Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

`Hi all,
I'm sure this has been done to death but in a bid to not spending any more hours trawling through the forms i thought i'd ask for those of you that lived in the US and went back home to England to give me your pros and cons.
My story is, I lived in England my whole life (with temporary moves to Canada and Israel). Got married to an American i met in Israel and moved to USA. We have been here 9 years and 6 of those in beautiful Colorado (south metro area). We have a 4 yr old and a 6 yr old who attend an amazing k-12 charter school. We live in the most affluent beautifully clean and well kept town. My parents moved down the road from us 3 years ago from the UK. It's been wonderful. I don't say this to boast, i say it to give context into my pull to go back home.
The school shootings are terrifying. It's something i have not been ok with. Every time i drop my kids off at school i leave feeling so sad and almost prepping myself that they may not ever come home to me. It sounds over dramatic but i have reason. In the last 2 years there was a STEM school shooting i'm sure you will have heard of, that was 2 miles from my house, opposite my youngest's pre school and my older boy was enrolled in that school until the day before the shooting happened when he got into our 1st choice. PHEW! There was another one planned at the high school down the road from us that was foiled by chance. Then there's the memories of Columbine :( Like i said, we live in a safe beautiful part of the state, there's no safety from mental health issues and guns.
It's just getting too frequent for my liking and i hate that the kids have to 'hide from a bear and suck on a lollipop to stay quiet' during drills.
In 10 years, friendships are shallow but pleasant.

My parents will move to the UK if i leave. They may even go if the administration take away obamacare as their retirement didn't plan for US healthcare but instead for the NHS.

I have US and UK citizenship and we could technically always come back, but we have investments to think about and uprooting the kids is something i wouldn't like to do again if i can help it.

I'm most worried that i have rose tinted memories of England.
I lived mostly in Northamptonshire in the countryside. Something i didn't love as a kid but would love now!
My husband is worried about the weather being depressing but i counter that with easy short trips to spain, france, crete etc.
Living in Colorado is like living in your holiday destination which sounds ideal but what that does is make you not want to explore much else, and when you do you can't wait to come back to colorado. Again, sounds ideal but it means never having that super exciting trip or vacation, not fully feeling like you are unplugging from 'home' (colorado). It's hard to explain.

I believe we would move to Oxford, Maidenhead area if we move. Berkshire area. I would want to enroll the kids in a charter/grammer school if i can.

So please, give me your pros and cons. Please, if you can share also what state you lived in and what county you are in now in the UK.
Please be kind. Apologies, i'm writing this at speed as the kids demand my attention so i'm not at my most articulate!

Many thanks!

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I am still living in the US but have continual contact with family in Bucks. One work to be cautious of is Brexit. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/24/b...son/index.html . I heard on the radio today that one engineering job in the West of England had 15,000 applicants, another paralegal job had 700 applicants, 100 applicants for a hotel job. My niece did get laid off a month ago but has managed to find work, my sister on the other hand has not. Traffic is much worse than when I left 10 years ago. My sister got a parking ticket for being a minute late, she has a blue badge and it was 10 minute parking. That would not happen in America. There are many more flats that have been built, thus creating higher density housing in green belt land. I live in Oregon and even with the Portland stuff going on I feel as safe in the US, maybe safer, than I do in the UK. It is a very different culture.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Also it depends if you are OK with sending your kids to school. Home school options appear to be more organized in the US compared to the UK, but I can only make that decision on my limited observations from me and my family/friends.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

You make the UK sound worse than it is. Getting a parking ticket for being "one minute late" would easily be dismissed considering nearly every council employs a 10-minute window from the expiry time of a parking permit to allow the owner of the car to return to their vehicle and extend their stay or leave. Not only that but if she had a blue badge then she wouldn't need to pay for parking and they can stay anywhere from a few minutes to up to three hours. In either instance, that ticket would be dismissed instantly by any competent local council administrative review board.

What about the UK do you think is making you feel more safe in Portland where there are protests and unidentified men in black snatching up protesters and throwing them into the back of unmarked van?

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Apparently a lot of car parks are privately managed now. Also they don't have people giving out tickets, they have ANPR cameras that watch you coming in and going out. You can google incidents, there was one just last week in an Aldi car park, https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/new...rongly-3753292. My sister is not one that wants confrontation, but it is common enough that which has a whole section on it, https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/new-...ines-explained . It was only £60 whereas in the US they are quite often over $100

Also I guess you have never lived in places like Luton, or Birmigham, where there are stabbings on a weekly basis. I know 25 years ago there were locker inspections in the schools for knives, it has just worse now.Yes, the downtown Portland is an issue, but I can easily avoid that. But where I used to work, in Acton, there are 2 or 3 violent crimes a day in a population of 16,000. Quite often weapons are involved. There are good and bad parts, in both the US and the UK.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

The reality is though, crime and particularly violent crime is far more prevalent in the US than the U.K. by a very large margin. The knife crimes in the U.K. are largely an issue of youth gang on gang and are mainly confined to particular areas. The average member of the public has very little chance of being subject to it.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Must depend on where you are - my children (at secondary) have never had a locker inspection of any kind, neither have their friends at other schools. And nor did I at mine, although that was close to the 25 years ago you've mentioned!

Knife crime is crap in the UK, but it doesn't come anywhere close to firearms offences in the US.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I never had locker inspections either at my school. It highly depends where you live. All I'm trying to say is there are good and bad in both countries. I do hate having to pay for parking when I go to the hospital and you have no idea how long you are going to be. Also the lines in the grocery stores used to be horrendous, and it took a lot longer for the UK to get click and collect up and running for everyone.

However it is great for those quick vacations to Spain.

Northampton is a little bit of a hot spot for the virus. Also Linford Wood is in the top 10 for some unknown reason, about 1 in 300 deaths of the population.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Totally agree.

I've never understood the point of click and collect. I do normally have my groceries delivered every week though, have done for the past 20 years. I hate any kind of shopping, including food shopping!

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I think the biggest difference is click and collect is free and has more time slots available. We would never have used it if it wasn't for the virus.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Thank you everyone for your responses.
We have decided we want to go back to the UK and we are very excited about it.
Just got the kids passports through and now we are working on the dreaded spouse visa and job transfers :)

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Congratulations on the move. I'm not sure what you have decided to do with the kids, but I saw an online option that looked reasonable that you may be able to use.

https://interhigh.co.uk/

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

how long did the passports take? How did you get the photos signed by someone who’s a U.K. resident? I’m needing to get my kids’ passports renewed ASAP! Thank you (and congrats l)

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I have had a teacher (US) signed my passport renewal in the past. For the initial passports I think they need to have a British passport.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

that isn’t allowed for kids even for renewals unfortunately

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

It looks like maybe only UK residents can now sign for passports, if this is true, this makes a passport renewal difficult.You can only confirm someone’s identity if you:

• are 18 or over
• live in the UK
• have a current UK passport
• have known the person applying for at least 2 years (this is the adult making the application if the passport is for a child under 16)
• know the person applying as a friend, neighbour or colleague (not just someone who knows you professionally)

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

It was really easy.
You apply online and then i had my old friend from England who lives there authentic Tecate who my kids are. You just provide their email on the form and they will send them a link to verify your identity. They just need to know the names, DOB and address of the kids and myself.

Supporting evidence was both sets of grandparents birth certificates and a few other easy items.

It took 2 months and was so simple.

We have the kids first UK passports in hand now.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I don’t think this true if you live outside of the UK. You have only selected a small portion of the rules

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Thanks for this, the link they provide when applying online and stating that you are overseas etc is https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/...rming-identity Your link is much more useful.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Gov,uk site says this -"If you’re applying outside the UK

Your countersignatory must have a current British, Irish or other EU, US or Commonwealth passport.

If they have a US, Commonwealth, or non-British or non-Irish EU passport, you must include with your application a colour photocopy of the page with their photograph on it.

Your application will be processed faster if they have a British or Irish passport.."

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

is this new because since leaving the UK I have never had my PP renewal signed by a Brit? My US doctor
countersigned in the US, I had my PP renewed a couple of years ago countersigned by a Canadian solicitor.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Hangs head after reading website - I may have been in the US too long - just rechecked - I think it was eliminated more a long time ago.
Thank you for keeping me honest!

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

i think security and the danger of fraudulent applications is always a concern.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Probably is.

Our daughter renewed her passport while living in LA in 2018. She got her boss at work to do the countersigned photo, an Australian American.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I remember having a teacher friend sign my last renewal about 8 years ago and I had to send the picture page of her passport. This isn't new, but I got a bit concerned when the overseas application wizard stated that they wanted a UK resident to sign.

I'm going to make the assumption that the link Durham_Lad sent is still valid even though the application wizard doesn't direct you to that page.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Are you all renewing passports which have expired years ago?

I renewed my UK passport in Nov 2019, just prior to it expiring and I merely completed the form, paid the fee and sent off my old passport together with form.

Received my new passport back in 3 weeks. No countersignature required for anything.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

was it for your children or you as an adult?
i got my renewal fast but my children were also renewing last time and it took way longer.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

adult.....

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Our adult children had let their passports expire, and with our son it had been expired for over 10 years so when he applied for a renewal in 2016 it required not only a counter-signed photo but proof of birth plus copies of our UK passports. He only had a short-form birth certificate so we had to apply for a full birth certificate. He was living in Texas at the time, us in England, so I got all the paperwork and documents together then when he came for a visit that year we had our good friends who had know him from birth do the counte-signing. His passport was went to him back in Texas a few weeks later.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

But the reality is that that statement is equally true in the US, and I would argue even more so.

While the overall violence is shocking in the US, it is largely confined to either geographic or racial compartments, and often both, confined to black or hispanic gangs engaged in drug trafficking or other criminal activities. The result is that in the "leafy suburbs" of the US you are in no more danger in the US than you are in the UK, and I suspect that you are probably at greater risk in the UK of being assaulted by a knife-wielding thug if you go out to a bar or restaurant at night, than you are of being attacked in most places in the US under similar circumstances.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I would agree with this. I would say I feel safer in the US than I did back in the UK. Even living in the Chicago area that gets a lot of bad press (and rightly so) about the violence in parts of the city here is suburbia its a different world. Now I would say my experiences in the UK were as a younger person up to the age of 30 so going to pubs and clubs where violence may be more prevalent. Though I'll return as a middle aged man quite happy to be in bed by 9pm so won't be the same lifestyle!

I would say from a personal property standpoint I feel far safer by some magnitude here in the US. We leave our door unlocked, we leave our windows open in the summer, sleep with them open, I never worry about the car being stolen or people breaking in to the house, never. That was not the case when Iived in the UK and on my trips back home it does not seem to have changed since I left.

As you say it is all dependent on where you live and one thing the US does do well is keep the two worlds apart.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

I do all of that in the UK and more. But I don't live in a town/city, perhaps that's the difference. If you want a quieter lifestyle where you can leave your back door unlocked, your keys in your car, and neighbours popping in for a coffee, then look more rurally when you do move back.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Yes, all that too! :nod: I just didn't want to post a huge monolog. ..... But would further add, there is a reason why pickup trucks are not popular in the UK like they are in the US.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Hi. I haven't been on here in years! just out of curiosity i decided to have a look. All i'll say is it all depends very highly on the area you locate to. I came back in 2005 and have not looked back. I'm in a small town in Cheshire. Alsager. I love it !!
I feel very safe here. I have never had a parking ticket :p My children were teenagers when we came back. Now I am a grandmother and my children are happy and wouldn't dream of going back to America. My american husband is also well settled and would not return to America. Do your homework, check into locations, and things will fall into place. The cities have problems, but the countryside is still beautiful and very safe. :) I know I made the right decision.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

Thank you for taking the tile to share this. So lovely to read. How did you manage to get your children into a good school as teens? We’re they not behind? How old were they?

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

My teens were 15 and 16. I went into the school, alsager high, and just spoke with the head. Luckily I brought all my kid's records and they attended good schools in the US. They took them in and they did great. My son in particular, 15, slotted straight in. He went on to Bangor university in Wales. Did great. They are both working now. ☺️

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

OP:
I feel you.
When I say good-bye to my kids in the morning, I had the same worries like you.

Follow your heart. Do what makes you think it's right for your and your family. UK has violent crimes but it's nowhere near the situation in the U.S.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

To keep it simple, there is a three word saying in the real estate business. But in this case there is a six word saying that applies to everyone moving back.
Location, location, location, Money, Money, Money.
If you have money you have more chance at being happy with your move.
UK houses are the smallest in Europe, USA houses are large, the point is Money, Money, Money.
Vacations, the point is Money, Money, Money.
Private schools, the point is Money, Money, Money.
Good jobs, the point is Money, Money, Money.
It doesn't matter if you are leaving the UK for a foreign land or returning to the UK, the point is Money, Money, Money will determine if you can be happy with the move.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

There is a lot of truth in this. But with the same amount of money, life experience and quality can vary a lot. Depending on the level of money, the difference between quality of life can vary a little or a lot.

Re: Pros and cons from your move from US back to UK
 

what absolute rubbish. :rolleyes:

When we moved to the US, we had a large house, swimming pool, 4 cars, daughter at private school, house in the UK and I was as miserable as sin for years.