dragon52

Hi everyone,

I have been away from the UK since 1979! I have been living in Australia and also 10 years in the USA. Now at 62 and with the kids grown up and both me and the husband retired I am thinking it would be great to spend a year or two back in England. Do I have rose coloured glasses? Maybe, but I would really like to spend some time back "home" - even though I no longer have family living there.

I would really appreciate some advise about moving over with my dog. Is it hard to find rentals around Devon or Cornwall with a large dog and am I being realistic about moving over to England with a dog in the first place and then flying him back to Australia again? Has anyone done this? I'm also pretty daunted about physically moving over there and finding a place to stay as I have nobody to help me find accommodation nor do I have anyone to stay with when I first get there.

My husband is an Australian citizen. Would it be difficult for him to get a visa for that length of time? We are self funded retirees so we would not be a burden on the system.

Anyway, I would really appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks.

christmasoompa

Hi, you posted this in the 'Back Home' updates section, so I've moved it to the main bit of the Moving Back to the UK forum.

For visa advice for your husband, please post again in the visas section.

Good luck!

mikelincs

Unfortunately the visitors visa for Australians is for a maximum of 6 months, so he would need to be sponsored, by you, for a Spouse visa. As suggested you would be better posting in the Visas section of the moving back to the UK forum where there are a number of people who would be able to help you.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...-visas-uk-196/

not2old

to add to post 3

Basically, as self funded retirees, you would need to sponsor him, meet the financial requirements set out in the link below with (I'm suggesting) the specific sections applicable to you would be

section 7, the chart on page 47 as well as section 8

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf

As an overview,

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...m_se_final.pdf

To get a feel - the basic printed copy of the application form

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...4029/VAF4A.pdf

holly_1948

How about (up to) six months in Britain and then six months (of winter!) in Malta alternately? Then repeat if you decide you want to. There is a car ferry between Sicily and Malta. A bit of an adventure.

The only thing I know about dogs is that they must be microchipped and have a "pet passport" for Malta.

dragon52

Sounds great! Can I do that with a dog though......and is it easy to get rentals short term with a dog!

Thanks for all of your comments. Its sounding more and more difficult.

SanDiegogirl

Rentals are always more difficult to obtain with a dog - especially a big dog, and especially short term rentals.

Since you are self sufficient i.e you are able to sponsor your hubby with savings/investments etc, if you applied for a spouse visa for him, the visa would last for 2.5 years.

You could probably get a long term rental easier than a short term one and not have to move the dog around so much either.

Look at the link for fulfilling financial requirements for a visa

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf

If your husband has relatively recent British/European ancestry (parents/grandparents) there might be other options for him apart from the spouse visa.

dragon52

Thanks SanDiegogirl,
great info! I really wouldn't want to move around too much....not fair on the poor animal.
I'm thinking that I might go over for a holiday and sus out rentals.

holly_1948

It's quite limited how much you can do quickly on the ground, probably more effective to first contact perhaps a dozen real estate agents who deal with rental properties and explain your needs. Do try not to get sucked in though! The keyword expression is "pets considered".
Here is one search that will help you find lots of them
https://www.google.com/search?num=10...ightmove.co.uk
You might want to consider South Wales, the prices there are less and the landlords more flexible than in many places in my experience.

dragon52

Holly, Thanks so much for the link.......I really wouldn't of known where to look!! Gives me an idea of how much I can expect to pay in rent too.