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UK Fiance - U.S Partner move to uk to marry & live. I have various questions

781 views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  Crawford 
#1 ·
hello

I have various questions that im finding it hard to get straight foward answers to when i try to google the information, so i am hoping someone can help me.

But first let me give you a bit of background information and our plans so you have an idea what I'm talking about.

I am a UK citizen, and i want to marry my boyfriend who is an American citizen. We wan to marry and live in the UK.

We have been doing research on the whole process over the last couple years and we have decided to go down the following route (ill tpye out our understanding step by step of the process, please tell me if this is all correct and in the right order)

Short hand version:

(My U.S Partner) Has to apply for a Fiance visa, which lasts for 6 months and we don't pay for NHS surcharge. Get married within 6 months. (at this point only ME, the sponsor has to meet the financial requirements and he cant work)

After married. we apply for Initial Spouse visa which lasts for 2.5 years and we pay for the NHS surcharge. (at this point he can work)

Next, after 2.5 years we apply for Further leave to remain Spouse visa - which lasts another 2.5 years and we pay for the NHS surcharge. (at this point both our incomes are taken into consideration)

At 5 years we apply for Indefinite Leave to remain. No NHS surcharge to be paid - if granted, he is permanent resident and can either renew it every 10 years of apply for neutralization



So as for my questions,


1) How does the state pension work in his situation in the uk? (we are no where near pension age but would just like to know this information). Within the uk you have to work a minimum of 10 years to be eligable for any state pension, but im wondering how that would work in his circumstances once he is here? I assume he would be able to claim a state pension correct? would they take in to account how long hes worked in the U.S.A ? Would he still be eligable to claim his U.S.A state pension while in the uk aswell?

2) Is it also correct that even once he is living here, he will still have to pay U.S. taxes every year aswell as pay UK taxes ?

3) Regarding accomadation, from what i understand one of the requirements I must meet as his sponsor is suitable accommodation. I rent a property from my local council, i am allowed one other person to live with me (no more then 2 people allowed). Someone said all i would need is a letter from my landlord (which is the council) saying i have permission for someone to live with me. But I read on another forum a while back where a lady asked a similar question to mine, but when she had asked her local council, they wouldnt give her a letter as they said they don't get involved in immigration, which now has me slightly worried as im assuming there is no other document that i could provide for the visa instead? I don't really want to ask them this far in advance until we are at the stage where we need it, otherwise it will look odd that im asking that question so soon. What would i do if this same scenario happened to me?

4) Last question, if someone from the u.s.a is visiting the uk as a holiday for an extended period, say 3 to 4 months, does that person need a holiday visa? i may be wrong but i thought that you could visit the uk for up to 6 months without needing any form of visa..

It would be a big weight of my mind if atleast one person could answer all my questions, thank you in advance to anyone who does
 
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#2 ·
1. What he will be eligible for at retirement age in the UK depends on how many years he has paid into the Pension system. He will be able to claim a pension if he has paid in enough years. Yes, if he has paid into the Social Security system in the US, then that MIGHT be taken into account. If he is claiming a US state pension, that can be paid in the UK.. NOTE....there is such a thing as the Windfall tax, which means you cannot claim both a full UK and US State pension. You'll need to investigate this at retirement age.

2. He has to complete a US tax return every year. As there is a tax treaty between UK and US he does not pay tax twice.

3. You will need to get letter from the landlord (council in your case). Yes there have been some reports of councils not providing letters. In most cases the letter states something like "as and when the relevant residency visa is issued, xxxxx has permission to stay at xxxxxx

4. If the person visiting is a US citizen they do not need a visa to visit the UK.
 
#3 ·
thanks so much, that is very helpful.

just a couple of things, regarding the uk pension.so basically regardless of how much he has worked in the u.s.a, if he wants to be able to claim a uk state pension in the future he will need to be do atleast the 10 year minimum years of work in the uk to be eligable at returement age?

as for the tax treaty you mentioned. you said he wont have to pay taxes twice. but in the uk when you work and earn over a certain amount, the tax is automatically deducted from wages. so with regards to what your saying, would he not have tax deducted from his UK wages and the only tax he would pay would be to the US every year?
 
#4 ·
To be honest I have not heard of the 10 year minimum in order to qualify. As I understand it our State pension is dependent on how many years you have paid into the fund. As it takes 30 odd years to qualify for a full pension, the amount you get is reduced according to how many years you have worked. How old is your husband.

He will pay taxes in the UK via PAYE. When he files his US tax return he will declare his UK earnings (the US claim taxes on income worldwide). He will also declare the taxes paid in the UK and then be eligible for a Foreign Tax credit, so he does not get taxed twice on his UK earnings.
If he has income/investments in the US he will pay tax on those.
 
#5 ·
Hello

he is 31 years old.

So when he gets his wages, the tax and national insurance contribuations etc will automatically be deducted from his wages as they are for everyone in the uk who works, but when he files his u.s tax return and declares his uk income, he will then get those taxes he paid in the uk back again, am i understanding that right? sorry, i just dont understand anything to do with taxes very easily
 
#8 ·
Pardon my jumping in here, but just a note on the pension issue:

Qualifying for a "full pension" in the US requires 10 years (usually expressed as 40 quarters) of paying in to the US Social Security system. Under the social security treaty between the US and UK, if your fiancé doesn't have the necessary 40 quarters, then time he works in the UK can be counted to reach the mark. But, as Crawford has said, if he will also be getting a UK pension, there is an adjustment to the pension amount paid.

Also under the social security treaty, if by retirement age he falls short of whatever the requirement is for a UK pension (30 years or whatever), his time worked in the US can be added to whatever he has accumulated in the UK to attempt to bring him up to a "full pension."

On the taxes, there are two options. He has to declare on his US tax forms his worldwide income, including his UK salary or wages. But, there is one option where he can then indicate on a separate form that, due to living outside the US, he then excludes his foreign "earned income" (salary and wages) from the tax calculation. The other alternative is to include foreign salary and wages in the tax calculation but then he can take a tax credit for the tax he has paid in the UK on that income.

There are various pros and cons and other considerations about which way to go, but that's the simplified version. And tax law does have a tendency to change over time, too.

Hope this helps.
 
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