Can you have dual residency ?

[Kahvikuppi]

DH moving to Finland for work, job starts in January. We have adult children, at university but living at home so still have family and financial ties here. I am not working at the moment.

His new company have advised him that it is better for me to apply for a Residents Permit at the same time as him as it is a much quicker, smoother process, but I don't know what that means for me in terms of being able to still live and get a job in the UK if I am not able to secure a position there. Can I be a resident in both places ?

In my head, once I get that stamp in my passport, I am thinking I won't be able to access anything here, bank accounts, car insurance, home insurance, etc. but I can't seem to find this information online. Most of these things ask if you are over 18 and a UK resident but can I be a resident of both countries ?

If you are a UK citizen then it is not a problem to be resident in UK while having a right of residence in another country. So go ahead and get the residence permit along side your DH.

If you retain your UK address you do not even need to inform your bank. You will however have to continue to pay Council tax.

There are admin issues over taxation eg If you get a job in Finland you will have to submit a tax return there and see whether you also need to submit a return in UK. Also, if you rent your UK home you may be subject to capital gains taxes on the time it is rented out. But it sounds as if you do not plan to do this. A good accountant will advise.

Thousands of people are in this position.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dual-residents-hs302-self-assessment-helpsheet/dual-residents-2024-hs302

No problem to be a resident in another country. Nothing changes in the UK unless you no longer have a UK address.

I am a dual resident, but still living in the UK at the moment.

You may be getting confused because of tax residency, where people generally try to avoid being tax resident in two countries. However, you can have right of residency without being tax resident- I have the right of residency in UK and HK- when I lived there I was not UK tax resident and now I live in UK I'm not tax resident in HK, but I can go back any time I want. Whether you're tax resident in a certain country depends on the rules of that country in terms of how they determine it.

Where do you actually plan to live? I can see as an non-EU citizen it would be better for you to claim residency in Finland at the same time as your husband (even if you don't actually move) - though depending on what checks they do they might expect you to actually be there during this part of the process. That way you can avoid the 90 in 180 days Schengen rules. I have dual-nationality in Belgium and there is nothing to stop me going back to UK to work. There is a treaty where you don't pay tax in both countries - though you normally have to declare your income (and contents of bank accounts etc)

Thanks all, really helpful. It sounds like it would make sense to apply at the same time. I think I have got confused over dual nationality, dual residency and residency for tax purposes.

@MissAmbrosia where I live also depends on whether or not I could secure a job out there, I would need that for income and sanity but it’s a struggle without speaking the language. DH is professional and will have business English in the office.