Last minute busking in London?
 

Okay, so I've had like five different people give me five different answers on this, but I'm in need of some knowledge ASAP.

I'm an American citizen, been playing music professionally for around four years. A busking friend of mine has been trying to convince me to head to London (where he plays) and busk over there, but I'm without a work permit.

How risky is it to busk for money over there without a work permit? I'd rather not go to jail or get deported, but it'd be a nice way to make money over there and make my travels easier.

Or if you have a way to get a permit or visa, you would be my hero and I'd be indebted to you for a long time.

I commented on your other thread as well.
As for the UK, if you are talking about anything longer than the standard 90 day visa, that will be tough as well as any type of permit... UK is cracking hard on that sort of thing...
The only way to get that residency permit is to prove that you've been in a relationship with an EU national for over 2 years, living together, and real documented proof... Or of course have a UK family member...
You could try to look into some student type visa's but that doesnt sound like your target area...
Im lucky. Im actually moving to London in 2 weeks. I got my cohabitation residency permit (5 yrs) in Belgium with my Romanian girlfriend, which makes me legal in the UK as well...
Best of luck!!

Yeah, you can go for 90 days on the standard visa that all Americans have then you have to leave. You can take a quick cheap trip to Morocco for a a few days (ryanair.com) then re-enter the UK and reactivate that 90 days, but you can only do that twice within 12 months of entering the UK the first time (so 6 months total within a 12 month period).

That may be enough time to sort out your situation there. Instead of straight up moving there right off the bat, you can always try it out for 3-6 months to see what kind of results you get.

Let us know how it goes!

And for now - to get USA visa it's extra hard, because of COVID.