Hi all, I'm an early-40s LPR in the US, but want to move back to the UK very soon. It's really important to me to be near to my family (especially as Dad ages, and my young adored niece grows up), and I also really miss my lifelong friends (I've made some nice friends here, but these friendships by and large are not the same as those UK ones of 20, 30+ years' standing), the UK culture, countryside, bustling town centres and so on.

However, the thought of it is terrifying me. I have a stable job here (associate professor at a university) in the US with a decent income. Moving back will almost certainly involve shifting career tracks somewhat, with a hefty (30%? 40%? 50%?) paycut, at least in the short term (next few years?) while I work my way up. I'm also worried about the long-term political and economic situation. Got decent savings, so that's not a worry, but everything else is! Should add I'm single, no kids, which is kind of a double-edged sword (no one to share the burden/stress with, but also don't have to worry about how they'll adjust).

Would love to hear any success stories of people who've made a successful transition recently, how you faced the fears, and how it's gone.

Welcome to the site and good luck with your move, I can certainly see how challenging it is.

When my wife and I moved back in 2016 we had each other plus we were retired so had no job or money concerns. Our son is single and he gave up his job in the USA with no job in the UK and we thought he was brave to do so. He was aged 38 and had us here to help out. He moved in with us and within 3 months had bought a house and secured a job. Our daughter moved back in 2022 bringing her US/Australian partner with her and she retained her US job and transferred to a UK branch of the company. She also moved in with us for 3 months while she bought a house here.

We are all loving being back in England and are so pleased we made the move after 30 years in the USA. It was a great adventure and we made plenty of friends but it’s just not the same. This week we have had our friends staying with us from Scotland. We have known each other for over 50 years and shared a house together during our final year at university. Magic.

I lived in the US for 20+ years, LPR, stable employment etc. Then early retirement, gave up green card, moved back to the UK in 2024. I am still wading through US exit tax woes but that's as much due to poor planning on my part as anything else (and I didn't know what I didn't know because I hadn't found forums like this.) Last year I was second guessing every single decision I made and wondering why I had ever decided to come back - mainly due to feeling overwhelmed by everything. That is definitely part of the double edged sword of being solo, there's no one there to pick up the slack when I'm having a bad day. And half the time I still feel like I'm a foreigner here, because I've missed 20+ years of politics and culture. But I remember feeling like this when I first moved to the US and didn't understand any of the cultural (and sports) references there, so I know that this will pass.
As to how to get over your fears, that depends on the type of person you are. I'm a bit of an Eeyore and a list maker, so thinking of all possible things that can go wrong then having a plan for them is what gives me the illusion of control and comfort. But that might make want to you curl up in a corner and hide under a blanket. What you need to remember is that you HAVE moved to another country before, successfully, so you know that you CAN move back again successfully.

Thanks for your good wishes! This is encouraging, and great to hear your son and daughter made the transition so smoothly!

Thanks for the advice. I am someone who definitely thinks of all the things that could go wrong, and so like to contingency plan. Congrats on the retirement!

To oversimplify things, when you look ahead long term, do you think you would be happier living in the USA or the UK IN 5, 10, 15 years? I can’t imagine living in the USA now given the political climate but that’s me not you.
My husband is British by birth and I’m Canadian. We recently moved to the UK and I have no regrets. A different situation as we’re both retired. He’s 80 and had lived in Canada since 1966 and I’m 77 and lived in Canada until our move here. Sometimes you just have to follow your heart.

Hi,
You are young people so much older then you have gone back after years here in the USA yes it is very stressful all the things you have to do to go back, but I for one will go back in April next year if you are on FB look at the Expat sites moving to the Uk so many stories.Change like this is huge but you have not been here long,and the longer older you get that feeling does not leave.Better to go now then wait Money is important but happiness out ways it.You will be fine go for a month or so check out how you feel, although hoildays feel great no stress ,moving take one step at a time list what you need to do.

One piece of contingency planning to start thinking about NOW is: what if you get to the UK then decide it was all a big mistake and you want to return to the US. If you think you will want to keep your options open, look into how to keep your green card valid while being absent from the US.

If a long term polictical and economic situation concerns you then you will be no better in the UK. I would stay where you are or at least look for somewhere in the US you like better. The bustling town centres you mention in the UK are now nothing more than hotspots for anti-social behaviour which generally goes unchecked and is getting worse.

Personally, I would not move back without a job to go to.......

I'm 86, and my wife and I lived in our Caribbean island since the late '70s; she died there a few years ago. Currently, I'm having an extended visit to my only child's and daughter-in-law's home in Ecuador - and I may well see my life out here. Yes, I would be leaving behind the friends we/I made in all those years, but my immediate family comes first. (It's only for a few years, let's face it!) There are grandchildren living in Norway, but they are free to visit me here. I offer this snippet just in case it's useful to anybody visiting this thread.

Oh the UK, I think! In a few years' time, I think/hope I will be well-settled in the UK and not looking back. Happy retirement to you!

Great tip, thanks, just been researching this

I moved back from Nova Scotia in April this year and all I can say is so far so very very good. I did make the move after securing a job - not sure how I would have felt about it just jumping in again.

I have found Geordieland to be a more positive place than when I left. There seem to be less wee scrotes around looking trouble. Been out a few nights in newcastle and the agression there used to be seems to be largely absent these days. Geordieland, and Belfast where I was recently rediscovering the cheap long weekend city break, both feel like they are developing economically. Houses, decent houses that are not glorified garden sheds wrapped in a plastic bag, are affordable, certainly for me anyway, in a way they never were in Halifax (not that I would have bought one of those shacks).

The way the media talks about the place you would think it is falling apart and everyone is skint. There is no doubt that it is a little scruffy just now but the entire country seems to be under construction - resurfacing roads etc etc etc. It is helluva lot more expensive than before - a 5 quid pint is unacceptable but is generally so much less expensive than Nova Scotia was. I no longer, for example, pay 1/3 the value of my car to insure it.

NHS time... well, I just went round the corner and registered. My eye test showed something up that they wanted to check. I got a referral three days later to privately run clinic. All sorted. No waiting on lists for ages over here, to then be confronted with the same issue that is hard to get a gp appointment.

I have enjoyed being amongst colleagues who go to work, work hard, and know how to have a bit of banter or even the type of conversation that Canadians melt down about. I defintely enjoy working in an environment where the business just does business and there is no corporate virtue signalling and naval gazing. Now I am out of that environment it is unbelievable how repulsive the idea of going back to it would be.

I am off to Italy tomorrow. I have 28 days paid holiday. Keir Starmer and his bunch of morons don't annoy me as much as Canadian liberals. I don't hear terance and philip types yapping about Trump all day. My own neighbourhood is a lot more multi ethnic and nobody cares, from what I can tell. I wouldn't worry about the political situation over here.

The person above who said there are no bustling town centres is obviously over egging it... in fact I woudl say talking total boll*cks. The UK has the same issues and any modern country but the lifetstyle I have here is magnitudes better than it was in Halifax.

Those were just random thoughts and observations. This has been a great move for me and my wife so far. Good luck in your deliberations.

Although I haven't lived in the UK since a child, one of my motivations is the political situation here in the U.S. I'm retired now for a few years and assumed life here would be quiet and peaceful. But the political upheaval and threat to the democratic and social system has me very worried, in addition to the stability of the economy (as you also mentioned).

It is indeed stressful. In my case, selling a house here, looking for a place to live there, getting rid of a lifelong accumulation of everything. But as things get worse here, the motivation level goes up. So wishing you an eventual and successful move and return.