So my husband and I have decided we are moving to England. I moved to Canada 8 years ago and we have 2 very young kids and I'm home sick and need more support. So home it is!
We are doing the savings route. I'm absolutely bricking it so just looking for encouragement more than anything
I'm only 28 (almost 29) so I'm not so settled in Canada that it's hard for me to leave. My husband is born and raised in Alberta so he's scared too but really excited. He works in video production, photography and motion graphics so I don't think a job will be too hard to come by, especially in London.
Although we will be in Northamptonshire, but it's pretty quick by train.
Anyway, any words of encouragement or advice would be great! Thanks all x

Congratulations!!! Hope everything goes smoothly for you!!

Well, from not so far ... we moved back last year and have no regrets at all.
Good luck with the move

Good for you. Wish I had followed my instincts many years ago.. Your husband sounds like he has some good work skills. Your children are young and I am sure your family will be delighted to have you back home. All the best.

Thanks everyone. It feels like such a long process to move back home. I can't believe how difficult it is for my husband to be able to get a visa.

Do you apply for him in while your in Canada or do you have to go back to ol blighty while he stays and then in UK apply to sponsor him (as long as you have the job with 18k a year) ?

We are applying from Canada and doing the savings route (£62,500 lump sum)

I am so excited for you!! You are so lucky to have a husband willing to start a new life in your home country! I wish mine was like that, it seems i am getting further and further away from any kind of return home with him or me for that matter.

Well done and good luck with the move. We did it almost 2 years ago and dont regret it for a second.

Congratultions !!! we lived in Alberta for 10yrs and decided to move back for a number of reasons. I could list them,but it would take a while lol ! Anyhow once we decided to move back,it was one roller coaster ride of emotions. My son was 13yrs old and had grown up over there,and 13yrs old was a difficult age anyhow.But we thought,it was now or never ! I can say it has taken him a while to settle,as it was a huge culture shock for him (we have been back 2.5yrs). But every thing has worked out fine,and we don't regret for one minute about the decision we made to move back home. I love the UK !!!! and we are in the process of buying a house in the lake district .....beautiful !

I want to wish you all the best too. The main reason we're planning our move back is to be able to have the grandparents and other family closer and also to be able to care for my parents as they get more elderly. We have two small kids and feel very alone here. My wife's parents aren't really family people and we hardly ever see them so everything is down to us. School vacations are tough and everything is expensive as if we want to do anything at all we have to pay out to either have a babysitter or have the kids in daycare. I want them to be able to spend that time with Nanny!

I can only imagine with your husband's set of skills, he will be able to find work fairly easily. My skill set is similar and I'm planning on either freelancing or finding something more full time. We'll see!

In any case, good luck to you!!

Your situation sounds quite similar to mine. I've really struggled since the kids were born. We have no support what so ever except each other. As you can imagine, it strains our relationship, we get to no time for ourselves or each other. I love my kids dearly but everyone needs a break once in a while. It's definitely the #1 reason we are going back. Thanks for the well wishes
Have any of you tried the savings route or know anyone that has?

We're doing the savings route too. At least that's the plan for now. We were planning on physically moving in Feb or March 2015 but over the last few weeks an opportunity has come up for my wife to get an inter-company transfer to the UK. This is in some ways fabulous as her initial visa will be done by her firm and they will also pay some of our moving costs. But on the other hand, it might push out the move date a month or two. Worst case scenario is that we get over there by the summer ready for school starts in the Autumn. Schools are a whole different challenge!

So for now I am trying to work as hard as I can and get the house ready to sell and belongings gone through ready for garage sales or packing. It's a daunting task so I'm happy to get started early.

When are you going? That's funny about Northants as that's one place we might end up depending on what happens with the other half's job. Cheers!

Hi,
I am getting ready to apply using the saving route next week. I have all the docs ready. I am very worried about the whole process.
Check out this thread: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=828165 for someone who just got the visa using the saving route. There are some very useful links further down in the thread.
Good luck
Cheers
Nigel