Kady

Hello All: I have several questions and thought I would start here.

1) My husband needs to renew his British passport while living in the USA

2) We are planning on moving back to the UK. We are married. Should I apply for a visa while we still live in the US or wait until I get to the UK?

3) We are planning on taking our 2 dogs with us on the move to the UK. Any suggestions on making the paperwork & trip easier? I have been on the Defra website and it is so confusing. Any suggestions on a certified vet in Indianapolis, IN to fill out the paperwork on the Pet Scheme? Not sure if my vet would be qualified.

Thanks so much in advance for your help.

JAJ

1. Is your husband now a US citizen, or does he want to abandon his green card?

2. ABSOLUTELY you have to get the right UK visa before you leave. If you show up as a tourist you will have to go back to the USA.

Kady

He is NOT a US citizen and yes, he will abandon his green card.

JAJ

Interesting. Why does he want to do that?
What happens if he wants to come back to the USA later on?

Kady

Because he is not settled in the US and really does not want to live here anymore. Maybe a visit would be all he is up for.

Squirrel

It's great that you want to take the pooches. Defra is a bit confusing but I think if you search BritishExpats you'll be able to find a step-by-step guide to the pet passport scheme. You need to start more than 6 months before your planned moving date as the 6 months don't start counting down until the dogs have been blood tested to ensure the rabies vaccine has taken.

The paperwork is the complicated bit, the medical bits aren't too hard, aside from the rabies vaccine there's the microchip and then 48 hours before they fly the dogs need a tick & tapeworm treatment. The vaccine and tick and tapeworm type have to be specific, I'm not sure about the type of microchip but the animal reception people will need to be able to read the chip with their reader.

British passports are taking quite a long time to get renewed in the US at the moment so your DH should get his application in asap.

Funnily enough getting your spouse visa will be the quickest of the 3 things. If you've been married over 4 years you might want to put a little note in with your application to ensure they give you the right visa as once you have passed the Life In The Uk test you're entitled to Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain right away. If while you're preparing the dogs for their pet passports you happen to visit the UK, you can take the test and then send in the pass certificate with your spouse visa application form. That way you should get ILE right away without the annotation about having to pass Life in the UK. The pass certs do not have an expiry date.

Squirrel

Oh if you want a Life in the UK book to study from, I have one that a Kiwi/Oz citizen friend at my work gave me thinking my American husband would be interested. My DH isn't bothered about getting UK citizenship though and when he got his permanent residency you didn't have to pass the Life in the UK (a few years ago). My Aussie colleague said the test was really easy.

We're going on holiday tomorrow so not back at work until Monday and the book is in my desk, but if you like PM me and I'll post it to you when I get back.

DDL

Not to sound discouraging, but I thought the Life in the UK test was anything but 'really easy' ! I passed it (2010) , but I studied my *&$ off and found it very, very challenging.

Kady

Thank you everyone for your help on this. It is a bit daunting but I'm not the first one to do it and won't (I'm sure) be the last. It just seems so much to do to get ready and get everything correct so we won't be turned away.

Kady

Thanks for the help. Just to be curious, what kind of questions do they ask? Just a few would be fine to let me know. I don't want to take up too much of your time. Are you American that moved to England?

Kady

Husband's passport doesn't run out until October, 2012. When do you think we should submit application? About the spouse visa, we've been been married 10 years this coming January. Does the spouse visa have an expiry date? I've been wondering about that. Do you know if the pet passport also has an expiry date? Gosh, all so daunting. Will I make it!!!!

dunroving

http://lifeintheuktest.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/

- if you use Google, there are example questions available online:

http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/1

http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/2

Paul B

I'm English, born and bred, but I failed it miserably doing the on-line practise test.....

Kady

Sounds like they want you to fail. My husband is born & bred and I bet he would fail the test too. What a crock! Thanks Dunroving for this info. At least, I know what I am up against. I need to study.

Beedubya

I got 48%

I have sent the link to a young colleague at work who has never lived anywhere else but here and he said he is going to have a go today at lunch time and reckons he will pass no worries.

We shall see.