Visa and housing

This seems like an easy question to answer, but I can't seem to find an answer in writing.  Provided my husband gets his HSMP visa, can we travel to London prior to applying for EC in order to rent a place? 

This doesn't make sense.  Are you proposing getting the HSMP, coming in as a visitor, finding a flat, then returning to the US to apply for entry clearance as an HSMP holder?

It's theoretically possible, but is there a point?  Why not just come in on the HSMP straight away, staying in a hotel til you get sorted?

Victoria

Hmmm. . . . I guess I was thinking that we'd come over and do a kind of flat hunting expedition, come back home, finish up with the sale of our house and do the EC stuff and then go back to London to set-up shop.  Maybe I'm just high maintenance . . .

It depends on what you define as short-term.  You can rent a serviced apartment or a holiday letting if you don't want to sign a six month lease.  Don't waste your money coming over to find an apartment first.  Just get everything sorted when you arrive. Take time to travel, visit different areas, look for a job, etc.  Without income or a guarantor, you'll have a hard time getting a lease anyway.

This is interesting.  I also had thought that the sensible thing to do would be to go to the UK on a visit and find a flat, then go back home and do all the moving stuff (packing, shipping things off, getting out of the apt) and then go over for good.  I thought this for a few reasons: (1) holiday accomodations (hotel, serviced flat, etc) are so much more expensive than regular long-lease flats that my plan would be cheaper even taking into consideration the extra flight, (2) visa applications ask where you are going to live in the UK and I thought a holiday flat would not do, and (3) we'd have an actual place to ship all of our belongings to!

So those aren't good reasons?  If we did go for a holiday flat plan first, how long would be a sensible time to reserve it--i.e., how long might it take to find a permanent flat?  Two weeks?  A month?  I guess we could ship all of our stuff to the holiday flat, though that does mean we'd have to move it once we got a place.  But we're not shipping much, so I guess we could handle that.

As background, I am the UK citizen (but by decent and live in the US) and my gf will apply for an unmarried partner visa (we will have lived together for 4.5 years by then, so I see no problems with that).  We will be moving over at the same time.  Most likely, neither of us will have a job (I will look before the move, but I don't expect much response, based on past experience) and we will have money saved up to support us for about 6 months over there while we job hunt.

I don't know about the visa side of things, but I do have some experience house hunting here.  Most real estate agents have a lot of properties online (some websites are very up to date, others are less good).  If you want a place to live as soon as you arrive, I would try scanning the websites for the area that you want to move and see if you can find a short term lease.  I have seen great bargains for 3 months.  You should be able to do all of the paperwork by email and fax.  Then you will have somewhere to live upon arrival-- site unseen, yes, but it's only for 3 months-- and you can really go house hunting after you move here and get to the know the area.

3 months or not, I would NEVER suggest renting a place sight unseen. 

And this leads me back to making a house hunting trip.  Kristi, I understand what you are saying about coming over and staying in a hotel until we find a place, but what IF we don't find a suitable place in a week or two?  A month of staying in a hotel (no matter how much I like the idea) could get a little on the pricey side.  But then again, I'm not sure the expenses would equal out with two roundtrip fares to D.C.

Now I'm totally confused and overwhelmed. 

On a side note: besides the offical paperwork, can someone tell me what I need to take with me to the NY Consulate when we apply for EC (my husband will has an HSMP Visa)?  I know we need documents about our financials, but what else? 

I found my flat on the first day of looking.  It took about 2 weeks to process the paperwork, etc.  If you know what areas you want to look in and your budget, it shouldn't take long to find a place. 

Take the letter from the HO that has his HSMP approval on it,  marriage license, financial records, all the documents you submitted with HSMP application and know what date you're leaving.  I can't think of anything else...  those would be my 'just in case they ask' papers.  I had a pile of stuff when I went to LA for my EC and they didn't ask for any of it.  Of course, if I'd come in empty handed, they would've asked!

Thanks, Kristi. 

Now I have two more questions.

1/  Did you use a Real Estate Agent?  If so, would you mind telling me who?
2/  When you applied for EC did you already have a hotel reseravation?

I found my flat thru findaproperty.com, just called the agent and made an appointment to view it.  He said there was another one to look at and that was the one I ended up taking.  I think it was with myspace in Islington on Caledonian Road.  My landlord managed the property though so I never dealt with an agent after signing papers.

I was already living here as a student when I applied to change status to a work permit.  I was denied initally so had to go to LA for my EC.  So I already had accomodation when I got my EC.  But, when I first moved over, I stayed with AnneR and her dh for about 3 weeks until I found my flat.  They were kind enough to let me bunk in their extra room until I got on my feet.  If I wouldn't have stayed with them, I would've been in a hotel or in a holiday letting.

Hedda,
   First congratulations on your HSMP approval. 

My girlfriend and I just returned from London to look at flats prior to moving there.  We have not gone through EC yet (after the HSMP approval) but we also did not know much about the different London "burroughs."  I didn't want to go through EC prior to our visit because I read somewhere the one-year clock starts ticking on your first arrival after EC.

So when we got to London, we got an Oyster Card (tube pass), stopped at the bookstore, picked up a 2005-2006 London Property Guide, and headed out.  We hit up every neighboorhood that we felt we would be able to afford and walked around, looked at some of the lettings (there are letting agent "storefronts" on most high streets with pictures of properties in the neighboorhood), and just got familiar with the city.

We didn't end up signing a lease, but it's nice to be able picture a location when looking at job vacancies.  We had a great time and visited some of the local attractions and museums as well.  If you need a vacation, I would highly suggest it.

Thanks!  I've been to the moon ever since we found out.  Of course, now I'm trying to get our house ready for sale . . . . stress!!!!

Going for a little flat hunting trip is exactly what we are thinking about doing.  We have friends who live in Kensington, but I'm not 100% sure that is the place for us so I wanted to look around a little more and see what else is out there.

I think my husband may go over in two weeks and do the intial scouting trip. 

BTW, do you already have a job or will you be looking for one when you get there?

Hedda

This isn't exactly the same thing, but I understand your logic, Hedda....I'm starting a postgrad course in Manchester in September, but I definitely want to sort out a place to live before then, so I'll be taking a trip to England in May to do just that (well, and other things too, but that's definitely on the list.)  I may or may not sign a contract while I'm over there but at least I'd be able to look at the different student flats I'm considering and be able to make an informed decision later.  And yep, it's a good excuse for a little vacation

Thanks!  I've been to the moon ever since we found out.  Of course, now I'm trying to get our house ready for sale . . . . stress!!!!

Going for a little flat hunting trip is exactly what we are thinking about doing.  We have friends who live in Kensington, but I'm not 100% sure that is the place for us so I wanted to look around a little more and see what else is out there.

I think my husband may go over in two weeks and do the intial scouting trip. 

BTW, do you already have a job or will you be looking for one when you get there?

Hedda

We stayed in a hotel on Kensington High Street near Olympia... I would have to say that area is way out of our range.  I'm looking hard for a job while I'm still in the U.S.  We will move there, job or not, at the end of May.  The ideal situation would be to have a job prior to arriving, but I'm not too confident that will happen.