British Expatriate Network

I am a dual national (UK/US) who has lived in the states for over 20 years. I was a child when we left the UK and I've only been back on a couple of visits (none in the past decade).
My husband, I and our children are looking into moving to the UK permanently. He is a US citizen, I believe the children are dual nationals.
What do we need to do as far as planning a move etc...I know we'll need US passports to leave the states and I and the children will need UK ones while DH will need a visa. How do we find a place to live, job, etc... What requirements are there? What's available to help ease the transition?
Thanks for any advise.
Linda
Dual national (US/UK) married to US citizen and currently residing in US with 2 US born children.

Quote:

On 2002-03-11 00:31, homeschoolmum wrote:
I am a dual national (UK/US) who has lived in the states for over 20 years. I was a child when we left the UK and I've only been back on a couple of visits (none in the past decade).
My husband, I and our children are looking into moving to the UK permanently. He is a US citizen, I believe the children are dual nationals.
What do we need to do as far as planning a move etc...I know we'll need US passports to leave the states and I and the children will need UK ones while DH will need a visa. How do we find a place to live, job, etc... What requirements are there? What's available to help ease the transition?
Thanks for any advise.
Linda
Dual national (US/UK) married to US citizen and currently residing in US with 2 US born children.

Im a dual citizen ,not thinking of going back but i do believe the children are dual ONLY if you claim them as such before they are 21 ** i could be wrong on this '
If you are going back permanently you wont need your US passport will you ( do you have to show it before boarding cant remember if i did )??

john,

i think you are right, the children need to get uk passports before they turn 21 (it could be 18). also, if dual citizen, you need to show US passport to leave the country.

linda, you might want to look at http//www.britainusa.com for more info about what your children need to do to get a UK passport. in regard, to moving back there are many sites on the internet about these kinds of things. if you go to a search engine (i prefer google.com) and type in a phrase like "moving back to england", it returns many sites that you can look.

hope this helps.

bvamin

Thank you. My children are still young (10 and almost 2) so we're well within the age limits to claim dual nationality.
I believe that in order to retain my own dual nationality status as far as the US goes, I need to use a US passport to leave or enter the US so we would need both. Especially since with a US husband, I don't want to burn any bridges as far as the US goes. A move back to the UK would be planned as permanent but I would like the option of returning to the US if circumstances change. Especially since I have family here (mom and sister).
Thanks for the advise on searching - google is my favorite search engine also. That's actually how I found this site.

Quote:

On 2002-03-11 13:15, bvamin wrote:
john,

i think you are right, the children need to get uk passports before they turn 21 (it could be 18). also, if dual citizen, you need to show US passport to leave the country.

I am pretty sure the age of the children does not matter, when getting a British passport. My son (born in Canada) got a British pasport for the first time last year, at the age of 22, based on having a Britsh father (his mother is dual US/Canadian). One thing I don't understand well is whether British citizenship by descent can be transmitted equally through a British mother or British father. My sister, who is British born (like me) has two children who were born in Australia (with an Australian father). My sister claims that her kids cannot get British passports, because it is the nationality of the father that counts in this case. She claims that her kids are permitted to work in the UK but would only get British citizenship if they lived there for some time (perhaps 3 years). Another female British citizen told me much the same story. It sounds strangely sexist, and I don't know for sure whether it is true.

Dave

I believe it was true many years ago about not being automatically having UK citizenship through the mother. It definitely is not any more. My daughter was born in Spain in 1988 to an American father, we were not married at the time, he was named on the birth certificates and we had no problem at all getting her British birth certificate and putting her on my passport.

Quote:

On 2002-03-11 18:46, DaveSJ wrote:

Quote:

On 2002-03-11 13:15, bvamin wrote:
john,

i think you are right, the children need to get uk passports before they turn 21 (it could be 18). also, if dual citizen, you need to show US passport to leave the country.

I am pretty sure the age of the children does not matter, when getting a British passport. My son (born in Canada) got a British pasport for the first time last year, at the age of 22, based on having a Britsh father (his mother is dual US/Canadian). One thing I don't understand well is whether British citizenship by descent can be transmitted equally through a British mother or British father. My sister, who is British born (like me) has two children who were born in Australia (with an Australian father). My sister claims that her kids cannot get British passports, because it is the nationality of the father that counts in this case. She claims that her kids are permitted to work in the UK but would only get British citizenship if they lived there for some time (perhaps 3 years). Another female British citizen told me much the same story. It sounds strangely sexist, and I don't know for sure whether it is true.

Dave

Dave,

In your sister's children case, they can't get a british passport at all because they were born in australia. australia does not allow its citizens (ones that are born there, not naturalised there) to have dual citizenship. many australian born people don't like this law, especially when foreign born people living in australia are allowed to keep their previous nationalitty (if their former country allows it of course) and get australian citizenship. i think there is a some discussion happening in the australian parliament to change this law.

bvamin

Hi homeschoolmum - I've noticed that you've moved around a lot - is your husband in the forces? Which part of the UK do you fancy returning to? I wish you the best of luck. We're planning a move to Canada later this year, our feet never seem to touch the ground!! lol

Quote:

Dave,

In your sister's children case, they can't get a british passport at all because they were born in australia. australia does not allow its citizens (ones that are born there, not naturalised there) to have dual citizenship. many australian born people don't like this law, especially when foreign born people living in australia are allowed to keep their previous nationalitty (if their former country allows it of course) and get australian citizenship. i think there is a some discussion happening in the australian parliament to change this law.

bvamin

bvamin:

I don't believe the problem is that they were born in Australia. I knew people living in Australia who had kids born in Australia who were (legal) dual citizens. Australia permits dual nationality if you already have a second nationality by birth, or by descent, but if you are an Australian citizen, then later take out another nationality, you lose Australian citizenship. For example, I am British by birth, and naturalised Australian, which was fine by the Australian authorities. Also my kids are Canadian by birth, and both British and Australian by descent. Whenever I renewed my Australian passport in Canada, I had to demonstrate that I had not taken out another citizenship after the date that I got Australian citizenship. However, when my kids renew their Australian passports, they don't need to prove that they have not taken out Canadian citizenship, because they are Canadian by birth.

Fortunately, there is a bill before the Australian parliament which would allow Australian citizens to take out another citizenship without losing Australian.

Dave.

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Leicester -> Australia -> Canada, now near San Jose, CA.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DaveSJ on 2002-03-12 11:30 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DaveSJ on 2002-03-12 11:31 ]</font>

The very latest information on Aussies acquiring dual citizenship is on this website

http//www.australiansabroad.com

(It's funny to read their messageboards, they have all the same issues in the US that we Brits face!) lol

homeschoolmum

JohnA

bvamin

homeschoolmum

DaveSJ

wendl

bvamin

murtle69

DaveSJ

Dawn