Do I need UK citizenship to make extended visits to London in the future?

I arrived in the UK on a spousal visa in July 2013, so under the 5-year plan I would need to stay in the UK until July 2018 to apply for ILR then citizenship. I never intended to obtain UK citizenship. In fact, my husband's I-130 Petition was approved and we are tentatively planning to move back to the U.S. in 2017.

But, in case I want to visit London in the future for a period of 1 month or up to 2 months (e.g. when we are retired), will I be able to do this using my U.S. passport? If we visited in the future we would most likely be staying in my husband's flat or his parents' house (assuming it hasn't been sold to pay for their care homes). I think with a U.S. passport you are technically allowed to stay without any visa in the UK for up to 6 months. This is extremely generous and I cannot foresee wanting to visit the UK for over 6 months in the future. At most, I think we would spend a couple summer months in London every few years.

Any thoughts are appreciated. If you're in a similar situation of knowing you want to move back to the U.S., how did you decide to obtain or not obtain UK citizenship?

You certainly wont need UK citizenship to visit the UK in the future (unless the rules change! - which I doubt they will on this issue). American citizens can, as you say in your post, visit the UK for a holiday etc for a substantial amount of time without a visa.

However, I and I think most other people would probably suggest you try and stick it out and get citizenship if you are anywhere close to being eligible. Who knows what will happen in the future...If you did want to stay for a longer period you would have to go back to square one and start all over. It will be more expensive the second time around and the rules will most likely be tighter.

If you have citizenship you can use the NHS etc on your visits. If you are just visiting you will need insurance.

These are just a few things to think about.

If you have citizenship you can use the NHS etc on your visits. If you are just visiting you will need insurance.

No. A non resident UKC is not eligible for free NHS treatment and would have to carry insurance or pay 150% of the cost of care just like any other visitor.

No. A non resident UKC is not eligible for free NHS treatment and would have to carry insurance or pay 150% of the cost of care just like any other visitor.

As larrabee said, UK citizens are only eligible for free NHS treatment if they are ordinarily resident in the UK. If they have moved abroad and the UK is no longer their main residence, they are not entitled to free NHS treatment unless they have  made a permanent move back to the UK and can prove it.

So that's the only benefit of UK citizenship after Brexit - NHS care? That's not a concern of mine at the moment. I always purchase travel insurance for vacations. I was more worried that Border Control might turn me away on a U.S. passport if I was staying in the UK for 1 month or more. But sounds like that may be worrying too much. Thanks!

Well, we have had a few people on the forum who have left the UK after getting ILR but without getting citizenship... And they haven't intended ever moving back to the UK.

However, a few years later, their plans changed and they decided to move back to the UK... But their ILR expired after 2 years away and because they didn't get citizenship, they had to go through the entire spousal visa process all over again.

I think they all regretted not getting citizenship before they left the UK - it would have saved them 5 years of visas and thousands in visa fees.

Also, UK citizenship allows you to visit countries that you would need a visa for with a US passport, and countries that you can't enter with a US passport (I.e. Cuba).

Personally, if I had the opportunity to qualify for citizenship of another country, I would jump at the chance to have it (perhaps not the US though due to the tax issues ).


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Also, remember, we have no idea what the terms of Brexit will be yet - it could be that a UK passport might still end up being beneficial over a US one for travel in Europe.


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So that's the only benefit of UK citizenship after Brexit - NHS care? That's not a concern of mine at the moment. I always purchase travel insurance for vacations. I was more worried that Border Control might turn me away on a U.S. passport if I was staying in the UK for 1 month or more. But sounds like that may be worrying too much. Thanks!

The reason that someone would apply for UK citizenship before returning to the US would be because one never knows what the future holds.
Perhaps, for example,your husband will decide he would like to live closer to his parents in their old age. Even if it seems unlikely now, things change and we have several forum members who are doing the visa thing for the second time and wish very much that they had become UKCs first time around.
There are no disadvantages to becoming a UKC.

The important thing to remember is that ShakeShack doesn't qualify for UK citizenship yet. 

If she could apply for ILR and Citizenship today, that would be well in excess of £3,000.  I imagine it'll be closer to £4,000 after the increase in April.... and if she doesn't qualify until after April 2018, it could be £5,000.

But she won't qualify until 2018.  That's a long time to wait and a lot of money to spend on "what ifs."

Yes, I realise if after she moves she wants to return to the UK, the path to ILR and citizenship could easily be over £10k.  But not everyone wants to return.  And hindsight is always 20/20.

Mine was a case of losing ILR after being away for more than 2 years (aging parents, one with Parkinson's and one with Alzheimer's)  I had ILR from marriage back in the 1970s when it was practically free.  I don't think British citizenship was really an option then as we were lead to believe the US would not allow dual citizenship and, as there were no helpful forums back when I left, I had no idea it would be that big a deal to return.

I eventually applied for Irish citizenship (two grandparents born in Ireland) and returned.  But discovered as a retiree I would have to provide private health insurance.  After consulting immigration barristers I was able to regain ILR status based on my previous 10 years (plus) long residence with ILR.  A whole bunch of hassle and £££.

So just saying you never know what will happen.  A lot of things change and usually not for the better in this kind of stuff.

There are no disadvantages to becoming a UKC.

Possibly an issue for someone like me. Retired.....my pension and retirement money is only taxed in the US. My social security (when I get it) will only be taxed in the UK....barely over the tax threshold.....if at all. I need to work out the details.....but I think getting UK Citizenship might increase my taxes.....and very likely make them more complicated to do. Now.....if when working out the details there is no tax advantage....then I would be fine picking up the UK citizenship and dropping the US citizenship.

Possibly an issue for someone like me. Retired.....my pension and retirement money is only taxed in the US. My social security (when I get it) will only be taxed in the UK....barely over the tax threshold.....if at all. I need to work out the details.....but I think getting UK Citizenship might increase my taxes.....and very likely make them more complicated to do. Now.....if when working out the details there is no tax advantage....then I would be fine picking up the UK citizenship and dropping the US citizenship.

UK taxation is based on residency, not citizenship. All else being equal, I have never heard of UK citizenship increasing tax liability for someone already resident in the UK.

Taking US citizenship for a UKC however is a whole different ball of wax.

So that's the only benefit of UK citizenship after Brexit - NHS care?

It ain't what it used to be.

There's only one disadvantage for a USC to obtain UKC that I can think of - if you think you might want a job that requires a (US) security clearance it can be harder to get one with dual citizenship.