Need Urgent Help Moving and Working in The UK

I don't think you are understanding what people are saying.

You will not be able to get a visa for an entry level job. Getting a job as someone who needs a visa is basically only for those who have a lot of experience or special skills.

Your best bet is to aim for a student visa or just get married.

No chance for a permanent stay?
only until the end of my study?

no post graduate work if i were to go for my masters?

since i am looking for a career in IT could you tell me what jobs are on the shortage list?

sorry for all my questions  just looking to pick up all the information i can

Most of the routes for remaining in the country after graduation have been closed. That means the graduate has to secure a Tier 2 job on their own merit or leave. The post study work visa route has been closed.

The shortage occupations:

Doctors, engineers, teachers in specific areas (maths, science, special ed), economists, nurses, social workers, internationally-recognized dancers/musicians (Royal Ballet or Philharmonic level), 2D/3D film production crews, high integrity pipe-welders, chefs...

This is a synopsis of the list. The actual list is much more specific as it not only specifies the job, it also specifies the industry and the salary. They are all senior level positions, management or higher.

IT professionals are a dime for more than a dozen here in London. If you are looking for a work visa it is the absolutely wrong field to be in.

Hi killstone,

No worries in asking questions and typing it out, most of us are here to help in this regard. However, as you are finding, moving over here is very tough to do legally - just as it is to move to the USA, Canada or Australia which between them are the top 4 countries people from all over the world want and would like to move to.

If you were perhaps to look for a local immigration specialist with experience of the USA>UK moves, you could perhaps arrange a meeting with them and discuss the exact requirements for any visa's you might be eligible for now or in a few years. Even before the current economic slowdown, there was next to zero demand for entry level positions and also for those with perhaps 5-10 years worth of experience as well. The ones who have or did move on a permanent basis via jobs were those in the very highest or senior and specialised roles and many came over on the basis of opening up the UK arm of an existing large(r) company. A few lucky ones perhaps at senior level management came over on intra company transfers too. There's lots of IT administrators, Network specialists etc around so you are currently mentioning an area of IT where employers won't bother wanting to hire someone internationally and the extra expense it incurs. If you were to try and specialise in a much more niche area of IT then you'd potentially increase your chances, but, who knows what will or won't be in demand in 3/4 years time skills wise etc.

It strikes me as though you want/wish to be with your girlfriend first and are looking for ways to be legal and be here. As Geeta says to at least move things along, go for a student visa or see what options are in terms of getting married. If either of those aren't a green light at the moment to progress with, then you'll need to make fairly frequent visits with each other over time and continue to work out a route for a permanent stay. That will also give you time for seeing how the relationship develops or not, and also gives you time to evaluate things on how to move and watch to see what happens with the economy of the UK and the impact of all the economic troubles we have currently.

Good luck,
Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Sorry mate, its tough when the answers to the questions don't go our way  

Even companies looking for highly skilled, senior level people are having a tough go right now getting sponsorship.  In fact, I saw today on an advert for a senior engineering manager position:

"We are unable to employ anyone who does not have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Due to the Coalition Government's interim immigration limits xxxx company's ability to sponsor employees under Tier 2 (General) of the Points Based System is very limited. Candidates from outside the EEA are therefore encouraged to explore immigration routes which will allow them to work in the UK without such sponsorship. "

I think you've been given some good advice, which is to either come to the UK for school or to marry your girlfriend. Sorry there aren't better options for the immediate future. Long term, you may be OK - you never know what the economy will do or what skills may be needed in the future. But only time will tell.

Good luck!!!!!    

Hey guys I'm very grateful for you all replying to this post and I just have one last question

I was looking at a EEA family permit and if my lady were to come to the US and marry me and we were to apply for the EEA family permit would it allow me to also find work? I looked it up and it hasnt said anything about work or all of that.

Other then that I do have 2 - 4 years until I well eventually try anything you have all replied about but I wanted to gather all this information now so I am prepared to do what I have to do and it's like Dennis and phatbeetle said who knows what will happen in that amount of time. I am grateful to have found this site and look forward to looking through all the post and finding more out of other people and their situation

EEA Family permits allow unrestricted employment. 

If you would pardon my impertinence but, have you actually met your girlfriend offline?  Have you spent time together?  Do you want to move simply because she is pregnant?  Her pregnancy via IVF without you knowing, etc sounds a bit... off to me as the process is lengthy, emotionally exhausting and the requirements on the NHS for IVF treatment are quite strict and the wait list quite long. 

As for your visa options, like everyone else has said, school or marriage seem to be your only route. 

we have met but for some reason she has kept this big thing a secret from me apparently she was trying for a while....

but yes im sure marriage would our optional route to take
a EEA family permit would work for me being a US citizen if we were to actually marry?
she has her own place and has a solid income if the EEA family permit were to work for me im sure we would be taking that route if anyone can tell me a bit more because the UKBA site has always just mind screwed me kind of hard for me to grasp what it is they are saying on that site id appreciate it.

If you married, and you got your spouse visa, you could work, unrestricted.

As an international student you can only work 20 hours a week.

You could not go to school in the UK unless you paid 'the international fees' until you have lived in the country for over three years. Then you can get 'home fees' which are much less.

You could do your degree in the UK.  That's basically your only option if you don't want to get married.  You can't qualify for a Tier 2 as an IT help desk worker or systems administrator.  There are plenty of people in the UK and EU who can do those jobs.  

Depends on the experience, my partner is a sysadmin manager and one of his top guys is on a tier2 visa. Though, software they mainly work on is Linux based, which is more common to those outside the US.

Though, if youre able to open your places to live outside London, your opporutnities might be larger. Sheffield, for example, is pretty much a centre hub for open source based companies.

http://www.wandisco.com/careers
Theyre based in Sheffield and I know theyre hiring across the US and the UK. If youre near any of their offices, it might be worth applying if it meets your skill set.

IT seems to be a workforce of who you know AND what you know. If youre not on linkedin, GET there. My partner constantly gets headhunted on there for work in the UK, EU and further afield. Start networking, the sooner the better. If you dont want to move over on a marriage visa, this is your only option. You're on helpdesk support at the moment, is there any way for movement to improve on your skillset at your current job? (helpdesk only earns about £17K a year here and that includes working a shift pattern of all sorts of hours over the whole year)

If you want to continue your education, look into universities who have your program of choice and move over. Its not cheap for foreign students and you will need loans. You can work 16 hours a week under a student visa (and full time hours when school isnt in session) so you might be able to still do helpdesk support while here and studying.

Never, say never.
Though be warned its a hard market here, so be warned if you do make it over on a family visa.

Could someone explain this to me then:

"More Indian IT workers move to UK amid visa curbs"

"The figures show that the number of workers being brought into the UK under the ICT scheme increased from 20,000 in 2009 to 29,700 in the 12 months to September 2011. About two-thirds of the 29,700 visas granted under the ICT route were third-party contractors, and of those two thirds were from India."

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-29/job-trends/31110549_1_ict-route-migration-advisory-committee-intra-company-transfer

/I am no way against people immigrating from wherever to wherever.....more curious than anything. Is the system being gamed?

well lets say i were to get my Assosciate degree and maintain good grades and all of that i would not know where to start to even apply for college in the UK could you possibly give me some options as what i can and would i be able to look for work in the UK as a student? And wouldnt the international student fees be more expensive since i am not a EU citizen? My focus is to be with my lady and to support the incoming child i mean its 9 months but i still have 2 years before i even get my assosciates and your right a lot can happen but she is a personal assistant and im not the type to leave a child all in her hands i will support her as much as i can as much as i can until i can finally live with her.

I would stay in school. I assume the child will be a US citizen if you are claiming paternity so they can always visit you.

Depends on the experience, my partner is a sysadmin manager and one of his top guys is on a tier2 visa. Though, software they mainly work on is Linux based, which is more common to those outside the US.

Though, if youre able to open your places to live outside London, your opporutnities might be larger. Sheffield, for example, is pretty much a centre hub for open source based companies.

http://www.wandisco.com/careers
Theyre based in Sheffield and I know theyre hiring across the US and the UK. If youre near any of their offices, it might be worth applying if it meets your skill set.

IT seems to be a workforce of who you know AND what you know. If youre not on linkedin, GET there. My partner constantly gets headhunted on there for work in the UK, EU and further afield. Start networking, the sooner the better. If you dont want to move over on a marriage visa, this is your only option. You're on helpdesk support at the moment, is there any way for movement to improve on your skillset at your current job? (helpdesk only earns about £17K a year here and that includes working a shift pattern of all sorts of hours over the whole year)

If you want to continue your education, look into universities who have your program of choice and move over. Its not cheap for foreign students and you will need loans. You can work 16 hours a week under a student visa (and full time hours when school isnt in session) so you might be able to still do helpdesk support while here and studying.

Never, say never.
Though be warned its a hard market here, so be warned if you do make it over on a family visa.

hey well my AAS degree will be in network administration but my admissions advisor has told me that i should apply for help desk just so i can get some experience in the IT field and because i had open elective credits i was able to take help desk administration classes. After i finish my AAS i will move on to my bachelors degree in either network administration if i like it still or systems management are those 2 good fields that i should be studying? i understand IT is a pretty competitive field but im all the more willing to get all the knowledge possible.

since she is not a UK citizen yet would the EEA family permit work for us? Since i am an American Citizen and she is from Slovakia. I will be claiming the paternity of child and since it is born in the UK would it be a UK citizen automatically?

If she is an EEA citizen, why does she have a visa that gives her the right to work in the UK?

No, the child will not be a UK citizen simply by being born in the UK.