britlady

Hi:
I have lived here in the U.S. for 27 years. Have been happily married to a US citizen all of this time. We have three children 21, and 16(twins). At this time we are trying to find out our options on moving to the UK. I did get my USC here just over a year ago. My eldest son is 2/3 way through college and would hope to move over to us when he completes his degree in business accounting here. He would like to continue on to do his CPA
My husband is 59 and I am 51. He would want to try and find a job or maybe work for himself. I have my own business here, but have no idea if I could do my work in England. I work as a massage therapist, EFT/NLP life coach, nutrition consultant and Reiki Master, to name a few of the things I do. How could I find out if I could practice all of my therapies and classes over there.
If anyone has any advice or suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

TruBrit

welcome britlady...just curious why you want to move to the UK after all these yrs?

Dave_Was

On the immigration side.

Sounds like your husband would need a spousal visa.
Depending on where you were born, you children may already be UK Citizens by descent, in which case they wouldn't need any visas. Do they have British birth certificates and passports?

Do a search for spousal visa and british by decent on this forum and it should give you a lot to read and a handle on the starting point.

britlady

Hi True Brit:
You asked why I would think of going home after all these years. My mother is now 81 and should not be living on her own now really. Also I love America and think it is a great place when you are younger, but I am not sure how it will be in retirement. Healthcare etc., England will always be my home. My children love it there although they have only seen it from a vacation view point. I suppose I have always had an idealistic thought that someday I would go home and open my healing center there. We are now exploring if it is pheasable.

britlady

Hello Dave:
Thank you for the information. I will look into spousal visas. I was born in the UK and lived there until I was 25 when I married my husband. I moved to the U.S. with him a week after we were married. My children are all born in the U.S. They do not hold British Passports or have British Birth Certificates. I understand that the younger two should have no problem obtaining a passport though. I would think my eldest should be ok also, but am a little worried as he is over twenty one and wondered if that made any difference.
Thanks again for the info.

Dave_Was

I'm sorry can't help to much on the birth cert and passport side, but what you want to look into is 'british citizenship by descent'. I don't know if this is something that you need to do before the child reaches a certain age, but I don't know.

You would think though, that if you're a citizen, you're a citizen.

Have a look into it though.

TruBrit

ahhh our good old NHS....peeps knock it but really there is no beating it anywhere

i'm sure it will be good to get back to your Mum. hopefully she'll have the chance to enjoy a good few more years getting to know her family again.

good luck with your plans. why not contact some UK colleges and ask what the UK criteria is in your profession.

Mummy in the foothills

Hi Britlady. My Mom is here visiting and said the NHS pays for her to have a massage from a licensed massage therapist, so you may be able to transfer your qualifications and work at what you are doing now. I also have an old high school friend who became a Rieiki master and runs his own business. IOt's becoming more popular apparently. Good luck.

dewdrop

I'm in the works of getting my childrens' British passports done ..I'm british also, children Cnd, & are british by descent...I'm not sure if age matters when applying? as some get it thru descent thru grandparents!...It could be different in Canada...so I won't say anymore, but good luck and keep us posted.

On your job, I don't think you will have any problems with your work..My mum does simular/plus works with the disabled in Ontario and will be looking for that type work on her return. Someone told her, its more housing that will be hard to get, rather than the work

best of luck x

Tr1boy

I would advise your son to check into this carefully. I'm sure there are many on here with more accurate info than I but my wife in Oz is finishing her BoB MiA and will become a CPA in the UK. She always says this will be realtively easy as accounting stds in Oz, NZ, SG and UK and quite similar. But she always says it would be a nightmare if we went to the US as they use a completely different acounting std. No doubt it could be overcome, but I'm just alerting you to the fact that you son's quals 'may' not be recognised with the appropriate status he is hoping for.

Beancounters, chip in at any time

britlady

Thank you all for your replies. I had a suspicion that the accounting systems would be different over there. We have a lot more research to do. Going "home" has always been a dream of mine. I just do not know it we can make it a reality where the whole family will be happy.
Thank you all

sherazar

not sure what to say...

islandergirl

I haven't worked as an accoutant in the US, but I think with IFRS that the standards are a lot more harmonised than they were a few years ago.

OP it sounds like your son is doing a Batchelors degree in the US and then proposes to relocate to the UK and do his CPA there in UK whilst working for an accounting firm perhaps?

The CPA qualification is normally done after university as a part time/evening class setup and there are mandatory work experience requirements. Since it is a professional body the student pays them tuition directly upfront before each study unit, so it will not make any difference if he is British or American, (unless it works differently to here in Aus), either way you would pay.

1chumly

Hi Britlady,

Thought I would add my two cents worth about moving back to the UK (for what its worth). I lived in the US for 35 years, 25 in Texas and 10 in North Carolina. It had always been my dream to move back home and the day that happened was one of the happiest days of my life. While I really liked living in the US, I was always homesick. Well, the England I left is not the England I came back to! I came home frequently, usually twice a year as my parents got older but it didn't prepare me for the reality of what it is like here now. The lunatics are definitely running the asylum. England has gone to the dogs and I truly despair for it, I don't think it can ever return to the country it once was. The current government are a disaster and I don't know if there will be a better one to replace it. Europe has finally got the UK where it wants it, under its thumb and we are paying for it in every way imaginable. Health and Safety is the biggest joke there is and come up with insane rules one after the other. I could go on....

You were smart to get your US citizenship. I didn't do that through misguided loyalty and I am now regretting it. Even though I am married to an American, I go through the third degree every time we go back to the States and nearly had my green card taken away from me last year. That was scary. My husband left yesterday to start a new job in Canada and I will be joining him when and if we sell our house. I have real mixed feelings about leaving but think things are only going to get worse here.

I had my son naturalized before he turned 18 ( think it was 18, it could have been 16) so he has dual nationality and he still lives in Houston.

I really do wish you well if you come back and even though I go on a rampage about how things are here, I still love it and I know I will be upset to leave. I am just so sad it has become what it has.