I am British born, and still have my UK passport. However, I never worked in UK. My wife is Canadian. We are considering returning to UK.

Does anyone KNOW what our health care benefits would be? We are 75 and 70 years old. I am diabetic and have cholesterol, so prescription medicine is expensive if I have to pay for my own.

Further, is there anything else I should be aware of? (for example, Cdn OAS is frozen at the current level)

Appreciated...

Do you meet the income/saving requirements for your spouse to be able to get a visa? That's the first thing to check.

You'd be covered by the NHS as soon as you're resident in the UK, and prescriptions are covered under that. You'd pay a heavily subsidised fee (about £7 per prescription iirc), but you can also get an annual certificate for all your prescriptions, which may work out cheaper if you need a lot.

I'll move this back to the MBTTUK forum where I'm sure the kind folks there will help.

Good luck.

You need to sponsor your wife for a spouse visa.

The document below provides all the details as to what the financial requirements are to qualify for the visa:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

In a nutshell you need income of over 18,600 GBP per annum; if no income you need 62,500 GBP in savings/investments/pensions etc etc.

Once you have proved permanent residency in the UK you will be eligible for the NHS.

Prescriptions are free to pensioners in England. Free to all in Scotland.

See this

You can get free NHS prescriptions if, at the time the prescription is dispensed, you:

•are 60 or over
•are under 16
•are 16-18 and in full-time education
•are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
•have a specified medical condition and have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)
•have a continuing physical disability that prevents you from going out without help from another person and have a valid MedEx
•hold a valid war pension exemption certificate and the prescription is for your accepted disability
•are an NHS inpatient

All the help is appreciated, thank you. I certainly understand the situation quite clearly.

Does your wife have any British, Irish or other European heritage, i.e. parents or grandparents? If she does you may be able to avoid having to apply for a spousal visa as she would be entitled to a passport that allows her to live in the UK.

No, her father is American and her grandfather German! However, we have sufficient income/funds to qualify I'm sure.