How easy or hard is it to get a citizenship in the UK?

Question

I was born & raised in the USA. I currently live in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. I have no felonies or misdemeanors. I have a passport and I have visited the UK many, many times. I think that eventually, I might want to move over there. Permanently. So is citizenship for the UK a complicated process like here in my country, USA?

Answer 1

the short answer to your question is, YES, it's a complicated process

you really need to make an appointment with the British Embassy near where you live and discuss this with them ... as far as I'm aware your options are:

1.  come and stay on a visitors visa (I think currently the maximum is 6 months, although they're talking about cutting it down to 3 months) ... you'll be expected to be completely self-supporting and would have to leave the country before the end of that time ... it might give you a more realistic feel for what it's like to actually live here as opposed to visiting, although in my experience the first 6 months or so in a new place is the "honeymoon" period and the things that get up your nose don't kick in until after you've been there about a year ... if you stick it through until you've been there a couple of years things smooth out again

2. find a job in the country where the prospective employer could apply for a work permit for you as the previous poster has said

3. if you have sufficient money to invest in the country, for instance to start your own business here, you might be able to get permission to immigrate on a business basis ... you say you have a business to sell so this is why I'm suggesting you discuss this with the Embassy to find out whether you would come within this classification

once you're in the country on a permanent basis and not as a visitor (for instance if you have a work permit) then after a number of years you can apply for citizenship ... the length of time gets altered sometimes so you'd need to regularly check what the position is (I think it's 10 years at the moment)

good luck !!

Answer 2

For people w/o British lineage, there are only two ways that I'm aware of to get citizenship.  One is to spend 5 years (I believe it has to be consecutively) in the UK for any legal reason (apart from being on a student/IGS visa), the other is to marry someone British. I would recommend however, that before deciding this is the place you want to spend the rest of your life, to do more than just visit.   While you can stay for up to 6 months without working without too much trouble, it's not quite realistic w/o working.  Employers have to apply for a visa on behalf of their perspective employee and are supposed to explain why they can't fill the vacancy with someone from the UK before they can hire you. I've lived here for 2 years now (from the states myself) and I love it, but I definitely have a more realistic view of the country than when I was just visiting often.  There are positives and negatives to living anywhere, and without actually living here, how can you weigh them up?  Just my 2 pence.