Another hello and questions-
Aug 27th 2012, 10:10 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 217
Another hello and questions-
First, my apologies for this being so long and rambled.
I posted in here some about a year ago and got some great ideas, suggestions and information- thank you again for that.
The idea of moving to the UK had to be put on the back burner for a while, but it's back on track on again and I'd like to be able to get some fresh ideas.
Background- my husband is Swedish, I am American.
He and I have two biological children together and I had two before meeting him. My oldest is 19 and will most likely not be coming with us to the UK. My second oldest is 15 and I do have written permission from her bio-father to move her out of the country.
Our next 2 children hold both US and Swedish citizenship and passports.
I've read extensively about obtaining visas for myself and my 15 year old and everywhere I look I find that it won't be too hard for us to do this being that my husband is a EEA citizen.
My questions are along the lines of the following:
How would you suggest we go about figuring out where to live. We are specifically looking into England. We have been to the UK and have driven from the very south to the very north of England, exploring as we went and have explored Scotland and Ireland. Basically I am not sure how to go about any of this. I've gotten a lot of great ideas on places to consider, but regarding jobs, how do we make it all fit- good schools, a good place to live, good for kids, safe, plenty of opportunities and jobs? I find one area that I think will be terrific and then I find out schools are pretty bad. I find another area with good schools but find house prices are way out of our league. Don't get me wrong, I know no place will ever be perfect, I know we can't expect utopia, but I'm just not sure how to go about finding the places we should be considering. That was very contradictory to what I said a few lines above about having gotten lots of great ideas- sorry about that. I'm just a little unsure still on where to begin looking.
Another question I have is my husband is in the beginning of applying for his US citizenship, it could be anywhere from 3-9 months processing time- I also have to apply for visas (UK) for myself and my daughter (and my other two kids as well?), time is a consideration and the sooner we can get all of this under way the better but will there be a problem if we apply for UK visas in the midst of him applying for his citizenship? Last year the processing times for family members of EEA nationals was very quick, I don't know what it's like now and am not sure how to go about finding that out.
I've posted some of this on UK Yankee as well but really wanted to get some insight here too, I hope that's ok.
Thank you for taking the time and bearing with me in my ramble jamble session.
I posted in here some about a year ago and got some great ideas, suggestions and information- thank you again for that.
The idea of moving to the UK had to be put on the back burner for a while, but it's back on track on again and I'd like to be able to get some fresh ideas.
Background- my husband is Swedish, I am American.
He and I have two biological children together and I had two before meeting him. My oldest is 19 and will most likely not be coming with us to the UK. My second oldest is 15 and I do have written permission from her bio-father to move her out of the country.
Our next 2 children hold both US and Swedish citizenship and passports.
I've read extensively about obtaining visas for myself and my 15 year old and everywhere I look I find that it won't be too hard for us to do this being that my husband is a EEA citizen.
My questions are along the lines of the following:
How would you suggest we go about figuring out where to live. We are specifically looking into England. We have been to the UK and have driven from the very south to the very north of England, exploring as we went and have explored Scotland and Ireland. Basically I am not sure how to go about any of this. I've gotten a lot of great ideas on places to consider, but regarding jobs, how do we make it all fit- good schools, a good place to live, good for kids, safe, plenty of opportunities and jobs? I find one area that I think will be terrific and then I find out schools are pretty bad. I find another area with good schools but find house prices are way out of our league. Don't get me wrong, I know no place will ever be perfect, I know we can't expect utopia, but I'm just not sure how to go about finding the places we should be considering. That was very contradictory to what I said a few lines above about having gotten lots of great ideas- sorry about that. I'm just a little unsure still on where to begin looking.
Another question I have is my husband is in the beginning of applying for his US citizenship, it could be anywhere from 3-9 months processing time- I also have to apply for visas (UK) for myself and my daughter (and my other two kids as well?), time is a consideration and the sooner we can get all of this under way the better but will there be a problem if we apply for UK visas in the midst of him applying for his citizenship? Last year the processing times for family members of EEA nationals was very quick, I don't know what it's like now and am not sure how to go about finding that out.
I've posted some of this on UK Yankee as well but really wanted to get some insight here too, I hope that's ok.
Thank you for taking the time and bearing with me in my ramble jamble session.
Aug 27th 2012, 4:03 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2010
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 9,662
Re: Another hello and questions-
There won't be a problem if you apply for UK visas while your husband is applying for his US citizenship, but I would advise that you don't move until he has his citizenship. Most people on this forum have obtained their citizenship between 3 and 6 months. Its a pretty easy process.
The EEA family permit is taking about 12 weeks these days.
Why are you contemplating a move to the UK at this time?
From your posts I don't think you are coming over with a job to go to, and unemployment is still pretty high in the UK. Presume that you are using the Job seeker option for your application?
I should think that finding a job will greatly influence where you finally live. No point in moving to Cornwall which is lovely but the job your husband finds is in Leeds.
The EEA family permit is taking about 12 weeks these days.
Why are you contemplating a move to the UK at this time?
From your posts I don't think you are coming over with a job to go to, and unemployment is still pretty high in the UK. Presume that you are using the Job seeker option for your application?
I should think that finding a job will greatly influence where you finally live. No point in moving to Cornwall which is lovely but the job your husband finds is in Leeds.
Aug 29th 2012, 9:48 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 217
Re: Another hello and questions-
Hi SanDiegogirl and thanks for the reply.
We're wanting to move to the UK for several reasons.
I've always wanted to live abroad, and England has always been at the top of my list, I have always felt enthralled with the UK- I think the people are much more like me in so many ways and I feel sure I was born and brought up in the wrong country. I realize that probably sounds pretty strange but I'm not sure how better to put it.
Also my husband is Swedish and while we don't want to live in Sweden I think it would be nice to be that much closer to family.
I think living overseas is an excellent thing to do with kids- show them the world, that there's so much more out there.
Thanks for the info and ideas on work.
We're wanting to move to the UK for several reasons.
I've always wanted to live abroad, and England has always been at the top of my list, I have always felt enthralled with the UK- I think the people are much more like me in so many ways and I feel sure I was born and brought up in the wrong country. I realize that probably sounds pretty strange but I'm not sure how better to put it.
Also my husband is Swedish and while we don't want to live in Sweden I think it would be nice to be that much closer to family.
I think living overseas is an excellent thing to do with kids- show them the world, that there's so much more out there.
Thanks for the info and ideas on work.
