Current US citizen, what documents do I need to work in the UK for 1-2 years?

Question

Current Biology Masters student in the US, graduating in 3 months. I would like to work in th UK for 1-2 years before I come back for med school. What documents do I need to make this happen? How do I go about getting these documents? How long can this process be?

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

Please realize that not every country requires the same thing, and not even the two countries involved require the same documents!  Please, check with the State Department, AND the G.B. equivilant of that office.  Find out from the State Department, what you need to EXIT and REENTER the U.S.  Then Find out from GB what you need to ENTER and EXIT that country.  Also, find out what you will need to have IF you end up bringing back an offspring!   Don't tell me that "you don't plan to so it doesn't matter", because not everything you do in a "year or two" is planned NOW.

Answer 2

Generally you will need an employer to sponsor you in order to get a visa/permit and work in the UK as a US citizen.

They have pretty strict rules about who can work there and who can't. I think that it is difficult to get a work permit without first being employed by a company. If you have an international or other company willing to sponsor you or you have some special skills that they are having a hard time finding in UK/EU then you may get a permit once you have offer of employment. Otherwise it can be very hard.

They do have some other options though I think- try the embassy website and see if any fit what you would want to do and are eligible for?

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/showcats...

Try looking through the links on that page, especially the permit free and tier 1 sections. I think Tier 1 must be new, so I'm not sure how it works or who its for. Permit free applies only to certain groups but maybe you'd fit in one, I'm not sure?