PS... Made me chuckle when I read you were a meteorologist and not working in the visa field! I can't think of anything more different! As always, thanks for your continued help, and to everyone else who has helped too. Invaluable. 
Just remembered that you posted this (I was really busy last weekend and just glanced at it). Yeah, I'm a meteorologist - nothing to do with visas or immigration, except that I frequent this website in my spare time
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I originally found the forum when I was looking up some information about how someone might move to the UK for work (for a fictional story), and then, since I had lived in both the UK and the US (I was an international student in the US 11 years ago), I figured I could help out with questions about the differences between UK and US universities. I was also in the process of applying for a US visa to attend grad school in the US.
Anyway, I read the forums, saw how people were applying for their visas, made myself familiar with the UKBA (now UKVI) website, and then after a few months, was able to help people out with visa questions based on what the official guidance said and what people were experiencing here at UK-Y. Fast forward a few years and I'm still here doing it (a few of the more knowledgeable people have since left the site, so there aren't many of us still around who know the rules really well)
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