take it from the top!

Hi all,

   Well I'm a brand new kid on the block so let me give you the short version. I'm a USC and my hubby is a UKC. We met on the internet almost 5yrs ago. after 6mos of talking to each other I got on a plane and flew to England to meet him in person. It was the best 2 weeks of my life and at the end he said I cant let you go and I said then come with me. So we sold everything he own in a weekend. Loaded up a van and went to a carboot sale and in 3hrs we sold his whole life, bought a plane ticket and he flew home with me to the USA and we were married 2mos later. Then I got laid off from my great job and everything seem to go belly up so I sold everything I had and back across the pond we went. One thing he didnt give up was his house. So there we lived for the last 3yrs until jan 2005 when we sold everything yet again and came back here. My parents are getting up in age and I wanted to come back and be with them. took us a year and half to do USA immigrations and now we are at the AOS point so still not done. But now that we have been here for 9mos we find that we hate it here. Nothing has gone right for us. I cant make enough money to support us or save enough money to finish his paperwork and we found we dont want to be here anyway. Sooooooooo we want to move back to England. I miss it so bad and  2 weeks ago we sold our TV and bought my husband a plane ticket cause he was cracking up setting here in this apt 24-7, and he went back to england to try and make some money. So I need to understand this whole process for UK immigrations. When I was there for the last 3yrs I was there on just the visa waiver program and going over to europe every 6mos and to the USA once and back in again so I dont know the process so I was hoping you guys could enlighten me.  I'am 44 and my husband is 47yrs old and we have 8 children between us all grown and we have been married for 3-1/2yrs. My husband is a yorkshire boy and I'm from ohio which is where we are now. I wish I would have found this site in england, it would have been nice to have someone to talk to who could relate. lol Anyway, thanks in advance.

morning- because you have been married longer than 2 years, and you're currently in the USA, you should apply using the VAF2 form found here:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/UKVisasDoINeedAVisa?url=%2Fservlet%2FFront%3Fpagename%3DOpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage%26c%3DPage%26cid%3D1006977149962&purpose=Wife&nationality=United+States&location=United+States

Becuase you have been married longer than 2 years, you can apply straight away for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). 

Good Luck with the process!

meggles,

   Thankyou for replying. I had heard something about being married over a certain length of time would give you PR straight away but wasnt sure if it was true. As a PR do you a national insurance number or a work permit, I'm wondering about working I know you have to have one to work.

   Thankyou for replying. I had heard something about being married over a certain length of time would give you PR straight away but wasnt sure if it was true. As a PR do you a national insurance number or a work permit, I'm wondering about working I know you have to have one to work.

Just to keep Meggles honest, you actually need to be married for 4 years before you can go for immediate settlement... 

You will be able to work as soon as you recieve your 'indefinate leave to remain', so basically when you set foot on UK soil. You have to apply for this while still in the US, by the way.  So you won't need a work visa, actually, you couldn't apply for that yourself anyway, your employer has to.  As I understand it, you will fill out an application for your NI number, once you are employed. Someone else may be able to verify this tho, I am not sure if you need to apply for it, until you have been offered a job.  You will be eligable for the NHS right away tho, having an NI won't affect that. Hope this helps, and good luck on the move back. 

so you have to have a job before you get your national insurance number? Most wont hire you without one. You cant apply for it once I get there like you would for SS#? We are wanting to move after the first of the year and then about 2months later will be our 4th wedding anniv. so with that in mind, when I first enter the country I'm on just some kind of spouse visa and then after our 4th aniv. I file for Indefinite Leave to Remain or how does that work? I'm sorry guys I feel like a pest. Ask me anything about US immigrations, I know it like the back of my hand, but with UK immigration I'm afraid I'm pretty green.