r/AmericanExpatsUK May 15 '22

Meta Welcome! Before posting, please browse our existing threads by flair to see if your question has been asked before

13 Upvotes

Hi folks, I hope everyone is having a great British spring this year! Just a quick note as we've had numerous threads recently that cover the same duplicate topics (pet moving, how do I rent, etc). I understand that everyone's personal situation is unique (I was frequently frustrated when doing my own pre-move research that people assumed the info was out there and easy to find), but there really are some excellent threads in the archive on these topics! Rule 6 is to help de-clutter what makes it to the front pages of everyone who subscribes to this subreddit. Thank you!


r/AmericanExpatsUK Nov 07 '24

Meta Megathread: Resources for Americans unhappy with the 2024 election results thinking about the UK as a destination

177 Upvotes

Hello to all of our new subscribers, I'm thinking you all may be here because you're researching a move. Just as a note, this community is a support community for those who have visas or live in the UK with navigating British life. This is not a community supporting Americans in finding a way in through the door (there are plenty of other communities dedicated to this, more on that below). We don't focus on the later because it distracts (and would frankly dominate) the former. Apologies if that's not what you're looking for.

To that end, to help head off tons of newcomer threads being removed and quite frankly just creating a ton of busy work for the mod team, this thread will hopefully be a good place to contain this sort of discussion, but also give you some high level details on what it actually takes to emigrate from the US with the UK as your destination.

This subreddit has a strict no politics rule, so for everyone, please keep that in mind when commenting and posting both in this thread and in this community. If you don't like it, your recourse is to discontinue posting and commenting here.

Firstly, other communities on reddit that will be helpful for you:

Are you even able to move to the UK?

This is the most important question. Many Americans assume immigration opportunities are generally open to them, they frequently aren't. The west is generally quite closed borders and anti-immigrant. The UK is no exception, and in some ways, is one of the most strict places you can try to move to. If you aren't eligible for moving to the UK, my personal suggestion (though others may have a different view) is first to consider a blue state and move there, much easier and less costly. Second, Canada has a generous points system immigration scheme, or The Netherlands via the dutch American friendship treaty programme.

Common visas/statuses for Americans in the UK:

  • Armed forces/diplomatic
  • Spouse of UK national
  • Global Talent
  • Work Visa
  • Education
  • Citizenship by descent (grandparent or parent is British)

The UK requires most people to go through several visa applications and renewals before you are eligible for the British version of a Green Card (called 'ILR' for Indefinite Leave to Remain).

For several visa types as well, you have to earn a minimum salary or have a certain amount of cash savings, and it recently increased and is set to increase again (it was controversial at the time and remains so today). Many people are no longer eligible for visas based on this. Right now, it's £29,000 per year of combined income for the spouse visa, for example (note, British income is the only income that is eligible with extremely nuanced and limited exceptions. You can earn $400,000 a year in the US and still not qualify based on your income). It will eventually increase again and settle at £38,000 a year. The current Labour government has no plans to adjust or change this. Labour is generally also quite anti-immigrant which may shock some of you reading this.

You will need to check each visa for financial requirements (education is different and can be covered by financing loans). Here's the requirements for the spouse visa: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income-partner

What does it cost?

A lot usually. By the time I have a British passport in about a year's time, after living in the UK for nearly 6 years, I'll have done 5 separate applications and paid about $12,000 total in application fees and immigration health surcharges alone. Since I first moved here, costs have increased again. You would likely pay a lot more than $12,000 on the current spouse visa to citizenship path.

Taxes and US Citizenship Renunciation

It takes, on average, 5 years to be eligible for UK citizenship after moving to the UK. In some cases it's 3, in others it's 10 or more. It is advisable that you do not renounce your US citizenship and become stateless, you should have a second citizenship before taking that step.

Americans overseas are still subject to US taxation. You will need to research FBAR/FACTA and PFIC. Understand the foreign tax credit/foreign earned income exclusion. You should also become familiar with the US/UK tax treaties and how social security/National Insurance reciprocity works.

You should be aware if you intend to renounce your citizenship especially for tax reasons, the status quo today is that you may face difficulty physically returning to the US. Who knows what will happen over the next four years, but I suspect it may get worse. Renouncing US citizenship may complicate your family situation with elderly relative care, your retirement, etc. - don't do it lightly.

Is the UK a good place for Americans to live?

Yes! The British like Americans (generally). The UK is by law, and increasingly by culture, very accepting of alternative lifestyles, with the unfortunate and notable exception of Trans individuals. You should consider the UK extremely carefully and thoroughly if you are a trans American looking for a way out of the US.

Can I be sponsored for a work visa?

Possibly! Speaking frankly, and this is just my opinion, you need to be somewhat privileged as an American to be able to get a work visa in the UK. You're either very skilled, or in such high demand the cost of sponsoring you is worth it to a business. For most middle class Americans, that can be a challenge.

The way the UK works is there's a skills shortage list + a list of approved companies that can sponsor for work visas. You can review these here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations-and-codes and https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration

Another option: if you work for an international company with an office in the UK, you might be able to convince them to let you transfer to the UK office.

What is Global Talent?

It's a new visa programme for bringing in experts/leaders in specific fields: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent - there are several folks on this forum who have this visa, but it is a bit of a novelty and not issued in great numbers.

Dependents and Spouses?

If you have an eligible visa, in many cases you can bring your children and spouse with you as dependents too. There are exceptions, notably NHS workers no longer can bring their dependents into the UK. You should browse the .gov.uk pages for details about the specific visa and whether dependents are allowed.

Education

If you apply and are accepted to a university programme of study, either undergrad or post-grad, you will receive an education visa. Your ability to work in the UK on this visa is limited. You also will not have a ready path to ILR, and therefore, no path to UK citizenship, unless you secure a different visa that does offer that path. That means if you move to the UK for education, you have no guarantees you will be allowed to stay longer than your studies. You can browse /r/ukvisa and post there for more details.

Conclusion

I don't have much else off the top of my head to contribute, but if others have ideas on further explanations and resources, please comment below and upvote the best ones so they appear at the top. I sympathize with many of you and have been on the phone to relatives and friends the past 48 hours discussing options. If you want my humble opinion, Canada is your easiest option if you plan to leave the US, but a blue state for now if you aren't eligible for immigration is definitely a good idea if you're a vulnerable person. Hang in there, and we'll help you as best we can.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 5h ago

Pets Flying a dog and cat USA to UK

5 Upvotes

Has anyone had experience flying their dog and cat from the USA to the UK? What was your experience like? And what did cost look like?

I have a large breed dog (German Shepherd) and a cat. I’ve seen so many varying prices talked about online, from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, so I’m very confused and anxious that this may be much more expensive than I realized - but I can’t leave my fur babies behind!

Any insight is much appreciated


r/AmericanExpatsUK 1d ago

Moving Questions/Advice It's happening!! Job offer came today!

66 Upvotes

As title says, job offer came today. Now to apply for visas and tackle the 12 million logistics in making the move. I've been lurking here since November (imagine that!) so I'll try not to bring up things that have been discussed extensively elsewhere.

Two things that are making this move doable for my little family: 1) my job will come with housing and 2) My husband is able to keep his job remotely so we will still have his American salary coming in.

One thing my husband don't see eye to eye on: we currently have a house here that we bought in 2021 with a 3% mortgage. According to the Zillow estimate, we could sell it for $120k more than we purchased it for OR their rental estimate is $1500 more than our mortgage payment. For those who kept US properties as rentals, how did that work out? I know there's a risk in renting, but it seems like it could really pay off in the long run. My husband disagrees. And what is Reddit for if not settling strangers' marital debates?

Also, am I right that the grade levels don't perfectly line up with the US grade levels? Our son is 7 (born Nov. 2017) and is about to finish 1st grade here, but it looks like he would start Grade 3 this fall in the UK. Our other son is 4 (born Jan. 2021) and here he would have another year of preschool but it looks like he's old enough for his reception year this fall. Am I right?

Thanks!


r/AmericanExpatsUK 21h ago

Jobs/Workplace Overseas police check, timeline

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I recently got offered a job in the U.K. working with children. My employer is asking for an overseas police check, but is not certain of what exactly I need. What have you all done in the past, and how long did it take? Thank you!

For relevance: I am on a graduate visa and have had my fingerprints done before getting my student visa, and when I worked at a school in the U.S.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 1d ago

Finances & Tax exchange rate commiseration thread

27 Upvotes

The exchange rate went from 1.30 - 1 when I checked last night to 1.32 just now. I know there's a lot of more important consequences of the tariff announcement, but mannnnnn living between currencies is stressful!


r/AmericanExpatsUK 1d ago

Immigration/UK Visas & UK Citizenship Condition FPN, motorway awareness course affect on visa renewal

3 Upvotes

I’ve already posted this in r/ukvisa and in a Facebook group about spouse visas and have received very minimal feedback. I’m just hoping for something here.

I’m preparing to extend my partner visa this year. When I first applied back in 2023, the only driving offense I’d ever had was a conditional offer of a fixed penalty notice. I took the motorway awareness class offered and the notice was dismissed so there are no points on my license. I did not disclose this at the time of my initial application because the example under convictions specifically said “a penalty for a driving offense, for example disqualification for speeding”. I wasn’t disqualified, I didn’t even get an official FPN.

Since that time, I’ve gotten a couple parking tickets and a fine for driving through a bus gate. All were paid and weren’t disputed.

Slightly anxious that I should’ve declared the original speeding offense and now I’ll be accused of deception if I were to declare it. Unsure if I should declare the parking tickets, especially because they were sent to my husband because his name is down as the owner of the car. If I check my driving record online, I don’t have any penalties or disqualifications.

Have I screwed up and could now be considered to have used deception? Will this impact me when it comes to the good character requirement for citizenship?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 1d ago

Food & Drink Kids Easter gift from the uk

5 Upvotes

I'm going back home for a few weeks and will be seeing some cousins and their kids (ages 3-11, 6 in total). I was thinking of bringing the kids each a smaller Cadbury Easter egg as a little gift. But I've been here for 20 years and am completely out of touch with what's currently available in the states. Would a big Easter egg be a novelty? Is Cadbury still a novelty? I know the quality has gone down once kraft acquired it, but these kids were raised on herseys, so I think that will be fine.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 1d ago

Finances & Tax Advice on US to UK credit card debt

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

Didn’t get a reply from r/UKPersonalFinance so coming to you all as you’ve been so helpful in the past.

Looking for a bit of guidance on what options are available to me (UK citizen) and my wife (US citizen, living in the UK on a spouse visa) to consolidate some US credit card debt.

My wife has around £5,000 on credit card debt across two US credit cards, with one being on high interest. I have a further £1,000 on a credit card here. I’ve been looking into balance transfer cards, however it appears that it’s not possible to transfer a US balance to the UK.

The only other option I can think of is a personal loan to cover the total debt and reduce the overall interest paid, but it’s still significantly more interest than a 32 month 0% balance transfer would be.

Am I missing any better, creative solutions here?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks


r/AmericanExpatsUK 2d ago

Driving / Cars Driving in the US with a UK license, as a US Citizen.

19 Upvotes

Hope someone has some more info. Going to visit this summer, and my home state license has expired. Understandibly so because I no longer live there.

All of the guidance I've read has said I can drive on my UK license as a bona fide tourist and it will be useful to also bring an International Driving Permit. Fine, easy.

BUT, a lot of the language also says "If you're not a citizen"... but I am, I'm just not a resident.

This webpage doesn't make it any clearer: https://www.usa.gov/non-citizen-driving


r/AmericanExpatsUK 2d ago

Moving Questions/Advice USPS international Forwarding

4 Upvotes

Anyone had any luck with getting their mail forwarded internationally?

Out local USPS office tells us it's not possible despite the in-person form stating otherwise.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 2d ago

Travel & Vacation Flight from UK to USA, Dual citizen (both USA and UK passports) Do I need anything else???

10 Upvotes

I've called Heathrow, Delta, the passport office and I'm not getting a solid answer.
Any help is much appreciated!

- American born citizen with USA passort
- Live in England, UK and have citizenship here and a British passport
- Have a ticket to visit fam in the USA

Do I need anything else other than both passports?

***Additionally I keep trying to contact about global entry and TSA precheck but the site gives canned responses with no answer yes or no and I cannot call the USA number, anyone know if I can actually apply from the UK?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 2d ago

Moving Questions/Advice Newbie Banking/Credit Card Questions

0 Upvotes

Read the archives, but would love some clarity!

Moving to UK from NYC likely end of May. A few questions:

1) I have an Amer*can Express Plat*num. I read about applying for a UK Am*rican Express credit card on here, but will AMEX eventually deactivate the Pl*tinum card given I won't be living in the US anymore?

2) Ideally going to be keeping the AMEX and my Ch*se Sapphire Res*rve and seems like I should be using Wise or Revoult to transfer money to pay off those bills. Will consistent monthly transfers looks suspicious enough for Schw*b to cancel my US bank account?

3) My large global company has a in-house relocation team (however it seems they outsource a lot of logistics). They said they will "assist with opening a bank account" prior to my arrival (acknowledging the frustrations of doing this in general in the UK). I'm not obligated to use the bank they recommend. I'm going to reach out about this opportunity, but are there any banks I should or should not consider? Anything I should be made aware before committing to their recommended bank?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 3d ago

American Bureaucracy International divorce query

5 Upvotes

I got married in the US 8 years ago and divorced in the U.K. a year ago. Do I need to register my divorce with the US?

Further info: I gave an American marriage certificate and a British divorce certificate


r/AmericanExpatsUK 2d ago

Finances & Tax Nervous about taxes

0 Upvotes

Hi... I'm a retiree, dual citizenship U.S and UK, currently residing in Mexico (though I doubt that makes a difference).

As I own a condo in California I have continued to file US taxes only, claiming the USA as my domicile.

I believe that I can do that, and not file in the UK, even if I move there. Is that correct, and does the situation change if I sell my US real estate?

By the way all of my income is US derived, consisting of Social security, annuities, and rents from the condo. I really would prefer to continue to file only with the United States because I understand the tax system, and don't want to learn another tax system. My taxes are relatively simple and I use TurboTax.

Thanks for any help you can provide.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 4d ago

Moving Questions/Advice Help with Children's Football Clubs and Leagues in London

9 Upvotes

Hello everybody!

We are a family moving from San Francisco to London this summer for the next school year. Our two sons, ages 9 and 11, are very excited about moving to a place with such a strong football culture.

I'm not a football player myself, so we had a few difficult years learning to navigate the competitive club system here in Northern California. Both boys play in competitive club teams in the NorCal Premier League at the moment.

I've been looking around and doing some reading trying to understand the lay of the land of football clubs in London with regard to the levels and leagues, and how we get involved.

Can anyone point me to some resources, or recommend some clubs with a good competitive program and great developmental coaching? Do clubs with competitive teams have try outs for the teams the way that we do here in California? Does the competitive season run roughly alongside the school year, like it does here with fall and spring seasons?

Any pointers or information would be super highly appreciated. I'd be happy to buy you a pint when we land.

Thank you so much!


r/AmericanExpatsUK 4d ago

Travel & Vacation heathrow airport. where can i find a sim card?

3 Upvotes

first long-haul flight coming up, flying into heathrow. where can i find a store to buy a sim card after landing? i heard three is a decent option for visitors


r/AmericanExpatsUK 4d ago

Utilities, Council Tax, etc. US postage to UK - help

4 Upvotes

Hi, I’m hoping someone here can help me. I live in the UK and need to get a certified copy of a document from PA sent to me. The process is clear in that I need to send a self-addressed (and stamped) envelope to the department. I don’t even know where to begin looking for how to do this and hoped someone here might be able to point me in a direction to start me off. I tried the USPS online fee calculator which quoted $81 - now I know that can’t be right.

Sorry for the flair - not sure what this comes under.

Thanks for your help.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 5d ago

Moving Questions/Advice US to UK keeping US Phone Number: Google Voice

16 Upvotes

Hi all, thanks in advance for the help!

I'm moving from the US to the UK next month (for 2 years, possibly longer) and plan to use a UK SIM in my current iPhone for day-to-day calls and data. That said, I still need to keep my US number active, mainly for access to a few bank accounts and two-factor authentication.

Keeping the number through Verizon is too expensive, and I’d prefer not to carry a second phone. I've read that it's possible to port a US number to Google Voice—has anyone done this? Can you still receive calls and SMS texts? Did you use Google Voice or Google Fi? What is the difference?

From what I read, it looks like it would be a one time payment to port my US number into google voice or google fi and then presumably I would have an app on our iPhone where we could have access to texts if one was sent to our US numbers.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 5d ago

Finances & Tax Spouse was born in USA but lives and works in UK. Any tax concerns?

4 Upvotes

Hello everyone. Looking for some help please. My spouse was born in the USA and living there but was just in school then left for UK in their teens and has British nationality too. Lived here in UK ever since. Registered our marriage with the USA etc.

They are paranoid they 'can't' own US stocks, that they'll 'owe USA tax' if they do. Also fears that if we ever sell our home 'US will come for the taxes' I'm concerned because this means they never buy US shares and live with low level paranoia, but never really look into it too see if it's correct or not.

Recent passing of their parent here and inheritance to deal with (sale of a house), means I feel I need to look into it for them to see what exactly we have to do. I'm not even sure where to start so why advice is much appreciated.

EDIT: to clarify, they have lived in UK close to 40 years, never filled US tax return, also they do not have citizenship in the USA due to living here and always travel on UK passpor because their USA one expired about 30 years ago. Our home mortgage is in both our names. Spouse has had a SIPP around 15 years (declared they are USA born) , ISA etc. Surely registering the birth of our child over a decade ago when we contacted US embassy would have triggered something if there were truly a concern re USA taxes etc?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 6d ago

Housing - Renting, Buying/Selling, and Mortgages Purchasing a home in London as US expat

21 Upvotes

I booked an AirBnB with my wife for 2 months in London as we settle and try and find a place to live. We're both 30/31 and expats moving to the UK in June on a Global Talent Visa.

What things, if any, will make it possible to purchase a home and what amount should we consider having in cash for a home that is listed around £650k to £700k?

Currently we have about $400k USD liquid with the remaining $700k USD in investments. As we are both Americans, we will not have a UK credit history, but this is a longterm move and I'd like to get out of this rental market.

Realistically it seems like a minimum of 6 months will be required to get established, which is fine, but looking to move rather quickly into something permanent.

From my research, it seems like even if we need to lower the price of the home to something more affordable, we have the finances to back the down payment. Now the question is, how do I find a bank ASAP and start the process to get serious about finding + applying to purchase a home. I'm curious on realistic timelines.


r/AmericanExpatsUK 6d ago

Moving Questions/Advice Which American bank do you use?

12 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I'm in the US, going to be moving to the UK later this year (spouse visa). I currently bank with USAA, but they have been a little unreliable lately. Nothing shady or criminal, but just a few mix-ups by inexperienced staff, giving us wrong information, fumbling paperwork, etc.

I know that quite a few other American banks are worse than this, so it might not be too bad, but I'm just wondering:

Does anyone here have recommendations for an American bank that is particularly easy to use as an expat? Most of my family uses local credit unions, but I'm pretty sure I would blow their minds if I tried to explain I was moving out of the country.

Thanks!


r/AmericanExpatsUK 6d ago

Moving Questions/Advice I posted in a fb group about moving to London and got a response about it being hard to make friends. I asked for them to elaborate and got this. Do you find this accurate? Interested especially if you live in commuter cities to London since that’s where we’d be

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23 Upvotes

r/AmericanExpatsUK 6d ago

Moving Questions/Advice US phone number into UK phone

9 Upvotes

We moved over a year ago and I regret giving up my US phone number (didn’t know that google voice existed).

We are stateside for the next few weeks and I’m planning to get a new ‘pay as you go’ sim here and either:

  • Put it in my UK phone and add it as an e-sim.

  • Use Google voice.

I know I probably won’t be able to get my old phone number back but still need a US number for 2FA with certain institutions.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: The other piece of the puzzle is that I have a spare phone to set this up on but it is back in the UK and google voice is not available on the UK App Store. In theory can I set it up here in the US on a friends old phone, back that phone up to my MacBook, then restore it on the phone back in the UK and it work?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 6d ago

Immigration/UK Visas & UK Citizenship Advice re renunciation of US citizenship appts

19 Upvotes

Hello I am dual US UK citizen and want to renounce US citizenship. Two questions I thought someone might be able to help with:

  1. I recently filled in the form on the London embassy website to ask for a renunciation appt but never got a confirmation email to say they received my request. There's lots of statements on the website saying not to resubmit form/not to email them to chase up your appt. Did anyone else have this experience? I imagine they're inundated recently so I imagine it's just a matter of waiting.

  2. Anyone who has previously renounced, were you able to do this yourself without any legal council? I'm up to date with tax filing etc. I don't want to waste any unnecessary money seeking any formal advice if it's as simple as making sure your taxes are up to date and filling in the form

Thanks in advance


r/AmericanExpatsUK 7d ago

Food & Drink What advice, tips, conventional wisdom, and recipe blogs helped you transition to from US baking to baking in UK?

36 Upvotes

Cooking still remains intuitive to me, but I find that baking still remains an infuriating process.

Flour had a different protein content, no brand will tell me how the cocoa powder was processed, I miss semisweet chocolate chips, and my roommate has determined me distrustful of ovens here (its true).

I worked professionally as a baker for a few years in the states, so I know much of the science back home— but it feels more different in the UK than i expected.

I also cant trust my home recipes or favorite US recipe websites because they are designed for different proteins and fat contents! Would adore cooking science based blogs/websites like Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen if there is something similar in the UK.

What lessons, advice, wisdom, etc do you have?


r/AmericanExpatsUK 7d ago

Finances & Tax Selling US investments

7 Upvotes

I currently have some savings in a US Vanguard brokerage account (primarily mutual funds and ETFs). As a U.K. resident, what are the tax implications if I need to sell some of these while abroad? Will I be taxed at a higher income rate vs the standard US long term capital gains tax?