New here & not yet there.

My brit husband & I decided recently that we want to make the move to the UK. We have 2 kids, ages 10 & 6. We've been married 15 yrs.

Given we have SO many lose ends to tie up before we can move, I have time to start figuring everything out. Problem is, don't know where to start or what to figure out!

Any advice from those that have done this before is greatly appreciated. I'll plan to work, but will need a visa I'm guessing. My hope is to be there within a year so my 10 yr old won't be too far behind in school (how weird to go from elementary school to "high" school at that age!).

Looking forward to hearing from all of you experienced expats!

Welcome to UK Yankee!    I'm an American woman married to a British man for 15 years too.  We moved from the US to the UK five years ago with our two children who are now 13 and 10 years old.

Do you know which area of the UK you'll be moving too?  Will your husband get a job here before you move?

Your husband will need to apply for your visa to enter the UK and once you get that you'll be able to live and work here.  You may want to register your children's births with the British consulate so they can get British passports before they move over.  Post any questions on the visa board of this forum and I'm sure you'll get good information.

Good luck with your plans!

Hello and welcome   
 DH (English) and I  moved over from the States 5 years ago with our two children (girls now aged 6 and 9).  We have been married for 11 years.   DH was able to secure a job prior to us moving over.  He spent a few months waking up very early in the morning to chat with various recruiters. 
Tin gave you some good advice regarding passports and checking out the visa section of the board. 

All the best to you and yours!

Welcome to UKY...I dont have any advice but want to wish you good luck on your journey ;-)

Welcome to UKY!!

Thanks for the responses!

We just got the kids' British passports in yesterday.

His family is in the Northampton area. So looking there, possibly Cambridge or south near Canterbury (just learned this AM that he was talking about that far south).

Our chief concerns right now are the kids. My son will be 10 next month so we're concerned about school. Apparently in the Northampton area "high school" starts around age 13 but south of London it's 11 yrs. We don't want to put him at a disadvantage. Also, I guess registration is in the fall for the following year & I know you can't register unless you're already living in the area and my husband is concerned that we won't get to "choose" his school, they'll just place him "wherever".

We have heavy ties here (own a business & home) that we'd need to take care of before we can even figure out the "when" for moving. Earliest would be 6 months, but we figure it could be a year.

Not sure if DH would secure a job before we come or not.

As for me - he said getting a VISA wouldn't be too big of a deal. He did say that he'd rather I do some kind of "life test" earlier rather than later to avoid some big fees. I'm guessing y'all know what that is? Where should I go to study for that?

Thanks for all your advice!

I'm assuming he means the Knowledge of Life in the UK test (KOL).  You have to take it when you're in the UK, but you can do it if you're on holiday there.  I'm actually going to take mine when DH and I visit in December (we've been married and living in the State for 6 years). 

When you pass, you're given a certificate which you'll submit with your visa application here in the States.  Because you've been married for over 4 years outside of the UK, this will allow you to receive Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) instead of the initial Limited Leave to Enter which is good for only two years.  The ILE is just that...indefinite.

Here's the link to the KOL website: http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk/


Anyone please correct me if I have any of this wrong or if I'm missing something.

Our chief concerns right now are the kids. My son will be 10 next month so we're concerned about school. Apparently in the Northampton area "high school" starts around age 13 but south of London it's 11 yrs.

There are different school types in different areas of the country (some counties have primary (4-9 years), middle (9-13 years) and high schools (14-18 years) and other counties have just primary (4-11 years) and secondary schools (11-18 years). - everyone in the country has to learn the same material though, so he's not going to be behind in school. No matter where you live, your son will start in Year 7 at age 11.

Just looking at a list of secondary schools in Northampton, it looks like most of them take children from age 11-18 (see: http://www.upmystreet.com/local/schools/secondary-schools-in-northampton.html).

Only two schools listed there take ages 13-16 (Continuum School) and 14-19 (Bosworth Independent College), but they are fee-paying private schools. The Continuum School is a special school with only 10 pupils (i.e. disabled children and learning disabilities) and and Bosworth Independent College is actually for GCSE pupils (age 14-16) and A level pupils (age 16-18) only, and your son won't start his GCSE qualifications until he is 14 years old (Year 10).