to think the govt is treating my family like a cash machine

[petelly]

So, story is met and married a forinuh (and a non EU one at that) when living abroad. We married in 2001 and have 2 dcs. In 2008 I was offered a good job in the UK and we decided to move here.

First off, £750 for a spouse visa. Usually good for two years. Then you come to the UK, take the stupid 'Life in the UK test' for £35 and then apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain which costs £840. After 3 years in the UK, you can apply for citizenship which costs £735. So over £2000 forked over to govt just for the privilege of a married couple living together.

Now, in our case, we'd been married for 7 years when we applied so we found a loop hole where dh could get indefinite leave as part of the original visa (saving us £840!!). BUT you had to take the Life in the UK test which you HAVE to sit in the UK. So dh got on a plane, flew to the UK, sat the test (passed ) and flew back again which cost us £400 plus carbon footprint - but significant saving for us.

Then last year our bag was stolen while we were abroad with all our passports. We all got new passports - easy enough.

But then the flipping border agency charged £270 for a replacement visa stamp in dh's passport. Now, the worst thing is that you'd think for that money you'd get a good service but NO!!! With the replacement stamp the border agency kept his passport for SIX MONTHS DH lost work because he couldn't prove he was eligible to work in the UK. He also nearly missed a previously booked business trip but persuaded his embassy to give him a temporary second passport (another £100). Our MP got involved and his assistant found dh's original indefinite leave within SECONDS on the computer.

When dh applies for citizenship, the Border Agnecy also say it can take six months. But WHY FFS if we are paying through our noses? can't they at least provide a decent service? They also have a premium number phone-line where you get through to some passive-agressive 'computer says no' kind of person.

The Border Agency openly say that they use the revenue generated by over-charging legal immigrants to fund the deportation of illegal immigrants to make the immigration system self-funding. WTF!!! So all non-EU immigrants need to PAY for illegal immigrants??? I don't get it and it just doesn't seem fair.

We also get charged a 'community integration fee' to help LAs struggling with high immigration levels. But a lot of the problems are caused by EU immigrants eg Polish who don't speak English and don't pay a penny because they're EU. I'm British, my children are British, we all speak English - and no-one has lifted a finger to help us 'integrate' either. So why are we paying for a fucking community integration fee??

Is it just me (because we're paying!!!) or does this just seem totally OTT, unfair and exploiting people who don't have much of a choice???

How strange! I knew there were limits to passing on nationality (like my baby) who will be born in the UK, could not pass on his nationality unless his baby his born in the states. But thought if you were born there you automatically could. Were you Dh's parents born in the states?

No but apparently it applies to all US citizens. You have to have spent X time there. DH still hasn't managed it as we went out for 3 years so he's 4 months off or something. So number 4 cannot be a US citizen. (she was born when we got back)
We'd have to do it all again for her (and me as my green card has expired) if we went again

Thank you deadlylampshade for giving me one more thing to worry about!

Just avoid a certain guy at the Embassy. He took great delight in refusing our visas even though DH was leaving for the US to start his new job. The kids were refused because of their vaccination status. Several thousand dollars later we won the waiver but not without months of worry. But he took horrible delight.

heehee, Hecate.
After 20 years of living in the UK I am finally gritting my teeth and getting on with applying for citizenship (I got ILR back when it was FREE, I tell you FREE!!).

Anyway, I am budgeting 2k and expecting a 2 year process, that way I won't feel too horrified at whatever happens.

TheDeadlyLampshade

1. I'm sorry the US Embassy treated you so shabbily. I'm a citizen and they treated me pretty horribly too and I remember thinking if they treat me like this, what do they do to potential immigrants? So I'm sorry to have my suspicions confirmed. The Home Office here have always at least been polite to me; they may often have been useless but they were polite.

2. So, if I was born in the US and lived there until I was 23, my baby, who will be born here in the UK, can be a citizen or, will the six years I have spent here exclude him/her?

Thanks for the advice Deadly! My dh has been following an expat website where they share info on who is the "nasty one" they're all afraid one woman there at the moment...

Your child will be a dual national LLKH. But you will have to register the birth at the US Embassy. I have no idea if its postal but a sneaking suspicion tells me you will have to do it in person. (we looked into it for number 4)
And you know the exact specifications for the darn photo right
Another reason not to attempt to register number 4. Her eyes have a squint and she canot close her mouth. She'd fail on 2 counts.

Disco - I guess Mr G has left. They do a 2 year stint as vice consular or whatever.
Tell your DH to take snacks
And they do search you, with armed poeple. And remove your mobile etc etc
Do not make witty jokes either

they have made it much harder here. Like ragged, I got ILR for free and could have been naturalised for free if I'd done it when I first qualified.

Now I have to go through all the ridiculous steps and pay through the nose. I also had a problem when I renewed my US passport and the Embassy seized my old one. That left me without a visa since the UK had decided to no longer make the stamp upon entry, and to charge a couple hundred quid to have me send off the passport for the stamp.

So everyone time I come into the country I drag out a dodgy looking copy of the old passport and my ILR letter from the Home Office.

But on applying for naturalisation, I thought you could submit notarized copies of the applicant and spouse's passports? we travel several times a year so six months or a year forfeiture is not possible.

DH has to do that chandellina. He is a dual national and for years I've been nagging him to geta UK passport. Its caused us massive problems not having one.

Sis is bringing her US husband here at some point but she has to find a job in the UK first. She doesn't want to leave him though as he is poorly.

deadlylampshade

I don't think you need a job - if you have savings and can show that you're likely to get a job before they run out then you can get a visa. You just have to demonstrate that you can support yourselves. You also need to show that you have somwehre to live without being overcrowded. We put my Mum's flat down as we hadn't arranged a rental from the US. She had to write a letter agreeing and provide a copy of her deeds.

she doesn't have any savings. It all went on US medical bills when she lost her job for 5 months.
I'm giessing she willhave to fly back alone and find a job/flat.

You have to go to the US embassy to register the birth LLKH, your child gets US citizenship (the right to file forms to the IRS every year for life, woohoo! ) if you spent 5 years in the USA after your 14th birthday (I think that's the rules, they do change them without notice!).

It's a palova...your spouse has to get a notarised form saying they give permission for your child to get a US passport, or your spouse has to attend in person. 50 quid at least to get it properly notarised, btw (big wax seal deal). Lots of other forms, and make sure you have accepted forms of payment. You need to spend a long time reading their website and double-checking forms. I didn't bother registering DS2 until he was 18 months, though, no rush as long as it's before they're 16.

I am an old hand at this stuff, alas!

I always find them much more human at the US Embassy than I fear or website would lead you to believe, they let me bring buggy in and liquids as long as I sampled them myself. And let me squeeze an unscheduled birth registration in as well rather than have to go back 2 weeks later. The worst thing is that they don't call your name, it flashes up on a Red-letter screen and you're back to bottom of queue if your eyes happen to be elsewhere when your name comes up.

Has US Embassy moved yet? They were going to leave Grosvenor square I think.

lol ragged. dh and I were taking it in turns to watch that screen when we went!

Yes, you have to go in person, but I think we had to register an appointment for it online? Is that correct still?

You just have to go on London US Embassy website and nose around for ages until you figure out what the current procedure is (has been online appts ONLY for ages). The exact process was different for each of my 4 DC (registered 2000-2009) and will probably keep "evolving".

I guess LLKH can't register her baby if she's 23yo and been out of USA 6 yrs... but check what current regs say!

ragged

how does the IRS thing work? DD2 was born in the US and she's a US citizen (amongst others!!) - from waht age do they have to file? What happens if they don't?

TheDeadlyLampshade ooh why do you and your sister only go for american men!?

Nothin petelly really but at 18 she technically shoudl file. She wont have to pay unless she is doing really well though!

The problem is for future stuff if she moves back or brings a partner (and needs to sponsor him) with her she will have to back file 3 years (although sometimes they can ask for 5). It is just annoying really.

big todgers Disco

What does happen if you are living in the UK on a work visa for about 5 years and you didn't know that you had to file US taxes (and don't make a lot of money, but enough not to need any support iyswim)? Hypothetical question, of course...

How many countries have you compared and contrasted!

star hypothetically speaking If I were going back after a 5 year visa I'd get to back filing my taxes. Also you will make more than you realize because you have to convert GBP to dollars for the taxes

How does one go about back filing? Is it easy? And no, I'm not going back after, I'll stay in my same job and get ILR this summer.

I thought I heard that if you made under $80,000 USD, then you didn't have to file? The hypothetical person makes under that (have converted £ to $).

That story sounds very similar to mine. I'm South African and married to a British National, I went through all the hurdles and paid all the fees.

In 2007, when applying for FLR, the HO lost both my and my husband's passports. Despite the fact that they had signed for them (and confirmed to me on the phone that the person who had signed definitely worked there), they refused to acknowledge they'd been received. Like your husband, I ended up in visa limbo - lost my job because I couldn't confirm I could still work, couldn't leave without a passport but had no valid visa to stay. It went on for ages and finally got sorted out only when my MP got involved.

They ended up issuing me a paper visa and then charged £500 to move it to my new passport when I got it.

The passports never got found but that plus the constant renewal fees have probably cost me around £9000.
Unfortunately, I think you're right. Foreign nationals are an easy target for raising cash - we have no choice but to pay up.

I gained my British Citizenship earlier in the year though so hopefully will never have to deal with them again