Brexit

I don't see this topic yet, so I'll go first.  Is anyone thinking of repatriating due to brexit?  We are.

I understand that some people will think this is a knee jerk reaction (please don't say that...I'm literally just so tired of that expression!) but we're not making immediate plans or anything. We are just SO disheartened, especially my British husband.  He's lived in the States already, so he has some idea what to expect.  He can potentially transfer within his company, and we can go back to where we were before, which is near my family.  We were just in the middle of selling our house and buying another here in the UK.  After careful consideration, we've pulled out of the buy because we've done the math and the chance of a negative equity situation is very real.  We have a lovely home now and may just stay put for 6 months to see what happens.  But for the price of our current 2 br terraced house, we can have a 4 br house with big basement and big yard.  We have kids and pets, so life in Ohio doesn't sound bad right now. 

I was truly planning to be here for the long haul.  I'm on the path to citizenship and don't want to give up without that, although my husband could have a green card and citizenship 3 years later for much less money that ilr and citizenship will cost me.  And with housing being so much smaller and so much more expensive here compared to where we'd be in the US...I just don't know what to do.

The appeal of the UK for me has always been values and social benefits.  We both feel brexit compromises this.  Outside the EU, neither of us is that interested in remaining here.

Have you thought to see what's going to happen in the upcoming US election before you make a decision either way?

I don't know about you, but I don't think I could move back to the US if Trump wins the election and while he was in power. If you think it's bad here for the treatment of immigrants and minorities just think what it will be like in the US. There will be world wide repercussions if that happens... just like this Brexit vote.

My husband and I have joked about how our only options, if Trump becomes the next US president, is to move to Canada or Australia. But for now, we're staying put. I'm almost half way to UK citizenship, we'll stuck this out at least that far.

I know a lot of people won't share my sentiments, but I feel the brexit issue is more of a concern than Trump.  It would be awful if Trump won, but presidents have a limited term. 

It would take 18 months for us to manage this move, so the election will be resolved long before we are making arrangements.

I know a lot of people won't share my sentiments, but I feel the brexit issue is more of a concern than Trump.  It would be awful if Trump won, but presidents have a limited term. 

It would take 18 months for us to manage this move, so the election will be resolved long before we are making arrangements.

I certainly don't share your sentiment that Brexit is worse than Trump.  Nothing that will truly make a difference to your day to day life has happened with Brexit, other than some hurt feelings and surprise to learn that old people can be really stupid.  It may be years before anything happens, quite possibly never. 

Trump will round up millions of Mexicans and put them on trains, and not allow any Muslums to enter the country, even if they are citizens.  That's just his campaign promises, who knows what he'll do later. 

Bush wasn't half as crazy as Trump, and look at the astounding damage he did.  For God's sake, he started a war with a random country that led directly to the collapse of most of the  Middle East , which led to Syria, which led to the huge increase in immigration to Europe, which led to Brexit!

We've had a bit of paint on a Polish community centre here, just wait until Trump gives the green light for anti Muslum violence in the US.  Our country will never be the same again. 

There's lots of good reasons to move to the states, including big houses, but I can't see moving to the US because of Brexit. 

Respect though for caring so much, I'm severely disappointed as well.

We've always known that our time here wasn't permanent (both my husband and I are American), but we have also said that we would try to stay here a lot longer if Trump wins the presidency. But due to Brexit cutting off research funding, we might end up back in the US sooner than we initially planned (my husband is a research scientist at a university). It's too early to tell what's really going to happen, but everything feels really unstable and scary right now!

Of course, a lot depends on the outcome of the US election.  DH and I are both retirees (and no, we are not "stupid" and did not vote for Brexit) so the possibility of moving to the US is rather slim and probably even impossible for Canada or other places.  I have to say I have lost confidence in the UK though.

My English husband agrees with OP that Brexit is a far longer-lasting trauma than a 4-year Trump presidency (which lately looks far more unlikely). But at least there might be fewer Polish plumbers or Muslims! And maybe the old English grannies will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their grandchildren will be able to enjoy an England that is "still English." Lol.

Act in haste and repent at leisure.   I'm not convinced yet that Brexit will really happen.   Cooler heads may still prevail.   Pulling out of a house purchase is however a wise move I think as the UK could be header for recession / house price falls.

That bigger house in Ohio comes with a huge medical price tag - don't forget that.   Health insurance in the US has changed beyond all recognition in the last 20 years and it is now common to be tens of thousands out of pocket and facing financial hardship even if you have "good" insurance.   I'm in my 40s and growing old in the US seems to me to be playing Russian roulette with the family finances: something you need not consider with the NHS.

I'm a brit and I'm dismayed at the referendum, but I don't think all is yet lost.

Also thinking of moving. We're both researchers and EU funded, so things are looking pretty grim. Also my student loans are in USD, and while it was helpful for a while to earn in the UK due to the strong GBP, that's not really the case anymore, and it's only going downhill. I'm from Boston and that's where we'd go, so it's not a huge cultural change and there are lots and lots of well paying jobs.

The problems I'm foreseeing: I actually have no idea how immigration *to* the USA works!
Also health insurance. I didn't grow up with it, and have no idea how Obamacare works in practice. The NHS is a beautiful thing.

We're also looking at Canada though. But yeah, pretty unlikely we stay in the UK for now, though we are young and hope to return in 5-10 years.

Good to see a thread on this to get some other perspectives.

We are taking the wait and see approach for the next six months before making any concrete plans, although watching the politicians squabble really isn't helping matters. Neither of us is British and we are here on EU "visas", though I don't feel as though we will be kicked out any time soon, it sure makes you uneasy and feel unwanted. And its not just me who feels that way - a lot of my friends are either EU or married to an EU citizen and we are all flabbergasted, angry, disappointed, especially for those who are high earners and see a big chunk of tax go out the paycheck every month to support - what exactly?

In six months I will be about at the halfway mark to citizenship, so that seems like a good time to reevaluate. What people arent seeing yet are the economic impacts of such uncertainty, but they are certainly coming.

We're both UK citizens (I renounced US citizenship), and we're looking seriously into moving to Ireland in the next 6-18 months (depending on how Brexit develops). Our plan was to move to the Welsh countryside in a few years and semi-retire, but we want to keep EU citizenship so that's not really a serious option anymore.

I know a lot of people won't share my sentiments, but I feel the brexit issue is more of a concern than Trump.  It would be awful if Trump won, but presidents have a limited term. 

You're right, 4 or 8 years isn't that long. WW2 just flew by.

My husband (UKC) and I (USC/UK FLR) made the decision about 6-8 months ago to move back to the US though if we hadn't already made this decision I think the vote would have been the last deciding factor. I have been eligible for dual citizenship here for almost 18 months and had been saving for the cost (and that cost went up by 25% in the saving process) over the last few months and was all set to do it but it was a few weeks before the vote and I thought I'd just sit on it to see what happened. Now, after living here for more than six years, I'm going to leave without dual citizenship. It was the most exciting process of the expensive and unpleasant visa/settlement journey and something I'd been looking forward to but I think now I will just top off the moving fund as the £/$ rate is certainly not what I was expecting it would be! And suddenly it means a lot less to me, regardless of who the next POTUSA will be.

Now, after living here for more than six years, I'm going to leave without dual citizenship. It was the most exciting process of the expensive and unpleasant visa/settlement journey and something I'd been looking forward to but I think now I will just top off the moving fund as the £/$ rate is certainly not what I was expecting it would be! And suddenly it means a lot less to me, regardless of who the next POTUSA will be.

Obviously, you need to do what's right for you, but we have seen a few people on the forum leaving without citizenship without ever intending to live in the UK again, and then regretting it a few years later when they've decided to move back to the UK and have to start from scratch with visas again.

In some cases, they either can't afford or can't qualify for a visa to come back, it now takes 5 years and £5,000+ in visa fees to get back to ILR, not to mention the £18,600 minimum income requirement for the UK citizen (or £62,500 in savings).

If you have ILR now, then you can leave the UK and move back within 2 years without losing the ILR, but any longer than that and you have to start over.

My husband and I have decided to leave. He was planning on starting school for Nursing so we will have to see how that goes. I believe it's cheaper to go to school here, if so we are stuck here for another three years. It's a pretty straightforward process to get licensed in the states once we move, thankfully. My husband has really been embarrassed about how the general atmosphere and attitude has changed over the years. We've both had our share of racism here and the brexit has just invited more to come.