Citizenship with overseas salary

[my_user_name]

Dear Experts,

It is possible that I would be transferred to the US payroll of my company after getting the UK ILR. Though, I would be working and residing in the UK I will still be on the US payroll and employee of US office.

Could I be able to apply for citizenship in this situation? My stay in the UK will be as per the guidance but I will not be earning anything in the Uk.

Thanks,

[Wanderer]

You'd be paying tax in the UK so its not a problem.

[my_user_name]

Thanks Wanderer.

That's the exact problem, which I am confused about. I will be paying taxes on my salary in the US ( at source) as I will be on the US Payroll.

Is paying taxes in UK required to apply for citizenship?

Thanks,

[ukswus]

How is this even possible?.. I think your tax liability depends on your residence. So, in order to be taxed in the US, you will have to be a resident there (eg, live there for at least half of the year). So, unless you are a US Citizen/permanent resident, I cannot see why you can be taxed in the US, and yet not live there...

[Wanderer]

Thanks Wanderer.

That's the exact problem, which I am confused about. I will be paying taxes on my salary in the US ( at source) as I will be on the US Payroll.

Is paying taxes in UK required to apply for citizenship?

Thanks,

You pay UK tax/NI as well and receive a credit for any taxes deducted by the American payroll. You must declare this to HMRC or they will come after you, they have become much more aggressive lately though not quite as bad as the German Finanzamt...

[my_user_name]

Thanks all.

That makes perfect sense now. However, it appears that DTAA may not be straight forward and I may have to claim back the Tax from the USA after paying the whole amount in the UK.

As an alternate, would it be possible for my wife and child to apply for the UK citizenship without me while staying here in the UK, while I move to the USA after ILR and not apply for the UK citizenship?

[ouflak1]

How is this even possible?.. I think your tax liability depends on your residence. So, in order to be taxed in the US, you will have to be a resident there (eg, live there for at least half of the year). So, unless you are a US Citizen/permanent resident, I cannot see why you can be taxed in the US, and yet not live there...

Not to derail this thread, but the United States is one of two countries that actually taxes its citizens no matter where they are normally resident in the world (the other being Eritrea).

Thanks all.

That makes perfect sense now. However, it appears that DTAA may not be straight forward and I may have to claim back the Tax from the USA after paying the whole amount in the UK.

As an alternate, would it be possible for my wife and child to apply for the UK citizenship without me while staying here in the UK, while I move to the USA after ILR and not apply for the UK citizenship?

You can do this. But it certainly sounds complicated and stressful. Also to note that ILR is not permanent. You can lose it if you live outside of the country for more than two years, and short visits back to the UK within that two years don't count. They expect someone with ILR to actually live in the UK. I think the better idea is to just deal with the tax bureaucracy for however long it takes.

[ukswus]

"Not to derail this thread, but the United States is one of two countries that actually taxes its citizens no matter where they are normally resident in the world (the other being Eritrea)."

I know, hence I mentioned these 2 exceptions as well. However, I was under (probably wrong) impression that the person who started the thread was neither of them. In any case, you are right, this is not essential to the discussion.

[my_user_name]

Thanks all for the inputs. This is very helpful.

When I made the comment about only my wife and my kid applying for citizenship, it was about me not applying for the UK Citizenship at all and let go the ILR.

I was thinking that I can come on spouse visa in the UK in the future if needed.

So my query now is if my wife and my child can apply for Citizenship and I do not apply at all.

Thanks for the fabulous support.

Thanks,

[ouflak1]

Thanks all for the inputs. This is very helpful.

When I made the comment about only my wife and my kid applying for citizenship, it was about me not applying for the UK Citizenship at all and let go the ILR.

I was thinking that I can come on spouse visa in the UK in the future if needed.

You can do this if it meets your life's demands. But you will be incurring rather large costs especially since the visa fees are only rising. Also, your wife will have to be able to sponsor you meeting the minimum financial requirement, £18,600 at the moment, but may be higher later on. This may not be a problem for you, but it's something to always keep in mind.

So my query now is if my wife and my child can apply for Citizenship and I do not apply at all.

Every person qualifies for citizenship on their own right. As long as they each qualify through whatever route they are applying for, they will be able to apply individually. You need not apply.

[my_user_name]

That's a very good point outflak1. My wife (being a housewife) will not have such earnings of £18,600 to sponsor me. I think this pretty much shuts down this option of only my wife and child applying for the citizenship and me joining them later on on visa.