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Topic: Just moved back to the states...started regretting it on the plane. Citizenship?  (Read 755 times)

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Hi everyone. Here's my situation. I moved to the UK five years ago on a fiance visa. Got married, ended up getting indefinite leave to remain about three years ago.

A year and a half ago, my husband and I separated (not legally/formally, just decided to go our own ways). I had considered moving home at various points over the last couple of years. I decided it was time, and left yesterday.

I really regret not getting citizenship before leaving, because I don't know if I'd like to move back there one day. I want to make sense of certain timelines and rules here to see what my options are.

By leaving the UK, I haven't surrendered my ILR. But how long can I be out of the country before that expires? I always thought I couldn't be gone six months out of a year, but a quick google search says I can be outside the country for two years at a time and still keep it? Does that mean that all I essentially have to do is pop back over to the UK for a few days every couple of years? Or am I partially correct in thinking I have to be there for a certain number of days out of the year?

I also looked at the citizenship application. It doesn't look like I'd be able to get it while living outside the country. So let's say I decided to get citizenship and move back in order to do so; how many days could I be out of the country for over the course of three years without disqualifying myself for citizenship?

In very plain terms...how long do I have before all the doors that lead to dual citizenship close? I saw something online about potentially being able to reapply for ILR after expiration, does anyone know anything about that?

I just feel like a bit of an idiot for leaving without just paying out and waiting a few extra months for the application to process. I've obviously made things a lot more complicated for myself. But I'd like to know what my options are.


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Hi everyone. Here's my situation. I moved to the UK five years ago on a fiance visa. Got married, ended up getting indefinite leave to remain about three years ago.

A year and a half ago, my husband and I separated (not legally/formally, just decided to go our own ways). I had considered moving home at various points over the last couple of years. I decided it was time, and left yesterday.

I really regret not getting citizenship before leaving, because I don't know if I'd like to move back there one day. I want to make sense of certain timelines and rules here to see what my options are.

By leaving the UK, I haven't surrendered my ILR. But how long can I be out of the country before that expires? I always thought I couldn't be gone six months out of a year, but a quick google search says I can be outside the country for two years at a time and still keep it? Does that mean that all I essentially have to do is pop back over to the UK for a few days every couple of years? Or am I partially correct in thinking I have to be there for a certain number of days out of the year?

I also looked at the citizenship application. It doesn't look like I'd be able to get it while living outside the country. So let's say I decided to get citizenship and move back in order to do so; how many days could I be out of the country for over the course of three years without disqualifying myself for citizenship?

In very plain terms...how long do I have before all the doors that lead to dual citizenship close? I saw something online about potentially being able to reapply for ILR after expiration, does anyone know anything about that?

I just feel like a bit of an idiot for leaving without just paying out and waiting a few extra months for the application to process. I've obviously made things a lot more complicated for myself. But I'd like to know what my options are.

If I were you, I'd just return to the UK now and get citizenship taken care of. If you don't, I think you may find that there is never a good time and the opportunity will escape you.

The residency requirements for citizenship are as follows

Quote
.And you must usually have:

lived in the UK for at least the 5 years before the date of your application
spent no more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen

You loose your ILR after 2 years of not living in the UK and simply visiting for a short while won't reset the clock, you would have to return to live there within the 2 years.


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If you move back within those two years you would have to meet this requirement before applying for citizenship:

lived in the UK for at least the 5 years before the date of your application
spent no more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months


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Just to play devil's advocate:  is it really worth the thousands of quid and tons of trouble?  There must be some reason you are on a plane back home and not living here. 

Also, after Brexit that passport is going to be worth a lot less since it's not a valid ticket to Europe anymore.  Good job Brexit voters!


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Also, after Brexit that passport is going to be worth a lot less since it's not a valid ticket to Europe anymore.  Good job Brexit voters!

It should be discounted now!!! It's like Cadbury making the chocolates smaller and charging the same price!!
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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Chew on this Brexiters


Hope you are happy now!

Here's the version after David Davis finishes his negotiations:


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Thanks for your input guys. A few of my UK friends have said the same thing; that I left for a reason and that I shouldn't really worry about citizenship.

About my ILR expiring after two years though: I looked at this government page and it looks like I shouldn't have any trouble getting a returning resident visa if I wanted to down the line.

https://www.gov.uk/returning-resident-visa

The only concern is proving I have strong ties to the UK (They use 'making money' as an example). I don't run a business from the UK or anything like that, but I am still close to my ex husband and his family. I was named godfather to one of our nieces when she was born a couple years ago. Would something like this qualify as having strong ties to the UK?


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We have yet to see a returning resident visa approved on this board!  And ksand has been around for over a decade.

Honestly, I imagine it's the initial panic of a major change in your life.  I would think that if you genuinely saw yourself growing old in the UK, you would have sorted citizenship, iykwim.  Right now it's just scary to think about the "what ifs".  If you are not happy returning to the US, you can still return to the UK.  There's just a time limit in which to do it.   :)  You've got this.  Keep us posted!


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And I'm right in thinking that time limit is two years, due to having ILR, yes? Counting today, I've been out of the UK 35 days out of the last five years. But it's that solid block of two years abroad that cancels my ILR, right? I just want to be absolutely sure I know how much time I have.

I agree that this is the initial panic after a big choice. But I grew, and changed, a lot in the UK. And now that I'm gone, I'm thinking, sh*t...what if I just don't belong here anymore? What if I'm more British now than I thought and can't readjust? Did I just throw the greatest opportunity of my life away by leaving?

But yeah, my ILR will be good for two years, correct?


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And I'm right in thinking that time limit is two years, due to having ILR, yes? Counting today, I've been out of the UK 35 days out of the last five years. But it's that solid block of two years abroad that cancels my ILR, right? I just want to be absolutely sure I know how much time I have.

It's two years from the date you left the UK to live in the US. So, you have 695 days left to move back to the UK.

I would NOT recommend trying for a Returning Resident visa - in the 10.5 years I've been on this forum, I have never seen one get approved. All of the people on this forum who have applied have been refused.

There was even a refusal for a girl who moved to the UK as a child, grew up in the UK, then left to go to university in the US, while her parents and sibling remained living in the UK. She was refused for 'not having strong enough ties to the UK'!


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You should be prepared to experience the same kind of culture shock when you return that you did when you arrived here. All those ups and downs and longing to go back will be repeated.  Like when you moved here and maybe thought you wouldn't ever fit in, you'll have the same feelings about going home.  Those feelings will decrease over time though.


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Thanks everyone. I've been back in the US for just over a week and my emotions have calmed down a little bit. I have tried to jump back into normal life as quickly as possible; I bought a car on my second day back, I was offered a job yesterday, I spent some time with my cousin/friend which was good, and I took up acting lessons which is something I used to be involved with in high school but never had the chance to do in the UK.

I'm not a big drinker, but I have drank (drunk? drinkeded?) a little bit since coming home, and there have been a few moments while slightly intoxicated that I've stopped what I was doing, just sort of re-evaluated and admitted to myself that it was probably the right thing to do (coming home). I was on anti depressants for the entirety of my time in the UK and came off them a week before leaving. Part of that was because I was genuinely feeling better; the other was because I didn't want to worry about coming off them while having no health insurance upon arrival in the enlightened US.  ::) The reason I say this is because since I've been back, I haven't really felt like I should be on medication, or that I'd benefit from it. There is a positive energy in the air around me. Part of that, I think, is being near family. When I left the US, relationships with my family members were strained and at a breaking point. That's no longer the case. Another is the fact that I've stopped denying myself and picked up the acting again like I mentioned. I have a car that I have the freedom to just get in and go ANYWHERE I want. And that's just not something I had in the UK.

I love the UK, it will always be my second home and I might still return in a couple years for a change of pace. But I can't help but feel that, even though there's a great distance between the important people I have there and myself, my quality of life has spiked tremendously in the last week. Truthfully, I just feel better.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me some insight while I was freaking out. I've got a more level head now and I will be able to make my decisions clearly from here on out, I think. I've still got two years to decide what to do; but as for now I'm feeling calm for the most part. Every now and then, I think of someone, or a place, or a memory, in the UK and I get a sharp jab in my chest. It's still very sad that I'm gone. But I do feel I made the right decision for this point in my life.


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Truthfully, I just feel better.

So happy to hear this. It's pretty much the most important thing!  :)


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Having a car can’t be underestimated!  Freedom


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