6 months in the uk

[Safam]

Hil again, I posted a few weeks ago that I wanted to go back to the UK for a year but persuading my husband would be a challenge. 
Since then we have had a discussion and we are now financially modelling a 6 month stay together, a 12 month stay together or me and the kids going for 2 blocks of 3 months. I think the 6 months is looking most likely. 

So, for a 6 month stay in the UK can anyone advise on:

Whether we need UK drivers licences as we will probably buy a car while we are there ( and how we get them!!)?

Whether we will be ok to go on Aus passports ( we no longer have UK ones, the children have never had them and my husband is really against getting them )?

Whether we will be entitled to any benefits if we don't get jobs straight away?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Johnny Kash]

Youre fine to go on the Aussie Passports.

I would try and get a UK drivers licence as insurance can be problematic using Aussie ones.   If you have an old UK one, you can renew online with DVLA for minimal cost.   Even if its lapsed, albeit there is a limit as to how many years.

Benefits, you'll probably have to go through some kind of 'habitual residence' tests for things like unemployment benefit.   To be honest I wouldnt bother as there are jobs out there if youre prepared to do anything.  I got a temp gig in a warehouse within a week when we went back for 4 months in 2016 - I actually found it great fun after working in offices most of my life.   Assuming youre UK citizens you should be entitled to child benefit payments, personally I would concentrate your time on maybe applying for this and getting some kind of temporary work on arrival.

Good luck!

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Johnny Kash

[Marisawright]

@Safam, the fact that your husband is against getting UK passports speaks volumes about his true feelings, IMO. 

I can't see how going back for 6 months could possibly work better financially than 12 months.  

Edited September 17, 2022 by Marisawright

[Quoll]

He's not going to do it - he can't even bear to get a UK passport. He will come up with sequential excuses, all of which will delay anything beyond the point of no return. Get the passports ASAP, (cheaper than the Australian ones!) find your NI numbers, if you've still got the paper part of your UK licence, change the address on it and you should be good to go. Get your name on the electoral roll and don't tell the GP practice that you're only temporary.

I'd have said 12 months would be a better option than 6 months - employers aren't going to beat a path to your door if you're only prepared to give them 6 months and if you're not really resident things like the NHS might be problematic. 

If you enter on your Australian passport then you'll be stamped with a visa and the machinery will think you've overstayed if you dont leave before it expires - and they aren't going to know you're British citizens! 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Quoll

[Safam]

6 hours ago, Johnny Kash said:

Youre fine to go on the Aussie Passports.

I would try and get a UK drivers licence as insurance can be problematic using Aussie ones.   If you have an old UK one, you can renew online with DVLA for minimal cost.   Even if its lapsed, albeit there is a limit as to how many years.

Benefits, you'll probably have to go through some kind of 'habitual residence' tests for things like unemployment benefit.   To be honest I wouldnt bother as there are jobs out there if youre prepared to do anything.  I got a temp gig in a warehouse within a week when we went back for 4 months in 2016 - I actually found it great fun after working in offices most of my life.   Assuming youre UK citizens you should be entitled to child benefit payments, personally I would concentrate your time on maybe applying for this and getting some kind of temporary work on arrival.

Good luck!

 

Awesome! Thanks for the advice:) Yep, I'll be looking for any kind of work and I'll have friends and family on the case too. My husband runs his own business here and I've suggested that he keeps that going by temporary promoting one of his staff and then does what he can remotely. It takes him a while to consider or accept change so that's still being mulled over...once he gets on board he's good at making things work. It's the getting on board that's the issue here. 

When you did 4 months did you stay with family or did you get a rental? My parents have moved into a small unit so staying there won't work so we'll be looking for a rental. Anything designed for a  'holiday' let  (furnished) will be too expensive so we're probably going to have to get an unfurnished rental and get cheap and minimal furniture which we'll sell / give away before we leave. 

Will look into the DVLA, time to go through all the old paperwork to see if we still have old UK licences! 

 

[Safam]

46 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

@Safam, the fact that your husband is against getting UK passports speaks volumes about his true feelings, IMO. 

I can't see how going back for 6 months could possibly work better financially than 12 months.  

He's made his true feelings very well known to me!! He hates the UK and everything and everyone in it. He doesn't do things by halves! The thing is, there are 2 of us in this relationship so he needs to consider what I need too. He's struggling with that because what I need has changed ( and change is difficult for him). I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok that how I feel has changed and I've done nothing wrong.

Regarding the financials, apologies, I didn't give the full picture. He'll be trying to run his business from the UK and thinks being away for a year would see the business fail, whereas 6 months ( including a couple of trips back for him) could work with the right planning:)

 

[Safam]

15 minutes ago, Quoll said:

He's not going to do it - he can't even bear to get a UK passport. He will come up with sequential excuses, all of which will delay anything beyond the point of no return. Get the passports ASAP, (cheaper than the Australian ones!) find your NI numbers, if you've still got the paper part of your UK licence, change the address on it and you should be good to go. Get your name on the electoral roll and don't tell the GP practice that you're only temporary.

I'd have said 12 months would be a better option than 6 months - employers aren't going to beat a path to your door if you're only prepared to give them 6 months and if you're not really resident things like the NHS might be problematic. 

If you enter on your Australian passport then you'll be stamped with a visa and the machinery will think you've overstayed if you dont leave before it expires - and they aren't going to know you're British citizens! 

Deep down I'm preparing for me and the kids to go for 3 months because you're probably right although if he can wrap his head around it he might just come good. I think when he decides to talk to colleagues about how it might work for his business it'll be a make or break. They'll either give him confidence that it'll all be fine or will express concerns about the business and their job security. I really don't know how that will go because I only have his views on the situation and his views are sometimes skewed. I don't want anyone to lose their jobs because of this so it's a biggy! 

All my instincts are telling me that getting a UK passport is going to be best....what if one of us gets covid before we are due to fly home and we go over our 6 months? Maybe that's the argument I'll put to him. He's constantly stressed about money so he doesn't want to add in the cost.

I've not worked for 10 years because have been home with the kids. Have recently picked up some casual work with a charity but nothing that's going to help me get a job quickly in the UK! I think looking for anything temp/ casual is going to be my best bet, rather than try and follow my career path. I'll focus on that when we return:)

Ok, this week's job: go through all old UK paperwork to find important stuff!!

[s713]

It's going to be difficult for you this. We lived in Perth for 11 years and I wanted to leave after 3 or 4 but my wife didn't. I had resigned myself to a life I didn't want until, surprisingly to me, she also reached the same conclusion about 7 or 8 years in. Before that, the path in front of me was (a) live a life I didn't want to, or (b) leave my wife and go back, which I never would have done. I suspect that choice is played out a lot. It's very tough being a migrant, the downsides don't get discussed enough. When you have a foot in two camps, for most people, it never leaves you. Reading your post really made me feel for you, your husband won't make this work by the sounds of it.

[Safam]

On 19/09/2022 at 19:26, s713 said:

It's going to be difficult for you this. We lived in Perth for 11 years and I wanted to leave after 3 or 4 but my wife didn't. I had resigned myself to a life I didn't want until, surprisingly to me, she also reached the same conclusion about 7 or 8 years in. Before that, the path in front of me was (a) live a life I didn't want to, or (b) leave my wife and go back, which I never would have done. I suspect that choice is played out a lot. It's very tough being a migrant, the downsides don't get discussed enough. When you have a foot in two camps, for most people, it never leaves you. Reading your post really made me feel for you, your husband won't make this work by the sounds of it.

Thanks, I think I'm starting to realise that life will now forever be torn between the 2 countries. I've been lucky not to have felt like that for 17 years but it doesn't feel like something that will ever resolve itself now. Aging parents and covid has really changed how I feel about everything. I'm glad it worked out for you, I'm hopeful that we'll manage to go back for a few months. Not sure what happens after that though. Will have to make the best of whatever happens. 

[s713]

On 20/09/2022 at 11:09, Safam said:

Thanks, I think I'm starting to realise that life will now forever be torn between the 2 countries. I've been lucky not to have felt like that for 17 years but it doesn't feel like something that will ever resolve itself now. Aging parents and covid has really changed how I feel about everything. I'm glad it worked out for you, I'm hopeful that we'll manage to go back for a few months. Not sure what happens after that though. Will have to make the best of whatever happens. 

Good luck with whatever happens, honestly. x

[proud preston]

@s713 completely agree about a foot in two camps - and I don’t think it ever leaves a lot of people. 16 years here and it’s still with me. My husband and I spent from mid July- mid August this year in the UK and both loved it (yet he’s still happy to remain here) Bike rides down the Thames and a mid day pint, a pint or two on a sunny evening in an old, old Cotswolds pub garden, tramping the fields to see the Uffington white horse, canoeing on Coniston lake, hiking in the Yorkshire and Derbyshire Dales, appreciating all the beautiful old buildings.....and seeing family and friends  Yes, ‘real life’ would be different and we do appreciate the month as a fantastic holiday but .....

Are you still in Perth or have you gone back?

I’d love to know how @bug familyis doing after returning? Hoping all is well and the UK is still the right choice 

@Safamour UK neighbours just returned after spending 6 months in the UK with their children  They loved it. All the best to you.