r/AmericanExpatsUK

I am waiting on approval of my UK Spouse Visa as a second time applicant (married in Wales in 2020, had HMF Spouse Visa but moved back to the States in 2021 with my partner).

We now have a daughter and are moving back to the UK. Leaving family in the US is so hard, but my grandma has only made things harder by telling me she's "praying my visa gets denied".

I understand my family will miss me, and wishes I would stay in the US. But, its so frustrating and upsetting to have family members be so blatantly rude and unsupportive.

The moving process is stressful enough already!

Rant over, thanks for reading.

I am a student but have a scholarship that is technically taxable income. I need to find a service where I can file my US taxes (while living abroad) for free or for cheap (<£50).

Any recs? Everywhere I go it is like 150+

Thanks

When I get really stressed I can't really eat and it causes a nasty spiral of health issues. In America I would rely on unsalted saltines to get through. But it's happening here for the first time and I have no idea what to get. What do you eat that's bland and easy on the stomach? I'm in Yorkshire, not near and American stores. My best options at the moment are Premier and One Stop.

I've found Ritz here but they taste really rich and are not a good option. The thought of rice or mashed potato is unappealing. I get really picky when this happens and just want dry and bland, no major texture or flavor.

I've been living here in southern England for a year and a half now, and maybe because I'm over that one year hump I'm just feeling more and more frustrated.

The town I live in seems to have a population of mainly 60+ years old people. Not everyone obviously, but a noticeable chunk. I work at a corner shop a couple of times a week as I'm getting an associates degree online, but just those 2 days leave me exhausted and emotional. Every single person has to ask where I'm from, why I moved here, do you support Trump, you should've stayed in America, who would want to move here, etc and they just have this LOOK in their eyes like I'm something shiny and new. Like an entertaining toy. They'll laugh at how I talk, like my whole existence is so amusing. It's only ever about me being American.

Nothing else.

Like my whole identity is that I'm American. People even introduce me or describe me like that, like I don't have any likes or dislikes, hobbies, or goals. Just that. The American.

I hate the fact that I stick out as soon as I say something. That people stare at me. It's not me being paranoid either, because I've had it pointed out to me.

I know I should have expected it, but I didn't think it'd be this bad or get to me as much.

Just needed to rant about it. Thanks for reading, guys.

I've been here for about a year now and searching for a job has really got me down. I'm here on a partner visa (just recently got married but haven't switched visas yet), and when I was moving here I thought since I don't need sponsorship and have a experience in a field that transfers relatively easily (graphic design) that it wouldn't be too difficult to find a job, boy was I wrong! I've been applying for close to a year now and have had only two interviews, despite having 5 years of experience and working a little bit for a British company (they declined to transfer my job to their London office -__-). I've done all the things like changing my CV to British spellings, A4 format, stating my right to work right at the top of my CV, etc.

To make things more difficult, I'm in a town outside of London without much to do during the day. Taking the train into London is expensive and my husband uses the car to go to work during the week. My time on my American drivers license has run out anyway so I can't drive for a while. The whole transition has just been a lot harder than I expected. There are some bright spots though, I'm starting a new volunteering opportunity soon, and I've reconnected with an old friend that lives in London.

I guess I'm just looking for commiseration? Advice? Hope that things will get better??

After the line at Euston station, I never want to hear another Brit point ’the queue‘ as a point of national pride again. These people are savages.

It’s a stupid thing to be proud of in the first place, and the fact that they aren’t particularly good at it makes it absurd.

Alright, now that’s off my chest, I’ll go back to appreciating my adoptive home now.

Looks like we're trying to stay here for the long haul, and most of our assets are US-based, and we'd like to use some to try and buy a house (among other things)...

...and looooordy that's where things seem to get complicated. Many roads seem to lead to specialized US/UK wealth management firms like Maseco, Tanager, etc which I've seen mentioned here (we more or less qualify) but MAN that AUM-based fee seems like a huge hit to growth. On the other hand, the fees I don't understand on all this could be just about as bad.

I searched here and a bit on bogleheads and ... well, still haven't understood what the long term implications are. Anyone who's been a long term client of Maseco, Tanager, or something similar able to DM me and explain the long term benefits and how they might overcome that massive hit to growth?

Hello,

As a UK/US citizen newly moving to the UK I am realising that the investments I hold in the US need to be HMRC approved. This is brand new information to me - can anybody give me hints on how to get started? I have about 40K dollars invested with Betterment. This has been taxable in the US historically, but I’d like to know if I should pull it out and put it elsewhere before moving to the UK. I am able to maintain a US address.

Thank you for any advice and apologies for the basic question. I’m trying to give myself a crash course in investing and keep learning something new.

Hi there,

I'm a dual US/UK citizen resident in the UK (indefinitely) with a few questions regarding my taxable brokerage account - especially trying to work out the confusing world of double taxation.

I currently hold an all world mutual fund in a US brokerage account. My understanding is that any gains on this will be taxed from a UK perspective as income (as this is a foreign fund from a UK perspective). Would it make sense for me to crystallise the gain and then move my investment to something like VT (which is a HMRC reporting fund, so would only be taxable as cap gains).

This seems like the most tax efficient solution (noting I can't hold individual stocks due to my employment), and would result in the lowest overall tax rate.

If I do follow this route, would it also make sense for me to in the future crystallise the £3,000 UK tax free allowance yearly?

Looking to see if anyone has had the same issue / if the above strategy would work?

Thank you!

I’ve been living outside the US for a few years now and even every tax season feels stressful.

Between foreign income exclusions, reporting requirements, exchange rates, and random acronyms, I feel like I am always worried I missed something important. I tried doing it myself once and spent days combing through forums trying to figure out what actually applied to me.

For people living abroad long term, did you eventually get someone or do you still do everything yourself?

New to the uk. The US heat absolutely killed me and I am a bit nervous with the no AC. This will be my first summer in the uk. I’ve been here since March and this cold weather is so nice. I sleep like a baby. I hope I adapt but I am nervous. Any tips or words of advice would be perfect. Thank you! I also love it here and never wanna go back

Hi all,

told my family tonight that we are moving back to the UK. They reacted better than I thought, I was really dreading telling them. But now I just feel weird and sad and just blah. Wish this wasn’t so hard

A 23 y.o. single male U.S. citizen has a remote position. Company headquarters is in London. He is allowed to work from anywhere in the world. He would like to spend a year or two at the London headquarters to gain the in-office experience. He has English ancestry. Income is $150K US dollars per year. Would you recommend the experience? What would be the biggest challenges?

Just found out I'm pregnant with our first and looking for general advice from Americans in the UK, and folks experience with the NHS.

I have my first appointment in 4 weeks!

Edit to add I'm in Bristol, as that might be relevant!

Moving from Washington DC area/Maryland to Newcastle Uk. I realize there are companies that have been recommended through this subreddit, but I’d love guidance on moving options.. pods, pallets, containers etc. We are not taking any furniture and plan to sell most of our stuff. Family of 4 with a 5 and 7 year old. Clothing, 2-3 boxes of kitchen pots that are pricy, a few toys, books, a few decorative items and frames (3 boxes). Depending on options, maybe their bike/scooter and a piano (I know!) but also happy to do without. We are wondering if shipping containers are the only reliable option, or are there other options if we really whitttle down what we take. Also, we’re looking to move by end of June and I realize that’s a little rushed. Thanks for any and all guidance!! If you have specific companies to recommend/avoid, that’s also much appreciated.

Hi there - I am a UK citizen. My husband is a US citizen moving in on a spouse visa. Our child is a dual citizen.
Are we able to get the government funding for 30 hours for under 2 even with my husband as an American? He will be working.

My spouse passed his driving test today! He didn’t take lessons and just studied, watched videos and read advice, etc. The next available appointment in our city isn’t until October but he was able to book one ~2 weeks out in another town 3 hours away after originally booking a test at another town about 2 hours away. He wasn’t permitted to take the test that time because the used car we purchased had a window tint that was too dark (didn’t look very dark) so we had to pay to have it removed. Good luck everyone!

My partner is American and has been living in London for about 10 years. Her passport expired last week and we’re trying to get it renewed but we’ve hit a wall with her Social Security number. She genuinely doesn’t know it, lost the card years ago and has zero documents over here with it on. No old tax returns, no pay stubs, nothing.

Everything I’ve read says the Federal Benefits Unit at the US Embassy is how you sort this out, but actually contacting them is a joke. Emails go unanswered, there’s no direct phone line, and we can’t figure out if walk-ins are even possible or whether you just get turned away at the gate.

The passport being expired does complicate things but from what I understand she still has a window to renew by mail as long as it was issued less than 15 years ago, which it was. So that’s something at least.

Has anyone actually managed to get through to the FBU or just turned up in person? Did it work? Also open to any other suggestions for tracking down an SSN from abroad because we’re going round in circles a bit.