nateusa

i say go back to the uk. national insurance being the main reason plus it will give you the change of scenery you are seeking for at this time.

sallysimmons

Yes, yes, YES!

I would never encourage anyone to come back to the UK just because I love it here. but practically speaking in your situation, the UK seems to make much more sense. You will receive help and you will receive free health care. Neither is true of the US and the way things are going over there, that situation is only going to get worse, not better.

Perth

LostinJax

I think you may be right. I just feel a little sad that things have turned out the way they have but that's life. Things may be hellish in the short term back in the UK but, in the long term, I doubt I will regret moving back.

penguinsix

I think you'll probably be happier but I would suggest, at the very least, taking the precaution of applying for a re-entry permit for your Green Card so that you can go to the UK for over a year or so and make sure it's what you want. Right now it sounds like the best option, the easiest and most secure path, but in 18 months or so, maybe things will change. This will at least give you the option.

If you get over there and 30 days in are certain it's the right thing, then you can formally abandon your Green Card and get on with things. But it's always nice to have a little insurance in case things don't go as planned.

http://www.familytousa.com/reentry-permit/

cheers

My mother use to emigrate back and forth to the US and I think it had an effect on my education and other things.
My teeth never got fixed in the process so I never thought of these disadvantages at the time but kids can suffer.
Mom died at the young age of 69 unfortunately but fortunately in England the land of her birth. One side note there is a possibility she could have lived longer if she had had better health care in the US but then again she would not have been able to afford it (rambling)
note. healthcare can be good and bad in both countries.
Cheers

gands35

Jax, I too really want to go home (Bristol area), but I think as some others have said you need to think about the manner of your return. You said you are English so did not take US citizenship. Well I'm English and did make the trip up to Atlanta to get my citizenship, it did not make me feel any less English, but did give me a second passport. It seems foolish to me not to take the opportunity to have the safety valve just in case you need to return. Also having lived in Jacksonville until I got a job transfer to Charlotte I find it hard to believe with your education there are no jobs. My wife who has a masters in manufacturing engineering (non-US) was given a job teaching and her friend a Romanian still teaches at Jacksonville Community College. We want to move back due to family and raising our children, we want to work to live and are tired of the live to work attitude here in the US that kills family time, but we have never had trouble finding jobs and I don't have a fancy degree. Sorry I sound like a pushy know it all ass, but I am a bit of one. Get the US citizenship, forget your 60 a make the job happen and in 6 months after the divorce is final and you have your life in order buy a round trip tkt to the UK for a 2 week stay (it is same price as round trip anyway). If you still feel the UK is the place to be, stay and put the return tkt in a picture frame.

Zen10

One thing that has got my attention recently is the increasing number of US-born Americans leaving the US. It's at a record high now, according to official statistics, and someone I know here in Australia who works in recruitment tells me the number of Americans arriving is getting larger. They cite the poor economy at home and many of them talk about wanting something more stable for their kids.

vikingsail

The US is unstable. The changes that will occur nationally in the next 20 years make it imho a very undesirable place to live and raise children. I just read a DM type statistic that 1/3 Americans feel revolution my occur in the next 5 years!! The future is certainly not as it used to be. There are many 'large elephants' hiding in the room - race, guns, healthcare, immigration. To a traditional American the prospect of going through this change must seem very daunting. The next 20 will be a time of hugh change so I think the uncertainty that drives is causing many to reflect and review their day to day lives. Its an OK place if you live in a microcosm - and there are many here in the US. But if your not hitched to one of those its a scary place. Then I suppose thats true of many places. But I think the disparity between Euro thinking and Ameri thinking is widening everyday. There is always an underlying sense of community in most Euro countries - here the lovely pioneer mentality makes people in general despise others or the traditional Euro community/societal approach of caring for others when they are down.

This gulf between Euro and Ameri think is best seen with patriotism. Brits have long had a welcome degree of skepticism and the ability to laugh at oneself where patriotism is concerned, evinced by the Queen herslef jumping out of a helicopter last year at the Olympics. God forbid you do that here where patriotism is concerned - its like watching lemmings at most football, baseball or other public events most weekends. Endearing to view but very troubling in a Chinese Olympic kind of way. Its ironic that the Chinese Olympics evoked such a strong response in the US re the regimented display of precision at the opening. Since most weekends here you can see the same thing as the first bars of the Star Spangled Banners chime in. Everyone will stand, hand on chest etc....just as scary.

holly_1948

One obvious comment is to buy the "do your own divorce" book from Nolo Press (nolo.com) and read it carefully. That's not the same as doing your own divorce. If its a long term marriage and the wife is working ("her law firm") then you may qualify for a worthwhile amount of alimony. Rule of thumb half the difference in earning potential for half the duration of the marriage.

So it might be worth doing a minimum wage job until the divorce is wrapped up. To establish your current earning potential (rather than having them use the historic earning potential for alimony calculation).

Good luck,
Holly

Zen10

Agreed. What interests me most is the point you make about how the future isn't what it used to be. This is the crux of the issue. Americans have looked ahead to a certain kind of future, and that future has been the same for a long time - mainly white, middle-class, rich, powerful, Euro-centric. Now, this year, for the first time, the number of white babies born was smaller than non-white babies, also, the US economy is in the worst shape of its existence. The future Americans see now is one of contracting wealth, widening gap between rich and poor, serious healthcare problems, and with the rise of the black and Hispanic populations to the majority, no longer Euro-centric in terms of cultural attachment and close bilateral relations.

This change in America, happening right now, and irreversible, along with the rise of China, means we are living in very unstable and unprecedented times. European, or white-Euro derived cultures, have ruled the planet for 500 years or longer, now, in the next generation, we see the power shift to a bipolar system where Beijing, a Confucian-based Communist power, rules alongside Washington, the former rising, the latter waning.

Perth

The OH (an enlightened USC who has lived and worked all over the world) and I have been discussing in recent months exactly why I have not felt a part of the US all these years. He has tried to explain to me how there is a different mindset on so many levels. So it is funny you should say this as putting a label on this attitude has given me an ah-ha moment.

So, as an anecdote - I was at my DD's graduation Thu thru Sat this week. I had an old college friend, whom I haven't seen since DD was a baby, say she was going to be at the college at the very same time as she was picking up one of her children to go home for the summer. She wanted to meet. We had a jam-packed couple of days and I wanted to just enjoy the time with OH and DD as DD would not be taking time off for the summer and coming home. Friend was insistent that even if all she could get was a hug, she take it.

So I tried my best to move things around, stayed in contact suggesting different options. In the end we couldn't work it out - but rather than just say pity, we tried and leave it at that, I was berated by text for jerking her husband and daughter around. I was almost in tears at our celebratory brunch today, and we were leaving DD in less than 1/2 hour.

I was mad at myself that I had not said no to begin with - we were too busy, we wanted it to just be family time, and not awkward friend of mom time - but I couldn't say no, as I usually cannot do because I find people just bully others here to get their way.

So OH is trying to explain this to me on the car ride home, that friend was just selfish and that's how he sees many of his fellow citizens. Pioneer spirit just really nailed it for me. Being able to understand it will hopefully make it easier for me to deal with, and perhaps counter appropriately instead of being run over every time. Thanks

trottytrue

LostinJax..I agree with dunroving after being in the US for 13 years I think you should get your US Citizenship. It would make sense then you should look into paying the extra into the British Pension I know there is a cut off point as to when you can pay it. So you should check into that now. I am sure someone on here knows the details or you could go the information area on the Home section and see if its mentioned.

You dont have any family to leave behind so you are lucky you will not be pulled in two different directions. I love my family but I would have returned to the UK if I could have.

I am here now for the time being but I have not shut the door on going home I do not see the US in such dire terms as some on here do we have the same worries and concerns as my family in the UK. I live in a nice area and I am content for the timebeing.

You need to make your mind up and decide on a date it will take around 6 months to get your citizenship if you start now it will be worth it.

Zen10

I agree getting citizenship is the intelligent thing to do. My forecasts for the US are what I expect to play out over the next 40-50 years, not next week. Even then, it will still be a major first-world country with a high standard of living, just less and less like the America we all grew up knowing and seeing. One thing I didn't mention earlier was that by the middle of this century the US will at the very least be an officially bilingual nation, and could easily be Spanish-speaking majority. This is another development that will drastically change the way we see America - when we see the President giving national addresses in Spanish, for example.

windsong

I don't understand why some advise getting US citizenship. Why on earth should anyone get it when doing so means a lifetime of paying US taxes - no matter where you live.