Before you permanently move to the US

[Boiler 45,743]

You surrender your GC after you leave, there is a form to fill in.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

The foreign income exclusion is $100,600 for 2015 so you wouldn't owe US taxes unless you exceeded that. And like RJ said, your wife is going to be doing it anyway.

Why the rush to give up your greencard? What if you get back to the UK and change your mind? I know of three couples from forums who have done that. What do you do if the wife can't cope after a year? Divorce?

Have you considered living in a place with a lower cost of living and giving that a go for 18 months while you obtain citizenship? Safer town with nobody shooting outside your door? State with no state income tax? Warmer weather?

Maintaining your greencard during temporary absences from the US is covered here http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence. Maybe you would qualify for a re-entry permit if you aren't calling it permanent relocation at this time. If the move works out, you can always surrender your greencard in a year or more.

[nobbie 105]

Well I sincerely hope I'll be earning a good bit more then that, one of the reasons I am looking to go back is that I am paying 38% of my income in taxation in the US whereas I could arrange things to pay about 12% in the UK.

I assume my wife would file her taxes and not have to include my income.

I'll have a look the re entry thing but I am pretty sure if I go back that'll be it. I much prefer the lifestyle, the food, the cheaper prices, not having to drive everywhere etc etc.

I never had any desire to live in the US at all, I only went to be with my (now) wife), I sort of knew I'd have issues with it so in retrospect should not have gone in the first place.

[Cam54 84]

I'm a british citizen and have lived in usa for 2 years on fiancé visa and now green card but am currently visiting for uk for Christmas and having the horrible realisation that life for me and my husband could be so much easier in the uk, no working 51 weeks a year in the uk, we also plan to have kids in next few years but absolutely can't in the usa because there is zero maternity leave for our jobs. I'm just wondering if it's entirely possible for me to bring my husband to live in the uk with me without having to move here for a year without him and providing the income proof alone seems like an impossible task so I feel horribly trapped in the usa now we moved there.

[Boiler 45,743]

You can use savings.

[londongal 17]

You can use savings.

How much in savings would you need?

[Boiler 45,743]

Basically what you need to live on for 90 days, I am out of touch with the current figure, ask, but less than 10 grand.

[yuna628 9,687]

How much in savings would you need?

To move with you and just a spouse to the UK outright on savings would require proving that you have £62,500 which is roughly about $92,000

[nobbie 105]

I'm a british citizen and have lived in usa for 2 years on fiancé visa and now green card but am currently visiting for uk for Christmas and having the horrible realisation that life for me and my husband could be so much easier in the uk, no working 51 weeks a year in the uk, we also plan to have kids in next few years but absolutely can't in the usa because there is zero maternity leave for our jobs. I'm just wondering if it's entirely possible for me to bring my husband to live in the uk with me without having to move here for a year without him and providing the income proof alone seems like an impossible task so I feel horribly trapped in the usa now we moved there.

I sympathise with you, but it's correct to say at £62K to just move back with your husband. We have pretty much made up our minds to go and we're fortunate enough to have the money to do so. We just have to decide when to go. I'd go right now, she thinks I ought to wait for citizenship but that's a year and half away and I don't really want to hang around here that long.

[ChasUno 101]

For people who have paid into the UK National Insurance Contributions for a few years before emigrating to the USA, it looks like they can transfer qualifying years to the US for Social Security reciprocity. Very useful if you have paid into the UK NIC for a good number of years.

Spent a while today reading about UK/US State Pension/Social Security reciprocity. Seems that qualifying years accrued in the UK automatically count towards Social Security here without any special filing required now. I knew about the reciprocity (under the 'Totalization Agreement') but not the ease of transferrability for qualifying years. Handy.

https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/uk.html

[londongal 17]

I plan on going on maternity leave and taking the maternity pay package before moving to the US. I'll take the year mat leave there and then come back to the UK for about 3 months before handing in my notice. Because I'll be receiving maternity pay and effectively paying UK taxes will this conflict with getting an SSN?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Update (and brief refresher) for those of you following this issue.

The third round of the legal challenge to the July 2012 rules was heard in the UK Supreme Court last week.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2015-0011.html

Here's the case facts with the last two sentences briefly describing the victory for the appellants in the Upper Tribunal, and the subsequent overturning of that decision in the High Court.

Under previous Immigration Rules, such a couple applying for permission for the non-EEA partner to reside in the UK had to demonstrate that they could maintain themselves adequately without recourse to public funds. From 9 July 2012 new MIR were introduced whereby the UK partner must have a gross annual income of at least £18,600. The appellants challenge the lawfulness of the MIR. AM and SJ are British citizens who cannot meet the MIR in order to bring their non-EEA spouses to the UK. MM is a refugee resident in the UK who is similarly unable to satisfy the MIR. AF is MM’s nephew. At first instance Blake J held that the MIR constituted an unjustified interference with affected couples' art. 8 rights. His decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

A decision is not expected until late Summer.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Rebecca Jo

[Cam54 84]

Can someone ELI5 how much we would have to have in savings for me to bring my husband and child to the UK since we have been living in the Usa for 5 years and therefore don't have a uk income

[Optimus law 0]

 Under the new standards it is 5 years, so in spite of the fact that the citizenship rule is presently 3 years for an individual wedded to a UKC, it doesn't appear that will be conceivable on the off chance that they don't have ILR. I would be intrigued on the off chance that you could locate this out as well!

Edited June 23, 2020 by Optimus law

[TriloByte 1,818]

On 11/29/2015 at 2:15 PM, Nich-Nick said:

 

Why the rush to give up your greencard? What if you get back to the UK and change your mind? I know of three couples from forums who have done that.

I just can't understand that. Can't some people see further than the end of their own nose?

 

I'm moving back to the UK once my 10 year green card is granted. But I made the decision after very carefully considering every aspect and being sure that my husband is 100% that he likes the UK and would rather live there than in the USA.

 

That said, I moved to the USA because of specific circumstances. I never had any particular interest in the US bar enjoying a short break in New York, and even less interest in emigrating. It was never some idealized dream, just a weird set of circumstances that happened and was only ever temporary to my mind.

 

I can't imagine going through all the pain and expense of USCIS to abandon it near the end in and then start all over again. It just seems incredibly ditzy to me.  I know people's personal circumstances can change, but still. 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by TriloByte