It's been a while!

Hello there!  I lurk on this board a lot and really appreciate reading the insight and advice.  I posted a long time ago and just wanted to update and perhaps become more active here.

Quick rundown..

My husband is a dual US/UK citizen.  We are considering a move to the UK possibly in a few years.  I know that this has to be a well thought out decision and planned correctly so we are taking our time in preparation.  My husband is not from the UK, rather his father was so he acquired citizenship at 18 since his dad was still a UK citizen (remained a green card holder for life here in the US).  My husband has been to the UK and around Europe and loves it and always considered moving there.  I have yet to go, so obviously I need to see it for myself.  I am taking my first trip there in March 2011.  I am going alone as the cost was substantial for us and our son to all go.  I will be in London for 7 days and will do some tourist things, but also some exploration of areas we are interested in.  I know London is expensive.  I plan to take the train to Cambridge as that is a place we have thought about, and also to Northern England and Scotland.  I hope this will give me a decent picture of what life is like there.

Quick question... As I understand it I can get a spousal visa fairly easily if we were to move there?  Is that something I can get right away or do we have to move there first, does my husband have to get a job first or can I be the one to?  Also how long until I could apply for citizenship for me and our son?

Job wise I am finishing a master's this spring in higher education administration (to work in an admin position at a university).  My husband is in the IT field.  I am not sure how the work picture is in the UK in general but it is something we will look more closely at in the coming year.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated!  I am so excited for my trip there!

Welcome Rookins and good luck in your quest!
Is your trip just 7 days altogether -- or is that just the time in London? Because 7 days isn't really enough time to get a real feel for the place and get any ideas on where you might live. Does your husband have any relations there that you could perhaps visit? What part of the country did his father come from?
You can get your spousal visa before you go over from a British consulate but you do have to surrender your passports while that is being processed. You might want to wait until after your look-see trip.

Hi! If you've been lurking you will know all about the board.

There is someone on here who has a masters in higher ed admin and lives in the Cambridge area, as do I. 

Cambridge, although not quite as expensive as London, is really expensive and has lower pay than London.  It also costs about 6,000 a year to commute to London so if you were thinking of living here and commuting there it can get really expensive.   

I know 7 days isn't a whole lot.  It's 7 days all together, though like I said I am not spending all that time in London as I think it may be too expensive for us to move to anyway.  I am not really able to take off anymore time than that to visit of course due to work.  I would go back again most likely before we made a decision, or my husband would.  That's the hard part about looking at a place that is so far away.  That said I am just looking for a general feel this time around.  I am not expecting to find out everything in one trip.

I am open, and not too grounded here where we live in the US... I moved a lot as a child so I really don't have a "home town".  I am open to new experiences and feel like I adjust well to change.  

My father in law was from the small town of Grindleford in Derbyshire.  He later lived in London and went to school there as well before moving to the US with his family.  There are only distant relatives in the UK now, not any that we are in touch with.

Good to know about the spousal visa, for the future anyway.

Just a side note, I am looking in Cambridge and Edinburgh specifically because they have the university aspect (for my line of work) and also have the IT industry present for my husband.  Figured I would look and see how life is in places that we could actually work in.  I am sure there are many other places as well.

Bookgrl...  wow what are the chances of that... another master's in higher ed admin on here?  Well I hope they read this post so I can pick their brain, unless you know who they are   Small world..

How do you like Cambridge?  I know it too is expensive, which may be fine depending on my husband's job.  From what we have researched Cambridge has some IT companies in his field (data centers, project management) and in general it tends to pay well both here and in the UK.  We shall see right?  We would honestly try to avoid a commute to London.  Also we would consider other areas of the UK.

Have a look at Transpondia -- if you haven't already.

http://londonelegance.com/transpondia/spouse/

I would say there are a lot of IT jobs in Cambridge, that is what my husband is in, but it is very difficult to get a job at Cambridge Uni and that masters isn't really a programme they have here. 

On the other hand, there are other jobs to be had in Cambridge and the economy is better here than other places in the UK.

If you are in Cambridge for dinner we might be able to meet up for a meal. 

One thing you may want to look into (especially if you've been or will be married for 4+ years to your husband when you get around to actually applying for a visa) is taking the Life in the UK test when you're in London visiting. You'll need to make the appointment at least a couple weeks ahead of time and study up for a couple weeks (or a month) but you should be able to pass it very easily...it will only take about an hour out of one of your days.

BECAUSE, if you do that & when you apply for a spouse visa you'll receive Indefinite Leave to Enter which is beneficial in many ways, but the main one is once you enter the UK on it, it's good forever...unless you leave the UK for 24 consecutive months then it lapses...so there's never another visa to apply for.

If you just get a regular spouse visa you'll have to apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) within 27 months.

Bookgrl... IT is doing well in general it seems, at least for the people I know in it.

Yea the higher ed master's is not common but prepares you for many different positions.. in student affairs, advising, program coordinator, study abroad... etc.  My goal would be to try to get a job in one of these areas at a uni in the UK.  I currently work in K-12 in special education for going on 5 years now.  I am wanting to change careers eventually.

I could imagine the university there is hard to get into.  Can be that way here too.  They like to hire internally, many people applying for the same job, etc.  My job prospects in our current state (in higher ed) are slim right now due to state budget cuts to education.  I am just happy I have a current job, even if I want to make a change at least I am working.  My emphasis area is leadership and policy studies, and also extra courses and research in international education.  I hope my focus on a niche area will help.  I like to have a backup under my belt, so I have started taking courses for a Cisco cert.  Figured any training or certification can't hurt me when it comes time to search for a job, in the UK or US. 

I will certainly keep you posted on when I am in Cambridge.  Would be open to meeting up as well to chat about the area.  It really looks like a lovely city and I can't wait to see it. 

Webyj thank you for the info as well.. I will certainly look into taking that test.  It would be one more step to making the transition a little easier.

By the way, will I get harassed at all at the airport if I am just on vacation alone?  Seeing as how I have not traveled there before I do not know what to expect.  I already paid for my flight and hotel so I am not bringing a mega amount of cash with me as that makes me nervous.  I have a British Airways card that I can use while I am there that doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee.

Thank you!

Webyj thank you for the info as well.. I will certainly look into taking that test.  It would be one more step to making the transition a little easier.

By the way, will I get harassed at all at the airport if I am just on vacation alone?  Seeing as how I have not traveled there before I do not know what to expect.  I already paid for my flight and hotel so I am not bringing a mega amount of cash with me as that makes me nervous.  I have a British Airways card that I can use while I am there that doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee.

You should be fine...short trip, return ticket, accommodation paid for & plenty of funds...only thing I would do is travel insurance or make sure that your health insurance will cover you outside the US.

Hi! I am the poster who has the MEd in Higher Ed and I currently work in Cambridge at the university.  While I didn't have a hard time finding a job here, I will say that higher ed admin jobs in the UK are very limited compared to what the US has.  I previously held a well-paid university admin job while also teaching at several universities, and my experience just hasn't translated here at all.  The types of jobs that degree trains you for don't really exist in the UK or if they do, they go to someone who has a PhD and 20+ years of experience.  The organizational structure here is very different, mostly because the universities don't have the funding to sustain the types of positions that US universities have.  I also don't see any big opportunities to climb the ladder here, as the jobs I would be qualified for in the US require much more education and experience here in the UK.  My classmates that I graduated my program with and who have the same amount/type of experience that I now have are all getting jobs as Assistant Deans back in the US; here, there is pretty much no way to get a job at that level without a PhD. 

I am not in any way trying to put you off the idea of moving here or pursuing jobs here, but just trying to give you an idea of how I have found things (Cambridge and Oxford, in particular...I suspect it would be easier at other universities).  This said, I am glad I will have the experience working and living here and think it will make me much more marketable if/when we move back to the US. There are a lot of things about life here that I will miss when back in the US and getting to experience that has been worth it for what I see as a temporary sacrifice career-wise. 

Lilybelle, thank you for the information   I noticed when I have searched positions at Cambridge that they were limited.  Things are just different and well that makes sense, it's a different country.  Where did you get your MEd in HED if I may ask?  I ask since it is not a commonly offered degree.  I am in Arizona and no one I speak to has heard of it before.

We probably would focus on my husband getting a job over there (instead of me) before we would move.  The IT arena still appears to be strong, but we'll see by the time we really look.  I work in K-12 right now and would consider teaching over there if the higher ed job picture was not good right away or if it took a long time to find a position in that sector.  One step at a time right? 

Thanks again!