Who I Am

My name is Robert Berg and I’m raising funds to help me continue to live and work in the UK. My current visa expires in late October and I’m so close to being able to officially call this place home, but I need to secure up to £9000 to do it.

I moved to London from the USA with my husband nearly 10 years ago and absolutely fell in love with this place. It’s where my heart lives. My friends are here, I’ve found a family amongst the London queer community, my entire professional network is here, but if I can’t come up with enough money to pay the insanely high application fees, I'll be kicked out of the country.

Why I Need Your Help

To make matters worse, the current government is considering extensive changes to the immigration process, which is not only making my situation increasingly perilous, but it’s also making an already-stressful process exponentially worse. You see, the government has not yet finalised the new rules, nor have they announced when they will go into effect. It makes it very hard to plan for a massive, life-changing expense.

So I know I will need to pay thousands of pounds, but I still do not know how many thousands of pounds.

Under the current system, the various application, testing, and appointment fees will probably cost me around £5000. This will allow me to secure Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), which is the next closest thing to citizenship. It would also mean I could finally, finally feel safe in calling the UK home.

Under the planned new rules, however, I would no longer be allowed to apply for ILR, and would have to instead apply for yet another visa. And it would be much more expensive. I would need to pay a health care surcharge (upfront) for five years, the application fee, costs to schedule an appointment, and more—all of which would cost me around £9000. And of course, it is a visa, so once again my time here would be on a ticking clock.

Do I know which set of rules will apply to me when the time comes? No. Does it matter that I have lived, worked, and paid taxes here for nearly 10 years? No. Has the government indicated when they might announce the changes? No. The rules could literally change at any minute, and there’s nothing I can do about it except secure as much money as I can. This also means it’s vital that I apply as soon as humanly possible, in the hopes of saving thousands of pounds and securing ILR (and my UK home).

And an Added Complication

I have been saving for this application for years, but over the last several months I have had vital projects with long-term clients cancelled at the last minute. I work freelance as a professional copy editor and proofreader, so the last-minute change not only cost me thousands of pounds in lost income, but I was unable to replace the work at such short notice, and had to use my savings to pay for rent and food and bills.

I have work lined up for the future, but it is not going to be enough, or soon enough, for the application date I absolutely need to hit: 27 October 2026. So I only have 2 months to raise the necessary funds, or face going back to a country where queer people are routinely referred to as “groomers” and librarians are threatened with guns because they dared to stock queer books.

How You Can Help

It’s a tough time across the world right now, and I’m very conscious how lucky I am to have this chance to stay in the country that has become my home. It’s not easy to ask this, as I know many of us are struggling, but any donation or sharing of this fundraiser would be truly helpful and life-changing.

What I'd Like to Offer in Return

I would love to make this process less of a donation and more of an exchange wherever possible, so if you have any writing that you need copy edited or proofread, I will be sending a voucher code as a thank you to everyone who donates. The code will get you (or one of your friends!) 15% off my usual rates (£0.02/word for copy editing and £0.01/word for proofreading).

Thank you so much for reading, and I appreciate anything you are able to donate.