Moving Back Alone - What Is The Process?

Hello there,

My situation is a little bit different from most posted on here, so I would appreciate any help others can offer. 

I'm a USC married to a Brit, have lived in the UK for 7.5 years, and gained dual citizenship nearly 4 years ago.  Unfortunately, there are some challenging circumstances on both sides of the pond that have my husband and I considering an amicable separation and, ultimately, my return to the US.  What I am wondering is what would I need to do to return to the US alone?

First of all, as I am a US citizen, am I able to simply move back?  Or, as I have been nonresident in the US for some time, would I need some sort of sponsor?

Next, I am assuming that I would not be able to simply box my stuff up and post it home.  I have seen from other posts that there would be Customs forms to fill out - something I may get a moving company to do for me?  I don't have much more than clothes and small household goods (a rug, linens, pots and pans, etc) that I would wish to take.
 
Since attaining dual citizenship, I have always filed for tax exemption due to being a bona fide UK resident.  Is there, therefore, anything I need to do to become an 'official' resident of a state again?  Or would I simply (obviously) upon taking up employment start filling out state taxes again and this be enough?  Additonally, does anyone know what implications, if any, there might be for me as a UK citizen in the US?  Would I need to pay tax to the UK on US earnings?

I'd appreciate any help people can offer regarding the above questions and any advice regarding areas I may be missing... I honestly have no idea where to even begin at this point.

Many thanks,
G.G.

What I am wondering is what would I need to do to return to the US alone?

Not much - you just get on a plane and fly to the US.

First of all, as I am a US citizen, am I able to simply move back?  Or, as I have been nonresident in the US for some time, would I need some sort of sponsor?

No, you are a US citizen - you have the right to live in the US whenever you want to. As long as you have a valid US passport, you can move whenever you like.

Next, I am assuming that I would not be able to simply box my stuff up and post it home.  I have seen from other posts that there would be Customs forms to fill out - something I may get a moving company to do for me?  I don't have much more than clothes and small household goods (a rug, linens, pots and pans, etc) that I would wish to take.

The customs form is no big deal - I've filled out several of them in the past, whenever I've mailed items from the UK to the US, or vice versa.

You just fill it out at the post office when you mail your stuff. It just asks you to list what you are sending, what type of items (i.e. personal belongings, gift for someone else) and what their value is. The customs form is just there so that US customs can figure out whether you need to pay tax on the items when they arrive in the US (you shouldn't do - they are mostly looking out for people importing items to sell to others and who are trying to avoid paying VAT on them).

If you just have a couple of boxes of stuff, I would probably just send it yourself through the post office - you can ask for ground shipping, which is cheaper, but takes about 6-8 weeks.

When I moved home to the UK from the US I shipped two boxes of personal belongings and a bicycle through USPS with no issues at all (although it cost me about $400 because USPS only offers airmail, not ground shipping).
 

Since attaining dual citizenship, I have always filed for tax exemption due to being a bona fide UK resident.  Is there, therefore, anything I need to do to become an 'official' resident of a state again?  Or would I simply (obviously) upon taking up employment start filling out state taxes again and this be enough?  Additonally, does anyone know what implications, if any, there might be for me as a UK citizen in the US?  Would I need to pay tax to the UK on US earnings?

Don't think you need to do anything, but someone else who knows more about filing tax in the US will probably have more information.

No issues with being a UK citizen in the US - you only pay UK tax on income you make while living in the UK... so when you leave the UK, that's it, no tax obligations. It's only the US who makes its citizens file/pay taxes when they don't live in the US.

I agree about the customs forms being no big deal. Hubby and I moved back to the US last summer (he decided he prefers Indiana to his part of the UK). We shipped our stuff through the mail, since we sold all the furniture and big items. The lady at the post office wrote 'personal belongings' on them. She was very helpful about getting us the best price, which was a bulk shipping rate although it was several boxes with the combined weight reaching the total. There are rates for 'up to' quite a range of weights.

We used a moving company to get our stuff from Dublin to the US. The moving company provided the forms we needed to fill out and we just returned them to the movers.

That's brilliant -  thank you so much for the help.  It's very reassuring to hear from those that have done it before. At least one part doesn't seem quite so daunting now.