Advantages/Disadvantages of getting British citizenship

So an American lady I work with & I were talking a month or two ago about us working together on getting our applications for British citizenship together.  I was planning to do mine anyway, and when she heard - she said she was interested in doing this too.  Today we spoke of it again & she asked - "Well really what is the benefit to me if I get British citizenship?  Do I need to do this really? etc."

I told her no - it's not something we are required by any means to do, but was hard pressed to explain the benefits of why one would want to do so.  I only said the reasons why I want to do it - so I could vote (& participate as a full citizen) & so if we ever had to move to another country - I could come back here anytime without having to get a visa, etc.  Plus my husband is British & it just feels like the right & natural thing (for both of us) for me to do.

So it just got me thinking on what everyone thinks about this.  Why should I want to be a British citizen - why does it matter for someone (not me specifically) to do this?  As opposed to not doing it?  Just interested in hearing opinions, for or against - informed or otherwise.

For me the advantage will be that I don't have to worry about any of this anymore. I will have every right to live here and every right to live there (US). No more immigration woes. Full rights all the way around. Lovely!

For me the advantage will be that I don't have to worry about any of this anymore. I will have every right to live here and every right to live there (US). No more immigration woes. Full rights all the way around. Lovely!

I'm far from ready to apply for citizenship (I'll be eligible in September 2009) but that's my rationale, too - it might be an incredibly expensive and time-consuming process, and I'm not sure that I'll spend the rest of my life here in the UK, but as I'm planning to be married to a Brit for a good long time I'd like to make things as easy as possible for us.

For me the advantage will be that I don't have to worry about any of this anymore. I will have every right to live here and every right to live there (US). No more immigration woes. Full rights all the way around. Lovely!

Dh & I discussing this as well would definitely be a plus if I was to get my British Citizenship sometime in the future. cause I know 1 day we are going to move back to the States sometime in the future. so with me having my British Passport we wouldn't have the immigration woes & fee's either.

For me the advantage will be that I don't have to worry about any of this anymore. I will have every right to live here and every right to live there (US). No more immigration woes. Full rights all the way around. Lovely!

That is exactly how I feel. I got my citizenship directly after ILR because I knew that the goal post was always changing and got tired of worrying about all of the paperwork for the UK or US. The way I look at it, at least we are settled on one side. 

Yep, we could end up bouncing back and forth with DH's job/research. So citizenship would make things a lot easier. But I do take voting seriously as well and would definitely take advantage of that!

But I do take voting seriously as well and would definitely take advantage of that!

Yes, I forgot to include that bit. I am really looking forward to being able to vote!

i second/third/fourth everyone' comments... i want citizenship so that if i move to the US, then then a few years later decide to move back to the UK (or any other EU country!) there's no immigration issues.....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but once you've got citizenship you're eligible to apply for a British Passport.  With that it makes it a heck of a lot easier to travel on than a US Passport...  Plus you'd be covered by the British Embassy in whichever country you enter on that passport...  Plus if you're a US Citizen already, you're under no obligation to renounce your x country of origin's citizenship (unless otherwise stated by IND), so you'd be a dual citizen.  You have nothing to lose by becoming a British Citizen.

I would like to eventually become a British citizen. I know its quite a ways off as I haven't moved yet, but I'm planning on making England my permanant home, so of course I would want to be a citizen of the country I'm planning to live the rest of my life in. And the passport thing that was brought up earlier, it would definitely make traveling easier to be able to have a UK Passport.

With that it makes it a heck of a lot easier to travel on than a US Passport...  Plus you'd be covered by the British Embassy in whichever country you enter on that passport... 

This superiority argument always comes up in this topic. I'm widely travelled and I have not had a problem travelling on a US passport... and on some occasions it has actually been cheaper to get visas with the US passport than a British one. You are also covered by the US embassy if you travel on a US passport.

At the moment, the only appeal to me is live in the EU with less restriction and voting rights for a country I pay taxes to and do work on behalf of the local people.

The overriding reason for me would be ease of movement between countries (as in, being able to live out of the country for an extended period and return, not short holidays.)

After 14 years of US permanent residency, I finally applied for naturalization for exactly that reason, and it would be the same in the UK if I ever did it.

I have planned on applying for naturalization for all of these reasons, especially the right to vote and have stability in my immigration status, but I have added one recently.  I've been trying to apply for new bank accounts and credit in this country, but since I'm new I'm struggling to establish good credit here without ridiculous expenses.

If I get one more letter saying "we're sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you an account because we did a credit check and you are not listed on the electoral roll," I might just scream.  I've recently sent in copies of utility bills to all the credit rating agencies hoping it might help to verify residency even if I can't be on a voters roll.  I never thought I would get a significant cut in my credit rating just because I am legally banned from voting!

Well having a British passport would make it easier (I think) if we decided to move to another EU country at some point.  Seems there would be less visa rigamarole if I could rely on the EU country citizenship, vs having to deal with EU immigration purely as an American.  Is this not at least a little bit correct?

It's a lot correct!  There is effectively no immigration rigmarole if you choose to, for example, retire to Provence or Milan, if you are a UK national...

...one can but dream!


Vicky