US Electrician looking to work in the UK

[Scottkalma5]

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Hello everyone,

Not really sure how much of a longshot this is, but wanted to inquire and get any advice possible on being a licensed electrician in the US and seeking to possibly move abroad to somewhere like the UK and be able to continue working there. I understand some things are different there and have read what I can online about how electrical work differs there.

I have almost 7 years experience as a commercial electrician, including a 5 year apprenticeship with the IBEW. I have been wanting to move for a while but now that I am licensed here I am seriously seeking to make the change. My wife is about to have her teaching degree and she is dead set on teaching abroad.

I have read that the first step I need to make is to contact the British consulate and see how or if any of my qualifications could transfer and I am in the process of trying to do that now. So far havent been able to call and talk to anyone with all their employees here in the states working remotely.

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone,
Scott

 

[Algarve Sparky]

Scott, I made a move from the UK to Portugal and ended up having to make a lot of changes to my way of thinking on installs and repairs as so many things were different.

I made lots of mistakes with pricing in the early days as a consequence but 5 years on I have plenty of work having built a good name and trusted by my clients and in fact now employ other UK sparks and other Portuguese trades so moving abroad to work whilst challenging has in my case been a win, win.

But...... I live and work in the Algarve, + 300 days of sunshine, Christmas day on the beach, no snow, no ice on your car windscreens, and blue sky`s near everyday.

The UK is not the Algave and hence why I moved, ( Fed up of the weather ) your biggest hurdle to over come is the climate and the social differences not your work, that is actually the interesting part. Remember I had to contend with a language change too which is lets say is still in progress.

Every country has its plus and minus points but be very aware that as we speak the UK is in an odd place, the financial crash in 2008 never really went away, there was a "silent recession" and post Covid a deepening of the financial crisis, too many companies were operating on the edge of bankrupcy for many years as seen by some big names crashing out within a couple months of the Covid restrictions in 2020, too much borrowing and too little profits after the books were been raped by highly paid CEO`s

I had my own business in the UK for over 20 years before moving to Portugal and weathered both the 2008 crash and the subsequent silent recession with my own money, no Government hand outs then.


Take a look at the UK as your possible future for ever home, does it still hold up, add the climate factor and then make the decision, funny enough when I was struggling with Portuguese language in the early days I wondered if I should of moved to a an English speaking country like the US ! lol

Good luck feller.

 

[snowhead]

In order to live and work in the U.K you need a Skilled Worker Visa in a category that is in the table of eligible jobs (short of skilled workers) and has a salary over £27200. (different for each job)
To get a Visa you need a job offer from a U.K employer who would need to be happy that you are suitably qualified / experienced for the job and that the job was in an eligible category.

The job code for electrician is 5241 and is NOT in the eligible list, see link below.

Skilled Worker visa: shortage occupations

www.gov.uk

Link to U.K Gov Visa info.

Skilled Worker visa

Apply for a Skilled Worker visa (formerly a Tier 2 General work visa) if you’ve been offered a skilled job with a UK employer - eligibility, fees, documents, extend, switch or update, bring your partner and children, taking on additional work.

www.gov.uk

If you did get a Visa then your Wife would be added as a Dependant but would NOT be able to work without her own Work visa which again has to be on the eligible list.

The reverse applies, if your Wife could get a Work visa then you could be a dependant but again you would NOT be able to work without your own Visa.


They are very similar rules for a foreigner getting a Work visa for the USA.