Moving back to the UK from USA
 

I am a UK citizen and I've been in the US for the past 8 years.
I have been married to a US citizen for over 6 years and have a Green Card.
We are thinking about moving back to the UK sometime this year.

Q. What is involved in getting my wife residency in the UK with me?
Q. Would there be any issue with either of us registering with an NHS GP? I have heard different stories about people being denied NHS treatment if they have been out of the UK for a while.

Thanks,
Andy

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Have you thought of getting your Citizenship first so all options remain open?
For spouse visa you may want to ask on www.UK-yankee.com Theres a lot of USC married to UKC moving to UK on there.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

please visit the WIKI at the top of this page for info on settlement visas for spouses

you appear to have a very straight forward case

once you both enter UK you are both entitled to full NHS care same as any other resident

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Thanks for the info.
I took a look at the spouse immigration page and it does indicate that having being married for 4+, it should be straightforward. Here's the paragraph:

Persons Married for 4+ years outside UK:
If you have been married (or in an equivalent relationship) for more than 4 years outside the UK there is a quicker pathway to ILR.
You may be issued a special type of spouse visa that allows you to upgrade immediately to ILR after doing the Life in the UK Test, ie, no need to wait the 2 years.
In theory you could come to the UK as a tourist and sit the Life in the UK Test in advance, allowing issue of a visa leading to immediate ILR on admission to the UK. However, in reality this is difficult if the test administrators demand a Home Office reference number.

But..... what does this really mean? Would we still have to apply for ILR for my wife before we entered the UK?

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spouse_Immigration-UK


Are you planning to abandon your green card?

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

My understanding is that the forms are the same it's just a note that you put in the application that you would like to go for ILE. My reading is then that if you could not supply the KoL certificate and meet the other requirements you would be give a visa with a KoL endorsement, allowing the spouse to move to the UK, subsequently take the test and supply the certificate and then get ILR.

Also I believe that ILE is given outside of the UK and ILR when inside the UK.

By the way this is my limited understanding of it and as a newbie on these boards. I've just been using the search function and reading as much as I can.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Not necessarily. I can keep my green card if we returned to the US within 2 years.

(Response to JAJ above)

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Not true.
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Green_Card_Abandonment

Discuss further on USA forum.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

I would look into it very carefully. It could become a sticky wicket really quickly.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like we'll need to make some tough choices before making any decisions on this.
Cheers,
Andy

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

If you become a US citizen, the problem of losing your green card goes away.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

Yeah, that would make things easier, but I've only had my Green Card for a about a year. Got to wait another 2 years to apply for citizenship.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

You said in your first post that you've been married to a US citizen for 6 years and in the USA for 8 years. Did something unusual cause a delay in getting a green card? Normally someone with that combination of circumstances would either be a US citizen now, or eligible for citizenship.

Re: Moving back to the UK from USA
 

I was on a 7 year L1a visa and we just procratinated about getting the green card until we had to do it.