Moving from Japan to Live in the UK

Hi all,

I would love to know about your experience or knowledge with moving from Japan to the UK. I do not know much about Visas and other immigration related malarkey so I thought I would ask on her for some help.

Situation:
- I live in the UK and have a good job
- Girlfriend is Japanese and and lives in Japan
- She wants to move to the UK and work/get further education in the UK
- She would prefer to work as university is expensive
- She would live with me if she could find work/university
- High chance in the near future that we may get married

What I'd like to know:
- How difficult would it be for her to move here
- What requirements may be needed (such as qualifications and IELTS)
- What type of Visas we should look into or research
- Any other information you think would be helpful for us to know

Thank you in advance.

This is off-topic here; this is a forum about Japan, not the UK

Many years ago, I (Japanese) moved to the UK with my then boyfriend (from continental Europe), lived there as students, then after a while got married there and lived there on a spouse status for a while, but I believe things have changed a LOT since then. (And we are back in Japan now.)

- How difficult? It depends on what she wants to do and what she can do. It is easy to just come/visit and stay there for a while, and study at a school/college, but beyond that (working), visa plays a big role.
- Visa type? Obviously getting married soon and applying for a spouse of UK national would be the surest way (unless she has some skills that guarantee she finds employment right away). If you are not getting married immediately, look into whether there is a fiancée visa.
(When we moved to the UK, I went as a visitor, then enrolled in a college and changed to student status, then after a while got married in London to my EU (now) husband and got a spouse of EU national status. As I had a student status, we could just get married there at a short notice – I don�ft know if a visitor can get married in the UK right away, as there is the marriage notification period and procedure involved.)
- Requirements? I believe there is some English language proficiency requirements for a visa (for work or as a spouse), and I heard stories that there would be exams about UK history and things, but I have not been able to verify this directly with any authorities.
- Any other info? It might be an idea to engage an immigration lawyer in the UK to ask about these things – we did back then - they will have the most updated information, and also would know if it is a good timing for a non-UK/non-EU national to be trying to move to the UK, pending the outcome of the Brexit. Best wishes for everything.

She can potentially get a working holiday visa for a year but otherwise, the chances of her getting a visa to live and work in the UK are very slim. Further education is of course much more likely but very very expensive for foreign students. When her course ends, she would also have to return to Japan.

Getting married is an option but be aware that the UK Gov requires the UK spouse to be earning at least £18600/year and there were some quite hefty additional fees when my Japanese wife applied for her visa. She also had to study for and pass the Citizenship Exam.