My husband's parents were both born in the UK

[Mizmoon]

but have lived in the US for the last 30 years. They never became US citizens. They are still both UK citizens and hold UK passports. My husband was born in the US, though, and has a US passport.

Do you think there is any chance he (and me as his wife) could live and work in the UK just on the strength of his parent's citizenship?

Yes, I tried to look this up online and the rules were so complicated because of all the Commonwealth contingencies that I couldn't figure it out. Just thought I'd see of anyone knew the answer offhand.

[SheilaT]

1. Try calling

or writing the British embassy in DC.

Too bad they weren't born in Ireland. Then he'd get Irish citizenship with correct documentation, which in this case would be easy to get, and after three years you, as his wife would be eligible for it.

Good luck.

[Mizmoon]

2. They were actually born in Scotland

if that changes anything.

*on edit* but I will take your good advice and call the embassy.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I think he qualfies for British citizenship by descent

looking at this: http://www.southern-cross-group.org/anothercitizenship/uk.html#descent

which gives him, of course, the right to work and live in the UK; and also in the rest of the EU. However, as his wife, it looks like the 'rest of the EU' bit doesn't apply to you. It looks like you can either get permission for 2 years abode and work, followed by another application for permanent status; or, if you've been married 4 years already, you can apply for permanent status now.

When your husband or wife arrives in the United Kingdom, they will be given permission to stay and work for 2 years. Near the end of the 2 years, if you are still married and plan to live together, your husband or wife may apply to remain here permanently. Or;

In some cases, we can grant settlement entry clearance. This gives your husband or wife permission to settle in the UK permanently as soon as he or she arrives. To get settlement entry clearance, you must:

* have married four years ago
* have spent that four years living together outside the United Kindgom; and
* now be returning to the UK to settle here together

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/applying/general_caseworking/spouses___partners.html

I am not, of course, an immigration lawyer; but I have Canadian cousins in roughly the same position as your husband (though they are Commonwealth, of course) and I think they have all retained the right to a British passport, even though some have never lived in the UK.

[Mizmoon]

4. Hey, and we were married in Jamaica 4 years ago

next month. Lucky us.

Thanks and I will follow up with an expert.

[Guy_Montag]

5. Why do you want to come here?

Apart from for our wonderful climate?

[Mizmoon]

6. Frankly, I want to keep our options open

in case there is a military draft. I have a 16 year-old-son who I will not allow to die for a misadventure. According to the immigration rules I just read on the embassy website, he can come with us if we decide to go.

I am willing to endure lots of rain and the pain of settling into a new country if that is what it takes to ensure my son's life.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. By coincidence, a piece from today's Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=573855

When David Soul was growing up on the prairies of America's Midwest, he never imagined that, aged 61, he'd be sitting in a grey council office, pledging his allegiance to the Queen of England. Here, he explains how it happened...

British citizenship does not mean that I am cutting my ties with America. My children and my ageing parents still live in the States, so I'll be visiting them, and I will be voting in the US presidential election next month (if my vote actually gets counted). God help us if George Bush is re-elected. Still, my choice is to belong here, and in that belonging, I rejoice. Finally.
...
Oh, by the way: right on cue, at the end of the ceremony, it poured with rain. An appropriate baptism, I thought.

[LibLabUK]

8. Hmm

Well, I'll tell you something. Britain - despite its sometimes misguided desire to emulate the States; despite an almost genetic propensity to apologise for itself ("Sorry" is definitely not the hardest word to say); despite its steady diet of cynicism; despite its penchant to tear down its public figures and hyperbolise the ordinary; despite the myriad problems facing 65 million people living on a small island - still manages to maintain a charm, directness, simplicity and decency that I have longed for. Particularly when it comes to a sense of community.

I guess that means he likes us, he really likes us.

They get Anthony Hopkins, we get David Soul...

DO you think we can trade Gerry Halliwell and Kilroy next?

[Guy_Montag]

9. But who would we get in exchange? n/t

[LibLabUK]

10. Err...

Anybody... let's face it Halliwell and Kilroy aren't really going to buy us anyone that good.. infact we may have to give them someone else just to take those two.

[Pert_UK]

11. Peewee Herman and a bag of Reese's Pieces....

I'd swap, even if we had to take Paedo Herman in exchange for those two wastes of space.....

[LibLabUK]

12. Peewee Herman...

I thought he just got caught doing the five knuckle shuffle in a porn cinema... I didn't realise he was a charlie too!

[Pert_UK]

14. "Charlie"?.......never heard that one......Nonce, maybe!

Actually, I may have maligned the pervert - he was only interfering with himself, never wid da kids.

Apologies all round, but remember - I'm talking nonce-sense!

"And what do you do?"
"I'm a paediatrition"
"Well, I can't say I really agree with that sort of thing, but I admire you're honesty....."

Harry Enfield, when he was still funny.....

P.

[LibLabUK]

16. Oh, really?

Charlie as in Charlie Chester, child molestor... maybe it's a South London thing.


Harry Enfield really shocked me on his last appearance on Question Time, he came over all UKIP/Tory/Libertarian... and he didn't seem such a nice bloke...which was a real disappointment after spending much of my teens greeting people with "It's only me!" and "You don't wanna do it like that!".

[Pert_UK]

15. I apologise and retract my earlier statement that implied anything...

dodgy about Peewee Herman......

(Calls lawyers).

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Hmm. . . My dad's parents were both born in England.

In other words, my grandparents were British citizens. I know who my paternal ancestors were and where they lived (Devonshire, mostly) back into the 1500s.

Would that give ME any edge in immigrating to the UK?

Probably not, but facing a possibility of four more wars, er, years, makes me long for alternatives. And I like grey, rainy days; having one today, in the piedmont of north Georgia. ;-)

[Guy_Montag]

17. As long as you're not too swarthy,

the right-wing press don't care.

[LibLabUK]

19. I will never forget...

seeing an interview with some scum (and I don't use that word lightly) in Dover complaining about an Iraqi family taking their jobs. And the Iraqi husband and wife were...........doctors.

As a first generation Brit is makes me sick to see the way these people talk about asylum seekers and immigrants.

[Guy_Montag]

20. Let me guess...

the scum that were interviewed would have had difficulty telling their arses from their elbows, let alone getting a degree in medicine.

Maybe if I lived in Dover or something I would feel differently, but I have never knowingly seen an assylum seeker. I have, however, seen lots of Austrailian barmaids, & I just got my hair cut by a nice South African chap. But no-one seems to want them kicked out the country for taking "our jobs".

[LibLabUK]

18. I'll tell you what would give you an edge...

if you're a doctor,dentist, nurse or other allied professional (physio, radiographer, MLSO etc).

[AP]

21. If you have something like 100k to invest in a business, they give you...

...a special work visa, and also, if you're an artist and (I believe) prove you can support yourself, you get a work visa for that.