US citizens can visit the UK visa-free for up to six months at a time. But visitors can't live in the UK permanently.
If you're an American wanting to live in Scotland, England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, you're going to need a visa. Below are seven ways American citizens can relocate to the UK.
1. Marriage/ partnership with a British citizen (spouse visa)
Contrary to popular belief, marrying a Brit doesn't create an automatic entitlement to live in the UK. However, a relationship does open the possibility of a spouse visa (or an unmarried partner visa if you've been in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years).
To apply for this visa, you must meet a minimum income requirement by showing that:
- The British sponsor has, and will continue to have after relocation, a gross annual income of at least £29,000. If you are already in the UK on a valid visa with the right to work, you can also rely on your own income to meet this requirement, otherwise it's only the British sponsor's income that's taken into consideration; or
- You and your spouse have a combined annual pension income of at least £29,000; or
- You and your spouse have a combined cash savings of at least £88,500.
A spouse visa is valid for an initial period of 33 months and then needs to be extended for a further 30 months. After completing a total of 60 months (five years) of residence in the UK on this visa, you can apply for permanent residence.
2. Work sponsorship (Skilled Worker visa)
A UK company with a sponsor licence can offer work sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. There is a minimum salary requirement of £38,700, although this threshold can be lower in certain healthcare professions or if you are a "new entrant" to the labour market (under 26 years old, switching from a Student or Graduate visa, or training towards a professional qualification).
With a Skilled Worker visa, you are permitted to bring your spouse/ unmarried partner and any children under the age of 18. The only exception to this is for care workers, who are currently prohibited from bringing dependant family members.
This visa can be valid for any length of time up to a maximum of five years. The validity period will be determined by the sponsor. After completing a total of five years on this visa you can apply for permanent residence.
3. Study visa and Graduate visa
A Student visa is straightforward if you can stomach the international tuition fees and get accepted into an eligible UK education programme. If you want to bring family with you, however, you need to be accepted onto a postgraduate research degree or PhD at a UK university, otherwise you will not be able to sponsor dependants.
After completing studies, you can pivot to a two-year working visa called a Graduate visa. This is not a route to permanent residence but it is a way to test out if working life in the UK is right for you before committing to a sponsored job or another visa category.
4. Global Talent visa
The Global Talent visa is one of the best and most flexible visas the UK offers. It's aimed at exceptionally talented or promising people in:
- academia and research;
- digital tech; and
- arts and culture.
We have worked with talented people across a diverse range of disciplines, including concert pianists, singers-songwriters, artists, film producers, tech CEOs, authors, game designers, leading academics, and programmers.
Applying for this visa is a two-stage process. Stage one is an endorsement application. If that is approved, you can move on to stage two, which is the visa application.
The Global Talent visa comes with an unrestricted right to work and leads to permanent residence in either three or five years. You can bring dependant family members with you.
5. Ancestral British citizenship claims
Are you lucky enough to have been born in the USA before 1988 and have a UK-born grandmother or maternal grandfather?
You can take advantage of a 2022 law change to make a claim for British citizenship based on historical sex discrimination in nationality law which had prevented women from passing on British citizenship to their children.
This route is particularly useful for grandchildren of British "war brides", that is those who married American soldiers during or after WWII and migrated to the US.
In 2018, I led the team successful in a Supreme Court case which opened the door to "double descent" citizenship claims based on historical sex discrimination. Our team has helped many American clients to successfully register their British citizenship claims in the years since this law was enacted. This is one of our favourite routes and, if eligible, you can skip right past any visa requirements and go straight for citizenship.
Read more on this route here.
6. High Potential Individual visa
Graduates of top American universities in the past five years can apply for a two-year working visa, if their university appears on the ranking lists published here. For graduates between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025, the following universities are eligible:
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech);
- Columbia University;
- Cornell University;
- Duke University;
- Harvard University;
- Johns Hopkins University;
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- New York University;
- Northwestern University;
- Princeton University;
- Stanford University;
- University of California, Berkeley;
- University of California, Los Angeles;
- University of California, San Diego;
- University of Chicago;
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor;
- University of Pennsylvania;
- University of Texas at Austin;
- University of Washington; and
- Yale University.
You can bring your family on this visa.
7. Parent of a Child Student visa
If your child under the age of 12 obtains a Child Student visa to study at an independent school in the UK, one of the child's parents is permitted to accompany them on a Parent of a Child Student visa.
This visa prohibits work and study, and is conditional on just one of the child's parents coming with them. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping in mind if you have a young family and are considering a sabbatical year.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
