Elaine B.

Here's the story so far:

I've been feeling pretty homesick recently and I'm driving myself nuts and probably a few of you who have heard me complaining on other threads.

Anyway, we moved to Canada from Northern Ireland back in 1999 my OH is Canadian (he did live in Northern Ireland from the age of 14). I'm 33 and he is 34. We have 2 kids a girl aged 4 months and a boy who is almost 5. I'm on Maternity leave at the moment (no I'm not depressed) but usually I work for a lawyers (feel free to boo and hiss) as a clerical assistant/receptionist. OH is a self-employed technician who works mostly on the road with UK bands or when he's at home in the basement fixing guitars and amplifiers. Neither of us earn a great deal but we have managed to buy a house and stay out of debt.

All sounds lovely doesn't it! However recently I've been feeling like I really don't want to spend the rest of my life here. The thought of being back home close to my family and friends seems to out weigh the positives about staying in Canada.

My OH isn't totally against the idea of moving back but he dreads the thought of starting all over again, and going back to renting again. Also with him being self-employed he reckons the tax system in the UK will screw him over. He has a long list of reasons not to go and it seems I only have one reason to go.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Elaine

mika24me

Hello

I can tell you that there have been some recent changes to the tax system for UK self employed people. we only arrived home a week ago so I am still finding out the details, but it looks like we can pay tax direct from money earnt. Looks much simpler, would be worth speaking to an accountant in UK to decide whether or not this should be a 'no' factor when making the decision to come home.

Mel

JAJ

Before you start thinking about anything else, do you have your Canadian citizenship?

And did your OH get his British citizenship when he lived in Northern Ireland? (or did he already have it from his parents)?

Elaine B.

I don't have my citizenship yet, I'll be mailing the application next week. It was only after joining BE that I realized I better get working on that.

My OH doesn't have his British Citizenship and unfortunately both his parents were born in Canada. He used to have some kind of stamp on his Canadian Passport that give him the right to live and work in the UK but it's not valid anymore and now he has to get a work permit when he goes back there to work.

Elaine B.

The whole self-employed thing can really be a pain it would be great if things were being made a little more straight forward.

JAJ

In other words, he must have had Indefinite Leave to Remain. It is a shame that he didn't become a British citizen when he had the chance.

He should look at http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk as he might be able to get entry clearance as a returning resident especially if his spouse and children are British citizens and he has kept ties to the U.K.

Otherwise he will need a spouse visa. But returning resident will be preferable. After 3 years in the U.K. he can apply for British citizenship.

I presume you've already obtained British passports for your children (they are automatically British if you were born in the United Kingdom). If so, they won't need visas.

Elaine B.

Thanks for the info.

Believe me OH really wishes he had sorted out his British citizenship too, D'oh!

I only realized a few weeks ago that the children are entitled to British Passports, so I will be sorting that out soon, especially now that the 4 month old can hold her head up for a picture!!

karni31

Hi ElaineB,

You have a difficult decision to make, no doubt about it. I am from Northern Ireland too (county Down)...been in Oz for 8 months with my Australian fiance but am returning back to the Mountains of Mourne in 2 weeks.

While I like Australia, its a great country, like you, I just couldnt bear the thought of spending the rest of my life here away from friends and family. Unfortunately my fiance refused to go back with me so our relationship has ended..so I can empathise with how you feel about your OH not wanting to go back.

Perhaps you just need to do a little more research on trying to convince him, find out house prices at home (apparently the house prices in Northern Ireland at the minute are dropping after going through the roof a while back), finding out what u could both expect to earn, and the self-employed tax issue.

Perhaps if he understands just how much you miss home and your family he will be more open to the move.

Let us know how u get on!
K

Tootsie Frickensprinkles

Can't really help with the decision, but just on one of your concerns. Whilst being self-employed is not simple - it is far from going to screw you over. Good self employment with some wise tax advice is better than being PAYE tax wise in anyones books .. even after IR35 which closed many loopholes (particularly around NI). The biggest loss is a contibutory pension scheme but in todays world .. how much of a loss might that be?

If it's just a feeling he has, I would definitely do some deeper research.

ShozInOz

It sounds like a matter of the heart and so probably no-one can advise, but you may get some different experiences.

We returned from Australia in April 2006 for a variety of reasons, including family and friends. We plan to return to Australia in April 2008. The reason for us for returning is that living in the UK with children is very different to living inthe UK with children. We are lucky as we live ina nice part of the UK. But still the weather is, on average, poor. Things that were not so much of a big deal really are for us with children as we are so much more housebound. It just isn't what we want as a life. But we will lose even more this time by leaving, as some family have a close bond with our daughter, but they all live a long way away and that just isn't a good enough reason to stay.

The only advice I would offer is to come back for a few weeks before comingback permanently. For some it works out. For others it doesn't.

Elaine B.

Thanks everybody for the replies. I guess I've got a lot of thinking and research to do before I can really make any decision. For now I'll just try and get on with things and not drive myself and my husband nuts! It's good to know I'm not the only one who is confused.