z1565124

Hi Everyone,

Been a while since I've been on here and last time I was in a conundrum as to stay in the US or go back to the UK. Long story short we've (USC wife) decided to stay in the US for a few more years and save so we can 'retire' when I will be about 50.

So one thing that I've been thinking about is splitting our time between the US and UK when we 'retire', I say retire but we may still work but not in a traditional full time capacity. Looks like we'd have to spend more time in the UK for the first 3 years until my wife can become a UKC (I'm a USC with a UK passport too) then I don't see any reason why we can't split the time 50/50?

So just looking for any others out there who may have done the same, maybe not necessarily the US either. Aside from the added cost are they any negatives that I'm not thinking of?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Richard
Glen Ellyn, IL

BritInParis

Your wife will need to spend a minimum of five years in the UK before she can become a British citizen but other than that there's nothing to stop you from splitting your time between the two countries if you are both dual citizens.

You may wish however to investigate the tax implications of such a move and the cost of maintaining two homes.

Shirtback

Don't know if you'd class them as negatives, however the first things that spring to mind on reading your post are income taxes, health coverage/insurance...

z1565124

I thought it said 3 years if your married to a UKC? 5 otherwise? I'll look into that though.

z1565124

Yes, health insurance in the US will be something I'll have to look at as I won't get it though any employment, any chance I could get long term holiday type insurance for emergencies in the US and rely on good old NHS for regular checkups etc. when in the UK?

BritInParis

Correct, except the person naturalising must be free of immigration restrictions at the time of application, i.e. Indefinite Leave to Remain, Permanent Residence or Right of Abode, and, since it now takes five years to obtain ILR on a spouse visa, practically speaking it would take five years residence for your wife to naturalise.

Does your wife have any recent European ancestry, i.e. parents, grandparents or great-grandparents born in an EEA/EU country? If so she may be eligible for an EEA/EU passport and therefore does not need to go down the spouse visa route to naturalise.

not2old

was it this in section 18.1 sub section 18.2.2?

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...8__141209_.pdf

EDIT

to add, the short version

The requirements for naturalisation as a spouse of a British citizen. The main difference is that there is a shorter residency requirement of three years in the UK as opposed to six years. The three years of the residency requirement are counted from the date your naturalisation application is received by the Home Office.

Further details on residency requirements are as follows:

You must have been living in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the three- year period; and
On the date that your application is received in the Home Office, you must have permanent residence/ ILR in the UK; and
During the three-year period you must not have been outside the UK for more than 270 days (approximately 9 months); and
During the last 12 months of the three-year period you must not have been outside the UK for more than 90 days; and
You must not have been in breach of any UK immigration rules at any time during this three-year period of residence in the UK.

not2old

section 2 page 7 of the guide

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...de_AN_v1_0.pdf

does this mean someone on a 'family of a settled person' (spouse) visa or coming the SS route through a member state (with a Family permit) married to a British citizen can in fact get British citIzenship after three years residence in the UK?

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...rm_AN_v1_0.pdf

Shirtback

I have no idea, sorry . I'm not at all an expert, just commenting on the potential pitfalls I noticed. Im sure there are others.

It was your 50/50 statement that bothered me. To be eligible for NHS coverage you need to be resident in the UK. Would you pass the residency test? Oh, & it seems to be getting tougher & tougher.

BritInParis

No, because they need to be free from immigration time restrictions in addition to the residence requirements.

not2old

clarification required, specific for those married to a Brit living in the UK

Could you please explain it, because resident & living with a UK spouse in the UK means 3 years does it not?

Someone with an FLR can or cannot get citizenship after 3 years?

Someone with a UK residence card that came the SS route can or cannot get citizenship after 3 years?

If the 'NO' what you posted is right - then please explain to us when or how the 3 year rule applies?

https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-britis...ritish-citizen

WEBlue

No, because FLR has an end date (after 2.5 years). If you read the requirement you posted in your post#7, you must be free of time restricted visas. FLR is time restricted.

Only ILR or Permanent Residence is not time-restricted... and neither spouse route to the UK (the Singh Route nor the Spouse Visa) allows one to bypass the 5 years residence requirement for ILR.......

Catch 22... courtesy of UKVI.

not2old

Agree on the catch 22, and I'm not buying any of this cock & bull from the UKVI

Page 8 of the AN application form as well as the section 2 page 7 of the guide

All contradictory of course, because unrestricted right to live in the UK under a 'Family of a settled person' or with a Family permit & UK residence card - allows the spouse of a British citizen to apply for Naturalization - does it not?

Can someone from the Home Office or someone that processes AN citizenship jump in on this?

WEBlue

The EEA Route to UK Permanent Residence still requires the 5 years' residence, correct? Before PR is obtained the non-EEA family members of the UK citizen do not have truly "unrestricted rights" to live in the UK.

Below find the PR application for EEA Route applicants. On the first page it specifies 5 years of residence:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload..._PR__01-15.pdf

BritInParis

See WEBlue's explanation.

The circumstances in which the three year rule now applies is very limited. Some potential scenarios off the top of my head:

- An individual who is married to a British citizen and holds Right of Abode but is not a British citizen themselves (i.e. a Commonwealth citizen born overseas to a British mother before 1983). Under these circumstances the individual concerned is more likely to register as a British citizen under S.4C BNA 1981 for a tenth of the cost of naturalisation but this would only give them British citizenship by descent rather than otherwise than by descent.

- An individual who already holds ILR or Permanent Residence but left the UK for up to two years before returning. Likewise this would apply to someone who has returned to the UK on a Returning Resident visa.

- An individual accompanying their British spouse who is serving overseas in Crown, designated or EU service providing they have been married for at least three years. This would usually to non-British spouses of British diplomats or international civil servants. Somewhat ironically, despite never have lived in the UK, a spouse in this scenario could naturalise in three years rather than five years necessary for a spouse living in the UK. The Home Secretary has the power to waive the three year marriage requirement as well meaning, in theory, the individual could naturalise as a British citizen as soon as they married. The individual concerned would however still need meet the English language requirements and pass the Life in the UK test which can only be taken in the UK.