Help Gracie Stay In The U.K.

Hi everyone! My name is Gracie and I’m an American who has been living abroad in the U.K. for 8 years now. I fell in love with the British music scene and worked very hard to be able to move over here from South Carolina. I started off as a student in Edinburgh in 2017 and was on a student visa, followed by a graduate visa when I graduated uni and moved to Manchester. I knew at that point that I wanted to begin my journey to obtain permanent residency and become a U.K. citizen. To do this, you must be living in the U.K. for at least 5 years on a work, family, or ancestry visa and frustratingly my student/graduate visas did not count towards that. With this in mind, I decided to apply for a family visa in 2023, as I have been with my partner who is a British citizen for 5 years now. This is the current visa I am on and it expires in December 2025, meaning I have to renew it before then.

Unfortunately, since my initial application in 2023, the U.K. government has increased the Healthcare Surcharge fee from £700 to a whopping £1,035 per year and has also increased the required combined income needed to apply for a spouse visa, making it much more difficult to apply. The cost to renew my current visa is £3,328. They continue to introduce new rules and fees to make it difficult for people to immigrate here.

Application Fee: £1,258

Healthcare Surcharge for 2 years: £2,070

Even though I have a full time job as my source of income, with costs of living being higher than ever and student loans to pay off, it has been difficult for me to save up the money. I don’t usually like to ask for help, especially with money, but my life is here: my partner, my band, my friends, my job, everything! I have spent the entirety of my adult life in the UK from 18 to 26 and truly feel that this is where I’m meant to be. Going back to the US isn’t an option for me right now (especially if you’ve been watching the news) so if you are able to help in any way you can I would be so grateful! - Gracie