Moving from Seattle to Scotland (fingers crossed!)

After 25 years of marriage in the US, my Scottish wife gets her wish. I have a solid job offer in the UK, so am processing my spouse visa (submitted 18 Oct 2017), as the offer is contingent on it. We're bringing the kids: 16, 18, and eventually the 24 year old.

We're all really excited, but I'm interested to hear what others experience that would help us adjust to "life in the UK" vs. "vacationing in the UK." I'm a little concerned that the kids in particular have had a biased view from our holiday trips. Our last one was a month last Christmas, so it's not like they don't think it rains there (and we are from Seattle!). But what are the things to prepare for mentally?

What category did you apply under?

Are your children dual citizens?

There's a lot of things that are hard to adjust to but people tend to have any easier time in Scotland.  Sometimes it's just everyday life that is a big adjustment (small fridge, no dryer, damp house, public transport, etc.).

Hi mungogrubb, welcome! 

This may sound obvious but just be prepared for everything to be different, not necessarily better or worse but it won't be the same.

Hello from a fellow Washingtonian!

I was prepared for the rain, but it is so damp here compared to Western Washington that it feels a lot colder than it would in WA. It means clothes take longer to dry on the drying rack and I need to bundle up more here than in Washington. Maybe Scotland is different from London (where I am) but be prepared!

One big difference I've found is the way people respond to rain here. In Washington, people usually have a waterproof coat with them. Here, it seems like it's more umbrellas (although that might be a London thing).

What category did you apply under?

Are your children dual citizens?

Spouse visa. Were there multiple types of Spouse visa? I only saw one...

Our oldest has had a UK passport before and needs to renew. The other are applying for their UK passports now. Which brings up a good newbie question: aren't they already "dual citizens" by having a Scottish mum? My reading of the application was that they are citizens by virtue of parentage, which is why we had to include their mom's birth certificate.

Excellent news.  If she was Scottish by decent she wouldn't be able to pass on citizenship.  That gets hard as you can't bring kids 18 or over!

There are many categories for the spouse visa.  The most common used to qualify are employment income by the UKC sponsor or cash savings.  There are several other categories but not used as frequently. 

Welcome to the forum .

By Category, we mean which Financial Requirement Category are you using to meet the spousal visa requirements, as per Part 3 of the VAF4a Appendix 2 form.

The Categories are:
A and B- sponsor’s employment income in the UK
C - non-employment income
D - cash savings
E - pension income
F and G - sponsor’s self-employment income in the UK


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  If she was Scottish by decent she wouldn't be able to pass on citizenship. 

British, technically.

By Category, we mean which Financial Requirement Category are you using to meet the spousal visa requirements, as per Part 3 of the VAF4a Appendix 2 form.

The Categories are:
A and B- sponsor’s employment income in the UK
C - non-employment income
D - cash savings
E - pension income
F and G - sponsor’s self-employment income in the UK

D - though this is one area I'm a bit nervous about. We have plenty of investment savings, which I understand is allowed, and we converted it to cash in the last few months, which I also understand is OK. However, the source of that cash was technically *my* personal retirement account (which can't be shared), but under the umbrella of our *shared* investment account. She's had access and power of attorney over those funds for years, but it's a little technicality it feels like they could catch us on. Because of that, we included evidence of another account of cash savings meeting the requirement, but it's only been there 4 months, not 6.

Seems like, between the two (plus an offer letter of employment for a healthy salary), they'd have to be looking for reasons to be unreasonable in order to deny me.

Oh, and my wife is British-born, not by descent. She moved here on a marriage visa back in '92

Well, they are not allowed to consider your job offer, or the savings in the other account because they have not been there for 6 months yet.

So, the only things that will count are your investment savings. As long as the funds are at least £62,500, have been held in your account for 6 months and they are immediately accessible... and you sent the full 6 months of bank statements, you should be fine.

It’s not about looking for reasons to refuse the visa - it’s a tick box visa... f you meet the requirements and you sent the required documents, you will get the visa.

If you don’t meet the requirements as specified, or there are documents missing and they don’t request them, you won’t get the visa.


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Savings can be yours or hers or joint with each other. They don't have to be joint.

Sounds like you guys are fine.   

I've not been to Washington state, so I can't comment on the rain there, but I can say after spending just about 10 years in the north of Scotland, it's definitely cold and damp here.  Not always,  when you get a nice day, like last weekend (where it was 15ºC/59ºF and sunny!) it's absolutely glorious. 
Other than that, I would say, yeah, everything is an adventure and keep your mind open. There will be differences for sure. Now I have no clue what they are anymore, I'm so used to how things are here. 

Welcome!

We just moved to Glasgow after 25 years in the US.  My husband is Scottish and our 14 year old daughter has dual citizenship.  I am having a hard time adjusting to the cloudy, rainy weather (we lived near Washington DC).  You should be okay if you are from Washington state.  Where in Scotland are you all moving?  We live in the Jordanhill area of Glasgow which we enjoy and it's very close to our daughter's school.