Pregnant from America boyfriend

I’m in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend who lives in America while I live in England. We’ve recently found out I’m pregnant and although we are very happy about it we have the issue of living in other countries. Both of us really want him to be able to move to England as soon as possible as we don’t want him missing out on any of our child’s life. Problem is we are finding ourselves really confused by which visa to go for. He’s currently studying a maintenance degree with an emphasis on welding but isn’t due to finish it till 6 months after the babies due date. He’s willing to not complete the degree and just focus on getting her for his kid sooner but we’re not sure if it’s possible to get a job for the tier two visa without it, we are also struggling to figure out which welding companies offer sponsorships and how to go about getting one. We agreed that we didn’t want a shotgun wedding but would do it if it made the process easier but we’re not sure that it even would as looks like you need a heavy amount of savings to get over here... Does anyone have any advice on what the easiest/fastest/cheapest route may be? All we want is to raise our kid together.

Under UK immigration rules most of the routes will be expensive. If you both are not planning to marry and applying spouse visa then you have to find tier 2 sponsor or you have to apply tier 4 which will be very expensive option unless you secure some scholarship. Or after the birth of British child he can apply as parent under flrfp which will again be very expensive, stressful and time consuming process. Easiest option is spouse visa. Unmarried partner visa is also possible if you both lived akin to married for at least 2 years.

Have you looked at moving to the US?

He won't qualify for a tier 2 visa as a welder.

Thing is with getting married it looks like we would still have to have a ton of money for him to be allowed over. We did think about me going to the US but don’t want to have to pay for health care for the baby cause that’s just kinda ridiculous when we could get it for free in the uk.

What 'ton of money' do you believe is required??

You need to prove you meet the financial requirements of £18,600 per annum with a minimum of 6 month payslips and bank statements.

A 'ton of money' is only required if you want to rely on savings to meet the requirement.

That is the ton of money. I work part time as I’m doing a research masters so I don’t earn a lot. He earns more but still not to that level and even then it seems his earning isn’t looked at since he would have to get a new job here. This is why we had been looking at the tier two. He’s happy to change his emphasis or to switch from a degree to just getting certifications in electrics or something similar as it would be faster but we are struggling to find jobs or their qualification requirements. We’ve been trying to find some kind of service that can help him to find something but no such luck yet.

Tier 2 is also not the easiest 'go to' visa to get. Any employer sponsoring him has to do the resident labour market test to prove that no British/EU citizen or setted person is available to do the job.

List of HO approved tier 2 sponsors in the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rs-workers

He also has to be offered a job at RQF Level 6 (ie Highly Skilled), list of Standard Occupation Codes at RQF Level 6 that qualify for sponsorship in the links below.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... illed-work

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... ation-list

If he is studying there then he can also transfer his credit hours of studies into UK university under tier 4 visa.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:03 am

He won't qualify for a tier 2 visa as a welder.

Tier 2 sounds like a non-starter.

I would seriously consider moving to the US. Wages are higher there (in general), in part, to account for the cost of healthcare. Even if you were married, it doesn't sound like he sould qualify for a spouse visa for the UK. I also doubt he would qualify on the parent route as he is also your partner and would be unable to show he is involved with the child (it's a catch-22, he cant be involved as he is out of the UK, but he can't get into the UK to be involved).

Have you checked the financial requirements for the US? He would 'only' need to earn 125% of the poverty line, but (crucially) could have thrid-party sponsorship. Relatives or friends could 'make up' any deficiency in income (unlike in the UK where the burden is entirely on you unless relying on savings, but this is sounding like a non-starter too).

So it sounds like it depends on how badly you want to be involved with each other/ make it work/ both parent your child while being physically together... your choice, and you don't need to justify it to us!