fatbrit

American Citizen Services at the London consulate. The kid needs:
Consular Record of Birth
Social Security Card
US Passport

The kid will presumably also be a UK citizen. The kid needs:
UK Birth Certificate
UK Passport

fatbrit

Looks like she might not qualify.

Noorah101

Just throwing a question in here. Let's say you both come to the USA in January, and your job falls through. So the plan then is to go back to the UK for less than 6 months (so as not to disrupt your PR status) and have the baby in the UK. Get the baby's US passport sorted out and return to the USA permanently.

My question is: Will your USC wife still qualify for the UK healthcare if she's not permanently residing in the UK?

Rene

avanutria

That was discussed in this thread, though it's a few years old now.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=505747

Two things for OP to consider if going this route - to make sure his wife doesn't lose eligibility to live in the UK (I assume she's on ILR? or is it a student visa?) and to take steps before leaving the US to ensure that he does not lose his PR status. There's some form to file if you think you will be gone for a period of time but I don't know the details of that. You might plan to be gone less than six months but (god forbid) if there are complications at some point you might end up staying longer.

Noorah101

The form you refer to is an I-131 application for Re-Entry Permit. It allows the US PR to be outside the USA for up to 2 years (or up to the expiration date of the 2-year green card if that's what he has). It helps, but does not guarantee, retaining PR status.

Rene

jamiedan

Sorry, I should have made clear that my wife has permanent residancy in the UK. We sorted that after we got married...a lot quicker than the US system! So no worries on that score.

GeoffM

Residancy is not the same as citizenship though. If she hasn't already reached the 3-year requirement for the spouse of a UK citizen then I assume she's very close to it from what you've said. Several hundred quid, an incompetent Home Office (in my wife's case), a few months' time and she can go to the town hall (or whatever) to do the oaths and suchlike.

Oh, and congratulations!

Noorah101

But once you guys are permanently residing in the USA, doesn't she lose her UK PR? She can't just keep UK PR without actually living there, can she?

I'm talking about the scenario where you both enter the USA to activate your US PR status, and then return to the UK to have the baby. If it's clear you are both living in the USA (which you will be doing once you both enter the USA), won't she have effectively abandoned her UK PR status?

Rene

Mummy in the foothills

Yes I believe so, someone on the moving back to UK board has just had to start from scratch with the Visa for his wife, they moved out of the UK where she was LPR before she got citizenship.
I'd wait to move till after the baby comes and after the wife has citizenship, instead of moving during a very emotional and stressful time for anyone. Theres a lot of what if's with the job and health care. families need a bit more stability to get started.

avanutria

Does your wife have any opinion of what she'd like to do for her pregnancy?

Giantaxe

I would too, Too many unknowns doing it otherwise unless there is a guarantee of health insurance on arrival (e.g. through a job). You also need to have contingency plans for things like - god forbid - there are complications for mother and/or baby after birth and coming back to the US as soon as expected turns out not to be feasible.

jamiedan

Oh boy this is all so confusing.

What is to stop us setting foot in the US in January to get the PR going (we'd spend a couple of weeks there to see her family & i can meet my prospective employer) then returning to the UK to have the baby? My wife has a permanent residency card in the UK which is good until July 2012 so how would the UK authorities know we've also got PR in the US? Ok there might be a stamp in my passport, but I have a second (British) passport so I could use that.

What confuses me is the whole tax thing. I will probably keep working in my current job until a few months after the birth when we'd look to relocate to the US. But I'll already paying tax on these earnings in the UK so I shouldn't have to pay tax on them in the US as well?

It also concerns me that I've read from the moment I become a PR in the US, I'll have to pay Capital Gains Tax when I sell my house here. How will they know when I've sold my house?

Questions, questions. Who can you talk to about all of these things? Is it only an immigration lawyer who'll charge an arm and a leg? Is there any advice bureau who can help?

In answer to the question about my wife, I think out of choice she'd rather give birth in the US, both because she knows the system and because she'd rather we get on with our lives.

meauxna

Considerations:
What is stopping you from coming over, using your visa and becoming a PR and leaving again?
Mother Nature? Women are counseled to not fly after a certain point in their pregnancy.

Taxes are confusing!
When you become a Permanent Resident, you are required to REPORT your worldwide income to the IRS. Generally, with the UK/US tax treaties, you are not doubly taxed, but you must do the reporting correctly.

As a PR, you MAY be obligated to Capital Gains tax in the US as well as whatever UK considerations you have. You should find a good US tax professional to help you through your first year in dual status.

We don't have advice bureaus here. I doubt the UK ones would know much about US taxes or immigration.