chicagojlo

Same reason anyone else does who isn't British - it's a free country!

And as many people were so quick to point out to me not so long ago my daughter may want to live and work over there (or elsewhere in the EU) when she's old enough - otherwise I would gladly hand it in without any qualms

If this was BritishAppreciation.com you'd have a point. But it's not.

meauxna

And why not? There are some horribly one-sided and unhappy expats posting here who only ever have a negative comment. The US isn't all a bed of roses, but neither is the UK; why does it hurt anyone to have a balance of opinions?

Maybe someone who reads jlo's posts will be able to see their own situation in a more positive light.
Jlo's British Expat experience is as valid as anyone else's. My husband never intends to return to the UK either. Reading her posts helps me understand him better.

chicagojlo

I always thought the registering with the Embassy thing was only for countries with travel advisories. Although I won't be registering unless forced to I think it's a good idea to get a clear number of how many Brits are living overseas, if for nothing else than to clear up all the tabloid crap about how overcrowded the UK is/how many people are really leaving in droves every day.

PS - thanks Meauxna, out of karma for today!

British Consul

British Consul

Registration was the norm in some countries, but not in the USA. The new Locate system will replace the old paper based systems and will obviously allow us to be more efficient in managing the records. As Locate is global, we have also decided to use it in the USA. It's your choice if you register or not, and I'm not going to pressure anyone into registering (but to those who have already done so). The system will give me a better idea of the number of Brits in "my patch" at any one time but it won't be used for tax purposes as mentioned above. During Hurricane Katrina, we had quite a difficult time in locating British citizens in the affected areas. They didn't know we were looking for them, but the information given to us by concerned relatives in the UK was often incorrect and meant that our teams on the ground were working with patchy information at best. This new system will allow us to overcome that for those who register, but we recognise that not all people will choose to do so.

Hope this helps to explain the background.

Dean

Bob

I registered a user name to see what the fuss was about...you don't plonk in any info at that stage, so I don't see a problem with it.

You can update the details to say if your on holiday at some place or permanent and then asked to update it annually...

Bob

One thing that would be nice, poppy day, if you could send those out as it's nae on impossible to find around here and the consulate in Boston ran out before I even realised you could get them there, I did get one sent from San Fran from the brit foreign legion bloke I think in the end though I didn't expect it...and yes, I did donate money to the local vwf collection

chicagojlo

That surprises me greatly, it usually seems that us Brits expect the consulate to swoop in and rescue us from much tamer situations. It must have been the odd few who's mums don't call the minute the word tornado makes it onto the 9 o clock news

Jerseygirl

I'm proud to be British and always will be.

Jerseygirl

I see your point but many of us ask ourselves why would someone spend time on BE if they haven't got anything positive to say about the UK or about Brits in general? If their life in the US is so wonderful why are they posting here instead of enjoying their wonderful life.

Chicagojlo....the above is not aimed at you. Every now and then we get posters who post nothing but negative posts about the UK...you do contribute to the BE community.

scrubbedexpat097

I have embraced my life here,I enjoy where I live and have some great friends
who are as close to me as family. We struggled here financially and emotionally for many years and many times regretted our decision to come here but as time rolled on it became our home and will probably always be our home now but even so I too am proud to be British, it's my heritage and will always be my "real" home.

Octang Frye

Let me clarify; I didn't mean "just" a diplomat. That is a fantastic job - one I would love to have pursued if I had my time over - and deserves respect.

What I particularly like about you is that you have a good sense of humour.
I'm glad we have people like you in the service. Nice clarification too.

Great... now I'm sucking up to the Establishment.

chicagojlo

I understand your point too. If I could call myself another nationality at this point I probably would, and perhaps people wouldn't take such offence to my point of view. But I would feel the same about not being able to identify myself as British regardless of my opinions about this country. I just don't have any ties to the place having spent my adult life overseas. I never felt at home there, I wanted to leave since my first trip abroad as a child. Ironically I feel quite at home here on BE, which of course is full of Brits!

And I often wonder the same myself, why people go on and on about how great their life was back in the UK and how crap it is here and yet they are still here. I know some are 'trapped' here but in most cases where there is a will there is a way. I feel like a lot of people cling on to their old inflated memories of the place that they once wanted to leave in an attempt to justify why things haven't gone great here.

geeandtee

Same here!

I know exactly how you feel, and, although we haven't been here as long as you have, I feel the same.

paul1968mcr

[QUOTE=chicagojlo;6361031]That surprises me greatly, it usually seems that us Brits expect the consulate to swoop in and rescue us from much tamer situations. It must have been the odd few who's mums don't call the minute the word tornado makes it onto the 9 o clock news [/Q

I personally dont expect anything from the consulate, other than admin' assistance, at a price. Mind you, if you listen to certain quarters, I wasn't your usual Brit.