mellowred

I was pretty shocked to see that I had joined this forum back in 2009 . That just shows how long I have been waffling about with the idea of moving "back" to the UK.

At the age of 53, the choice is now or never.

My partner (64, Afrikaans South African) and I have a small business, and are in the unfortunate situation of living from month to month with no hope of ever retiring. We were part of the rich and famous until five years ago when we hit a health crisis which forced us to sell our business. High health costs and no regular income for almost a year chewed up the proceeds from the sale and we ended up losing our house and cars. So we moved to a village where we could afford the rent and started up a small business.

Business is OK, but we barely survive, and at our ages are unemployable in South Africa.

So I have to make a decision. Try and build an online business here in SA with the hope of at least increasing our income OR start working in the UK.

One option is as a Care Worker which I can do for six months at a time and save some money to send back to SA. This could eventually turn to relocating to the UK.

Other option is to look for a job but am not sure if my skill set is needed. I am a bookkeeper with accounting level experience. Managed a pub for several years. Have managed my own small businesses for a decade.

Our present business is the manufacture and installation of shadeports and steel and wood products. I do all the industrial sewing.

What hope do I have of earning a living in UK? Does being UK born and a dual citizen still mean anything if I decide to relocate? And hundreds of other questions need to be asked before I can hop on a plane and return "home".

The information and responses from the members of this forum are fantastic, and I look forward to some honest (and brutal) advice.

Thanks for reading.

Mandy

scot47

If you are a UK citizen you can come and work, but your partner would have to be sponsored by you. That means either you have a job in UK paying minimum of £18,600 annually, OR you have £63,500 (??) in the bank.

mellowred

Thank you Scot47. Having heard all sorts of horror stories that due to "abandoning" the land of my birth I have been abandoned too, your reply is very comforting.

At this stage my partner would remain in SA, and it is not clear whether he would be interested in making a move to the UK.

Ha, I don't even have 63,500 ZAR in the bank so looks like he will remain on SA soil for quite a while.

The first step would be for me to go over, try it out and then think about the future arrangements. My two cats need to be taken into consideration too so no hasty decisions for us.

scot47

Do you still have a UK passport ?

mellowred

A long expired one. Went into the site to apply for renewal today, but will need to find the old one. I thought it was black, but am sure it was issued before 1990 which means I have to apply for a new one.

Does this put me in the abandoned box Scot47?

scot47

You will have to get a new one. Hassle. Mistake to let the passport expire.

mellowred

You are not kidding - with the exchange rate the cost alone is R2,100.

BritInParis

You'll need to start from scratch if your last passport is one of the old blue books. Do you have your full birth certificate?

mellowred

Hi BritInParis. Thanks for the response.

Yes I do have my birth certificate, and have started the application for a new one. They do ask for all other passport numbers and require you to send your old blue one in, so hopefully it will be easier than a completely new application.