Hello All!
Greetings! Hopefully someone has some helpful advice for me. I'm in a bit of a pickle and am somewhat unsure of how to proceed.

I'm a US citizen, (26, female, well educated), who was living in the UK for about a year an a half. I was working for 6 months on a BUNAC visa, then after that was up, was not working. I managed to stay so long in the UK because I was there for a while before I was on the BUNAC visa, then got the visa and left the UK several times on holiday while still on the BUNAC visa. The last time I re-entered the UK was very near the end of my work visa, but I still got stamped in for leave to remain for 6 months from that date of entry. Does that make sense?

Soooo...I was in the UK, my work visa finished up, and I stayed on through almost another 6 months (on the tourist visa I had gotten stamped in my passport the last time I came into the country still on my BUNAC visa), seeing the sites, spending my money, enjoying myself...yaddi yaddi. I realized my tourist visa was going to expire pretty near the last minute, and I really wasn't packed to return to the US or anything, so I thought I'd take a hop over to Paris to see a friend and then come back to the UK and "renew" my tourist visa, getting another 6 months and buying myself some more time. Ha! Little did I know the only reason it was so easy to get through immigration before was that little blue BUNAC visa I had had the previous times I entered the country. Now that that was expired, they took a look at my passport, saw that I hadn't been back to the States in a while and that I was just sort of loafing about (didn't have a bank statement of course, and no ticket out of the UK and no concrete plans in the US since I hadn't been back in a while), so I was denied entry, complete with big black X and all. To add insult to injury, the officer told me he suspected I was working illegally (huh??). He didn't write this on the writeup he gave me, however he did write a few things that were incorrect (like I did the BUNAC scheme twice...I didn't and that's easily provable with a call to their offices). I ended up having to fly back to NYC. This was back in October. All my stuff is still in the UK with my old flatmates.


I'd really like to get back there. I have great friends there that I never got to say goodbye to. I have a boy that I really like there. Ultimately I'd like to live there for good. I am just shy of qualifying for the HSMW permit, can't get another BUNAC visa because I'm not a full time student, and don't have a degree in any of the shortage occupations (fine art...ha! should have listened to my parents and got a good solid degree in economics).

So here's my question; I'm applying to graduate school in London and I'm wondering what kind of effect my black X/denied entry will have on my student visa application.

Also, if I just wanted to go back for holiday and applied for a visa at the UK embassy in NYC before I left, had a return ticket, proof of funds, proof of job here in the States, all that...would I likely be accepted? And if not, will this dig my hole even deeper?? I'd rather not risk it if getting denied a second time will make my situation even worse. I didn't break any laws...I mean, how bad is getting denied entry, REALLY?? I sure felt like a criminal at the time.

If all else fails, I'm going to meet a Brit in NYC (though they're hard to find!), fall madly in love, get married, and have him whisk me back to the UK. Hrm...will the marriage visa be a problem with my denied entry? (Might as well ask all my questions at once...doesn't hurt to plan ahead! )

Thanks guys! I'm always impressed with the advice on these boards.

 

Actually, my circumstances have changed quite a bit. I'm now studying for my MA in Finland, and was just granted a 6 month visitor's visa from the UK embassy here. This morning I called the embassy to ask what the procedure would be for me in the future after the 6 months are up (i.e. will I have to apply and pay for a special visa every time I want to visit the UK indefinitely or what?). The director at the embassy told me that in her 13 years in that position she's never seen a visitors' visa issued to an American as in my case (obviously normally we don't need them, so my case is pretty unique), so I'd have to email her and she'd confer with her colleagues and let me know what the future procedure would be.

I do have to say that for my application, I had a stack of hard evidence about a foot thick, complete with photos and an itemized table of contents, to support the fact that I would NOT be staying in the UK beyond the stated period of time I was applying for, and that I have serious obligations in Finland, and LOTS of evidence to say that I had good, solid reasons for a need to visit the UK in the first place.

Hope this helps.