rebreezy

I am planning on living in England for 9-12 months and I was hoping to find advice on what all I need to do.

I know I have to, for instance, get travel insurance, apply for a visa (and they only give 6 month visas--then you have to reapply) but what about finding an apartment, putting all my stuff in storage, putting a car in storage, etc. Things I'm not thinking about? Recommendations for medical insurance? Advice? I'm coming from Madison, Wisconsin, hoping to be in England from September 2014 to july 2015.

Man, this is complicated! Any ideas would be appreciated...

janisj

Unless you have a job w/ a UK or international company that is arranging your transfer, it is very (VERY) likely you won't qualify for a visa/permanent residency. You actually can stay up to 6 months w/o a visa at all. But staying longer -- it is very difficult to qualify.

>> get travel insurance<< If you were to qualify for a long stay visa -- 'travel' insurance wouldn't cut it. You would need proof of full coverage. Plus you'd need proof of enough money to fully support yourself w/o working in the UK.

Have you considered just going for 6 months? Much easier.

janisj

Meant to say -- you can stay for <i>up to </i> 6 months -- but if the immigration authorities suspected you planned on staying longer they wouldn't have to admit you at all.

rebreezy

I'm going with my daughter, my son in law and my three grandchildren. Her husband is doing a sabbatical in Portsmouth and they've asked me to go with them. He'll be working at the university there. I was hoping maybe they'd consider me as part of the family, but probably not, huh? We're going to be traveling while there; my son in law has research to do in France and Scotland, plus we just want to take advantage of being so close to so many countries we'd like to see.

I guess I could come back after 6 months, but my income (I'm retired) is supposed to help pay for part of the rent and what do we do if I'm not there?

Your point about travel insurance is certainly well taken. I hadn't thought of it that way. Oy. What a lot of work!

PatrickLondon

You really need to track down an immigration expert as to whether there's any possibility of tying your admission to your son-in-law's family. It <i>looks</i> to my non-expert eye as though this is the relevant bit of the rules (but you really do need an expert):
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...kers-students/

KayF

We moved to the UK for a year that turned into five. It was wonderful but bits of it were stressful, like looking for a flat and jobs. Being so close to Europe was amazing (we're Australian and it's quite isolated here).

There are loads of things you need to do but I'm struggling to think of many right now. If you want to see a GP, you will need to register first at the doctor's surgery in your area. You can't just pick one, once you have an address check via the NHS website to see which one to register with. Then seeing the GP is free which we found strange at first.

With your car, if you end up going for up to 6 months I'd put it in storage or leave it with a friend but if it turns into 12 months or more, I'd suggest selling it.

I'd also only bring absolute essentials with you. Everything you need you can easily buy, quite cheaply if you look around, and we found you can make do with very little.

With flat hunting, we found you have to be super quick or miss out. There is lots of competition and the first person to apply for a flat (as long as they pass the requirements like income etc) will get it. In Australia they look at every person who applies, then pick one of them so the UK system was something we didn't expect. If you see something you think would work for you, grab it or someone else will.

We opened a UK bank account before leaving home and picked up the documentation, debit and credit cards etc once we arrived. That worked out really well for us. We chose HSBC and had to transfer a substantial amount of money into the account initially to open it.

Good luck with figuring out the visa situation.

Oh and one last thing I just remembered. If you value your sanity avoid dealing with Orange, the phone company.

Kay

janisj

One thing to think (worry) about . . assuming you don't qualify as a family member/dependent . . If the immigration authorities suspect you might over-stay to be with your daughter/son-in-law, there would be a good chance they wouldn't allow you in at all.

bilboburgler

If you think Orange is difficult then BT (the main wire phone company) is off the scale. No contact with them an be for less than 30 minutes and without needing a follow up call.

While Doctors are free it is tough to get a free dentist, so most Brits pay for their dentist, but you an get short term insurance for this.

sparkchaser

<i> If the immigration authorities suspect you might over-stay to be with your daughter/son-in-law, there would be a good chance they wouldn't allow you in at all.</i>

This point cannot be stressed enough.

nytraveler

Your first step MUST be at the UK embassy or consulate nearest you . I am not an expert but think it is very unlikely that you would qualify for any sort of longer stay visa rather than the usual 6 month tourist visa. And they may turn you away even as a tourist if you tell them of your plan to live with relatives who are on a long-term visa and help support the household.

And as a tourist you are required to have health insurance - the NHS does not cover you except for emergency service,

And I think your family needs to assume they will have to be self-supporting (whatever organization is sponsoring their visa should be making sure their compensation is appropriate for local cost of living).

MaisonPlague

Bilboburgler anyone residing in the UK should be able to access a dentist who will provide treatment under the NHS. You will still have pay for check ups etc (unless you are unemployed) but the cost is less than a private dentist would charge.

bilboburgler

should....., 1 new one opened up in Hull a few years back and the queue was over 400 people long to register. NHS ones like hen's teeth in Yorkshire.

Sue_xx_yy

"...but my income (I'm retired) is supposed to help pay for part of the rent and what do we do if I'm not there?"

I know several people who went on sabbaticals in the UK, and they went for -- I think roughly a semester, tops (e.g. September through December, or December through May.) Indeed, they found it expensive to live in the UK, particularly at that time when the pound was a good deal stronger against North American currencies than it is now (and please remember that exchange rates are constantly fluctuating, GBP has spiked upwards recently against USD; it is up about 7 per cent on average since the summer and there is no guarantee this trend won't continue.) In most cases my friends also went on their leaves without the joys, but also the complications, of dependent children.

I guess what I'm building up to is that your SIL may have to cut his coat to fit his cloth, rather than depend on you as supplementary income. The operative word being 'depend' rather than 'nice if it could be arranged.' This may mean he either shortens the period of his on-site research; lives as a singleton for at least some of the time in cheaper accommodation than what an entire family would require; or both.

The mistake people often make is to assume that merely because one is 'there anyway' that it makes sense to consider a sabbatical as a kind of opportunity for extended vacation. During my friends' sabbaticals they had to WORK, it was like an extended business trip since, after all, that's what it was. There was far less time available for sightseeing than one might assume. I think they managed to see a bit of the UK on weekends, there was maybe the odd mad weekend jaunt to Paris, but that's about it.

I wish you luck in your endeavour, but it is wise to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, in such cases.

Gordon_R

Can't add much to the advice given above re immigration / visa issues. I do however know the Portsmouth area extremely well, so can offer plenty of local tips as/when you need them.

OReilly

I moved from Canada to London 3 years ago (Irish citizen, so no immigration problems and am working).

As nyt said, start communications with UK immigration asap to understand the requirements. UK immigration policy has tightened up over the past year, so you need current information.

The biggest shock you will have here is probably the cost of living, compared to Wisconsin. Sure was a shock for me!

Has your SIL sorted accommodation, which is the major expenditure? Here is a site to look for accommodation.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/svr/3108

Sue_xx_yy

***Warning: incoming unsolicited personal advice***

I would add, that you may want to consider a few questions.

1. Have you ever lived under the same roof as your daughter and family for an extended time before? Not just on vacation, but in 'real' time?

2. If you are like most grandmas I know, you dote on your grandkids. However, bear in mind that you may be, more or less, committing to being an in-house babysitter to an extent far greater than anything you have previously experienced.

3. Were you not a relative, such a role would be called 'live-in nanny' or 'au pair.' No doubt you like most grandmas don't expect or want to be paid for your services, but bear in mind that such a position for an outsider is paid, it is not a role where the occupant is expected to pay rent, either in whole or even in part. Indeed, the role also involves: regular time off (without family); option to terminate on notice; one's own room and preferably one's own bathroom. This last cannot be stressed enough since chances are, you are accustomed to having your own place (?) and merging households will have its stresses as well as joys. You would doubtless want, at the least, a place to set up your, own, personal exclusive computer so as to keep in touch with friends and events in general. Consider the possibility of your wanting your own sitting area, if only a corner of your bedroom.

4. UK posters are in a better position to advise, especially since the last time I visited someone on sabbatical in the UK was in 1998. Herewith the 'digs' they had on a short-term lease in Oxford:

A small 'row house' in a convenient and decent area but: no parking and indeed, no car other than short term rental); one double bedroom, two single bedrooms, small living room and dining room; kitchen with fridge big enough to keep 2 days of supplies max; (luckily greengrocer and other shops were in close proximity); washer-dryer (hooray!); One bathroom. Miniscule garden.

Point being, that for a family of five, with a sixth person accustomed to being independent, finding acceptable and affordable rental accommodation at all might be challenging.

5. But mainly I leave you with this: as much as you love your family, consider the possibility that this isn't going to be an arrangement that will work for everyone. And you are part of that everyone, don't forget your own needs in the desire to meet those of everyone else.

Okay, here endeth the sermon. Lots of luck.

flanneruk

"Your first step MUST be at the UK embassy or consulate nearest you"

This is simply WRONG.

We do NOT pay our taxes to provide lifestyle consultants for people in other rich countries. Neither, BTW, do Americans.

If you waste your time (and our representatives' time) contacting a British diplomatic mission, you will be told - possibly politely - to go to the website, find the appropriate form and complete it. Which is EXACTLY the reaction a Briton will get to the corresponding request to a US diplomatic mission in the UK.

If you aren't happy with the advice (family members, other than partners and under 18 children, of non-Europeans on sabbatical, are not admitted for more than 6 months) the UKBA gives on its website (http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/ )you might find an adviser at http://oisc.homeoffice.gov.uk/how_to...ation_adviser/

There are visas you might qualify for, apart from getting a job, for longer stays. But they have very high hurdles (like investing substantial sums). For some people (especially those with VERY recent Irish, Italian, Spanish, Cypriot or Hungarian ancestry) the easiest way round this might be to get citizenship of another EU nation.

sparkchaser

flanneruk, harsh but fair.

alanRow

<i>If the immigration authorities suspect you might over-stay to be with your daughter/son-in-law, there would be a good chance they wouldn't allow you in at all.</i>

DD & SIL may also be denied entry - or if already in the country their visas revoked

Which I would suspect would not go down well with their employer

Alec

Your son-in-law and the immediate family (wife and children) will in most likelihood be under his academic visitor visa up to a maximum period of 12 months.
Detailed regulations on academic visitor can be read on UK Border Agency site at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/po...ecg/vat/vat12/
You, as his mother-in-law, don't qualify as immediate family member, even though they have asked you to accompany them.
You can still qualify as general visitor but the maximum period of stay is 6 months, with a general limit of 6 months in any period of 12 months, i.e. any shorter stays added together mustn't exceed 6 months in any consecutive period of 12 months. For example, if you accompany them on their extended trips to France and Spain (both in Schengen), such periods don't form part of your UK stay limit. There is a separate Schengen stay limit of 90-in-180 days, which applies to your son-in-law and everyone else.
You don't need a visa in advance to come over as general visitor for up to 6 months.