Hello everyone. I have been lurking on this site for a few years now, thinking longingly about returning to the UK. What was once a pipe dream is finally happening. My wife and I have decided we want to move back to the UK. But I could use some help figuring out how to plan our future. I apologize in advance for asking such basic questions but I appreciate the help.

So I am a Canadian born and my wife is the Brit. I'am the bread winner so to speak and she doesn't want to go back to the UK without me so I know we are limited. We have saved up for the Savings route (through selling our home, now renting). I need to have the money in our joint account for 6 months right?

Can I go back to the UK before her and set up bank accounts and rentals etc.. once we have a visa or do we need to enter the country at the same time?

Does anyone have recommendations for accountants over there? I am self employed and can manage my Canadian business remotely but my brain feels like it is going to explode figuring out how to handle tax laws and monthly transfers of CAD TO GBP until I can move my business to the UK. Is transferwise a good option?

Anyway sorry for the rant. I can't believe this is finally happening and we can't wait to return to the UK (probably Scotland!)

You don't need to wait for six months if your cash savings came from the sale of a property which you had owned for at least six months. You can apply as soon as the funds are cleared into your bank account (and you have the bank statement and proof of sale as evidence).

Once you have your visa, you will need to either accompany or join your wife in the UK. You can't go on ahead of her. Once you have collected your BRP then you are both free to come and go as you please.

I can't help on the accountant front I'm afraid but Transferwise is often highly recommended on this forum as a way to move your money cheaply.

1. If the savings are from sale of home, the, presuming you owned the home at least 6 months before selling it, then the proceeds from the sale do not have to be in your account for 6 months. In other words, you can sell the home, get the net proceeds and use those immediately for the application.

2. No, your wife as the Brit can go first not you.

3. Sorry, can't help with accountants.

Thank you very much BritInParis and SanDiegogirl that is good to know going forward that we have to go at the same and about the savings route!

What banks are most favorable to new arrivals and expats? We both closed our accounts when we left so we have no credit history anymore I guess. We need to have an address before we can get accounts right? So should we rent a holiday let and then find a rental or try and find a rental from Canada?

Is there something massive I am forgetting other than handling bank accounts and somewhere to live essentially?

Finally a bit more of an oddball question but what are house prices like in the UK right now? We were thinking of settling somewhere in Southern Scotland or Northern England. My wife's family is a bit split with some living in Edinburgh and some living in Cornwall but I imagine South west England is really expensive these days? We are planning on renting all over the place to see where we would like to live.

Try contacting your previous UK bank. Often they will still have your details on file and will be able reopen your accounts and update your address without seeing any evidence.

You'll need accommodation sorted out before you lodge your visa application in order to meet the accommodation requirements. Short-term lets are fine as is staying with family and friends so long as you can provide the necessary evidence.

Not before you go. Once you arrive then you'll need to worry about the electoral roll, council tax, registering with a GP, exchanging driving licences, etc.. It sounds like you have both already lived in the UK so you are likely to already have National Insurance Numbers (NINOs). If you can't remember them then you can find them here.

Cooling off a little at the top end compared to the few years, but still very high in London and the South-East. Other parts of the country will vary wildly depending on location. Use a website like Rightmove to give you an idea.

We found Halifax very friendly to set up a bank account with.

We booked a couple of weeks with Airbnb while we found a long term place to rent and that worked out well for us.

House prices vary a lot. We are in south central Scotland near the town of Strathaven and find them very reasonable. The north of England varies more with some places pretty expensive such as Harrogate. The south west of England are now silly money due to lots of people having holiday homes.

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful.

Thats a great tip about Airbnb. I should probably take a look and see what we can find.

I guess Scotland is still probably the best value for land. Its going to be interesting adapting to the Scottish way of life again vs Canada. I will need to get used to good old fashioned British humor again.

About the driving licences, I remember reading here that Canadian licences that are converted to British ones are automatic only. Its been 10 years since I have owned a car in the UK, most cars are still manual aren't they? All of our rentals have been whenever we went to see family. Is there any way to convince them that I know how to drive a manual car? I own one here in Canada! I would rather not retake a driving test if I don't have to.

Will I be able to bring my family over later on once I am a British citizen? It takes years now under new rules to become a citizen right? In Canada it only took my wife 4 years to get her citizenship. We wanted to make sure she was a duel citizen in case some day we want to come back.

If by family you mean parents. brothers, sisters etc then no. There is no chain migration to the UK apart from exceptional circumstances like full dependency on the sponsor.

It will take you 5 years to get to citizenship.

It's 5 years to Indefinite Leave to Remain, and you can apply for citizenship immediately afterwards. You can't bring your family over, they would need to qualify for a visa in their own right.

OFX is the best company for transfering money, I've found. Halifax was easy to set up an account with.

Have you looked into the possibility of getting an UK Ancestry visa? It is easier to get than a spouse visa. You will need to have an UK born grandparent.

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

Re house prices, if you want to have a look at Liverpool at any stage I can help. I'm not an agent, just live and invest in Merseyside.

Automatic transmission cars are common now.

Halifax customers can use their local Bank of Scotland branches in Scotland. As far as I know, the nearest Halifax branch from Strathaven is in Glasgow.

What you are referring to is an exchange licence.
If you have previously held a British licence (no matter how long ago) then you can reinstate it instead of doing the exchange. That avoids the automatic transmission nonsense.

We first arrived in Windsor, hence Halifax. When we loved to Scotland they just transferred our bank to Bank of Scotland, so now my cards are Bank of Scotland. The nearest Bank of Scotkand is Strathaven.

Seems HSBC are now offering what they call and 'Advanced Chequing Account' which has a monthly fee of $25 but for $100 they will transfer it to the UK HSBC branch with 30 days notice. You have to keep a minimum amount of $25,000 in it but it can be opened shortly before you move back.