As of January 5, 2023, I will have been in London for eight years. Eight years! Moving to London has been one of the greatest joys of my life – but making this dream a reality was not easy.
In celebration of my time in London, I wanted to answer a few questions that I frequently get about how I was able to move here, what I love about living in London, plus what is next for me here. Let’s dive in!
Why I Moved To London
Moving to London was very much a personal decision. When I meet new people here, they often assume it was for a guy or for a job. The job part is partially true, but not the full story.
I moved to London because of my love for London. In 2004, I was a student at Regent’s University. I lived in London for six months and fell in love with the city. The way I explain it to people is…have you ever been to a place that you felt so at home? That inspired you? That was beautiful, filled with parks and green space, amazing culture, plus so many things to see and do? That has a vibrant global business scene and startup ecosystem? That’s on the doorstep of so many wonderful places to travel to? These are just some of the things that inspire my love for London.
At the end of my student semester, I set a goal that I would return to London after University once I was more established professionally. Little did I know then how long and challenging the road would be.
Early Struggles Of Moving To London
Securing a job and a work visa is ultimately what made my London dream a reality. The challenge? It was very hard – even as an accomplished professional – to find a company that would sponsor my work visa. Thankfully, new paths have since opened that could make it easier for highly talented professionals in the tech and startup ecosystems – but more on that later in my post.
The problem? For many companies, Tier 2 Visa sponsorship is possible, but there’s a lot of regulation that goes into their ability to sponsor you. In order to sponsor someone’s work visa, companies must have applied for the ability to do so. For many small businesses or startups, it’s less likely that they will have gone through this process, but it is more likely with larger or multi-national companies.
If you are already employed by a company with the ability to relocate you, this seems to be the easiest way. Just make sure you are on a Tier 2 general migrant visa and not an intercompany transfer visa. If you do the intercompany route, it does not count toward a settlement in the UK.
For candidates being hired outright, it is still possible to have your work visa sponsored, but the process is not very easy for companies. Disclosure: I am not a lawyer, but how I understand it from my own experience is that companies must first post a job for a set period of time on specific websites (I believe 60-90 days) and then go through all of the candidates with right to work in the UK first (at the time I was applying, it was also all of the EU). If none of those candidates are a fit for the job, companies must justify why each applicant was not a fit and why your skills are more specialized in order to sponsor you.
For the record, I understand why the regulations are this way and am not disputing them. Instead, I learned from this process. In order to break through and find a job with Tier 2 visa sponsorship in the UK, I would need to position myself as of exceptional, niche talent and job hunt through my personal connections, networking, and LinkedIn outreach.
So, for years – yes, years – I networked like crazy. I was vocal about my goal to industry peers. I spent my own money to come to London on numerous occasions over the years to meet people in my industry, speak at conferences, and interview for jobs. I also signed up for a premium LinkedIn membership and leveraged InMails like no other.
Even with this level of effort, there were quite a few disappointments during these years. You name it, I went through it. I chalk these up to a test. If I had not been so passionate about moving to London, I would have given up. It might sound crazy, but deep down, I knew that I had to be in London.
How I Ultimately Moved To London
One night, I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed (as you do) and saw a friend had posted that she was looking for a new flatmate (roommate) in London. I jokingly responded to her post, “Wish it could be me! You know how badly I want to move to London.”
Then the craziest thing happened – she messaged me via DM and told me that the company she had relocated to work at in London was hiring, had the ability to sponsor and was looking for candidates with skills like mine. BOOM! A warm lead! I sent her my CV and she connected me to someone at the company.
This process took me down a six month journey of interviewing with the company across multiple departments to find the right role and fit. When I accepted the job, I agreed to first work in the United States for a period of time on a U.S. contract before the company applied for my Tier 2 general migrant visa so I could move to London on a UK employment contract.
It’s incredible to think that after all of the networking, job applications and interviews, a simple interaction on Facebook is what got me the lead for the job that would bring me to London. It goes to show the power of your network and how important it is to talk about your goals and dreams. The more you put them out there and put in the hard work, the higher your likelihood of success.
Staying In London
About two and a half years into my time in London, I hit a defining bump in the road. I was working at a high growth tech startup, I loved my job and I was crushing it! However, the company decided to strategically pivot in a different direction and gave me the options of looking at jobs in other markets, move back to the United States or leave the company.
I won’t sugar coat it to you – it was a brutal experience to go through. Leaving the job meant that coveted visa that I had worked so hard to secure was also going to disappear.
This is when I discovered the visa I secured next, the Tech Nation Visa. The visa is specialized for exceptional international tech talent as well as those that have the ‘exceptional promise’ potential to reach that level. Lucky for me, performance marketing, my skill set, was one of the categories for the visa. There are also many other qualifying categories across different tech and startup career paths, so definitely take a look at the eligibility criteria on the website above.
In my application, I decided to go for the ‘exceptional talent’ path. The application is much like applying for University, only a panel of leaders in the tech and startup ecosystem in London are on the judging committee. As a result, my application focused on my professional accomplishments in driving measurable growth via performance marketing for companies. I was also able to showcase that I am a world leader in my field through writing a bestselling business book, The Power of Visual Storytelling, the awards I have won, and thought leadership as a keynote speaker at leading tech and marketing conferences.
I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have earned the Tech Nation Visa. The visa was game-changing for me. When you are on a Tier 2 visa, you are tied to your employer. In order to change jobs, you need to also re-secure a new Tier 2 visa. While this isn’t impossible, it’s just another layer that means you are less flexible in your employment choices.
The Tech Nation Visa has allowed me the ability to choose my employment, from contracting and working with high growth startups and leading tech companies. I was also able to write and publish our second book, The Laws of Brand Storytelling, grow my public speaking business and launch a consultancy focused on growth marketing, branding, and storytelling. I also regularly volunteer my time and expertise as a speaker at UK-based schools and universities, as well as the UK startup ecosystem.
January 2020: Passing The Life In The UK Test
In January 2020, I started on another exciting journey – the path to British Citizenship! The first step in this journey is passing a test called The Life In The UK Test. The Life in the UK test is a 24-question multiple choice test which is designed to test your knowledge of life in the United Kingdom.
Let’s just say that the test is random. You need to master a LOT of information across British history, laws, culture, and more. Some of the questions are even funny. For example, one of my practice tests asked at what time do the pubs open?
If you’re interested in learning more about the Life In The UK Test and trying a practice test, here’s a website where you can try some. Let me know how you do! https://lifeintheuktests.co.uk/life-in-the-uk-test/.
If you need to sign up for the Life In The UK test or want more official information, find that here: https://www.gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test.
January 2022: Becoming A British Citizen
After passing the Life In The UK test, I applied for the first step in British Citizenship – Indefinite Leave To Remain. Indefinite Leave To Remain is a permanent residency in the UK, which removes your need to be on a visa. Some people stay on Indefinite Leave To Remain forever. Here’s more information: https://www.gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain.
After my qualifying 12 months with Indefinite Leave To Remain, I decided to apply for British Citizenship. At this point, there were no more tests to complete for me, it’s simply about paying the fees and a lot more paperwork! One of the more fun bits of the paperwork is you need to supply two British references, one personal and one professional references, of which only certain professions qualify. It’s something to keep in mind as you network and get to know people during your time in the UK! Here is more information on applying for British Citizenship: https://www.gov.uk/british-citizenship.
I had my citizenship ceremony in early January 2022 at Old Marylebone Town Hall. I was so happy to have my ceremony there as it was only a stone’s throw from my very first ‘home’ in the dorms at Regent’s University in Regent’s Park. I even felt a bit emotional during the ceremony as I reflected on all of the hard work, time and money that I invested in securing this accomplishment.
Was The Move To London Worth It?
One word: YES!
Moving to London has been everything I had hoped it would be – and more.
London is a vibrant, world-class city. In my opinion, it has so much to offer both personally and professionally. But most importantly, I feel that I have been able to build a wonderful life here. I have made incredible friends, have a beautiful home to live in and spend my free time visiting museums, lovely parks, historical sites, restaurants, and more.
My perspective has also changed for the better. As in, my eyes have been opened to more of the world. Having friends from all over the world has helped me to learn and grow in ways previously unimaginable.
Working with people from all over the world has also been transformative. Even though I worked in a global capacity at numerous companies in the United States, relocating overseas and working abroad has taken my experience to the next level. Reflecting on my personal and professional journey, I know that I am now more open, inclusive, empathetic and strategic than when I arrived. However, I still believe that I have work to do here and have recently been given an incredible opportunity to work more with Asia and India, which has only further stretched and grown my international business skill set for the better.
Another positive change is that I now travel at least monthly for work or leisure. I used to work for TripAdvisor and dream about traveling the world. Now, I actually get to do it. I have also been able to go on wonderful holidays to places like Sicily, Cornwall, Mallorca and Ireland, experiences I will not soon forget. Personally, you can follow my travel vlogs on YouTube or check out some of my recent travel blog posts.
Professionally, I’ve led complex video shoots with great international teams in Finland, Germany, and India (see my favorite one here: https://youtu.be/OSRY-bJknqs). I’ve also spoken at conferences in places like Paris, Valencia, Sofia, Hamburg, Riga, and more (watch some of my talks here: https://www.youtube.com/jessicagioglio).
I’ve also enjoyed exploring more of the UK. It’s such a beautiful, vibrant country and my travel bucket list for the UK seems endless! So far I have been able to spend time in Manchester, Leeds, Brighton, Dover, Bath, Canterbury, Edinburgh, Windsor, Cornwall, York, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and more.
Will I Stay In London Forever?
The short answer – I hope so! In my heart of hearts, I love it in the UK and I have built a beautiful life for myself.
However, the hardest thing about living overseas is being far away from your family. When I was with my first employer in London, I was back and forth to the United States every two to three months. As a result, I could carve out time on each trip to see my family. I took that for granted. In the spirit of putting your goals out into the universe, I would love for my next job responsibilities to include more regular travel to the United States. Traveling back quarterly would be a huge perk!
Final Thoughts
I want to finish this blog post with two points. First, I am so grateful. I won’t list everyone here, but SO many wonderful people have helped me along my journey to move to the UK – and to STAY in the UK. I will be forever humbled by their kindness and belief in me. You have made a remarkable difference in my life. Thank you.
Lastly, I hope this post gives you the energy, confidence and push to keep relentlessly pursuing your dreams. Success does not always happen overnight. Listen to your gut, work strategically and keep pursuing new avenues when one door closes. I believe so strongly that if you want something badly enough and work hard, it will always be within your reach. But the question is, how hard are you willing to work for it?
