Moving back to Scotland from USA

I was born in Scotland and emigrated with American spouse at age 21. I will retire next year after living in the States for all of my adult working life. I have US Citizenship, but now that I'm divorced am planning on reapplying for a UK passport.I would like to spend 6 months in Scotland and 6 months in the States (since I have adult children and their families here).Does anyone have any advice for me regarding home purchase, car purchase, and health care?Thank you! -@dramaqueen1028

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

If you travel on your US passport, then you can stay for a maximum of 6 months before you have to leave, while here you will receive no public support, no NHS healthcare and probably more importantly and to quote from the Home Office website, you can't "live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent or successive visits", that is open to Immigration officers interpretation at the time, so could mean you couldn't repeat it.  Here's a link to the Home Office website on the subject.

However, if you physically possess and travel on a UK passport, then you're a British Citizen and can enter and leave as you see fit, you'd be entitled to the same public support as anybody else in your situation, which may not be the panacea to your problems, to explain further and also answer your specific questions:

1. home purchase - there are no restrictions on house ownership, you may struggle to get a mortgage until you have established a UK credit rating.  Home rentals is problematic (lack of decent housing to rent), so you may have to consider something like an AirBnb.  Perhaps you have some family you can stay with?
2. car purchase - if you're paying cash, no problem; if you want credit of any kind, you'll bump into the same issue of not having a UK credit rating; this link may help you understand the system; there are other UK credit agencies.  My advice would be to speak to your US bank and see if they have a UK operation that would in any way expedite a UK credit rating.
3. health care - once resident here (that's the key requirement here), you'd get unrestricted access to the Healthcare system (NHS), but because of long waiting times, more and more people are going private; so, if you can afford it, it's worth considering, but if you have any existing medical conditions, you will have to rely on the NHS, which will be very frustrating if you are used to private healthcare - it's worth considering.

Overall, if you're emigrating because you just don't like the US any more, then in many respects, the UK is really no different, and you really need to consider your options without any degrees of homesickness, or pink shaded glasses syndrome of how Scotland was 40 years ago, it has changed drastically and perhaps you should seriously consider Southern California, or perhaps the Pacific NW.  But perhaps you're emigrating for the nice Scottish weather, that is, assuming you like wind and rain.  Seriously, Scotland today is probably no worse than where you are now and is certainly worth some careful consideration.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

I hope this has helped.

Cynic

Expat Team

@Cynic

Even with a British passport, you won't be able to use the NHS free of charge for 6 months if you have been out of the country for so long. That's what the rules are, saying that, it will be up to the doctor or hospital I guess. That rule applies to me.

@SimCityAT

The key word is "resident"; anyone who is legally resident in the UK can access the NHS (link) - read Para 11; it states "For the purposes of cost recovery, an overseas visitor is defined as someone who is not 'ordinarily resident' in the UK. Being ordinarily resident broadly means living here on a lawful, voluntary and settled basis for the time being".  There are a couple of other exemptions (i.e. Foreign government officials/visiting NATO forces), but residency is the only requirement for us mere mortals.

The payment control for non UK passport holders is when they apply for a visa, they have to pay the NHS charge when they apply; they are then deemed as being resident when they move here - that applies to my son-in-law, a Dutch citizen who lives here in the UK and wasn't resident before Brexit - he doesn't pay the GP when he goes there, he has paid up front.  In your example and I assume you still have your UK passport, if you're not resident here (i.e. you are a resident of/in Austria), then you are not entitled to free treatment on the NHS - your nationality has nothing to do with it.

I just asked she who must be obeyed, who tells me at her GP practice, there is no 6 months requirement, that doesn't mean that others don't, it means that GP practices are not part of the NHS (they are all private businesses on contract to the NHS), who will have their own T&C's.

I hope this helps.

@Cynic

I'm just saying if I ever move back and am resident it 6 months, you can't have any unemployment benefits, housing benefits.

It's been well documented in the news.

@CynicI'm just saying if I ever move back and am resident it 6 months, you can't have any unemployment benefits, housing benefits. It's been well documented in the news. -@SimCityAT

@SimCityAT

Yeah well, perhaps you shouldn't believe all you read in the Press.  Housing Benefit & Job Seeker's Allowance are now part of Universal Credit; there's a whole raft of rules (link) on eligibility.

The key requirement to qualify for the old Unemployment benefit (now called Job Seekers allowance > Universal Credit) was you need to have previously worked in the UK and paid Class 1 National Insurance contributions, usually in the last 2 to 3 years - I suspect this will now have spread across all the benefits.  I think anything else falls into "Social Security Benefits", which is for people who have nothing and I don't really want to go down that warren except to say the Citizens Advice Bureau have a potentially useful (because I've never used it) web page on the subject; this link will take you straight to it.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for your responses. Until I retired,  I visited family in Scotland every year for two months every summer, so I’m aware that Scotland is very different than when I lived there. I’m also aware that it is no utopia! Still, it is “home” and, to me, the most beautiful country on Earth.

My reasons for wanting to spend my summers in Scotland are a) to spend more time with my sister and her family now that our parents are gone, and b) to escape the searing heat of the summers in my part of the U.S.! I also love hill-walking and spending time traveling all over Scotland. Most of my travel has been in the West Highlands, but I have also visited the Hebrides and the East Coast. There are many parts of England I haven’t made it to, and I’ve never been to Wales or Ireland - both on my Bucket List.

I appreciate all the advice and info I’ve received so far.

Thank you for your responses. Until I retired, I visited family in Scotland every year for two months every summer, so I’m aware that Scotland is very different than when I lived there. I’m also aware that it is no utopia! Still, it is “home” and, to me, the most beautiful country on Earth.
My reasons for wanting to spend my summers in Scotland are a) to spend more time with my sister and her family now that our parents are gone, and b) to escape the searing heat of the summers in my part of the U.S.! I also love hill-walking and spending time traveling all over Scotland. Most of my travel has been in the West Highlands, but I have also visited the Hebrides and the East Coast. There are many parts of England I haven’t made it to, and I’ve never been to Wales or Ireland - both on my Bucket List.

I appreciate all the advice and info I’ve received so far. - @dramaqueen1028

Hi again.

I get all that, my wife is the same with her sister who lives in Germany; they are all that are left of her immediate family, these days they spend a lot of time together (we're off to visit at the end of the month).

I wish you many happy times together with your sister.

Cynic

Expat Team