Thank you Cligirl for you kind welcome note and advice on the process.

I am looking forward to the new life opportunities that await us. I have the privilege of having my family coming over to England for my 50th birthday and accompanying us back to the USA for a big family welcome. I was anxious that the process would blight the otherwise big event and hope I get the same time interval as you experienced.

We have not yet sold our house in the UK so we will have to return at the end of January. We are using the next 8 weeks to check out locations for investing in property and hope that my early retirement package will work in our favour. If we cannot sell in a reasonable time, we may have to resort to seting up apartments in both UK and LA for the foreseeable future.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has created a dual residency....I suppose it could save on medical insurance using annual travel policy.

Thanks again