San Francisco to London, we think

Hello there! My first post here, though I've been reading bits and pieces for a while.

Ours is a pretty typical situation. Boy and Girl meet online, talk into all hours of the night for months, finally meet for a three week whirlwind vacation together, and now can't wait to figure out how to live together.  He's currently in The North, and I'm in San Francisco.

My company has an office in London so I'm hoping to get transferred, but I'm getting a lot of push-back about them not being licensed to sponsor.  Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated, as would suggestions on how to go about looking for another job if that becomes necessary. I know the fiance visa exists, but I don't know, I guess I don't know enough about it / feel comfortable with it.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello.  Thanks!

Hello and welcome to UKY!

Don't much about company transfers.
But if you stop by the visa forum, you will find heaps of info on the fiance visa and also the spouse visa.

Welcome again!

It's much, much easier for you to go the fiancé visa route than the work visa route. It's really very tough to get a work visa.

Welcome to the board!

It's much, much easier for you to go the fiancé visa route than the work visa route. It's really very tough to get a work visa.

If I understand correctly, a fiancé visa would allow one of us to work, but is only valid for six months before we'd have to actually get married and apply for a spouse visa, is that correct?

What if we want to live together before deciding to get married?  Does one of us have to quit their job and live, incomeless, with the other for three months "on vacation"?  How are we supposed to save up for a wedding if only one of us is working?  

Given what I've been reading about the difficulties of obtaining a work visa, are my options really "get married or nothing"?!

A fiance visa does not allow the applicant to work (i.e., you) but once you get married, you then can apply for the spousal visa which does allow you to work. The fiance visa is valid for up to six months, but you are welcome to marry as soon as the visa becomes valid.

There really is no way for you to live together without getting married.  You can visit the UK for up to six months as a tourist.  You are not allowed to work - paid or unpaid - during your visit.  

The way you save up for a wedding is probably to do it by working legally in the countries where you're allowed to work - so for you, that's the US and for him, the UK.

Your options really are married or nothing, unless you are willing to become a full-time student, which is also quite expensive.  There are no easy options as far as finding a way to reside in the UK outside of marrying a British citizen.

Thank you - I appreciate the honesty, as difficult as the answer is. :-(

Is the same true for the reverse, i.e. if the UK citizen came to the US for six months and didn't work?

Thank you - I appreciate the honesty, as difficult as the answer is. :-(

Is the same true for the reverse, i.e. if the UK citizen came to the US for six months and didn't work?

Yes, except UK visitors to the US are only allowed to stay for a maximum of 90 days on the visa waiver program, not 6 months... and no work is allowed as a visitor.

Work rules for immigrants in both countries can be pretty strict - even when I was living in the US on a student visa, I was only allowed to work on campus and for no more than 20 hours per week (same goes for student visas in the UK - no more than 20 hours per week and you can't take a permanent position).

Yes, except UK visitors to the US are only allowed to stay for a maximum of 90 days on the visa waiver program, not 6 months... and no work is allowed as a visitor.

Thanks. It seems to boil down to the question of who wants to be the pauper for the sake of not rushing to get married.  *chuckle*

Work rules for immigrants in both countries can be pretty strict - even when I was living in the US on a student visa, I was only allowed to work on campus and for no more than 20 hours per week (same goes for student visas in the UK - no more than 20 hours per week and you can't take a permanent position).

Do you know if this applies to what the US would call graduate education?  I've been considering law school for years now - perhaps I could do it in the UK instead.

Do you know if this applies to what the US would call graduate education?  I've been considering law school for years now - perhaps I could do it in the UK instead.

Yes, it does.

Work is restricted to 20 hours per week during term-time and full-time during vacations for people studying for a bachelors degree or higher, but those who are studying at a level below bachelors degree are restricted to only 10 hours per week in term-time and full-time in vacations.

Both 'Grad school' (postgraduate degrees) and normal undergraduate degrees in the UK can be expensive for international students though - you'd probably be looking at tuition of at least $15,000-20,000 per year.

However, 'law school' in the UK is an undergraduate degree (3 years), so most people studying law will start at age 18 or 19. For those who already have undergraduate degrees in other subjects but who wish to become lawyers, there is a 1-year postgraduate law conversion course they can undertake in order to help them qualify, but I've heard it can be expensive.

Bear in mind though that going to law school in the UK would most likely only qualify you to practice law in the UK, so if you ever moved back to the US, you would have to retrain and get your qualifications in US law in order to practice there as well.

However, 'law school' in the UK is an undergraduate degree (3 years), so most people studying law will start studying law at age 18 or 19. For those who already have undergraduate degrees in other subjects but who wish to become lawyers, there is a 1-year postgraduate law conversion course they can undertake in order to help them qualify, but I've heard it can be expensive.

Bear in mind though that going to law school in the UK would most likely only qualify you to practice law in the UK, so if you ever moved back to the US, you would have to retrain and get you qualifications in US law in order to practice there as well.

This was incredibly helpful, thank you VERY much. :-)