (and also for letting me vent out my frustrations!)
-delara

I agree.  'Games' that result in deportation and bans from entering countries aren't much fun. 

What a lot of people forget is that fulfilling one's 'dreams' often involves hard work.  And frequently takes a long time to achieve. 

Delara, I think you are doing the right thing.  You can get in a lot of trouble if you do not go the legal way.  This kid is not taking it serious enough and he should do his homework and give people the correct info. 

People do do it and live to tell about it....

I guess it helps to be young and foolish and to be honest most of these people are not looking to stay somewhere forever... they just want a bar job or something to tide them over until the next country or adventure calls or they get sick of it all (or really sick) and go home. 

He should not be dispensing advice to do it though and with only a week under his belt I doubt he knows anything about the ramifications of staying on illegally.  Sure you can do it, but you had better be prepared to not get sick, need police help, get caught doing anything stupid and live with the fact that at any moment someone might just find out. Also if one has the intent to settle then you had damn well be prepared to risk deporation when you try to legalize yourself or incur the expenses of flying back and forth to do so.  The world is not as easy as it was before 9/11 to navigate.

Nor can he fathom what it is like for people who are illegals but not becuase they needed a break from uni, but because they feared for their lives, needed to support their families, were starving in their home nation.

If you give us the link to the thread in question, I'm sure we'd be only too happy to back you up  

Here it is: http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/307095755/m/67500321216

There are a lot of young, idealistic kids on this site who are dying to get out there and travel, see the world. However they do not seem to understand that moving to a foreign country isn't packing up a backpack and just jumping in with both feet. It may be easy to move in the states but that's because we are American. I wonder what the non-American nationals would say about moving there. Perhaps I should refer him here to see just how hard it is to come to the UK, even for assylum seekers (as vnicepeeps mentions).

UK nationality is not conferred automatically just b/c you were born in the UK

Yes, and that is because they still have to apply for visas/citizenship the long way just like everyone else, right?

I can see the point of 'don't give up on your dream of the UK' though because I'm in the middle of trying to figure out a way to stay.  I came here to attend uni for my MA and now that my course is nearly over and my student visa expires in December, I'm looking for work in hopes that I can stay.  If I get really desperate, I can apply to my uni to do my PhD but the never ending international student fees will be the death of me.

Kristi, I wish you the best of luck and wish that sometimes, if only the visa authorities would listen to each individual story then perhaps, with a little heart, they'd let you stay because you are genuine about your reasons and not trying to "have a better life by living off the dole". Sadly us genuine folk have to slog along with the rest of them, eh?

I don't mean to belittle anyone's "dreams", I just think that realism is the way to go on a subject like this.

How did the kid in question get to the UK?  Surely he's here on some sort of visa...he had to fill out some paperwork!  You'd think he'd want to help people rather than just peddle his little pipe dream.

Maybe you could direct his attention to the plethora of posts we have on this forum from people who overstayed or didn't get the correct visa in the first place and wanted to "live their dream" and ended up in the middle of a nightmare instead because they acted rashly and/or irresponsibly...that might cool his enthusiasm a bit.

How did the kid in question get to the UK?  Surely he's here on some sort of visa...he had to fill out some paperwork!  You'd think he'd want to help people rather than just peddle his little pipe dream

That's the thing. He is not in the UK. I don't even know if he is planning on going. He has just done lots of reasearch. I honestly don't know what kind of practical knowledge he has opposed to websites.

I feel bad ganging up on him behind his back though. I don't mean for it to turn into a slagfest...

Don't feel bad.  In this case, you do have the practical knowledge, and he doesn't.  And you know what can happen to people if they take this guy's "live your dream" theme to heart and just take off...and get hit with reality.  I

 think here we all just take it pretty personal when we jump through all the hoops to do things legally and then some maverick comes along and tells others to just do it and let the chips fall where they may.

peedal, you've hit the nail on the head. Perhaps I need to step back on this accountand let them run wild with it. And when they finally lose interest after researching it and realising that it isn't going to be all kittens and puppies, they may listen to the practical advise.

I feel bad ganging up on him behind his back though. I don't mean for it to turn into a slagfest...

Don't feel bad. I get really upset when people post something incorrect on the Jobs board and mislead people. I feel a responsibility to ensure that people are getting the best information or are at least being referred to someone who would know.  It's very frustrating for me to see people being told something incorrect (and most of all, illegal).

Don't feel bad. I get really upset when people post something incorrect on the Jobs board and mislead people. I feel a responsibility to ensure that people are getting the best information or are at least being referred to someone who would know. It's very frustrating for me to see people being told something incorrect (and most of all, illegal).

These are my thoughts as well.  Someone who is encouraging strangers to do something illegal, without advising them of any consequences, IMO, isn't really a good person anyway.