janine74

Hi there, I am a British citizen been in the states for 30 years as a permanent resident not through marriage i have been one since i was 8. The only people here are my mom and she is elderly and wont go back to england so i will stay here till that dreadful time when my mom goes to heaven. After that my husband and i have thought of moving to England. He is a US citizen. We dont even know where to begin. I know i will be fine but what is the work like to get him there. can he just go with me as i am a BC? my son is also a US citizen he is 15. He has a US passport. I am trying to figure out how to get him a british one if anyone can help me with that too. can he have a us and a british? i dont want to apply for one then get in trouble cause he has a US one. how do you move with pets? these are all the questions we have wondered about. I have ALLLL my family in england that can look for an apartment for us and secure that for us before we go. anyone anyone?

lf1

Hi Janine,

Welcome to BE. I really can't help with your questions, but there are lots of posters on here who will be able to help you. Lots of people have taken pets back and I think there is something in BE Wiki on that subject.

More knowledgeable posters will be along shortly. Where are you planning to move to?

Good luck with everything.

lf1

Janine,

The thread called DEFRA regulations is all about moving pets. I knew there was something on this site.

janine74

Hi there, Bournemouth or Manchester would be our places of choice. I have family from Kingslynn to Bournemouth so the choice is still up in the air. Thanks for the info

johnh009

Lots of questions here, but, regarding pets, lots of people move with pets (I brought a cat from Canada) so I would recommend you start here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/

As for your son, there should be no problem there and you need to start the process on this site:

http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...als/passports/


Good luck. Just take it all a step at a time. PM me if you have any specific questions.

nun

Your son is most likely a UK citizen by descent. Apply for a UK passport for him.

You will have to get a spousal visa for your husband and you will have to meet income and asset requirements to bring him into the UK.

Rusty Chainsaw

It's not all that complicated, but it's all a bit long-winded. Firstly, your husband. You'll need to apply for a spouse visa for him, which will entitle him to enter the UK, work and qualify to use the NHS. Since you've been married more than 4 years, he should be able to immediately apply for indefinite leave to enter (ILE), although he'll have to go to the UK and take the Life In The UK test at one of their approved test centres to qualify for this. It's actually quite an in-depth test and is quite difficult (my wife took hers back in February) - it's much harder than the stupidly easy test I had to take for my US citizenship. There's also a requirement that you have somewhere to live (a hotel will do) and a certain amount of savings so they can be sure you're not applying for benefits the day after you land. We got our visa with $12k in the bank, but the requirements are subject to change. The idea is that you should have enough for your whole family to live on for 3 months. There's been talk that they're going to raise this to enough money for the family to live on for a year, but it hasn't happened yet. What would be your husband's work situation if you moved to the UK? Is he in a field that he'd easily be able to find work in? If not, it might not be a bad idea for him to start looking online using monster.co.uk, jobsite.co.uk or any of the other UK job websites. If he could secure a job in advance, that'd make the visa application that bit more secure.

Next, your son. Assuming you were born in the UK and didn't acquire your citizenship through naturalisation, your son's citizenship is easy. Just apply for his UK passport - you'll have to send your birth certificate as proof of his citizenship by descent. It takes about 8 weeks through the British Embassy in Washington DC.

And, finally, your pets. There's a good thread on this right here in this forum. Basically, it got a lot easier at the beginning of this year as DEFRA relaxed their rules somewhat - you get your pets microchipped with a European standard microchip, and make sure they've had their rabies jabs at least three weeks before you travel. If you're moving a dog, they also have to have a tick treatment 48 hours before they travel. They must also travel in a IATA-approved pet carrier (you can get one at Petsmart, just look for the IATA approval on the tag). Then you just book them on a flight to the UK via an "approved carrier" - BA, Virgin, etc all offer pet shipping, so any of them will do.

You might also look into getting your US citizenship before you go - if things didn't work out in the UK and you wanted to come back to the States, you might face some unpleasant questions at the border, and you might be denied re-entry depending on how long you've been out of the US for and you'll have to forfeit your green card. It's pretty straightforward - you file a form, wait, take an easy test, then get a certificate that you can send off to get your US passport.

nun

All the usual tax and financial caveats with taking US citizenship must be considered.

J.JsOH

Hi,
we brought our pet back to King's Lynn from USA.

We were both originally from UK so we walked straight back into UK (although it took planning to arrange our leaving from US it wasn't difficult, just a whole series of little steps to take)

We did become USC's early in our years in US. We retained our UKC. It is a bit of a burden now, filing our US Tax Reports from UK. If you never ever plan to return to US then you could do without being a USC - but if there is a chance you / your husband / family would want to move back to US then I think it well worth you becoming USC before your move to UK. Your hubby as a USC will need to file his US Tax Report anyway.

SanDiegogirl

Start here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...izens-settled/

If your husband is a US citizen then he will need to apply for a spouse visa and you will have to be his sponsor. You (and another co sponsor) if you need one, will need to prove that you have the monetary means to provide for your husband for, I believe, up to 6 months without recourse to public funds.

Your son will be eligible to apply for a British passport and therefore will not need a visa. He is eligible to have dual nationality. Apply for one at your local British embassy/consulate.

janine74

Rusty chainsaw! wow! you covered every question I had and it for sure doesnt seem that bad! he is in sales. he would find a job easy enough I am sure. However I will have a good savings in the bank at the time that we decide to go. we will have family get us a place ahead of time to go to. the only question i cant seem to get answered is......

i am a BC with a permanent GC my son was born here. I got him a USA passport but i want him to have a British passport. can i just apply for a British one or does he need to give up USA one? I dont want to get in any trouble. I didnt register his birth should i still do that. again i have GC he is US citizen
thanks to everyone on here that is helping answer my questions!!!!

Pombat

There is no problem with holding both a UK and US passport, your son won't have to give one up.

penguinsix

Hi

Green cards are "permanent residency" which means they are "permanent" ONLY while you are "resident" in the United States. If you leave the US, after six months the card may be considered abandoned unless you can make a case at the border that you did not intend to abandon residency (i.e. you still have a house in the US, bank accounts, etc). After 12 months the green card is basically assumed abandoned and you have to make a hard case that it was not your intention.

That is why folks are suggesting citizenship. Having both a US and UK passport is not a problem. You don't have to give up one to get the other and both countries don't really mind if you have both. We have a wiki on some of the things you need to consider about US citizenship. Probably the biggest concern you'll have to deal with is taxes, so take a look at this and you might want to go over some of the tax issues as you work on your budgeting and planning:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pros_a...US_Citizenship

I know this is probably a bit of an interesting time in your house, thinking about "going home" and new opportunities and adventures. You might be a bit excited or nervous or giddy or all of the above. My only suggestion is to think, and then plan for, the opposites of every emotion you are currently experiencing. Really excited about going home to your family and friends and culture? Think about how you will deal with the opposite in five years when your husband and child say "we can't stand the United Kingdom. We are leaving to return 'home' to the USA". Or "I'm so excited to find a new job back where I grew up" and counter that with "what is our plan after 12 months of unemployment."

I'm not saying that it is going to happen, far from it, just that it is probably best to prepare for all possibly outcomes. Good long discussions about "what if" now may save you one day from contentious and difficult arguments later.

There is one other resource you might consider reviewing. It is for Americans living in the UK and called http://talk.uk-yankee.com/. It deals with everything from "how to get a visa for my husband" to "where to find Mexican food in London." There is also a section on homesickness and hard times that mirrors some of the issues you see in this Moving Back to the UK forum. You'll need to pay particular attention to FBAR and FATCA requirements, and also remember that your son will need to register for military service in the US (i.e. the draft) when he turns 18 even if you live in the UK.

Good luck with your decisions.

koreytina

My wife (UKC) and myself (USC) are very seriously considering returning to uk in the next year to 18 months. Im somewhat confused my the means testing for my visa. I'm the main wage-earner in the family and I have a pension of circa 36K GPB annually. I'm only in my early 40's and have an MBA and would like to work while in UK. I have seen several posters mention that UKC must prove they can support spouse for spouse to get visa. Can anyone elaborate?

Rusty Chainsaw

You need to show that you either have a job offer with a liveable salary for both of you (£36k would be adequate), or that you have up to 3 months' worth of expenses saved up. Both, preferably - it's not a fixed rule, they judge the application on its merits in other areas too, but that's the guideline.

They base it on you needing approximately £130 a week each (that's roughly what income support is, so they want to make sure you're not claiming that), so that's (£130 x 2 people) * 13 weeks = £3380 minimum, but I'd make sure you have at least double that to be on the safe side. Also, this figure is likely to change in the near future, as the government are trying to push through changes that would push it up to 12 months' worth of savings (in your case, for two of you, £13,520). if you have kids, you have to factor them in as well.

There's also the question of accommodation - they want to be sure you don't arrive and try to claim housing benefit straight away. So you'll have to show that you have a place to live when you get there. This could either be you securing a rental in advance, or they'll also accept a long-term (ie, longer than a month) hotel booking. If you're planning on staying with relatives, you have to get a letter of support from them stating that it's OK for you to live there, how much rent you'll be charged, and whether your relative is renting, has a mortgage or if the property is paid off. If it's a rental, you also need a letter from your relative's landlord stating their approval, and if it's a mortgaged or fully owned property, you need to include a copy of the property's record on the Land Registry showing their name. If you will be paying rent, you need to factor this into your savings, as above (ie, making sure you've got 3 months of rent in the bank as well as the other £3380).