livingforwards

Hi, I'm newly registered here although I've known of this site for a long time.

I've lived in the USA since 1990 and am still just a British citizen - keep renewing my Alien card because I've always been concerned about restricting my ability to move back home to the UK if I get a US citizenship. Until 2010 I was married to a US citizen, now I'm divorced and engaged to marry another US citizen.

Is there a board on this forum somewhere concerning how to move back to the UK after living as an expat for a really extended period (like 23 years)? I'm really worried about not qualifying for any retirement income from either country, especially if widowed when I get elderly. I've mostly not worked as my daughter was born with a disability.

Thanks for any help in directing me to the right place, sorry if this is absolutely the wrong board for asking on!

steveq

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=61

...but if you became a US citizen, you wouldn't lose your UK nationality. you can be a dual citizen

livingforwards

Thanks for the fast response! My son also insists I won't have any citizenship issues if I go for the US citizenship, he has both passports, but I remember moving back to the UK for a brief period and having a difficult time with social workers saying we weren't eligible for any help because we were American - it scared the daylights out of me as we all showed our British passports and they still refused to help us.

I'll check out the thread you've included. Thankee for the help

Bob

And you'll still be able to get the pensions in either direction. There's quite a few threads in this, US forum on that subject.

And having a greencard for as long as the OP has, might as well get citizenship because there will still be the IRS filing requirements even if she gave up the greencard and moved to the UK and at least with US citizenship, could move back if things dont' work out as planned.

Michael

According to the social security web site, you should be eligible to draw off your ex husbands social security work history when you retire if you are unmarried at that time. If you remain married to your current husband, you should be able to qualify for social security benefits based on his work history. However you may have to either be a US citizen or a legal permanent resident to qualify and therefore it is likely worthwhile to naturalize before you return to the UK.

http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/yourdivspouse.htm

http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/yourspouse.htm

Sally Redux

Eligibility for benefits is often based on residence and not nationality.

SanDiegogirl

Since you are engaged to a US citizen presume you would want him to go with you to the UK.

You need to read the following document carefully as YOU will need to sponsor him for a spouse visa. You need to confirm under which category you can sponsor him.

Basically you either need to sponsor him with your income of 18,600 GBP per annum or savings/investments.

As you have not been working sounds like you are going to need a good amount of savings/investments.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

holly_1948

To draw US social security old age retirement one must either have US residence or US citizenship. Either.

From the information before US the OP should take out US citizenship soonest and not return to UK (except visits of less than half of each year) without it.

Sally Redux

I didn't realize that.

SanDiegogirl

I'm going to throw something else into this mix with regard to pensions which the OP probably needs to think about.

The OP states that she has "mostly not worked" so her pension(s) are likely to be dependent on her ex-husband's contributions as far as a US pension (Social Security) is concerned. She was married until 2010, so, if and when she leaves the US, she is going to have to keep track of HIS contributions to make claim for a pension. I don't believe that any Social Security she is eligible for will be affected by her marrying again, but she should check on this.

She has been out of the UK for 23 years. Even if she worked for a short time in the UK before leaving, her State pension is NOT going to be anywhere near the full amount as if she had been working OR if her husband had been working. She could make additional back payments to improve this situation though.

I agree she should definitely get her US citizenship before she leaves the US so that if the UK does not work out she can return.

lgabriel73

You dont have to be in the US to get your US social security.

holly_1948

It is not automatic if you are not a US citizen and you are claiming on the contributions of another person (eg divorced ex-spouse).
See http://www.socialsecurity.gov/intern...outsideUS.html
There are a large number of factors, but being a US citizen is a "safe harbor".

livingforwards

Hi, back again. We're in the UK again (honeymooning) and back to discussing moving here. There is no way, even with my Bachelor's Degree (Gerontology: a field I haven't worked in) that I'd be able to get a job with high enough pay to get a spouse visa as I have no recent work history to offer an employer. We shall work on assembling savings into my UK bank account. Meantime I guess I should get the US citizenship under my belt. What a mess.

If my husband can get a job in the UK, does a work visa help at all with meeting residency requirements?

Pulaski

Hypothetically, if he could secure work, and that would necessarily be dependent on him getting a visa allowing him to work, his income would be, I believe, acceptable as household income for the purpose of sponsoring a spouse visa. ....... That said, you might want to take your question over to uk-yankee which is a mirror to this site, for American expats in the UK.

livingforwards

Thanks, Pulaski, for the other site - that one will be useful to us I'm sure. Reading more of this forum I realize how lucky I am that he wants to move to the UK and that we're only in our (late) 40's and that we survived our respective divorces without going completely broke.

Went to a coastal village for cream teas today. Coming here for a holiday always makes the homesickness even worse... although just about everything makes the homesickness worse.