Ways for an American to become a permanent resident or citizen of the UK?

no-one else cares as much as americans about their ancestors ("you're english, gee, my great-aunt's second cousin was from glasgow"), although i believe there are european community laws related to immediate ancestors that people use to get passports. however, at least 10 years ago, immigration to the uk was pretty easy. my partner got permanent residency with nothing more than a reason to be in the country. i suspect it depends strongly on where you come from - it is no doubt infinitely more difficult if you're from s asia, for example.

There is a http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/working_in_the_uk/en/homepage/schemes_and_programmes/hsmp.html in the UK that would allow your cousin to move over and start looking for work. I've heard it's highly competitive, but it might be worth a shot. Then if she stays for four years under this program, she can apply to live in the UK permanently.

I have records to prove that she's the direct descendent of a dozen English-born people, but the real number is at least in the hundreds and can be documented with a little legwork. Unfortunately, they came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony nearly 400 years ago. Um, if that's how tenuous the connection is, you'll have to find a different route, I'd say. Marriage or employment, plus maybe artistic reasons are the most likely route. Is your cousin able to support herself via creative endeavours, perhaps? Journalists and musicians have little problem remaining here for many years - think Greg Palast, Rich Hall, etc.

I did some work in the summer reading over immigration law, I can't remember exactly, but I think something like 6 out of 10 illegal immigrants are eventually not deported, because by the time they have been processed through the system, they have been living here for about a year, and everyone has given up caring. So if you want to chance it, there’s only a 40% probability she'll get chucked. As far as I know, there is no repatriation scheme. Marriage or enough money to start a successful business whilst supporting yourself (I *think* that was one of the ways - basically having lots of cash and not bothering anyone or stealing peoples jobs) are the best bet.

A British grandfather gets you the passport and citizenship. A British grandmother gets you nothing, which is terribly sexist. I got a passport and citizenship this way (even though I've never been there!)

A British grandfather gets you the passport and citizenship. A British grandmother gets you nothing, which is terribly sexist. And mentioning British people in the woodpile beyond that inflames British sensibilities, apparently. Sorry folks who snarked-- I apologize.

http://www.immigrationexpert.com/uk has a series of questionaires that help you assess your eligibility under different schemes, and walks you through creating a migration plan. There is a cost at the end to see a complete plan. My wife and I are just starting to learn about migrating from the US. It's on our 5 year plan.

My wife and I are investigating this, and it seems that the process of becoming a British subject .... errr... citizen is just time-consuming and not difficult. But the easiest way to get there is to have money and not go on the public dole. Once you need a job, etc then you have to deal with whether you will be taking someone else's job or if you have skills that others don't. Again, this is just a paraphrase of what I have been reading. Personally we are thinking of buying a flat outright and seeing how long we can get away with staying :) Unless this is illegal in which case I should probably deny having been here.

The site putzface is referencing apparently is for medical and academic folks only, BTW.