Heading to Northampton from Georgia

Hey everyone!  I am currently living in Athens, Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and looking to move to England to be with my guy.  We are still working out when and where we want to get married and that will determine if we do a spouse or fiance visa.  He is pretty focused on getting us a bigger house to live in - so it's been hard to try and get him to think about wedding stuff so far!  We met online and were friends for ages and then the last couple of years... it turned into more 

I will be bringing over my dog but hopefully using the move to get rid of a lot of stuff.  That will be hard - I do love my things, but most of it isn't worth dragging around.

I am technically a Canadian citizen and I need to get my American citizenship done first so we are still a little ways out of being able to move me over.  I have had a green card for 30 years, so hopefully my American citizenship process will be straightforward.  I will be the first American in the family!  And then promptly leave.  I definitely can't wait to move over to the UK and have the chance to meet my Irish and British relatives  

I joined the forum months ago and lurked but we weren't sure who was moving where until recently so I hadn't posted previously.  There are some wonderful people here who really try and give out great information.

Welcome to UKY!
You have Irish relatives? Do you qualify for an Irish passport because if you do then you won't need a visa...Just something to throw out there.
Good Luck on your American citizenship as well!

I don't know if they are Irish or Northern Irish - I was told my dad was born just outside of Belfast, but not sure where his parents were born.  I guess I could try writing a letter to someone in the family - calling them won't work, I can't understand a word they say on the phone.

Anyone born on the island of Ireland qualifies for both passports, so it wouldn't matter. If your dad was born in Northern Ireland, you may qualify to be a UK citizen already. Worth finding out, as it would save you a fortune in visa fees!

check this out
http://www.londonelegance.com/transpondia/usuk/hibi.html

I got mine from my grandfather who was born there.

check here too
http://www.ireland-fun-facts.com/irish-passport.html

Thanks for the info, I had not really looked far into it as finding out the info seemed very daunting.  Maybe I can track down a cousin that knows where to find the info though. 

Hello and Welcome !

I am from metro Atlanta, Georgia.  Great to see another person from Georgia heading over.  I lived in Powder Springs/Hiram/Dallas area (Paulding Cnty).  I know a couple from Dalls, Ga that moved over couple months after we did (me & hubby), and another lady I knew in Cartersville recently moved over to Scotland.

I am the yank, hubby the brit.  We moved over Feb 2010, so little over a year here and I do love it.  We live down in southwest England (Plymouth).

We brought our 2 dogs over.  It will seem confusing, but it really isnt.  The people mention above that we knew that have also moved over, also brought their dogs.

Good Luck, Enjoy the endless processes of this and that and that and this in your efforts to make your move over.  I say/suggest.... leave everything you don't have to have/bring.  We did, basically started over, which has been kinda interesting/fun.

Glad to hear you are settling in ok Nemie!  Did you use your normal vet for the PETS stuff?  I am a little worried mine will get overwhelmed so I have been trying to make sure I know all the details about it before we start.  Trying to decide on which type of microchip now

Welcome Joiya! Like ChillyWilly I have an Irish passport as well as US (the Irish one through grandparents born in Northern Ireland) -- in fact, I wrote the article on Transpondia. It really was incredibly easy and cheap. Go for it by all means. Or try for the British one if your father was born in NI.
Do you know yet where you'll be in Northampton? My daughter went to uni there.

Chilly - I will have to look at what documents we have about my father and see what I can do.  My mind feels like it is going to explode after trying to figure things out online the last couple of hours.  Your article is great though!  My grandparents on his side were definitely born somewhere in Ireland at least so if I can find the right documents, it should be possible either through dad or his parents.

We like Grange Park so far the best though I have not seen much else other than that area.  I think it will depend what houses are available once he sells his current place.  I am trying to get rid of my American dreams of walk in closets and huge rooms.

Glad to hear you are settling in ok Nemie!  Did you use your normal vet for the PETS stuff?  I am a little worried mine will get overwhelmed so I have been trying to make sure I know all the details about it before we start.  Trying to decide on which type of microchip now

Hi again,
We used our local Vet to handle our 2 dogs paperwork.  Our dogs were the first set, then our friends who moved over just after us had same vet (how we met, vet put us in touch with each other while doing the pet stuff LOL).

The entire pet scheme does seem scary, but it isn't.  It is actually fairly simple.  The main thing is to begin in enough time for flying.  The process will take little over 6 months (there is 6 month period from blood work tested to flying time).  It is easy enough, but your vet needs to be made aware of the websites to go by (Defra - I think that was it, there is whole section on it here on UKY).  Just give yourself plenty time and be aware of time frames.  Once done, there is yet another time frame that if they dont fly, you would have to do the process over again.  Read up on here and the official websites and inform your vet if they dont know.  My vet didn't have a clue but got on the website and learned it all and took care of everything for us and sure all time schedules were followed perfectly.

Good Luck!

We like Grange Park so far the best though I have not seen much else other than that area.  I think it will depend what houses are available once he sells his current place.  I am trying to get rid of my American dreams of walk in closets and huge rooms.

We have a friend who lives out towards Abington and that seems a nice area. He has quite a nice terrace house that the previous owner thoroughly modernized. I know what you mean about closets, though.

Just an update to let everyone know that after researching my family information some more, I found that I am already Irish and British (by descent) and had no idea.  I think I am still a little in shock about it all, and won't really believe it until I see the passport(s) but anyway, many thanks to BostonDiner DrSuperL99 and ChillyWilly for poking me to check into it all, thus leading me to the BC! 

Good news! Good luck with your move.

Just wanted to drop a line to say hi!  I am from Georgia as well, and went to school at UGA. (my hubby went to Ga Tech   We moved at the beginning of the year and are living in Norwich.  So far so good!  Good luck with the rest of your planning!