How to move my American Girlfriend to England

[AmpdVodka]

I am a born British Citizen and have lived here most of my life (New Zealand Permanent Residency holder). I'm 23 years of age. My girlfriend is a born US Citizen and has lived there her whole life. She is 19 years of age. We have been together since November 2014. Our relationship exists over the internet and we are in contact almost everyday, so we have plenty of relationship evidence. I travelled to America to meet her in April 2015, and she was in the UK over Christmas and New Year leaving January 2016 (a few days ago).

We have decided that we want to spend our lives together. But the thought of marriage scares us both being so young, so we would prefer to take a different route. I would love to move to America with her, and we plan to do so one day. However, due to our age and other reasons it would be far easier for us to live in the UK. On top of that, we would both much prefer to spend a lot more time in each others company before making any marriage kind of moves.

The bonus is that my girlfriends Father is still a British Citizen! He's lived in the US for around 30+ years now and is a permanent resident due to marriage to her American Mother. Although my girlfriend was born in the US and has only been here once, her Father was born well before 1st January 1989. From my research, that means she is entitled to a British Citizenship. Exactly how she is entitled and what the process involves is still a mystery to me.

The other options I have found from my research are:

Work visa: Not really an option for my girlfriend (unless someone knows something I don't) as she didn't finish high school and has never worked due to personal reasons. I can't honestly see a legit UK business hiring a 19yr old American with no qualifications or experience.
I left school with a GCSE C grade in the core subjects. Have no other solid qualifications at this time (I am weeks away from finishing a training course in sales management). I currently work in sales and have done solidly for a year now, although probably have 2 years under my belt altogether.
So, would a work visa be an option for either of us? Either of us would do pretty much any job in this regard.

Studying: Again, due to her lack of qualifications and my low qualifications I can't see this happening. I am of course very open to ideas however!

Any of the above, any other options we may have (including marriage) are things we would be open to doing, as being together is priority to us both now.

I am in contact with an immigration solicitor, and doing my own personal research. So I'm just spreading my coverage of this topic really. Any suggestions anyone may have, or if anyone could shed come light on these confusing matters and explain what options would we have and how exactly to go about them, would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

[CR001]

If her father was born in the UK to British parents and married to your girlfriends mother, your girlfriend would be British by descent and can apply directly for a passport.

This is the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

She doesn't qualify for a work visa, would struggle probably to get a study visa, and there is not category called 'boyfriend/girlfriend' visa.

[LilyLalilu]

If her parents are married she is British by birth and you can just apply for a UK passport for her as CR001 said. More on overseas UK passport applications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

If her parents aren't married she can register as a British Citizen via this form: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-form-ukf

Once she has her UK passport she can enter the UK freely, take up employment and can come and go as she pleases.

[AmpdVodka]

If her parents aren't married she can register as a British Citizen via this form: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-form-ukf

Once she has her UK passport she can enter the UK freely, take up employment and can come and go as she pleases.

Thank you LilyLalilu! This is exactly what I was looking for! Would I be correct in saying that she could keep her US Nationality and Citizenship whilst having a UK citizenship? So a dual Nationality with UK and US?

Also, just to clarify. Her parents are not married and haven't been for many years.

Thank you for the responses!

[CR001]

Yes, US and UK allow dual citizenship.

Were her parents married at the time of her birth??

Parents don't have to be married at the time of application, so please answer the question above as depending on your answer depends on which route she has to go.

[AmpdVodka]

Yes, US and UK allow dual citizenship.

Were her parents married at the time of her birth??

Parents don't have to be married at the time of application, so please answer the question above as depending on your answer depends on which route she has to go.

Yes, they were married at the time of her birth.

Not to imply that you're incorrect, but are you sure US and UK allow dual citizenship? I have checked myself and found that same answer. But my friends Mother is an American citizen and she recently remarried in this country after living here for years on a permanent residency visa. She decided before the marriage to apply for citizenship (English parent(s)) and was made to give up her US passport during the process. Is the passport allowance different from citizenship or do I have this story completely wrong?

So which route would be open to her?

[Wanderer]

Yes, US and UK allow dual citizenship.

Were her parents married at the time of her birth??

Parents don't have to be married at the time of application, so please answer the question above as depending on your answer depends on which route she has to go.

Yes, they were married at the time of her birth.

Not to imply that you're incorrect, but are you sure US and UK allow dual citizenship? I have checked myself and found that same answer. But my friends Mother is an American citizen and she recently remarried in this country after living here for years on a permanent residency visa. She decided before the marriage to apply for citizenship (English parent(s)) and was made to give up her US passport during the process. Is the passport allowance different from citizenship or do I have this story completely wrong?

So which route would be open to her?

Both countries allow dual citizenship. Many American's give up their US citizenship in Europe because almost uniquely the US tax their citizens on their World-wide income. Passport is just a travel document I can't see why it would have to be given up other than to apply the visa/sticker/vignette to it and then return it.

[ohara]

The UK permits multiple citizenships and they generally don't care who with. They can't force you to "give up" another nations passport when applying for naturalisation here.

As said UK/US dual citizenship is no problem, but a lot of Americans will renounce their citizenship when naturalising in the UK as the US government taxes you domestically on worldwide income, which is absolutely insane.

That said, having both UK and US passports is certainly a very good position to be in, if you travel around the world a lot.

[CR001]

Yes, they were married at the time of her birth.

Then she is British by Descent (if father was born in the UK) and she can apply directly for a British Passport.

[AmpdVodka]

She's a British Citizen already and she's never known! Ha!

Ok, so she applies and is given a British Passport and moves here. What other steps would she need to take in order to be eligible for work etc?

Also, thank you all very much for your replies. You've my our lives so much easier!

[CR001]

None, once she has the British passport, she can just arrive and start working once she has a NI number.

She will need her full birth certificate, copy of her fathers passport or his full birth certificate (easy to get) and her parents marriage certificate.

[AmpdVodka]

None, once she has the British passport, she can just arrive and start working once she has a NI number.

She will need her full birth certificate, copy of her fathers passport or his full birth certificate (easy to get) and her parents marriage certificate.

I've been on the "Applying for a passport from outside the UK guide" and we've done a checklist of all the documents it says she needs and she has them all. The only part I'm confused about is the grandparents information part?
It states that you have to provide details on grandparents if she was born outside the UK OR cannot provide adequate details on her parents.
Well, she can provide all that's needed for her parents. Birth certificates, passports and marriage certificate for both. So would she need her grandparents details too as she was born outside the UK?
If so, what details of her grandparents would she need?

Also, her Fathers British passport is over 10 years out of date. Would this affect anything?

[CR001]

An expired British passport is fine to send.

If she can get and send her grandparents birth/marriage certificates that would be beneficial. Easily obtained from www.gro.gov.uk for a small fee and takes 7 days roughly to arrive in the post.

[LilyLalilu]

To work here she then also needs a National Insurance number which she can apply for through a Job centre Plus: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number
But that's something to deal with once she's come over here and is all settled in

[AmpdVodka]

Thank you very much to all of you with these replies! We are both extremely happy to know this will be so much easier! My girlfriend has learned she is British which was a shock to both of us really!

I've been on the phone to the Passport Advice helpline today and asked many questions in regards to my girlfriend properly completing the forms. The only issue we may have is the referee.
I was told that the referee needs to be a British Citizen, MUST be a professional person (which contradicts what was in the "guidance notes"), and she must have known them for 2 full years. The only person who is closest to meeting that criteria that we both know is my step sister who is a British National by birth and has a Doctorate degree. However, my step sister and my girlfriend have known each other for about 2 hours when we went out for dinner once.

Now, I asked the guy in Passport Advice if my sister (I didn't call her my step sister as I've known her all my life so I just call her my sister) can be a referee as she meets the other criteria. His reply was that it may cause the Passport Office to question whether she can be a referee due to the relationship my girlfriend and step sister have through me.
As my step sister is actually not my blood related sister, and we both have different last names, would it really matter all that much? Could we just write on the forms that they are friends and have been for 2 years anyway? Mentioning no relation to me whatsoever?

Beyond this potential hiccup, after receiving all your answers and doing more of my own research, it seems that my girlfriend is good to go with gaining a British and moving to England!!!

[CR001]

A referee must not be related to the applicant, either by blood or through marriage. Your step sister, appears to match this requirement and could say friend.

They very rarely contact referees.

[noajthan]

Thank you very much to all of you with these replies! We are both extremely happy to know this will be so much easier! My girlfriend has learned she is British which was a shock to both of us really!

I've been on the phone to the Passport Advice helpline today and asked many questions in regards to my girlfriend properly completing the forms. The only issue we may have is the referee.
I was told that the referee needs to be a British Citizen, MUST be a professional person (which contradicts what was in the "guidance notes"), and she must have known them for 2 full years.

Take a look at this guidance on referees, para 6.3.7.7 - page 13:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 6_v5_0.pdf

It's in the context of naturalisation (rather than passports) but it's likely that similar principles apply.
Namely you may be able to use a foreign professional if applying from abroad.
Something to dig into at least.

[CR001]

@ noajthan - of course you are correct. I was not thinking (again)

[noajthan]

@ noajthan - of course you are correct. I was not thinking (again)

@CR001, I was thinking that chances are they could find a non-Brit referee & not have to use the (step-)sister.

After all, if referee is run through routine passport checks then the shared parentage would ofcourse show up.

But otherwise my understanding is the same as yours: referees are not always taken up in these cases.