SanDiegogirl

You, as the Brit, would need to sponsor him. There are f inancial requirements to be met:

Read the following document carefully to see how you would qualify

https://assets.publishing.service.go...ment-ext_1.pdf

Basically, you can use income, savings, pensions etc.

Streetlegal

Thanks SanDiegogirl!

jenninedinburgh

I was there from 2007, so yes, still during the Bush years. It could have been coincidence though - i.e. perhaps I just met some curmudgeons down south. I do know of some Americans in London who would claim to be Canadian in order to avoid the inevitable talk about politics, world events, etc. involving the US.

jenninedinburgh

I very much hope you do and that you smile again soon

spouse of scouse

One day at a time mate. That's all you need to worry about getting through. Getting out of bed, having a shower and putting clean clothes on are huge achievements on their own when you're feeling so down.

Have any of your students ever sent you an email while they're - er - a bit incapacitated? Abby did, made me laugh

Ukoneday

A big fear of mine is if we don’t move home soon (my eldest is 11) then we will stay, they’ll finish school and go to american universities and see themselves as Americans and then I’m stuck if I want to live on the same continent as my kids. I can see myself being stranded here for the rest of my life[/QUOTE]

my fear 100%
my oldest is 6
prep school In the London area is hard to get into but with the pandemic they’ve had some drops and I’ve tutored my kids this whole time at home after I got made redundant to catch them up to uk kids ... now I’m getting cold feet. 12 years here with a 6 and 4 year old and an American husband and lovely (on paper) life. but I’m getting cold feet. Then I think about your point of having foreign kids and my head wants to explode.

Jerseygirl

someone said these wise words to us ‘where ever they go to uni, they will probably stay there’. We didn’t listen but wished we had,

freebo

[QUOTE=durham_lad;12878866] All great fun but with lots of close relatives and friends we did a trial run and then moved back to a place we had lived before, and done a trial run staying there. /QUOTE]

Do you mind telling me how you planned your "trial run", I'm also a Durham Lad and considering doing something similar?

Cheers!

durham_lad

The year after we retired we rented a house for 7 months in the town we had lived in and would want to move back to. We were careful not to fall afoul of residency rules by arriving in March and leaving early October plus we had a couple of trips to Europe to be sure our days in the UK were well below the 183 day tax year threshold. After we got back our bank wrote to us with an HMRC form to complete and return to show that we had not become tax resident. The letter stated that they are required to monitor things like ATM transactions and report to HMRC where needed.

We did not hire a car except for the first 2 weeks after arriving and relied on buses and trains. We furnished the house from 2nd hand shops, mostly charity shops, and gave it all back at the end, so it was like renting it but with the proceeds going to charity.

5 years later we did similar, rented a house and furnished it with the intention of keeping it on and spending winters in Texas, the rest of the year in England, but quickly decided to simply sell up and move back.

Lion in Winter

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Make a plan, execute the plan, even if it takes a while.

KBO.

Streetlegal

Social Security question:

If I retire before the age of 62, say at 57:

--is my social security calculation frozen so that it will be the same whether I take it at 62, 67 or 70?

Thanks
Ed

durham_lad

It continues to go up indexed by wage and inflation indices

Zeppo595

I've been feeling the same way

Obviously being locked down makes our lives in whatever country we are terrible.

Even in the UK now, we'd be locked down and unable to do anything.

But the longer time goes on, the harder is gets to move back. Making that decision and jumping is the tough part. The torture of in-between is also terrible. Once you're actually doing it, you're engaged with all the tasks required with the move. But then of course you have the BEING THERE part, the unknown quantity! Which I guess I romanticize from being an expat.

I do not think the UK is without it's misery inducing aspects but I guess that feeling of being a stranger in a strange land is exhausting. But then back in the UK, you're just another person and maybe we'll miss viewing ourselves as stranded aliens!

I think really it comes down to what's important. Being close to family is important and choosing a place to settle down is also vital. But you can always visit family and you might go back and realise you actually can't settle down where you want. It's a tough gamble, but the best thing to do is think long and hard about what you value in life and go with that NOT what other people tell you is best.

Where can you be most of value to those around you? I think it's harder in a foreign country and easy to find yourself hermetically sealed either in an expat bubble or even extreme isolation.

I haven't even visited the UK since 2017 and I feel tremendous guilt for not being part of various family members lives and basically following my own interests. Having said that, when I've been back the UK before I've gotten bored quickly. I realise I was addicted to the emotional ups and downs of being alone in a foreign country, having some crazy experiences, feeling like my life was a greek tragedy or whatever. I like to think I've grown out of all that now. And am ready to just have a stable life. But I don't know.

Streetlegal

I didn't even get my stimulus check yet. Imagine I was desperate. My partner got his straightaway. Riculous.

happy artist

no you are not alone especially watching the US implode before my eyes....would love any suggestions on how to make that happen smoothly.

Thanks

Lisa