<div class="markdown">
<p dir="auto">My friendly local immigration barrister (aka my partner) says: this is true, with a few minor considerations. I’m paraphrasing her so any errors are mine:</p>
<ol>
<li value=1><p dir="auto">Shortage occupations aren’t subject to the resident labour market test. In February, the Migratory Advisory Committee recommended that the following job titles be added: “product manager”, “data scientist”, “senior developer”, and “cyber security specialist” — so while they’re not currently shortage occupations they are likely to be added to the list next year, opening this up to many Ruby developers</p></li>
<li value=2><p dir="auto">High earners are also exempt from the resident labour market test (the threshold is £155,300, though, so congratulations if this applies to you!)</p></li>
<li value=3><p dir="auto">The cap is points-based, so your education, earning potential, English language ability etc. will increase your chances of being one of the lucky ~21k a year who receive a visa — these are things developers will do relatively well on, particularly native English speakers</p></li>
</ol>
<p dir="auto">Separately, if you’re swimming in cash you could consider applying as an investor or as an entrepreneur, which is much more straightforward but obviously requires you to be pretty rich. (Shockingly, the system cares a lot more about you when you’re a squillionaire; who’d’ve thought!)</p>
<p dir="auto">Finally, as a further moon-shot, there’s the exceptional talent route which is much better than Tier 2 General but also much, much more difficult to obtain. It is possible, though. Here’s an article on it: <a href="http://www.immigrationbarrister.co.uk/Blog/exceptional-talent/the-exceptional-talent-route-for-tech-experts.html">http://www.immigrationbarrister.co.uk/Blog/exceptional-talent/the-exceptional-talent-route-for-tech-experts.html</a></p>
<p dir="auto">If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living with an immigration lawyer it’s that migrating to the UK subjects you to a nightmarish, Kafkaesque world of unyielding bureaucracy, but also that it’s very much possible to come out of the other side. Best of luck!</p>
<p dir="auto">Best,<br>
Rob</p>
<p dir="auto">--</p>
<p dir="auto">Rob Miller<br>
<a href="https://robm.me.uk">https://robm.me.uk</a><br>
@robmil</p>
<p dir="auto">On 31 Jul 2015, at 16:04, Olly Headey wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="auto">This is correct, but the devil is in the detail.</p>
<p dir="auto">Significantly, the sponsor company also has to pass the resident market<br>
labour test. This means they have to advertise the vacancy on sanctioned<br>
channels to prove that there is no UK national able to do the job. The<br>
sanctioned channels are such places as the governments own online job site,<br>
a national newspaper, so one can imagine it's not quite as difficult as it<br>
might seem to pass.</p>
<p dir="auto">Secondly, there are limits to Tier-2 visa allocations (unless you're a<br>
minister of religion or a professional sportsperson – Premier League<br>
lobbying is apparently effective). Only ~2000 (possibly less) certificates<br>
of sponsorships are issues each month under current regulations.</p>
<p dir="auto">So it's certainly not insurmountable, but the current government are making<br>
it increasingly difficult. If you manage to secure a CoS and get the visa,<br>
it's for 3 years. After that time you will be able to apply for renewal<br>
which is for 2 further years. At that point, you're eligible for residency.</p>
<p dir="auto">Good luck!</p>
<p dir="auto">Olly</p>
<p dir="auto">-- </p>
<p dir="auto"><em>Olly Headey</em> :: Co-Founder and CTO</p>
<p dir="auto">FreeAgent</p>
<p dir="auto"><em><a href="http://www.freeagent.com">www.freeagent.com</a></em> <a href="http://www.freeagent.com/">http://www.freeagent.com/</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Twitter: @lylo <a href="https://twitter.com/lylo">https://twitter.com/lylo</a></p>
<p dir="auto">LinkedIn: <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/oheadey">http://linkedin.com/in/oheadey</a></p>
<p dir="auto">FreeAgent Central, One Edinburgh Quay, 133 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, EH3<br>
9QG.</p>
<p dir="auto">Registered in sunny Scotland SC316774</p>
<p dir="auto">On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Tom Stuart <a href="mailto:tom@codon.com">tom@codon.com</a> wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="auto">Here’s the basic information you need: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general">https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general</a></p>
<p dir="auto">The short version is that yes, you can move to the UK and work, as long as<br>
you have a job offer from a company that has a “sponsor licence” (<br>
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers">https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers</a>) and you meet certain<br>
other criteria (salary, savings, English language proficiency etc) that<br>
probably pose no problem for a US citizen in the tech industry.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p dir="auto">Chat mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Chat@lists.lrug.org">Chat@lists.lrug.org</a><br>
Archives: <a href="http://lists.lrug.org/pipermail/chat-lrug.org">http://lists.lrug.org/pipermail/chat-lrug.org</a><br>
Manage your subscription: <a href="http://lists.lrug.org/options.cgi/chat-lrug.org">http://lists.lrug.org/options.cgi/chat-lrug.org</a><br>
List info: <a href="http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org">http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org</a></p>
</blockquote>
</div>