Linda44

Lol- I thrink he's buying the golf course and country club about 5 miles from us here in NC.

Linda44

Well it really depends on how much the property taxes /condo charges and maintainence cost, doesn't it!
Our property taxes are only $1600 per year. Condo fees maybe another $15 and maint around $80 (as condo fees should cover all of the exterior maint')

Linda44

I actually wasn't thinking of them as much as our own circumstances.
Haven't got GC yet but already tallking about giving it up!

Bob

Abandoning greencard isn't a problem, it's dumb if you intend to return because it's a expensive process to go through to get it back from scratch again. Just get citizenship.

The IRS tax filing requirement doesn't automatically go away by buggering off either.

As a LPR, you're meant to be resident in the US and temporarily away but if you're temporarily away to the UK, you'd not be resident of the UK for NHS treatment, though how much fuss your local GP would kick up is anyone's guess.

Giantaxe

Unless you are in receipt of a UK pension or live there more than 182 days a year. This change was made in 2011. As my plan is to do this when I am Medicare eligible (65) and will get a UK pension at 66 (I think!) I believe I'll be eligible for all NHS services regardless of the number of days a year I choose to live in the UK.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/1556/made

Verbascum

It's a snakes nest. My American husband lived and worked in the UK for nearly 40 years as a "resident alien". As both our children took advantage of their dual citizenship to cross the Atlantic rather than studying, we decided to move to New York when he retired last year. We entertained the "living in both places" option but rejected it on the empty property grounds, having been persuaded by friends and family that we would always have a home with them.
I am now discovering many problems which could arise if unable to prove I am still a UK resident/taxpayer. I have a London address used for banking and other purposes. I keep most of my money in the UK, my state pension is paid into my UK bank, I try to hold on to my London Freedom Pass , taxi card and Senior Rail Pass. I fill in self-assessment tax forms, the interest on my savings is taxed at source, my UK GP tells me I will always be eligible for NHS care.
BUT
I was receiving Attendance Allowance as disabled (Parkinsons), which stopped, and am now trying to retrieve it by pointing out the move might not be permanent.

I am told that unless I'm a UK resident (or is it taxpayer?) I cannot open new UK savings accounts (interest on the ones I have virtually stopped after a year).

Now I'm having to complete UK self-assessment tax forms and US taxes. It's a nightmare. The year-ends don't coincide. Tax accountants are vague about residency, and advice I am getting is contradictory.

Am I the only person who actually wants to retain UK "residency"?
Is there anyone who knows the answers?
I tried to contact the NY Consulate but they will only answer the phone if you die.

WEBlue

As Linda44 & Giantaxe point out, this may not necessarily be true. It really needs research, & unfortunately the enforcement of NHS rules on residency requirements have changed already over time & may change further in the future.

10 years ago, our NHS hospital never asked how long we'd lived at our UK address, but a few years ago I noticed they began to ask if I'd lived at my present address for 6 months. According to this link, one could be asked to prove onself "ordinarily resident" or face possibly paying for NHS treatment.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/E...able/DH_074374

No, my husband & I are interested, but we fear like you that it's going to be too difficult & expensive to work for us.

Verbascum

Perhaps I still have a chance to work something out, having left so recently. It seems very mean to cut me off from my rights after 69 years before I've had a chance to try it out. I already miss runner beans and blackcurrants as well as my friends and family.

So does anyone know what kind of advice I could seek? Someone suggested Citizens Advice but I found them hard to reach even in London.

Verbascum

So is it actually possible to be both a resident of the UK and the US?
Do you have any suggestions how I might find out without incriminating myself?
I already lost one savings account prospect by admitting I was unlikely to spend six months p.a. in the UK. Do you think it has to be precisely every year? Would I be allowed to take a short hol in France while there? I am not a US citizen (my husband is). I am a resident alien and have a green card and Medicare.

Verbascum

So can a dual citizen claim to be a resident in both countries, even if they don't spend 6 months in one of them? I am a UK citizen but am faced with being denied resident status. This seems odd, considering I have contributed all my life and am no longer a burden on the state (apart from pension).

Jerseygirl

You cannot live in the US and still claim to be a UK resident. You are being denied resident status because you are not a UK resident.

I don't know whether you are both entitled to Medicare...if not do you have healthcare insurance?

Linda44

I agree- but if we needed to return to the UK to live and work within the next 5 years we wouldn't be citizens as we don't have LPR yet.
I was wondering what the options for us would be.
That's why I asked about abandonment of GC-rather than them discovering you aren't resident in the US and taking it away.

coastieexpat

I'm not sure, this is one of the reasons I have been following this thread, I do think that getting Dual Citizenship would help though. However I do not have the financial ties to the UK that you have. I do have a bank account there, but I have kept mum about my status.

Linda44

Also check this out.
It seems that how they decide if someone is "ordinarily resident" may differ according to whether it's for tax purposes (they want money off you) or family credits etc (they might have to give you money!)
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cbtmanual/cbtm10020.htm

note this
•Does the visit to the United Kingdom form part of a pattern of regular and significant visits over a number of years, or is such a pattern expected to emerge? If so, this may indicate that the person is ordinarily resident. The more frequent, and the longer the visits, the more likely the person is to be ordinarily resident.
Also fromhttp://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/ir20.pdf
Residence in both the UK and another country
1.4 It is possible to be resident (or ordinarily resident) in both the UK and some other
country (or countries) at the same time. If you are resident (or ordinarily resident) in
another country, this does not mean that you cannot also be resident (or ordinarily
resident) in the UK. Where, however, you are resident both in the UK and a country with
which the UK has a double taxation agreement, there may be special provisions in the
agreement for treating you as a resident of only one of the countries for the purposes of
the agreement (see paragraph 9.2).

If you go abroad permanently, you will be treated as remaining resident and ordinarily
resident if your visits to the UK average 91 days or more a year

ian-mstm

The system doesn't work that way... the US doesn't "take away" your status as you suggest. You, personally, either abandon your status or you don't. All the US does, is confirm whether or not you've abandoned your status... and in order to do that, you need to demonstrate that you have not, in fact, abandoned your status.

Everything to do with abandoning (or not) your status as a PR is something you, personally, have control over. If you chose to reside elsewhere, then you take the risk that you will be unable to demonstrate that you have not, in fact, abandoned your status should there ever be a question about it.

Ian