[ender554]

Hello I am hoping to get some information on how to move to England after college. I am 33 years old and will graduate in about 2 years with a Bachelor degree in Aerospace engineering. My father lives in England (near Thirsk) and I would love to move there. He is not a citizen he has however been employed there for 10 years and owns a home. Do any of you have any tips or tricks on how to go about doing this? I assume getting an employer to hire a foreigner right out of school and sponsor them is pretty tough. I do have a long time committed relationship with a woman I am not willing to leave behind and we are more than happy to get married if that's what it would take for her to join. I would be willing to switch majors to Mechanical engineering if the Aerospace field is limited there. Any advice would be great. No I am not looking to flee my country for political reasons or anything either, I just feel I would be more happy in Europe as I love to travel and see more cultures and they are more within reach there. Not too mention I love cooler and overcast weather, and I do not fluently speak any other languages, just a touch of Spanish and German.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Josh

 

[AmyD]

You need a work or education visa or marriage to a British person. Your father's residence is immaterial. An education visa sounds possible; you're in a good, in-demand field. Start researching your options for study in the UK.

 

[nyclon]

There are no tips or tricks.

You have to qualify for a visa. Your choices are a spouse visa which seems to be out of the question as you have a girlfriend. You can continue your education in the UK by enrolling in a degree program. Once your program is finished though you must leave the country unless you have found a sponsor for a Tier 2 work visa. If you have loads of money to start up or invest in a UK business you may be able to get a Tier 1 Investor or Entrepreneur visa.

As you are finishing a degree and probably have little or no experience much less UK experience, it's unlikely that you will find a UK employer to sponsor you for a work visa. Following graduation you might want to seek employment with an international company with a UK office and after several years you may become eligible for an inter-company transfer.

If you have ancestry in any EU countries you may qualify for citizenship. An EU passport allows you to live in work in any EU country.

 

[Joppa]

To be sponsored for Tier 2 General or intra-company transfer, you will require a work history post graduation of 2-3 years. Several branches of engineering are on the shortage occupation list (i.e. in-demand and not requiring they hire British or EU workers first). See http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...orkingintheuk/shortageoccupationlistnov11.pdf
As stated, doing a postgraduate study seems a good idea. And if you complete a Masters, you can get sponsored for Tier 2 General leave even if your field isn't on shortage list and without requiring previous work history.
These are the two options I can think of. As your girlfriend is an American and you are aged 18 and over, you won't be eligible on the basis of marriage/partnership or being a dependant of someone settled in UK.