vmanderson

Moved from the UK about 15 years ago, to marry a bloke from the USA. My Mum is now 75 and I've been wondering for past few years, if I'll regret not being closer. She refuses to leave Ol' Blightly. So.... we finally decide it's now or never, tentatively setting a time frame of mid next year. Start researching what we have to do, only to find it's not quite as simple as just selling up/applying for jobs. Spousal visas and yadda yadda!!!??? Yes, totally MIND BLOWN! There was me thinking the toughest part would be our fur-kid, Dexter the Doberman and quarantine - yet he's seemingly going to be the easiest. I'm already utterly exhausted reading all the threads. Gin time, me thinks!

Kiwikaye

Welcome to the club! We're hoping to move back next year too from Oz but need a spouse visa for me. OH is a Brit is he and the kids are fine. The current rules are punitive IMO, especially for people who are in long-term, stable relationships.

Best of luck.

vmanderson

Thanks so much! Yes, I totally agree! You'd think they'd want to encourage Brits to come back, but what would I know? Good luck to you too! Seems like the shorterned version is - the Brit has to move first, get a job with enough salary, then apply for the Visa?

dunroving

Welcome, and commiserations - whoever said that being an expat was easy?

There is a whole section of this forum on bringing a non-EU spouse into the UK, so rather than wait for answers to your questions, you might find it quicker to trawl through the threads in that section first.

I am no expert on the spouse thing (didn't bring one back) but I think the UK spouse does not have to come back first if (a) they have enough savings or (b) they can get a job set up before returning.

As far as dogs are concerned I do have experience with that and yes, it is a LOT easier than it used to be!

London1947

This my story,

Me I'm a duel US/UK Citizen my wife is a US Citizen. We got married in the US June of 2012 and had hired Immigration firm located in New York in order to get her spousal visa done. We realized that all the regulations and all the paperwork involved was very confusing. This company has British lawyers with another office in London. Everything was done via email and phone. They took care of my wife's spousal visa so well that on a visit to New York we took flowers into their office on Madison Ave. Our lawyer was a Jennifer Stevens she being from the London office. The cost was 5-6K includes all charges with the UK border Agency. They dealt with all the paperwork concerning the UK Border Agency. It was money we could ill afford but for a piece of mind it was in the end worth every penny. On a spousal visa you have 27 months to take the living in the UK test and then apply for the ILR ( Indefinite leave to remain ) that will cost 600 GBP. So in conclusion my wife is about to take the test of which there are 24 questions for you to answer this cannot be done on line you have to go to a test in the local area that you choose to live. The questions are quite bizarre for eg. who opened the first curry restaurant, you may laugh but that is on the list of thousands of questions. So in conclusion it would be worth a call to their NY office there is no charge and they would no doubt advise you the best way to go about this complicated and difficult paperwork.

Our Services | Immigration Lawyers | London | New York | Laura Devine

I hope the link helps.

Regards
John and good luck.

SanDiegogirl

Did you not have to apply for a visa in order to move to the US?

Applying for a spouse visa for the UK these days does require a minimum financial requirements (as does a spouse visa for the US) but, if all requirements are in place, UK spouse visa have been issued within 6 weeks with premium services whereas the US spouse visa is taking between 7 and 10 MONTHS.

Read the following to see how you qualify for the financials:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf

vmanderson

Thanks, lol, I know right?! Will keep on reading, yesterday it was just too much and I began to freak out. lol Now I realise why I've been putting it all off, hahaha.

If we manage to secure jobs prior to, then it sounds like it's all a lot easier.

Yes! So thrilled about not having the whole quarantine ordeal. We just need to decide if we are doing the flight or QM2. Which route did you take and why?

vmanderson

Thanks John! Getting a lawyer would be ideal, but dropping 5-6K is out of the question for us, lol. Maybe we should consider legal advice, but do the work ourselves?

Thanks for the heads up on the test and nutzo questions. I'd been debating doing the dual citizen thing. When I read the questions, I bet 99% of Amercians have no clue. The whole thing is ludicrous.

vmanderson

I didn't do the whole spouse visa coming to the USA. We were in love, naive and stupid. The dumb decisions we made resulted in a lawyer, fines and a lot of $. Lesson learned.

Thanks for link! I'm still finding the financial qualifications confusing. We won't have the savings to qualify, but salary qualifications will be fine, once one or both of us find employment.

Kiwikaye

Just remember that for the initial visa application, only your salary will apply, as the British citizen. Once you get to the 2.5 year point applying for FLR, then both salaries will count towards the amount.

vmanderson

Yeah, thanks! I'm hoping that's not going to be an issue. I'm earning more now, even with a cushy W@H job doing live chat, cust service. Only took the stress free job, to make it easier to do online college at same time.

Bnet36

We are in the same boat. OH is a US citizen and I am the Brit. I will be forced to tell my employer well ahead of time as I need to do a job search and secure something while still under contract with current job. It seems you cannot have a gap between leaving your current job and securing the UK one. *sigh*

Vadio

Unless you have 'issues' that result in a VERY complicated application (for example, a previously denied visa, overstaying on a tourist visa, felony convictions), no immigration lawyer is EVER needed, and sometimes results in a denial because they don't submit required paperwork.

There's a ton of help on this forum, and even more over on the UK-Yankee forum (UK Yankee | Expat Americans in the UK), which is specifically targeted to folks moving from the US to the UK (and those of us who already have). One person in particular who posts on UK-Yankee knows more about the process and the specifics than any high-priced immigration lawyer.

The key is, as with most things, read the application, the accompanying appendices and the "rules" first and don't get bogged down with how unfair they may appear to be. They "is what they is" and cannot be reinterpreted to suit any of our perceived needs. And, don't forget that if a new government is elected in 2015, more rule changes may be proposed/implemented.

The rules changed in mid-2012. The spouse visa is now 33 months, followed by a 2.5 year "further leave to remain" (FLR) visa before you get ILR.

The Life in the UK test questions have also changed (about a year ago as I recall). When I took the LIUK test in August 2011, there were no questions about who opened the first curry restaurant or anything similar, but there were a couple of questions that were specific to 'every day life'. There is an official study guide which cost about £10 when I bought mine. I read that book cover to cover several times. The test itself was ridiculously easy for a native English speaker IMHO; I completed it in 5 minutes, including tabbing back and forth 3 times just to make sure I had answered everything. With the current 5-year path to ILR, the test may well change yet again, so far too early to be overly concerned about it.

Good luck!

vmanderson

Didn't know about not having a gap in employment? And there was me looking forward a bit of break? What the heck? lol

vmanderson

Nothing complicated for us, thank goodness! We need to do it without any unnecessary cost. As we all know, selling the majority of stuff & starting over (again) is expensive enough!


Appreciate the (UK Yankee | Expat Americans in the UK) link, advice & best wishes! I now have lots more to read.