Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

A nice story scilly. So did you actually renounce your British citizenship or simply not renew your British passports? How many times have you revisited Britain in all those years?

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Scilly, I really enjoyed reading your post .........wow you gave up your Uk passports! INTERESTING?

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

I always find these kind of comments interesting. I grew up as a council house kid in the West Mids. Single parent family after my dad ran off, depressed mother on benefits. Constant arguing. Would often end up being fed by my friends mom. Constantly being told we "could lose the house!" if we did something wrong. And yet, I turned out fine. No, I didn't end up on drugs or pregnant, I'm currently preparing to get my second degree, I've lived in France, Spain, China and yes I speak the languages, too. I think if you are determined and motivated and aware that you can change your life and make things better, then anybody can do it!

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Hi Shard and manchester ..............

Actually, we just never renewed our British passports. We were under the belief that we no longer had the right to carry one ........ although of course, the UK never lets go of you

We also asked ourselves the question as to why be a legal citizen of one country, with all the documentation and responsibility that involves, carry that country's passport, and also carry the passport of another?

We were in fact once told that if we travelled as a citizen of Canada but carrying a UK passport, and got into trouble, then it was possible that neither country would help us.


We now have no connection with the UK, we had drawn out whatever money had been paid via "stamps" before we left in 1967, and don't draw any kind of pension from there.



We've been back to the UK on several occasions ............ the last time in 2008.


My first trip back was in 1971, when my dad died. I stayed 2 weeks sorting out some stuff from the house that I wanted to have over here, and then leaving my brother to sort out the mess that was Dad's "estate" ............ it involved the town taking over the house for a neighbourhood renewal project and all the dickering that involved.

That was the time I got lost in the centre of my home town ............. it was only 4 years after I'd left, but there had been so much "revitalisation" aka knock down everything and rebuild, and re-direct roads.


so, how many times have we been back since 1967??

I've been back about 8 times, usually for 4-6 weeks at a time. OH has been back more often ........... his mother was still alive until 1993, and so he used to go back to see her for a few days at least once a year between 1987 and her death.


What we have found is that most of our close friends have spread themselves around .......... moved to different parts of the UK, to Europe, or further afield.

We also found that many relatives would be upset if we did not go to see them ............ but were not willing to make the effort to visit with us if we rented a holiday cottage (for example).


We had the most fun on 4 visits back between 1995 and 1008 ........... when we explored areas of the UK that we had never been to or that had a special interest for us.

My parents loved Scarborough, they spent holidays there through most of the 1920s and 30s, and then in the 1940s and 50s. We stayed there in 1995, and I was astounded to see how little that place had changed from the last time I saw it in 1973 ........... such a refreshing change!


On later visits, ie after 10 or 20 years here, we found that we had grown away from many of our friends ............ we had developed very different interests, although we have kept up the contact with Christmas letters.


Short visits (ie 2-3 weeks) give you a false impression of how it would be to settle back into life as you remember it from 2, 3, 5 years previous.


I had a cousin who emigrated unwillingly to Australia with her husband and family in the early 1960s. Her life was way different down there, and they had far more than they would ever have achieved in the UK ............. but she could not settle, she was always hankering for "back home".

In the 1980s, they were finally able to go back to Britain on a long service break ................ she was devastated to realise that the England she remembered from the late 50s / early 60s no longer existed. She also realised that her family, including grandchildren, were well settled in Australia. She stopped talking about going back "home" ...... which was no longer home.

But ............. her husband had to take her ashes back to England after she died, and spread them on the moors where they used to spend a lot of time when they were young.


I / we have never been homesick for England, we've never regretted leaving, we would have had a good life if we had stayed in the UK .................. but we have had a far better life here.


There is a mental attitude that is involved for many people .............. and no amount of talk by anyone will change that if you are inherently unhappy wherever you are.

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Excellent post Scilly. Your experiences mirror many of my own parents who also live in Canada.

Don't let any moaners on this forum get to you with their withering stories about Canada.

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Crikey! How many do you have? ;)

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Ha Ha, Just 2....and that is enough:eek:

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Better still, get citizenship before leaving just in case.

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

Thanks again for sharing your story Scilly, you seem to have done thing right and enjoyed the best of both worlds. It's true what you say about friends and family imploring visits, but not having much get up and go themselves. As you're in fact dual nationals (whether you hold current passports or not) you'll be pleased to know you would be eligible to receive assistance from either country's embassy were you ever to need it.

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

just that part of your post sums it up quite well for some :nod::nod::nod:

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

after seeing Mr Harper's reaction to Mohamed Fahmy's problem, we might be better off asking the UK for help :lol:

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

not without asking Obama first;)

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

:lol:



just a'waitin' and a'hopin' ;)

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

No, you don't. You say you've only been away 9 months so I can't imagine why you wouldn't still be a PR. (absent a lot of silly brinkmanship is the past).

The expired PR card is completely irrelevant, although if you were daft enough to try to return on a one-way ticket (usually more expensive than a return ticket on the main airlines), you might have difficulty boarding the aircraft in the UK.

When you get back to Canada the CBSA officer will have a device called a "computer" which let's him check that you're a returning PR.

Re: Back in the UK for 9 months and decided we made the wrong choice!
 

<waves>

<Wanders off to chat about the Tottenham game and our collapse in the World Cup>