I just looked at an OECD report that said 5% of US patients waited longer than 4 months, but 40% of UK patients did, and some had to wait up to three years. It is free in the UK, but there is a COST to having to wait.

Fairfax - if you're living in the US and intend to apply for a British passport, you technically have to do it at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. Go here to download the forms; they will describe the requirements and the documentation you need: http://www.britainusa.com/sections/index.asp?i=109. (If you do decide you qualify, send the application registered mail or deliver it in person or they will probably lose it.) I'd strongly recommend waiting the eight weeks or so it will take to get the passport in hand before you head to the UK. Once you have the passport, it's proof of your right to live and work in the UK for as long as you want.

Check this site for information on working throughout the EU, including the UK: http://europa.eu.int/citizensrights/index_en.cfm (it's intended for citizens of one EU country wanting to live/work/study in another, but it provides great info for dual citizens/expats returning to their country of citizenship to work as well).

Also, if you're curious about how the US views dual citizenship and what acquiring a second passport may mean to you as a US citizen, see here: http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

Best of luck.

Good luck with whatever you decide and ignore the low self-esteem naysayers here..they'll be wailing in a couple of years.

Hansikday: as to your dental recommendations, here's one for you..open your mouth and stuff it!

Are you working for "a couple of years" and then returning to the states? OR, working for "a couple of years" and then retiring there?
If you are returning, I suggest you not sell your house in the US if you are currently a homeowner and can make this work. You can find a competent property manager to keep the home occupied and provide positive cash flow while building equity. Gives you a chance to re-enter the US if you elect to do so in the future.

I say this from the vicarious experience of a good friend who returned to the states after 3 years in the UK. What a shock after housing costs had risen ~12% per year.

Data from OECD is from 2001 (and the UK % is 38 not 40, just to put a fine point on it, while the US % went up in 3 years from 1 to 5%), and if you can't afford treatment, tomorrow is no better than 4 months from now.

WOW!!! Thanks for all of the great advice. After I posted the original message, I checked into the Right of Abode. It looks like, since I was born before both 1983 and 1971, and my father was born in England, I may be able to get the Right. It is my understanding that this works if your father is the UK native, in part because of the large number of war brides, and that most wouldn't be having children after 1971.

What I would like to do is work in the UK for a couple of years and then, depending on how things work out, return to the US. I am in my mid-40's, so have a good 20+ years of working left before retirement.

I looked into the Highly Skilled Migrant Program, and qualified in the little test they give, but understand that the waiting period is pretty lengthy.

Basically, it's Britian or nowhere. I have family there, as well as friends across the country. A built-in support system, as it were.

Luckily, I live close to DC, so can go and make any applications in person. A lot of what they want to see need to be originals, not copies, and I wouldn't be comfortable sending some of it through the mail - like my parents wedding license.

BTW - Of all the reasons I am wanting to do this, the least serious is the political one. It's that a lot of things are aligning so that a long-held dream may finally be able to happen.

I've been going to England about once a year since I was a child, so have pretty realistic views of the country and its politics.

Topboy, regarding your advice: I'm sure you have lots of practical experience concerning strangers stuffing things in your big mouth, but I'll pass, thank-you.

However, please feel free to make rude, off-subject comments in the furure if it gives you a little comfort in your miserable life.

I'm afraid that even under the NHS, dental treatment is not free although it is much cheaper than going privately.
see http://www.nhs.uk/england/dentists/dentalcharges.cmsx
In some places, it can be difficult finding a dentist who takes NHS patients.
In my experience, the NHS is there to ensure that you have a healthy mouth. I recently had a filling replaced. I could have had an amalgum filling on the NHS, but I had to pay privately for a white filling.
Wasn't that tired British teeth joke first on the Simpsons? Perhaps we should be glad that it's all they can find.

Can you get Right of Abode stamp in an American passport? We were told some years ago (when my husband first got his) that it had to be a Commonwealth passport.