First Step to Move from the US to the UK

US to UK

Sep 9

Note: All information given in this journal is from my personal experience and research. Please be sure to seek proper legal advice for your unique situation(s). I give recommendations, referrals, and links to information based on my experiences to hopefully help your plans (and some are affiliate links from products/services I have vetted and used that I may receive compensation from), but there is no way for me to guarantee the same outcome. The reader is responsible for vetting any information, recommendations, and referrals in this journal themselves.

I am a shameless Christmas movie aficionado, and The Holiday is an all time favourite. I’ll watch it no matter the season, but as the hubs will tell you it’s practically on loop during December! Why do I bring up this movie in an entry about how to move from the US to the UK? Well, because it’s one of many movies that make it seem like it’s so easy to move to abroad after falling in love 😂

I guess if Hollywood made movies going through the many steps Cameron Diaz and Jude Law’s characters had to go through, it would make for pretty boring watching … although I could probably turn it into a suspense psychological thriller!!! (I always like to think Kate Winslet’s character moved to Los Angeles with Jack Black and became a professional music doodler.)

So what is the most important first step before you plan your move to the UK?

YOUR Visa

☀️ What is a visa?

I’ve been around visas for a long time, since I had to get several when I first moved to the US back in 2000. But if you’re new to the world of visas, a visa is a document issued by a country you want to visit (usually stuck onto one of the pages of your passport), that gives you permission to be in that country for a set period of time. Countries have different types of visas - some of them allow you to work or study and some are just for visiting.

Having a visa doesn’t mean that country will for sure let you enter. An immigration officer at the border or airport will ask you various questions to verify your intention for entering matches with the type of visa you have (thankfully it’s nothing like the movie The Proposal but can be pretty intense 😂).

And in some circumstances you don’t need a visa to travel to another country … keep reading!

☀️ Can I enter the UK without a visa as an American citizen?

As an American, you can currently (as of Sept 2023) visit the UK for up to 6 months without a visa. This does not allow you to work in the UK. When you enter, you’ll want to have a return ticket booked. Otherwise, the officer at the border will grill you extensively or even send you back to the US.

☀️ If I’m moving to the UK as an American citizen, do I need a visa?

Yes. Even if you are a student, retired, or married to a British citizen, any stay beyond 6 months requires a visa. The only exceptions that I’m aware of are if you are also a dual British citizen (like me), or have dual citizenship to another country that allows you to live and work in the UK.

☀️ What type of visa should I apply for?

For us, because I’m a British citizen, we applied for a Spouse/Partner visa. We could’ve gone down the Global Talent visa for the hubs. It has a faster processing time, but after consulting with our attorney decided against it, partly due to the amount of extra paperwork.

Another option you might come across, if you’re moving temporarily as a creative, would be the Creative Worker visa. Actors, musicians, and film crew members use this a lot. This is a sponsored visa, so you’ll need to show that you have been hired by a licensed sponsor (like a music label or film studio) to work for them in the UK.

☀️ How long does it take to get a visa?

When I wrote this, it was still taking up to 24 weeks (6 months) to get a Spouse/Partner visa approved 😳. This wait time is primarily due to the war in the Ukraine and priority been given to process visas to those affected.

Other visas can be much, much faster.

This is one reason it is sooooo important that before you make any other plans you consult with an UK immigration attorney.

☀️ Do you have any recommendations for a UK immigration attorney?

We were so lucky to find a great UK based attorney with a reasonable and straightforward fee structure. We had him take care of the full application process, which is well worth the extra money. Questions can come up during the application process, and with this option, he communicates with the UK Home Office and guides you through the response. Euan Fergusson, UK Immigration Legal Practitioner @ Walk Thru Visa

☀️ What are some important things to have READY before applying?

✨ The number one reason for Spouse/Partner visas refusal is not meeting the minimum financial requirement.

This is a complicated requirement, so definitely go over your options with your immigration attorney. There are income, income/cash savings, cash savings options, and everything has to be documented correctly.
Especially if you are self-employed, cash savings is the most straightforward route if possible (note: some pensions don’t count). You have to be able to prove the savings have been in place for at least 6 months before application.
When we applied, we used the sale of our house to fulfill the amount. Because we could prove we owned the home for longer than 6 months, those funds qualified. However, we had to wait until the money was in our savings account to apply for the visa.
Good news, once we sent the application in, we didn’t have to keep the money in our savings for the duration of the application process. This meant we could go ahead and buy our home here in the UK - yay!

✨ Check your passport expiration date.

If it’s a year or two out from expiring, I’d recommend renewing it early!!! If your visa page is damaged in any way when they cancel your old passport (like punching a hole through it or cutting the corner), your UK visa will be invalid for travel 😭
We didn’t check and we have to renew the hubs’ passport next year - grrrr!

✨ What if you need to travel abroad or need your passport before your application is approved?

We discovered you can apply for a secondary US passport under some circumstances. BUT you’ve got to do this before you apply for your visa, because you need to send in your primary passport.
Here’s the page I got all the information from on how to apply and the requirements: here.
We ran into an issue because the U.S. Department of State made a boo boo and cancelled Dean’s first passport 😬, but thankfully our local congressman’s team was able to get a new primary passport expedited to us in less than a week 🙌 (Big thanks to our friend who let us know that helping with passport issues is one of the responsibilities of your local representative!!)

✨ Figure out your accommodation for when you arrive in the UK.

Your visa application requires this too!
My parents were kind enough to host us until our home sale went through. We had to show a home layout with room dimensions and letter from my mum and dad agreeing to host us. Our attorney provided us with a template letter to use.
Of course, the address may change, but you need a valid place lined up for your Spouse/Partner visa application.

✨ Finally the fun part - the cover letter, travel itinerary, photo narrative!!

Cover letter: I had so much fun writing our cover letter. We followed the basic template guidelines, but switched it up by using my fun “Miss Sunshine” letterhead and wrote a conversational style letter about our relationship and why we wanted to move to the UK. We even included how the hubs sang for the Queen when touring the UK!
Travel Itinerary: this isn’t for your upcoming flights to the UK, this is for any holidays or trips you’ve taken together. We pulled online hotel receipts from our honeymoon, Airbnb bookings from visiting Austin, Texas, flight bookings from visiting the UK in 2016, tickets to the Getty Villa for an anniversary. Then I made a spreadsheet (in yellow!) of all of our travels - even ones we didn’t have proof of over our relationship. It was a lovely walk down memory lane 💛
Photo narrative: we’ve been married for 15 years, so it was so difficult to narrow down the pics. We focused primarily on the early days of our relationship and then a scattering of highlights over the years to present. Then I hit Canva and made a collage — using my brand colours to put frames around the pics and put the captions in speech bubbles! Our final pic was from our visit to the Gentle Barn in California - a sanctuary for animals rescued from the meat and dairy industry. Hurley loved hanging out with the goats and pigs, but he was a little overwhelmed by the horses! Check out a few of the pics below 🐾

Questions? Just post them in the comments below!

RESOURCES

Full list of visas that allow you to work in the UK from the GOV.UK site: here
Current wait times for visas applied for from outside the UK from the GOV.UK site: here
Latest financial requirements for Spouse/Partner visa from the GOV.UK site: here