Hi Lynette, sadly the sponsorship "thing" is for real and a complete nightmare (in my humble opinion) for non-UK nationals and employers alike. If you don't have an ongoing right to work in the UK then in many cases you will need "sponsorship" to be able to be employed and that sponsorship is, for the most part, tied to an actual job. You would need to demonstrate that the position you have been offered meets a certain salary threshold and is at least a certain level of qualification; and that you have the appropriate English Language Skills. There is an option to "trade" points but it is very complicated and not actually very flexible.
Employers will ask if you have the right to work in the UK but except in certain circumstances, should not usually exclude you from shortlisting on that basis unless they do not have a sponsorship licence OR the role is not one that can be sponsored. So, for example, if you applied for an HR Admin job in our organisation (which is a sponsored employer), and your only right to work is through the sponsorship route, we could not take your application further because a the position does not qualify for a sponsorship visa. But if you were applying for an HR Partner Position, we could take your application forward and appoint you subject to obtaining a Skilled Worker Visa. Our practice is to check passports and visas (where applicable) at interview and then, if the post is one that can be sponsored and you meet the criteria for the role, we know that you will need a visa to take up employment but not having it at interview does not automatically rule you out.

There are other visa routes you might be able to use which do not require "sponsorship", for example family member of a British Citizen, but I think the British Citizen has to earn a certain salary for you to be able to apply as a family member. There is also a dependents visa but I am not sure if that would work in your circumstances - but a dependent visa does in most circumstances allow you to work.

The Home Office website is notoriously unhelpful but you may wish to browse these links in particular. You can fill in an online form with your personal details and it will tell you whether or not you need sponsorship or whether other visa routes are open to you.

www.gov.uk/.../commonwealth-british-nationals-overseas
www.gov.uk/.../work-visas

I can't offer you much comfort and we have become a very unfriendly country - but there are routes in, so have a browse and see what might work. I would add, though, that whatever you apply for in the end, read all the small print very carefully and make sure you have all the required paperwork at hand to scan or send; the slightest error can be enough for a Home Office official to come over all "computer says no" and reject the application - and it is very hard (and expensive) to appeal.

Despite all that, good luck and I am sure you will be able to find a route and the ability to find a job.

Hi Lynette

I appreciate that your preference is to get a job and then get married, but you may have to accept that our legal system makes that very difficult. Could you come here, have a small registry office wedding, get your status settled, find a job and then hold a celebration of your wedding?

I agree with Helen that the UK has become a very unfriendly country and the Home Office is notoriously unhelpful. You say it will take a while to get your immigration status sorted after you are married and are looking to get a job first instead. My experience (which includes working for an employer with a sponsorship licence and being involved in multiple applications for work permits and visas) is that your proposed route will take a lot longer and is not guaranteed to result in you getting the right to work.

In reply to Helen:

Helen, I have gone through those sites and yes, the guidance appears to be detailed but when I read closely I have more questions than answers. The new points system seems to be quite rigid. For instance, I understand the move toward wanting to attract higher skilled workers, but you get points for having a PhD, but not for having an undergraduate degree, MPhil and a Professional qualification at graduate level and over 15 years professional experience after qualification, like I do. Your explanation about the level/classification of the job was very helpful. I was not considering that, I was focused on if the company was a licensed sponsor or not. Thank you. I appreciate the help and good wishes.

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Thanks Elizabeth. Our wedding was scheduled, booked, invitations went out etc. for August 2020, in my country. Then we would have applied for the appropriate visa and when it was in order, then I would have come to England. But Covid-19 struck, my country's borders closed and it has remained closed since and of course we know the story with the range of restrictions, quarantine etc that has made international travel an expensive nightmare in many instances. So we intend to get married as soon as the restrictions in both my country and England allow us to get into the same place to do so - hopefully this summer. As it is now, the large celebration we had planned already has to be shelved until some time in the future. I appreciate you sharing your firsthand experience with this. We may really have to just modify our original plan so that I come, we get married in England and then I find a job. Thanks again.

In reply to Lynette:

Hi Lynette, the points system allowing using PhD to gain extra point is, to be honest, a bit of window dressing. Many of the sponsored jobs require degrees anyway and a certain set of posts are already designated "PhD" posts (academic and research posts). The PhD element is, I think, meant to recognise the need for skilled STEM workers in the UK, and the global nature of research, with the educational qualification a somewhat clumsy criterion. You will only get points for having a PhD in very restricted circumstances, despite what the Home Office advertises. The logic that applies in the real world that professional experience in applying the knowledge gained during qualification or instead of qualification is as valid (and sometimes more so) than the qualification alone simply doesn't work with the Points Based System. The salary threshold also rises after age 26 for no justifiable reason I can see but that has long been the case.
Sad to say, the logic and justification behind the points based system is politically motivated and doesn't really resemble any logic or common sense in the world of employment and talent management. I feel for you and anyone else trying to navigate the system. It's bad enough to be faced with a faceless bureaucracy from my point of view as responsible for compliance but it makes me angry to see how we now treat people just because they were not born in the UK and who want to live here and bring their skills and knowledge.
Rant over - but good luck!