MOVING ACROSS THE POND

We’ve decided to move to England … and we are not alone.

According to the U.K. 2011 census, the most recent information available, 197,355 Americans were living in Great Britain at that time, with 173,470 of them residing in England. Thanks to the current U.S. administration’s failures, upheavals and traitorous acts against the U.S. Constitution, more Yanks are moving to the U.K. every day.

In fact, according to a 2016 estimate by the State Department, there are nine million Americans living abroad. So why did we choose England? Simply put, I have an in:  I was born in Wimpole Park, located near Cambridge and St. Ives in Cambridgeshire — and that automatically makes me British.

In addition, my father was a Blackpool English boy who immigrated to Canada in 1946 before joining the U.S. Air Force. He gained his U.S. citizenship after serving for 20 years in the military, but according to British law, he still maintained his British citizenship. Having a parent or grandparent that is or was British also makes me a “citizen by descent” — and that makes my daughter one too.

In addition, I know the country well and I understand the culture, having grown up in the U.K. Since my father was an only child, he volunteered for three tours in England over his two decades in the USAF. I was born on the first tour, spent half of my childhood there in the 1960s, and then most of my teen years in the England in the early ’70s.

Then 46 years passed before I finally visited my birthplace in 2019 and again in 2020. It was on these trips that my husband and daughter voiced the idea of us leaving the U.S. and settling in the U.K. We have since done our research to find out what this would involve and how we can make it happen.

I plan to blog here and vlog on my channel at “Minding the Gap” on YouTube about our move, the steps we are taking, and what is legally required to immigrate to Great Britain. We’ve also sought legal counsel with British immigration attorneys — something I highly recommend for any Americans who are thinking of uprooting and embracing British life.  In addition do your research; the British government site, gov.uk, is a great place to start.