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American would love advice re:moving to England

American would love advice re:moving to England

Old Apr 25th 2012, 10:58 pm
  #166  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
Moshimoshi and primula,
The reason for my " gee, thanks" response is that it has taken me quite awhile to get to the point where I think I can do this, and then someone jumps in and says it's essentially a ridiculous idea to just go.
I thought you were thanking me for my rational advice, but you were being sarcastic.

I don't know who said it was ridiculous; certainly not me.

Why did you ask us for our opinion if you're going to get upset? Personally, I don't care whether you go or not, but most of us here are immigrants to other countries and we know what it entails. I think we didn't want to see you get into something that you're not prepared for. I left London for New York City alone when I was 25 years old (36 years ago) and I know what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land.

Last edited by Primula; Apr 25th 2012 at 11:01 pm.
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Old Apr 25th 2012, 11:06 pm
  #167  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by Primula
I thought you were thanking me for my rational advice, but you were being sarcastic.

I don't know who said it was ridiculous; certainly not me.

Why did you ask us for our opinion if you're going to get upset? Personally, I don't care whether you go or not, but most of us here are immigrants to other countries and we know what it entails. I think we didn't want to see you get into something that you're not prepared for. I left London for New York City alone when I was 25 years old (36 years ago) and I know what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land.
Apparently you did not read my last post.
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Old Apr 25th 2012, 11:42 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
last post.
Good for you, and I wish you well! I hope we can help you with your journey. Galway is beautiful among other places. Northern Ireland within the UK. Just in case you weren't thinking about the Republic of Ireland vs. N. Ireland within the UK.

Last edited by ElaineUSAUK; Apr 25th 2012 at 11:44 pm. Reason: Correction
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Old Apr 26th 2012, 6:54 am
  #169  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Good for you. It's hard to take advice that doesn't fit what we wanted to hear - Lord knows I'm terrible at it! - but I think you're being smart about this.

Yes, legally once you are a citizen, you can go in for a holiday and then stay if you want. And doing it that way will take such a lot of emotional pressure off you because you'll be able to shrug off the bad days much more easily knowing you can go back 'home' whenever you want. I think in a weird way that probably makes it more likely that you'll settle and stay.

The 6 month quarantine is long gone - it took 3 weeks from start to finish for my cats to be approved for travel to the UK.

Good luck!!
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Old Apr 27th 2012, 5:28 am
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

From my own experience it matters very much which part of the UK you move to & if that accords with what you are personally looking for.
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Old Apr 29th 2012, 9:14 pm
  #171  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

So, could anyone tell me about Glasgow in some detail? It's somewhere I have been reading a bit about. Cost of living, good neighborhoods, houses, general way of life would be interesting to know about from those who actually live or have lived there.
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Old Apr 30th 2012, 11:33 pm
  #172  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by MoshiMoshi
I don't think anyone has told the OP 'don't come'. Sometimes perceived naysayers are trying to help; the worst case scenario is actually that someones spends a lot of time and money doing something that eventually makes them unhappy, a long long way from home and support.
And then being financially unable to return...that's what has happened to a lot of BE folks, all over the forum.

Moving country is a big investment, so doing the 6 month thing should be considered a small investment in testing the waters, with a one month house swap or holiday home type thing in various parts of the country...that's 6 parts of the UK experienced for minimal outlay and a great base to come back knowing where to set roots or minimal lost finances if it doesn't work out.
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Old Apr 30th 2012, 11:39 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by ElaineUSAUK
There also is the fact that a US Citizen or unrelinquished Lawful Permanent Resident always owes US TAXES on their world-wide income
That's not quite true.

The requirement is to file taxes, if owning over a threshold.

The owing of taxes only affect a small number of people who own a very large salary.

FBAR, FACTA etc are still required though, which is a bit of a chore.
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Old May 17th 2012, 5:47 am
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to check in and let anyone interested know that I am still working towards going to the UK. I now have my passport and am working on my Irish citizenship. I have had to first work on getting my mother's birth recorded because since she was born at home she didn't have a birth certificate. I did not know this until recently. It is quite a process because I have to come up with all kinds of documentation so they can create a Delayed Record of Birth. I have already submitted quite a lot, but they need more. I should have it all completed in the next three weeks. Meanwhile I need to get documents for my grandmother from Ireland as well. I have gotten a lot of info from another forum and some lovely, helpful people there. I have even found the record from her trip on the ship to the US, census from both Ireland and the US and more. It's all very interesting and moving. Once I have all that shortly my application will be submitted.

I have to say that reading so many posts here from those who have moved back makes me want to go to England so much. I have considered Ireland to be sure, in fact that was where I intended to go for a long time, and Scotland sounds lovely, but truth be told,I feel so drawn to England. I feel somehow that I belong there. When I read stories here and beautiful descriptions, especially those from sallysimmons, I wish I could just go now! I feel like the rest of my life is going to be over there, happy and content and feeling like I am where I belong. That certainly is my hope.

Anyway, as I said, I just wanted to keep anyone interested posted...no pun intended.

Last edited by sile; May 17th 2012 at 5:48 am. Reason: Correction
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Old May 17th 2012, 1:25 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
Hello everyone,

I just wanted to check in and let anyone interested know that I am still working towards going to the UK. I now have my passport and am working on my Irish citizenship. I have had to first work on getting my mother's birth recorded because since she was born at home she didn't have a birth certificate. I did not know this until recently. It is quite a process because I have to come up with all kinds of documentation so they can create a Delayed Record of Birth. I have already submitted quite a lot, but they need more. I should have it all completed in the next three weeks. Meanwhile I need to get documents for my grandmother from Ireland as well. I have gotten a lot of info from another forum and some lovely, helpful people there. I have even found the record from her trip on the ship to the US, census from both Ireland and the US and more. It's all very interesting and moving. Once I have all that shortly my application will be submitted.

I have to say that reading so many posts here from those who have moved back makes me want to go to England so much. I have considered Ireland to be sure, in fact that was where I intended to go for a long time, and Scotland sounds lovely, but truth be told,I feel so drawn to England. I feel somehow that I belong there. When I read stories here and beautiful descriptions, especially those from sallysimmons, I wish I could just go now! I feel like the rest of my life is going to be over there, happy and content and feeling like I am where I belong. That certainly is my hope.

Anyway, as I said, I just wanted to keep anyone interested posted...no pun intended.
I wish you all the best, if that's what you want to do. I will say that it's definitely worth listening to those of us on here who have emigrated from their country of birth and who have struggled, mostly because the impact of being in a different land, different culture and among people of often quite different ideals often doesn't hit you until several months into your stay, once the "honeymoon" period has worn off. It doesn't really matter how appealing the UK may be to you (as it is to me). It's easy to romanticize places, only to find that living there is a different kettle of fish.

I really suggest doing some sort of house swap (see if you can get one for a month) to test the water.

If you do go, make sure you have enough money saved to go home at short notice, if it doesn't work out. There is nothing worse than finding yourself trapped in a foreign place, trust me on that. Just keep your options open.

With that being said, there are a lot of Americans who are happy in the UK. The UK Yankee forum is proof of this.
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Old May 17th 2012, 5:38 pm
  #176  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

I may have said this before here, but the feeling I have is like I am homesick for England although I am an American who has never been there.

I don't think I am romanticizing as I have read so much here and I know what I may face, but all that does not put me off as I know there are real, concrete aspects of life there that really appeal to me.

I could stay where I am for the rest of my life where I was born and raised, forever being unhappy and feeling like this is not where I am supposed to be, or I can follow my heart and live my life in a place that calls to me.

I have had it with letting fear, grief, indecision and the naysayers screw up my life. I want to go for what feels right to me.
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Old May 17th 2012, 6:47 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
I may have said this before here, but the feeling I have is like I am homesick for England although I am an American who has never been there.

I don't think I am romanticizing as I have read so much here and I know what I may face, but all that does not put me off as I know there are real, concrete aspects of life there that really appeal to me.

I could stay where I am for the rest of my life where I was born and raised, forever being unhappy and feeling like this is not where I am supposed to be, or I can follow my heart and live my life in a place that calls to me.

I have had it with letting fear, grief, indecision and the naysayers screw up my life. I want to go for what feels right to me.
Sometimes in life you've just gotta go with your gut, I understand. You sound a lot like me in many respects, only replace the UK with Sweden. I have a gut feeling that I would be very happy there.

But by the same token, I would never just move to Sweden without visiting first (several times). I would choose to spend a couple of weeks there just living as if I were an average Swede.

I will say this; wherever you live on this planet is going to be somewhat tainted by the day-to-day drudgery of life, as in working, commuting, paying bills, getting pissed off in the checkout line and all other aggravations associated with this often futile existence. Places always look better when you go there on holiday or fantasise about living there. I felt the same way about the US before I came here. At the end of the day, it's just a place.

I am not trying to discourage you. If you really want to move to the UK, go for it. My only advice is simply to make sure that you have the financial resources available to leave if it turns out that it's not for you. Trust me on this.
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Old May 17th 2012, 6:56 pm
  #178  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Well, I don't agree with the statement "at the end of the day it's just a place". Places are different, they have different people, weather, vibes, attitudes, architecture, scenery, laws, customs....

And I haven't just come up with this idea recently, btw.

Also, I may just pick up and go without visiting first. I may just make the leap of faith and go for it.

I certainly will go with as much money as possible.

I think that you think you are not trying to be discouraging, but you kind of sound discouraging, and I think that's because you are in an unhappy place right now and it's coloring everything.
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Old May 17th 2012, 7:15 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
Well, I don't agree with the statement "at the end of the day it's just a place". Places are different, they have different people, weather, vibes, attitudes, architecture, scenery, laws, customs....

And I haven't just come up with this idea recently, btw.

Also, I may just pick up and go without visiting first. I may just make the leap of faith and go for it.

I certainly will go with as much money as possible.

I think that you think you are not trying to be discouraging, but you kind of sound discouraging, and I think that's because you are in an unhappy place right now and it's coloring everything.
No, I am not trying to discourage. Of course places are different, but my point was that sometimes pressures of work, bills etc make anywhere you reside in feel like somewhere you want to leave. For example, I couldn't wait to move to Massachusetts, then I landed a shitty job (which I quit) and had to deal with 3-4 hours of commuting in total each day, which put a huge brown stain on beautiful New England.

The UK has problems too. I am guilty of looking at my homeland with rose-tinted specs and it's easy for me to continually bash the US. I am not in an unhappy place. Despite going through hell lately, I see with more clarity than I've seen in a long time. Do I like the US? I don't know. I don't like the mainstream culture here, but the same garbage culture exists in Britain, France, Australia and Canada too. The advancement of technology and social networking has made it much harder to socialize in the traditional sense. That would apply in either the US or the UK.

Please visit first, that's all I'm recommending. Listen to people on here who have lived in both countries for a length of time. We are not trying to put you off. The easy thing for us all would be to say that the UK is a fairytale land of castles and hamlets, while the US is a crime infested, cultureless ghetto, yet we know neither of those statements are true.
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Old May 17th 2012, 7:19 pm
  #180  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Hello sile I consider my self to be lucky to have be born here in the UK and still living in England.But now with retirement in mind I a have a desire to escape to somewhere cheaper & a little warmer to live.Making the decision is daunting because there are many benefits to living here, as I think I mentioned before.Giving up my income and quitting work is also a major worry for me.But for others with money the Uk is a great place.
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