killerhales

I've posted before about my family's planned return to the UK in early 2012. My wife and daughter are very keen to return and I am happy to support their wishes and see upside for all three of us.

Over the Christmas break I met with one of my former employers which is a multinational company with a subsidiary in the UK. The low-down is that employment back in the UK is unlikely at the moment, but a role outside the UK is quite possible. I work in a fairly specialised area of food/beverage manufacturing.

My daughter will be attending uni in the UK and the plan is for us to live somewhere near, but not too near.

So a possible scenario is for us to buy a house in the UK, where my wife will spend most of the time, with me living and working elsewhere, with visits from my wife and daughter (and vice versa).

There are obvious risks and drawbacks, but a job in the UK with this company would be available at some point in the future, so this is a kind of a route back.

I have a friend of similar age/experience who returned home without a job well over a year ago who is still unemployed; a scenario which scares the pants off me!

So, my question is, does anyone else have experience or know anyone who has tried this kind of arrangement with their family and how it has worked out?

I will also be exploring other (smaller) UK companies in my line of work but I'm looking for a relatively "big" job so the number of opportunities is limited.

BostonBrit Expat Since 03

If you are moving back, you have to prove your intent to settler pemanently, thats impossible if you work abroad at the start, its almost as if you have to go to the uk first and then work abroad, but even this may look suspect, im not sure how strict they will be at the interview......I am in the same boat and don't want to move back with my wife and new kiddie without a job either, im personally hoping for a company trabsfer......we'll see how its pans out, I have a time frame similar to.

Mummy in the foothills

Why does he have to prove intent to settle permanently. they are Brits can buy a house and come and go as they please.
The daughter will have to pay international fees, as do many EX Pat kids.

BostonBrit Expat Since 03

I stand corrected, didnt realize they were all brits, no issues then immigration wise, thats a tough situation, international student fees are bloody expensive I almost moved back for an MSc until I noted that little issue, thats life as a VISA monger, you feel like tom hanks in terminal man

Mummy in the foothills

Poor Tom I loved that movie
I thought I was missing something and re read the original thread that why I asked.
We added up the cost of international fees verses Staying here for Ds, turns out it would have been a wash. He went to Uni about 45mins from home and stayed in the dorms, I really wasn't ready to let him go so far, (not sure if he was) so it worked out, he moved back last June to UK and is busy working and driving his Grandma crazy

killerhales

Thanks guys, yes, we're Poms/Ockers 50/50 so have some freedom there.

The fees thing is a fact of life, however annoying. We are very fortunate to have the resources to cope with it, many others don't.

My wife tells me not to worry, as even the international uni fees are less than my daughter's school fees currently, as we pay extra for the IB on top of the regular fees. Anyhow, that's our choice.

We have stashed what's needed away in premium bonds, just for a laugh really, but if the million comes up then I won't have to worry about a job!!

I want to be there to help wife and daughter settle back in, but like I said, I have never been unemployed and don't intend to start now.

johnh009

You have only to demonstrate that you have returned to the UK to settle (as opposed to passing through) to access the NHS. There is nothing to stop you returning to the UK, buying or renting a house, and then going to work abroad, many people living in the UK work overseas. This way you will still be able to access the NHS. This is what I did. Of course, your arrangement with the taxman is another story and depends on your own circumstances and income. Too complicated to get into here.

Englishmum

You probably don't know of my situation, but right now I split my time between our house in New Jersey and a rental apartment in Singapore (where my spouse - also English - is on an expat posting). Our son is at uni in NJ and our adult daughter lives in West London. My spouse has been in Singapore since October 2008 but has to travel frequently to Zurich and London.

We did get a few raised eyebrows when he took up the posting and I think a few people thought we were splitting up - but our marriage is very strong. He left the US as the company wanted him to come off his final salary UK pension scheme and begin a new one from scratch in the US - in his late 40s! He's been with the same employer for 25 years. I'm hanging out in NJ to get US citizenship - hopefully by late 2012 - and then we will probably return for good to the UK. Throughout our marriage (and when we were dating) he was always flying off on business trips, so I've always been used to being apart.

I was having lunch a couple of weeks ago with my friend from our condo in Singapore; the family - with four kids - is British and her spouse works in a management position for a construction company allied to the oil industry. They will have to leave Singapore by the end of March this year as there is no more work for him as the project he is working on is ending.

What they are planning to do is for the wife and kids to move to the Norwich area where they have family connections, and he will almost certainly go off and work (on single status) in the Middle East. It's a second marriage for both and he was doing this before they met and whilst they were dating. She knows it won't be easy being almost like a single parent (and no longer having a live-in maid LOL!) but her eldest is at the GCSE stage and they've decided it's better to stay 'put' in one place for a few years, whilst he can earn a very large salary in the ME (where typically he would work for a few weeks and then get a few weeks off, so lots of time to fly back to the UK to spend time with the family).

There are many families in the UK where (typically the dad) is away working overseas so it's not that unusual; for example there are loads of guys on the oil rigs in the North Sea and working for oil companies in places like Azerbaijan and the ME. When you think about it there are people in the airline industry and long-distance truckers who spend a long time away from home because of their jobs.

Oddly enough I was chatting with my friend here in NJ yesterday and she is very friendly with a Scottish family living in the town next to where I live. The wife is the 'breadwinner' and the spouse is the house-husband (although they employ a nanny to care for the kids). She works for a very famous Wall Street bank and constantly travels on overseas business trips. They are leaving NJ in the Spring and returning to the UK: he will live in Scotland with the children (and granny next door) and she will be based in London and commute home to Scotland at the weekends.

You will have no problems if your marriage is strong.