Were moving to London....Do we have it lined up right? Please Help....

Hi Sam and Joe.

Don't say too much about your private life it's not relevant here. You can be whoever you want to be, it doesn't change anything for us. Everybody is welcome here, from any country, language, skin color, religion or sexual orientation.

Maybe we could talk about the situation in your home country in another topic, in this one we'll try to give you a few tips in order to help you to move to London.

Personnaly I won't be able to help you with the paperwork you need to have to come to the UK (I am European and I don't need work permit). But I know London and I can try to help.

Do you know somebody in London who could host you at the very beginning of your stay?

Otherwise maybe you should contact hostels, it's a good way to spend less money at the very beginning. (I spent 2 months with 3 friends in an hostel when I arrived in London). You'll find a lot of hostels in Bayswater. For a "long" stay, you can negociate the prices. I think one night is £10 per person.

As you say outer London is cheaper but maybe you'll get less money from your job. You can find a flatshare in London, and if you're with a friend you could even share a room. That's what I did for 8 months, we paid £200 per month each, for a very small room, but that was enough. You can find a flatshare on www.moveflat.com and www.gumtree.co.uk

So you're an IT technician. The first thing would be to prepare your CV and send it everywehere you can. There are a lot of IT shop arount Tottenham court road/ Goodge street. There are plenty of jobs in London, I would say if you've work the work permit it takes between 2/4 weeks to get a job. A friend of mine found in 2 days! It's also a matter of luck. You should contact work agencies, you'll find their contact details on google. Also try www.agencycentral.com , www.monster.co.uk , www.reed.co.uk

ok that's it at the moment. Hope other americans in the Uk will help you too!

Thank you so much Monsieur Julien, we are very grateful for your information.
We do not have anyone who will hosts us in our arrival so the hostels will be a must. I will visit all of the websites you have given us, and thanks for the info about the job and its pay. So, correct me if I am wrong, but the jobs on the inner city generally pay more than outer city locations? I like the idea of the hostel and will make arrangements as, that sounds like the way to go, I just didn't think you could stay at a hostel for more than a month, but I imagine that should be a fair amount of time to find a permenant establishment. Thank you sir and I would love to stay in touch, possibly chat on msn/aol instant messager or even a internet phone call on skype www.skype.com which is free.
Thanks again Julien - Sam & Joe.

You're very welcome LondonBound, but please don't call me "Monsieur"

I've moved the topic in the "Living in Europe" forum.

Well I am not completely sure you can get a better salary in the town center but I think most of the interesting business is there. But of course you can get a job in the outher city!

You can stay in the hostel as long as you want, but be careful because some of them are a bit dodgy. And be careful not to share your room with too much people, otherwise it's not good to leave your bags there.

We're in touch already Sam & Joe do not hesitate to ask me other questions I'll try to help you.

alright thanks....I need your opinion, about something. So Julien do you think that two people on minimum wage working full work weeks can survive in london money wise, and is it possible for an american citizen to eventually become a english citizen or part of the EU

Of course you can survive if you are willing to work!

About becoming an English citizen it might take you several years (I am not actually aware of that), but it should be possible too.

Thanks so much julien. But still I am having trouble understanding what a good salary in london is.... is 20,000 pounds a good living. What is a good middle class salary? Do you have any idea julien?

Hi Sam and Jo

An ex Londoner here.  It depends on your current standard of living and expectations.  A decent living salary if you are without children and single, would be £25K - 30K.  Rent and travel costs are high as is getting out into London life.  At your ages you should be able to get by on £18k pretty easily and will probably meet up with some expat Aussies _ they always know how to live cheaply, plus local London students who again will know where to go and what to do cheaply.  Best of luck and enjoy London, it will be hard at first, but its such a fantastic city to live in.

Re citizenship:  it takes a long time unless you have a UK parent or possibly grandparent.  You need to contact the British Home Office or look on their website to check this out.  Googling should find you the site.

An ex londoner here as well. Decent salary is about 20,000 especially if you live in Central London. The tube is expensive... If you travel with a bike.. great.....
The best bet is to share a flat. There are lots of free mag as well near the Tube station  to get some ideas about how to rent cheaply.  For work go to the Temp agencies there are several agencies in London. If you have a good CV (resume) they will take you. For citizenship well if you have a parent who is british, you should be able to have the dual citizenship. if not well bad luck it takes years to get it.... some you have spend many years in UK are still waiting for it!!!!! so do not count on it!!!!!! Enjoy your time there!

HAH!  Glad to find someone who shares my sentiments about this 'fine' country that is the United States...
I myself am looking to leave the states and apply for British citizenship.  I have been doing some research and I have found the following:
1. You must live in the UK 5 years before you can actually apply for citizenship.
2.You will need to take a test at on becoming a British citizen at one of the testing centers.  According to my reading, this tends to focus less on history and more on culture and everyday life, and understanding the government. 
3.According the the Home Office website, most applications are 'processed' in less than a year.

I have found some websites and whatnot that may help you in your search that I will provide at the end of my post.  I do have a question for any posters out there who are in fact currently UK residents.  Do you find that business is a fairly common career track in the UK, and also do you think it necissary to become fluent in another language such as french to be successful in business there?  THank you for any answers.

As for you Londonbound, I suggest you visit all of the UK before making a decision to move there.  I need to do the same.  As much as out current country sucks at times, this would be a life altering decision which oculd land you on the streets with a beggar's cup if not properly handled.  It is also important that you have a desire to live somewhere for more reasons than hating your current location.  I know I myself have a strong desire to reconnect with my roots.  I am English, Irish, Welsh, and Scotish; and for some reason I am having a strong desire to return to my motherlands.  Anyway, I know this was an outrageously long post, and also probably made no sense.  My apologies as my caffein buzz is wearing off.  Feel free to contact me anytime:
E-mail: [email protected]
AIM: deathtobobcat16

Now for those links...:
The Home Office: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/britis … epage.html

Info. on Citizenship tests:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4391710.stm

Visas:
http://www.britainusa.com/visas/visas.asp

Currency Calculator:
http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html#

A Map:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark1968/i … ngland.gif

Helpful Info for living abroad:
http://www1.britishcouncil-usa.org/pdg/lituk/p3.html

The Underground/The 'Tube':
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/

Fun Sight w/ English to English conversion:
http://www.travelfurther.net/


good luck and happy flat hunting

The immigration rules for Great Brittain (and many other other countries) are pretty strict.
Unless your have direct family who are UK citizens, special qualifications, a company which wants to employ you, have valid reasons (according the UK law) to apply for asylum or if you're an EU citizen, your chances to be admitted as an immigrant are very shallow.

The employer has to apply for a work permit, which will only be issued if the position cannot be taken by a EU citizen.

Maybe you guys should try to get a student visa?

Well thank you all very much for much more usefull information. I have read and truly hope that well be able to establish our lives there. To frettchick I also am english/scottish and would love to live in the land that my ancestors came from. I am researching like a mad man. thanks again -sam

This is all putting that cart before the horses.

This guy won't get a work permit.

He probably won't get a visa to enter the country.

At last somebody talking some sense.

Hi Rustygecko,

This thread is from 2006. I suggest you contribute on recent threads of the forum so that your inputs could benefit members.

All the best,
Bhavna