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I wanted to tag this as Europe for maximum irony, to prove my worthiness as a dry-humoured Brit. I came to the old London meetup thread with questions in 2011 when I had the urge to move to England for grad school, and I ended up living in London from 2012-2014. Thanks! Without going into all the details, it's 5 years on and I've never really gotten over having to leave England. I've been working in my field back in the US after finishing grad school, but at the moment I'm in a bit of a transitional phase. If I were to drop everything and move tomorrow, I wouldn't mind a bit. So that seems like a good sign. I've considered applying to a PhD programme, but I work in the arts and it's not 100% necessary to teach at university level and the extra debt would torpedo me for life. Well, that's already happened with my Master's, so I'd be double torpedoed. Which leaves simply packing up and immigrating to England's welcoming arms, as an enthusiastic Anglophile and holder of a UK Masters degree. How do I do this? I've been looking as the UK's visa and immigration site and there doesn't seem to be any sort of route to residency that involves showing up without employer sponsorship or a student visa. Surely there must be some way to do that? Is there an immigration lottery? I'd prefer to not go the sham marriage route, but I guess I'm not too proud. I'm a photographer, but I don't do it commercially. At least not to the extent where I could support myself as a freelancer abroad. As my day job, I teach art photography. US citizen, born and raised on the East Coast, living in San Francisco for the last 20 years. I've never felt quite so "at home" as when I lived in London. I'd like to get back. I'll be a good addition to England, I promise. I even like your food.
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Mar 22, 2019 02:49
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Xun posted:I don't think there's a single country in the world that will let Americans get residency without a reason for being there, such as a job, school, or marriage. Or being filthy loving rich, and that's only some countries. Well no, I'm not looking to illegally immigrate to the UK. Lots of people immigrate to the US from all over the world as part of an incoming queue/lottery. That's what I want to do, but to England. There's at least a process in place in the US- it seems pretty opaque of such a thing exists for England. I must say, I didn't realize that Americans were kept OUT of the immigration queue around the world.  madeintaipei posted:Join the US military, complete your term, then join the Australian military (they pay well for this) and use Commonwealth residency to get yourself to the UK. Eight years maybe, plus reserve obligations. This would be the perfect plan if I wasn't already 42, and thus ineligible to join the US military, even as an officer.
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Mar 24, 2019 00:56
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Xun posted:Okay so, the reason why I compared it to illegal immigration and the reason why it's obscure is that it doesn't exist. I think the best you can do is try to find an employer that will sponsor you. I also know an ex freelancer who used to hop countries every couple of months so if you think you can make enough to support that you might be able to spend a lot of time in the UK? Despite my experience and the graduate degree, I don't really do any commercial photography. I'm a teacher at the continuing ed/higher ed level, but art teachers don't get sponsored for visas. Also, I think the sort of freelancer-travels-the-world kind of situation you're describing is for people with clients in their home country. Being a freelancer with clients in your visiting country requires a work visa or an exemption on a spouse visa, as is the case here in the US. The woman I interned for is restricted to freelance work on her husband's visa. Possibly I could get a freelance visa to do commercial photography in the UK, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense as there are plenty of those people there already. But maybe it's work looking into. I have almost no commercial resume to offer as proof though.
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Mar 24, 2019 06:03
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HEY GUNS posted:what makes you think you do not deserve to get in loving line? Actually, "getting in line" is exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to do...?
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Mar 24, 2019 23:10
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NihilismNow posted:Is there a huge shortage of art photography teachers in the UK? That seems like a very small market that could be easily filled with local applicants. No shortage. And even though I have some university teaching experience on my resume' here, it's not a lot. Arts faculty positions are the same in the UK as they are in the US; lots of adjunct positions and only one or two actual full-time hires. It's only the established artists that get the opportunity to get sponsored by a school for an overseas posting. EDIT: That said, I'm still applying to every relevant teaching position in the UK. 
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Mar 27, 2019 03:12
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Mr Enderby posted:Have you considered the possibility that you are basing this on the time in your life when you were doing a masters in a subject you loved, surrounded by like minded people, with relatively few day to day worries and a clear sense of your immediate goals and purpose? I have considered that, thank you. I've also made steps to advance my career and my life here for the past five years. At this particular moment I'm looking to make the next step, and I have the freedom to leave.
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Mar 27, 2019 19:24
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P-Mack posted:Right but the parent may likewise be a German citizen without realizing it if they have a direct patrilineal ancestor as far back as the Second Reich. It was German father only until the 70s so my mother who left before then never realized her kids qualified. I guess I'm technically a draft dodger now but I probably wouldn't get arrested like that poor Korean kid did. My great grandparents on my mom's side are Irish, Scottish, and English. From what I've been able to tell, it used to be the thing in Ireland that if you have a grandparent born there, you can return. My mom was actually thinking of doing that, but even that route has been severely restricted to retirement age, and now even that comes with a huge financial requirement that I don't think she can meet. And of course that doesn't help me regardless.
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Mar 28, 2019 17:37
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HEY GUNS posted:You can do that by getting on websites like jobs.ac.uk and talking to your advisors and former classmates about potential job openings. I'm currently applying to two teaching positions. The likelihood of them leading to a sponsored visa are one in a zillion, but I'm doing it anyway. The purpose of the thread was to get a general lay of the land on the immigration lottery.
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Mar 30, 2019 02:37
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Thanks for the laughs if nothing else, guys. I'm really gutted at how hopeless it seems, especially since my choice of field is what seems to be holding me back. Hopefully I can figure this out someday, but I'm not holding my breath...
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Jul 1, 2019 10:55
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Earwicker posted:you are an artist, a photographer. why are you restricting yourself to the legal solution instead of putting your creativity and skills to work? You're right, I've definitely been looking into the "by-the-book" and "legal" routes instead of playing to my strengths. I'd start by stalking Boris Johnson, but I don't think that guy has any shame to exploit.
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Jul 1, 2019 21:01
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