robin1234

Thanks Pulaski I hadn't seen this thread!

Yes, I bought a small flat in England in 2015 and have since made five or six or seven round trips from our home in the US to England. My wife still spends almost all her time in the US. I'm guessing I now spend about seven months of the year in UK, and about five in the US, but this'll vary according to circumstances from now on. For instance, I'm currently held up in the the US because of an ongoing root canal situation. (No doubt I'll eventually get a dentist in England.)

At a certain point, I myself decided that I was resident in the UK. I updated my British driving licence, I applied for a free bus pass, and I registered with the doctor and started to use NHS services (really just a conversation and a couple of age appropriate tests, I haven't actually had any medical needs or issues.) I also opened a British bank account, which I plan to eventually supplant the Isle of Man based offshore account I've used up till now.

Tax obviously is a complication. In the US we file MFJ, but in England the self assessment will just be for me, as my wife is not resident in the UK and HMRC treat married people individually. I believe I'll be gearing up to start the self assessments later this year, for the 2016-17 tax year. So it'll be a bit of a bureaucratic hurdle to get through.

For me the driving licence was easy, just a change of address, as Pulaski said, if you have to take the test that's more of a challenge. In general, though, all the bureaucratic set up of life in the UK in terms of buying property, registering for this that and the other, setting up utilities, etc etc went incredibly smoothly and painlessly!

robin1234

Not really. I've done this for years and never had an issue. If there's a question, you'd just show them your other passport. Once entering the UK, the agent asked to see my foreign passport, I showed him my US one and he was satisfied.

makingwaves

I think buying would be the best option once I determine I want to do this. But first I need a trial run. Having lived all my adult life in the US, I need to reacquaint myself with life in England. To do that, I will need to rent a place. Is it possible to find a short term rental for say 2-5 months which does not charge the very high vacation rates, like AirB&B?

makingwaves

Thanks for this information. You've removed that concern which was worrying.

vikingsail

Just save yourself the trouble.

Apply for your adult UK passport from the US. If you do it right imho it will take you no more than 2 weeks to have in hand your brand new passport. Don't dither just photocopy your US passport as required and away you go.

makingwaves

Thanks for bringing Robin into the discussion. it's very helpful to hear from someone who is actually doing what I'm thinking of.

I wasn't planning on driving in the UK--for one thing I wouldn't want to maintain a car, and for another I'm not that keen on driving on the "other side of the road." So if I don't drive, do I still need a driver's license for maybe ID purposes??

Since I'm retired my health insurance is Medicare, and right now I'm with Kaiser, although if necessary I could go back to straight Medicare, but either way I don't think I'm covered for out of the country healthcare.

makingwaves

I'm glad to hear most of the details went smoothly. I'm thinking of getting a small flat too, but as noted above, I need to rent first to see if this is something I really want to do. As this point I really don't know since it's such a long time since I lived in England.

Pulaski

But he's now retired and last held a British passport as an adolescent, so, given the intervening period of at least half a lifetime, he will almost certainly be treated as a new applicant, in fact I don't see how he wouldn't be. For this reason I believe it will be much easier and quicker to get a British passport by applying from within the UK, and be prepared for an interview.
Look for a holiday rental, which while more expensive than a regular rental shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg if you are looking for an off-season, say between October and March. You should be able to negotiate a discount for an extended period of rental when the owner might otherwise expect little business.
Your welcome. You don't need a driving licence for ID purposes, and aside from very occasional activities, such as opening a bank account, I don't ever remember being asked for ID in the UK either before I left fifteen years ago, or subsequently on visits back home.

Jerseygirl

If your UK PP has expired more than 10 years ago, you are treated as a first time applicant.

robin1234

Yeah that's exactly what I did, the winter before we bought. I got a long term winter let of a holiday cottage. I think I rented for ten weeks, January to March of 2014. So it had all the advantages of a holiday rental, fully furnished and well equipped kitchen, but the price was about half the weekly rate. This was from Norfolk Country Cottages, but I suspect many holiday let places will do it, whether they advertise or not. I was there for the whole period and I think my wife came for two or three weeks in the middle.

That cottage was in the town we eventually bought in - you have to narrow it down somehow.

makingwaves

Thank you, and Pulaski too, for this excellent suggestion. To get an off-season holiday rental makes a lot of sense because as you said, they're furnished and have everything you need.

As to narrowing down the area, I think I'm going to look in Surrey because I have a relative who lives there and it's very important to me to at least know somebody in the area. I am concerned about making a circle of friends. It's challenging to drop down into a completely new area and make social contacts. How is this working out for you?

makingwaves

You are right. I just downloaded the Passport Office Guidance PDF and found out that if one has an "old blue" passport it cannot be renewed and one must apply as a new applicant.

HKG3

The main problem for the OP in a first time adult passport application from within the UK is where to find an UK based professional to countersign the photo and the application form.

makingwaves

As I mentioned above I have an "old blue" passport and will have to make a new application. The immigration agent at Heathrow who advised me to renew my passport said I should go to the Passport Office in London.

I just looked this up and found a Passport Office at Globe House, in London. Is this the one? I'll be there in June and would like to know where I have to go and what documents I need to take so that I can get the process started right away so that there will be time for the interview, if required.

BritInParis

You can't unfortunately just waltz into Globe House and out again with a new passport. It's all done on an appointment basis and you'll need have your interview organised separately. I would recommend renewing your British passport from the US and avoid the hassle of an interview. Either way you will need your full British birth certificate showing your parents' details. If you don't have that and were born in England or Wales then you can order a copy online from the General Register Office. Do that now if you need to as it will take a couple of weeks to come through.