saltychops

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and I am hoping you may give me some advice. I am a US citizen from Los Angeles, and I am currently living in the UK with my boyfriend who is a UK citizen. We have been together over 6 years, and have been living together in the UK for the past 2 1/2 years. I came to the UK on a student visa to get my master's degree. My visa is up at the end of the year and I am planning on moving back to the US. My boyfriend wants to go with me but we are unsure about the type of visa he could apply for. Neither of us really want to get married, and he does not have a degree (he was in the Royal Marines for 10 years). Any ideas/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

fatbrit

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...00&postcount=1

scrubbedexpat099

If you are of different genders, I doubt there will be realistic options outside Marriage.

saltychops

Yeah, gays have all the rights

Thanks anyway...

Duncan Roberts

Quite the opposite, they don't have the marriage option.

SanDiegogirl

If he does not have the ability to get a visa under his own steam (usually work visa) and cannot invest enough money to get an investors visa,then the marriage route is the only one open to you.

You will have to sponsor him.

tilz

Scarily spooky this !! I was in the Royal Marines too and married a USC and now live in CA, we were together 10 yrs before marriage and believe me looked at every other route to go without getting married (we just both had no interest in it) annoyingly our 10 yrs together isn't recognised so we got married, (very low key just the two of us)

Kind of saw it as a nice day out with some stuff to sign at the end of it

I too had tried lots of different ways to get to the USA through work sponsorship etc but in reality it really isnt that easy. You may have to do what we did , but I tell you it was worth it we love it here, good luck ...

Oh and welcome sorry ! ... you will get a lot of good advice here

ian-mstm

If marriage is not an option, he'll need either an employment-based visa or an investment-based visa. The former will usually require a university degree; the latter, a lot of money.


US immigration isn't equipped to take your wants into consideration. Just sayin'.

Ian

HumphreyC

Just get married - that's what I did when my then girlfriend's visa expired in the UK many yonks ago. Tip off the family then head down to the registry office - sign a couple of documents, job done. No more problems with immigration - for a while anyway.

Bob

Yeah, apart from getting married....considerations for the UK? Whilst you're already there, because it'll be pretty hard to import a spouse to the UK come April.

saltychops

Just a thought, but what if he studied in the US? Would it be relatively easier for him to switch to a work visa afterwards?

fatbrit

It's possible to switch to a work visa afterwards, but the ease rather depends on what he studies. It will cost though -- international rates are not cheap and there is no access to government-backed student loans. If he's spending that sort of money, he could also buy a small business and live here on an E2 while you two continued the road test.

Noorah101

Studying in the USA is expensive, but of course can be done. Having a US degree might increase his chances of success at finding a job afterwards, I believe. However, it will be the same sort of scenario, if the economy is still bad. He would still have to find an employer who will sponsor his work visa, which is costly for the employer.

Plus, a foreign student must prove to the ConOff that he does NOT intend to remain in the USA after studying. Of course he could change his mind, lots of people end up staying, but in order to obtain the student visa, he will have to prove he has a residence abroad that he does not intend to abandon, funds in place to cover his whole degree program plus living expenses, and having a USC fiancee works against him, because it gives the ConOff even more reason to suspect he might want to stay in the USA (and will have an easy way of doing that by marrying you and adjusting status).

Rene

Noorah101

I have to say I don't really understand people's aversion to getting married. Especially couples who have been together long term, like 6 years, and are probably already living together. Isn't that like already being married?

I suppose I can understand people not wanting to get married *just because someone says you have to*, but some international couples seem to go to great lengths NOT to get married. Just my personal opinion, but I just find that confusing.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

It may be possible.