Simply put, yes we're legally married. If Susan is returning to the UK permanently, which hoops do I need to jump though to live and work there? I'm sure the answer is buried somewhere on-line, but do I really have to do a full-on immigration application?

(Somehow it all looks so simple in the movies!) (And King Charles III is about to open our parliament this month, so surely that counts for something?)

Thanks for any quick answer, then we'll take it from there.

Barry

Unless you have British Ancestry which could make you eligible for an Ancestry visa (or you have some ancestry which would allow you to register as a Brit), then yes, you have to go through the full immigration application.

Your wife will be you sponsor; there are financial requirements .....
Start here:

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

Takes about 3 months to process unless you pay for priority.

I agree with SDG. ... Please advise of the citizenship (passports and location of birth) of your grandparents. Post-Brexit it will only help if they were British or Irish.

Note: an ancestry visa, while attractive for some people seeking to "return to their roots" (in the UK), is issued based on the understanding that you will be seeking employment (including self-employment), so that route isn't suitable for everyone.

Sadly, we go back at least a couple of generations in Canada or the US. Sigh.... Maybe I'll just move back to France, where I have a visa, and look for a route from there.

Grumble, grumble, Brexit...

You'll still need to sponsor your wife and enter under UK immigration rules, even if you live in France..... Brexit......

As SDG said above, where you seek to emigrate from is irrelevant. .... And I think visa applications require you to be an established resident of the country where you apply from. So moving to France might actually make the process harder, unless you first establish residency there. And even if you do, in the best case scenario it will be no easier to apply from France than it would be to apply from Canada.

Having any sort of citizenship or right of residency in the US is wholly irrelevant, and under some circumstances it is harder to immigrate to the UK from the US than from Canada (or other former British colony/ possession), such as the ancestry visa, which isn't available to US citizens.

Just to close this out, thank you folks. I'm curious to see if UK paperwork is harder or easier than French paperwork.

If nothing else, we're both looking forward to a return to A4 instead of 8 1/2 x 11.

IME (my wife is American and used to old a UK residencty visa) UK spouse visa applications are fairly straight forward, just be sure to answer the question as written, not the question that you think is being asked, nor try to twist the question to your personal situation. .... You may find the BE UK spouse/ family visas subforum useful.