We want to buy a flat in Dunoon and live in Scotland part-time

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Not sure what the relevance of 1967 is, but if he knows where he was born, he can contact "National Records of Scotland" and order a new birth certificate; this link will take you straight to their website where he can start.

Once he has his birth certificate, he can apply for his UK passport.  Again, you can do this online and this link will take you straight to the website where he can start that process.

As a US citizen, you can stay as a visitor for up to 6 months in a year in the UK, but you can't work; this link will take you straight to the website where you can read further.

Nursing registration - you need to speak to the Nursing and Midwifery council; they also have a website where you can start this process; this link will take you straight there.

As for working part-time; they have a system in the UK called "Banking"; it's where hospitals fill gaps in their roster with qualified staff.  The  NHS has it's own Bank; this link will take you straight to the NHS Bank website where you can find out more.

Now, this all sounds very easy, but I'm sure you will encounter incompetence and frustrations along the way.   My advice; get his birth certificate/passport, your visa and go to the UK; complete your nursing registration and look for a job.  They are really short of nurses in the UK and if you have a specialisation, they will almost certainly sponsor your work permit.  You might want to contact the NMC before you leave to make sure you have the right credentials as it will be easier for you to get them in the US before you leave than try and do it from 3,000 miles away.

You will need to arrive with money in the bank because it will take you some months to sort out the bureaucracy of getting a work permit and you won't get credit from any bank here.

As for coming and going, entirely up to you, though you may struggle to rent anything half-decent if you only want a 6-month contract.  Perhaps consider Airbnb?

One last point; you haven't asked about it, but it's worth mentioning that if you have a dog, the UK does not recognise companion dogs; provided it has the right credentials, it can come and go with you, but it will be in the hold of the aircraft, not the cabin.

If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

P.S. Late thought - I just discussed this with my wife (she's a non-Brit nurse working in the UK); you are unlikely to get a sponsored work permit for a 6-month contract; in fact of her cohort of foreign nurses, she can't think of any.  Further, you are unlikely to get a permanent residence visa if you are only staying in the UK for 6 months at a time, you will never time qualify.

Buying a house will be problematic because you will never build up a UK credit file, so no bank is ever going to lend you money; in fact, you will probably find it hard to get a mobile phone on contract.

So - bottom line - your husband no problem, you, however, will struggle to work here; perhaps reconsider your 6 months bit?