Coming to the UK as a wife of a UK resident

[bbkhatoun]

Hello,
I am a US citizen, married to a UK resident 8 months ago.
My husband is a UK resident ( here with me now in the US) but he is moving back to the UK to live and work there as a medical doctor.
Soon I would like to join him, can I go to the UK as a visitor( since I won't need a visitor's visa ) and then go to the UK home office with him to apply for work permit and settlement?
Which is faster and better? applying for visa ( for work and settlement) from the US, or going there to the UK and then applying?
Thanks for your help.

[zcool]

Settlement

If you're married to a UK Citizen, you should apply to come to the UK as a spouse (wife) you will be given permission to enter the UK. You can then apply for something called a National Insurance number which gives you permission to work legally within the UK. This is not a problem and you can obtain one within a few weeks.

My wife arrived in the country as a spouse and got her National Insurance number within about 3 weeks of applying for it, she is now able to work within the UK without a problem.

You will also at some point have to do the Life in the UK Test to become a full citizen of the UK, there is a great website that you might find useful when you get to that point. Here is the address:

http://www.britishcitizenship-test.co.uk

Hope this helps!!

[bbkhatoun]

Work permit...

Hi,
Thanks for the response.
Do you mean that I need to apply for a settlement visa before entering the UK?
Would it be possible to come just as a visitor with no visa and then go the home office and tell them that I have decided to stay?
I just want to know which is faster, because I hear from people in the US that a settelment visa could take long and if so, can I save time by coming just as a visitor and apply for settlement and work once in the UK?
By the way my husband is a UK resident ( indifinite leave to remain ) and will become a citizen next year.
Thanks

[Yev]

in most cases you van't swith from a visitor/tourist visa to any other type of visa in the uk. which means that in order to swith or get another visa you need to go to the country of origin, in your case - USA.

so i would say that it is more appropriate to apply for a Spouse Visa in US.

waiting time in the UK sometimes is counted in years, not months or weeks. so i guess to avoid confusion and complications of your case it is better to do everything properly from the start.

but also check what types of visa you can apply for, other than a spouse one. find out if there are some exceptions for american citizens. just make a research.

[roberto]

new UK test

If you haven't already taken the test, be aware that there is a new test based on a new book, 'Life in the UK' edition 3, starting April 2007. The site http://www.newuktest.co.uk is the best preparation for this.