Ask HN: Is it possible to temporarily live in the UK?

[thogg4]

I have a remote job and my wife and I want to move our family from the the US to live in the UK for a year. I would not need to get a job there, but we would need to rent a house and my kids would need to attend school. Is this possible with the visa regulations in the UK?

[planetburgess]

Not for that length of time. Unless you can qualify for Tier 1, which seems unlikely based on what you've said https://workpermit.com/immigration/united-kingdom/tier-1-vis... You can't get a Tier 2 work permit because it must be sponsored by a UK employer. Which means you would have to work for a UK company, again that doesn't fit your circumstances. You shouldn't work on a tourist visa although it does let you in the country for six months https://workpermit.com/immigration/united-kingdom/uk-standar... Also without a legal immigration status in the UK you can't rent a property, you might be able to persuade your landlord that a tourist visa was sufficient... https://www.foxtons.co.uk/let/right-to-rent.html

[eesmith]

I have no experience with moving to the UK. My first thought though is, why should the UK be interested in letting you do this?

If your kids go to school then will you be paying for it, or do you expect the same sort of free public education you get from the US? If the latter, that's at least $10,000 per child, so at least $20,000.

Are you going to pay UK taxes for the year?

Who will cover your medical?

It sounds like a net-negative for the UK, from a financial sense.

It's certainly possible to move to another country as a self-employed person, but that requires showing funding, and likely a business plan, marketing plan, etc. to show it is viable. See https://www.expatica.com/uk/employment/employment-law/the-uk... .

[DanBC]

People on visas pay a health surcharge which means they're covered by the NHS. Visitors who are not normally resident and who haven't paid the surcharge will have to pay for some (but not all) treatment at 150% the standard tariff.

https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/pay

https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/overseas-patient-upfron...

As with anything connected to the NHS it gets a bit complex when you look under the hood: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-visitor-and-mi...

The list of services exampt from charging are here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... (It's more complex than the list I'm including here)

---begin quote---

Exempt services

The following services are free at the point of use for all patients. A charge cannot be made or recovered from any overseas visitor for:

• accident and emergency (A&E) services, this includes all A&E services provided at an NHS hospital, e.g. those provided at an accident & emergency department, walk-in centre, minor injuries unit or urgent care centre 2 . This does not include those emergency services provided after the overseas visitor has been accepted as an inpatient, or at a follow-up outpatient appointment, for which charges must be levied unless the overseas visitor is exempt from charge in their own right;

• family planning services (does not include termination of pregnancy);

• diagnosis and treatment of specified infectious diseases (listed at Chapter 4);

• diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections;

• palliative care services provided by a registered palliative care charity or a community interest company;

• services that are provided as part of the NHS111 telephone advice line;

• treatment required for a physical or mental condition caused by: - torture; - female genital mutilation; - domestic violence; or - sexual violence,

except where the overseas visitor has travelled to the UK for the purpose of seeking that treatment.

[davman]

This isn't relevant to your question, and not to question your life choices, but why on earth would you want to move to the UK now? We're about to put ourselves through possibily the most traumatic political upheaval for years which, with the best will in the world, I can't imagine will go particularly smoothly.

I'd give it at least a year before you decide to come here!

[neximo64]

Try a youth mobility visa if you can. You have to be under 30, or 31 though. Depends on your citizenship, Canada Y US N.