Colorado -> Bristol ... Self-sponsored (maybe) with loads of Q's! :))

In regards to your credit question, this is probably a matter of having the cash again.

When I came over I took my passport and a check for £12k to my husband's bank (Lloyds). There were no problems opening accounts.

A few months later I somehow managed to overdraft as I had put most of the money in savings, and when I went to sort it out the woman behind the counter asked me why I didn't have a credit card to use for everyday purchases? And I told her that I was under the impression that I wasn't eligible. They got me into one of those back offices super fast!

The man who I was dealing with told me that it was flagging on their system that they should offer/issue me with a credit card but that usually ILR was required for this (hence the three years you've been hearing about). He was not entirely sure why it was working for me but he suggested it was either the amount of money I had or the fact that I was also on a shared account with someone who had already had an account open for more than three years.

I was issued a credit card with a limit of £9k, although I had done none of the credit building tips that you see popping up on here from time to time.

So you could try opening a decently sized account with the bank that your partner uses, although I may have just gotten lucky.

Thanks - this is what I found in NZ too with ANZ - After a few months with 6 figures, they kinda let things slide - My 'general question' was to try to get a feel for which banks here are a bit more lax...

Ta

Sounds like a potentially tough situation legally, for a few reasons. I would suggest speaking to a solicitor specialising in immigration ASAP. If you send me a private message with a contact number, I can have a colleague phone you, but you can get free advice from a few sources as well, possibly the citizens advice bureau etc.

As to credit, there's no shortcut. It takes years to build up a new credit rating. You need to be very careful with attempts to get on the electoral roll though - easy to accidentally commit an offence.

Good luck!

Thanks Scott - we have an immigration attorney in London and are meeting face to face on the 28th - and we'll get to the bottom -

To summarize we have 4 options -

Self-sponsored -

Fiancee/Spousal Partner -

T2 Sponsored

Entrepreneurial

Just looking for the path of least resistance - so it's not a matter (for me) of 'if' but 'when'...

Thanks everyone who offered positive, productive suggestions... Will get cracking on it again Monday -

BB

   

Also no, your status as resident in CZ does not make you part of the EU.  It makes you part of CZ.  It's only citizenship that allows free movement from one EU country to another.  

Not entirely true...


The Schengen Visa has made traveling between its 25 member countries (22 European Union states and 3 non-EU members) much easier and less bureaucratic. Traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any (or all) member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries on the same trip. The Schengen visa is a “visitor visa”. It is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe.

The purpose of the visit must be leisure, tourism, or business. Upon the issuance of the visa, the visa holder is allowed to enter all member countries and travel freely throughout the Schengen area. It is strongly recommended to plan your journey within the timeframe of the Schengen Visa as extensions can be very difficult to obtain, thus forcing you to leave to stay in compliance with the Schengen rules and regulations. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a 6 month period. The first step in the application process is to Apply the Schengen Application Guide.

Types of Work Permits/Visas
The major types of UK immigration categories that allow employment are as follows:

5)    Self-sponsored Highly Skilled Workers. Self-sponsored, highly skilled foreign nationals can obtain immigration permission to work as employed or self-employed in the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. Applicants earn points for their skills, educational background, their potential for economic success, their level of English competency, and their ability to support themselves and any dependents

Where are you quoting that from?

The HSMP was closed to new applicants a couple of years ago.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier1/hsmp/

Yeah, the website you got that from is outdated. That visa no longer exists.

  The UK isn't a Schengen country.  Whatever you may be doing within the Schengen zone or in other EU member states, that has nothing to do with your status in the UK.  It doesn't mean you can be on the electoral roll here and it doesn't mean that you can work here.  I know this from experience, as I have also worked in Prague, yet I still had to get a visa to live in the UK. 

I think you've gotten some out of date information regarding HMSP.  If you look at UKBA's site regarding Tier 1 General visas, it says "This category is now closed to applicants who are outside the UK, and to migrants who are already here in most other immigration categories."  

Self-sponsorship, as you defined it, doesn't exist anymore so you'll have to do either a Tier 1 Entrepreneur or marry your girlfriend.  If you are not intending to settle, you shouldn't be applying for credit or attempting to get on electoral rolls.  


The hopping back and forth that you are doing is violating the visiting rules as well, even as a business visitor. You are allowed to visit for 6 months in a 12 month period.  It sounds as if you have been staying as a visitor for a few months, hopping to CZ or the US for work and coming back to live with your girlfriend.  The 6 months out of 12 applies to ALL visitors, except visiting academics.  If you are not in the UK under a different settlement path, you are here as a visitor.

If you are entering as a business visitor or a prospective entrepreneur, those require a specific type of visitor visa.  

I know you said you are a positive get-'er-done type and while that's admirable, it's not going to help you do something that isn't possible as you described.  

Good luck.  

Yeah, the website you got that from is outdated. That visa no longer exists.

Yes, the HSMP hasn't existed since Nov 2008. It was replaced with the Tier 1 General visa. A couple of years later, the Tier 1 General visa was also closed to new applicants.

I might have missed this elsewhere in the thread, but you are aware that you can't apply for a change of status within the UK?

Whichever visa you decide on will have to be applied for from your home country.

The hopping back and forth that you are doing is violating the visiting rules as well, even as a business visitor. You are allowed to visit for 6 months in a 12 month period. 

That's not entirely true.  It says in general they wouldn't expect tourists to do that, but if the IO lets him in then it is fine. 

Sooner or later he'll get someone who realises he isn't a tourist and then it is bye bye to where ever.

Not entirely true...

The Schengen Visa has made traveling between its 25 member countries (22 European Union states and 3 non-EU members) much easier and less bureaucratic. Traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any (or all) member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries on the same trip. The Schengen visa is a “visitor visa”. It is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe.

The purpose of the visit must be leisure, tourism, or business. Upon the issuance of the visa, the visa holder is allowed to enter all member countries and travel freely throughout the Schengen area. It is strongly recommended to plan your journey within the timeframe of the Schengen Visa as extensions can be very difficult to obtain, thus forcing you to leave to stay in compliance with the Schengen rules and regulations. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a 6 month period. The first step in the application process is to Apply the Schengen Application Guide.

As historyenne said, the UK is definitely not part of the Schengen Agreement and even if you were in the Schengen area you'd only be able to stay for 90 days in 180 days (although that may not apply to CZ if you've got residency there).

Here is a map of the Schengen Countries.  The UK isn't one of them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schengen_Area.svg

And if wikipedia isn't official enough, maybe a recent BBC article is.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13194723

Hey mate  - We do always seem to be a bit of a 'debbie downer' and love as a forum to poke holes in anyones plans.  It is with completely good intentions though ,as we'd hate for someone to get deported and banned through illegal immigration activities.  We won't offer you any suggestions for anything we know is illegal as well.   

We can be helpful though if you do tell us what you have to offer- i.e. what kind of skills for Tier 2, what kind of money you may have for the investor, any other ties -

I wish you best of luck.

Hey mate  - We do always seem to be a bit of a 'Debbie downer' and love as a forum to poke holes in anyone's plans.  It is with completely good intentions though ,as we'd hate for someone to get deported and banned through illegal immigration activities.  We won't offer you any suggestions for anything we know is illegal as well.   

We can be helpful though if you do tell us what you have to offer- i.e. what kind of skills for Tier 2, what kind of money you may have for the investor, any other ties -

I wish you best of luck.

Appreciate that - I was just trying to get some feedback as to which of the several options I had, would be best to pursue if any - Migration attny can answer all this as well - but at $$$ an hour... ya know how it goes...

Monday we have a call planned with them - and will get clarification on whatever "self-sponsorship" is now called... It was late when I posted last night - and was just grabbing bits off the net that showed others, that there are/were indeed schemes in place (be it today, or 'once upon a time') ... Either way, I listed the 5 paths I have to choose from .. and think thru the feedback given, we've narrowed that down drastically - to 3 or even 2 maybe...

I've stated my reasons for not wanting to ride on my partners coattails - but that's always a last resort option -

I do have the right to live and work in CZ (took allot $$$$$ to get that processed and approved - You think UKBA is bad, take that times 100x and throw the Czech language and $greed$ and corruption in on top of it all - you have no idea) so I've been thru far worse - which is why I don't flinch at 'impossible' - But now I can legally TRADE as a business, in the entire EU (inc. UK) which I've just registered with/in yesterday (which ironically, gets that company "on the books" here legally) 

And Right, the UK is NOT part of the Schengen zone (nor is Brno, or Germany or Israel - common place to 'hang out' whilst ones paperwork is being approved - legally) - so I choose to come here when I renew there (2-3 years) or just fly back to the States, and work there a bit while things get sorted (that's the beauty of working on 3 different continents)  ... but as explained before, after 10 months of Prague, I'd had enough of the corruption, and decided to look elsewhere - Ideally, I'd like to go back to Auckland (and they'd gladly have me no issues there) - but the GF doesn't like the distance away from her family - understandable...

Either way - I'm just hanging here with my partner trying to decide if I even want to stay in the UK or not? - And part of all that hinges on quality of life, and being able to start a family, buying a home, getting a car etc etc etc - "normal" every day stuff... without allot of aggro - but waiting 3 years for a credit card? (which was my main question originally - that got lost in my gazillion other questions) - I think that seals it more and more for me, as I cannot run a corporation here without being able to bank properly - end of.

Or lastly, I work for someone else under T2 ... Love or money is what it boils down to - and only I can decide which works best for me...

Cheers,

BB

To summarize we have 4 options -

Self-sponsored -

Fiancee/Spousal Partner -

T2 Sponsored

Entrepreneurial

Just looking for the path of least resistance - so it's not a matter (for me) of 'if' but 'when'...

Honestly, if your partner can meet the financial requirements, then the path of least resistance would probably be the fiance/spousal partner visa.

Of the visas you've listed, it's probably the easiest to qualify for, and a spousal visa will allow you to work in the UK immediately (you could perhaps marry in the US and then apply for a spousal visa), so you would not have to worry about work visa sponsorship or self-sponsorship.

A fiance visa (for marrying in the UK), however, will not allow you to work in any capacity until you are married and have received your next visa, which is called FLR(M) (as has been mentioned this means that ALL work is prohibited, even unpaid volunteer work or working remotely for a US/other foreign company), so if you went for a fiance visa, you would potentially be facing several months of not being able to work or earn any money at all.

Just as a side question: how do you like Bristol? It's my home town .

Honestly, if your partner can meet the financial requirements...

Just as a side question: how do you like Bristol? It's my home town .

Yeah, she's very well positioned in London, as am I - which would make this route no problem - so is really more of an ego-buster than anything for me... And maybe like you said - we could do things back in the states and just hang there - She's keen on that (at times) so is also always an option -

I've yet to get around to why ppl here have moved to the UK (or looking to move here) ... but suspect it's for similar reasons that I have... But seems I've already cheesed off half the board, so no sense in hitting the other 50% (joke)

RE: Bristol ... Uhmmmm... Only been here a few weeks, but so far (despite the grey skies Hahaha) it's alright I suppose... It's certainly not London - but has it's own appeal and charm - I do like the Clifton area - but need to explore more... I'm very much located on a 'line' of very bad, to very amazing (literally 1 street divides the 2) ... but love the cliffs and river and city centre and new mall etc etc etc - Ppl have been very nice too... Just absorbing everything right now... but yeah, can't complain! )