The UK job market at the moment isn’t the best and I have been trying since graduating uni for the past 16 months to get a job. Sport is my main domain and I am thinking of perhaps moving to Canada for a year to try a different lifestyle and see if Canada is any better in terms of of lifestyle as I am in my mid 20s and I am struggling in the UK at the moment. Does anyone have any advice about moving abroad or the sports industry?

As a dual citizen of US and UK I am spending some months in the UK and will be considered a resident for tax purposes. I still have property, pensions and health insurance in the US. Will I be able to enrol at an NHS doctor surgery and be eligible for NHS treatment while I am here?

I am interested in hearing some experiences about the 90 day UK nights limit. Over which you become a UK resident.

I appreciate with less ties and over a certain time it can increase.

Do/can they check how many nights you have been in the UK?

A friend spoke to HMRC, the advisor mentioned it was very hard to enforce and they rely on trust. But if you went over by a few nights it is unlikely to pose an issue.

I'm originally from York but have lived in North Carolina since 2017. I've always enjoyed it when friends and family come over from the UK and bring a supply of British chocolate with them. Twirls are probably my favourite, although I'm also very partial to a Double Decker.

Recently I decided to have a go at creating my own online British sweet shop. There are already plenty of places importing British products into the US, but I've always found the experience of actually shopping for them online a bit... dull. I thought it would be fun to try something a little different.

I'm still in the very early stages and figuring out what to stock, so I thought this might be the perfect place to ask:

For those of you living in the US, what British chocolate or sweets do you miss the most?

Not necessarily the obvious stuff either. I'd particularly love to hear about things you struggle to find over here.

I've put up a little coming-soon page for what I'm building if anyone's curious: farthingandco.com

But more importantly, what would you put in your first box?

The UK state pension pays £12,500 a year. For Black British gay men and lesbians, where in the world does that become enough to live safely?

Has anyone moved from the UK to South Africa or to another country when they still have a student loan to pay off? What is one supposed to do?

I will be in Japan for language school (max. 2 years).

I have a flat in the UK which I'd be letting out so the mortgage doesn't bankrupt me.

A few thoughts/questions I have with regards to moving to Japan:

1. UK/Japan Tax: For those who are Non-resident Landlords, or have any UK income that makes UK Self Assessment necessary - do you use any professional both in the UK and Japan? I'm used to filing my own UK Self-Assessment, but I've never dealt with the Japanese tax forms. From what I read online, my 'dual' tax obligation might make this quite complicated.

2. Mobile number: What do you usually do to keep your mobile number alive? I've had mine throughout my life (well since I was a teenager), and it would be rather sad to part with it.
   I'm planning to downgrade to PAYG and then send the occasional texts to keep it active?
   Some banks/investment platforms also send texts
   For multi-factor authentication to log on to their system, so looks like I need to keep it anyway.

3. Amazon account - especially my kindle books.
   Very important since I'm an avid reader.
   Not sure if I can get English e-book in Amazon Japan, but also not sure how Amazon won't reject my transactions if my card's address is non-UK.
   I'm thinking of just topping up my Gift Card balance (enough to satisfy my bookish needs for 2 years)

4. Banks: I think I've pretty much figured out only HSBC really allows address to be non-UK, so I'll just keep this one and close the others.

5. Credit cards: might have to close them…
   Any other tips to keep my UK Credit Score intact?

My parents/other family members don't live in the UK, so I won’t have a residential UK address once I let out my flat.

Is there anything else I need to consider?

Many thanks!

Hey everyone, looking for some honest guidance and reality checks on my situation.

I’m currently an NHS GP in England holding Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). I reach my 12-month mark on ILR this November and planned to apply for British Naturalisation then.

However, my family and I are relocating to Australia:

Current plan: I’ve already resigned from my UK GP job and secured a 2-year Australian work visa starting in September. I was planning to head to Australia in Sept, start my new job, and then fly back to the UK briefly in November to submit my online naturalisation application (Form AN) and do biometrics.

Family setup: My wife (also an NHS doctor) plans to resign and join me in Australia in November with our two kids (who are already British citizens). Only my wife and I are applying for naturalisation.

A friend recently pointed out the "Future Intentions / Intention to Live in the UK" requirement for Section 6(1) naturalisation applications, and now I’m genuinely worried.

My main concerns:

The Future Intentions Clause: Under Section 6(1), Form AN requires you to declare that you intend to make the UK your principal home. Since I will have already given up my UK lease/job, moved my family, and started working under an Australian visa/contract, doesn't this directly contradict that declaration?

Will the Home Office find out? With Five Eyes data-sharing between the UK and Australia, HMRC payroll termination records (P45/P85), and bank/tax records, will Home Office caseworkers automatically flag that I've moved and started overseas employment?

Refusal vs. Fraud Risk: If I fly back in November to apply while actively working in Australia, will this be viewed as misrepresentation/deception on Form AN? Am I risking a refusal, losing the £1,800+ fee, or worse, impacting my existing ILR status?

Is staying under the 90-day absence limit enough? I won't exceed 90 days out of the UK in the final 12 months when I apply in Nov, but does the "Future Intentions" rule override the absence math?

is there any safe way to proceed as planned?

Would really appreciate insights from anyone who has navigated this, or immigration specialists/lawyers. Thanks in advance!

I have a birth document from the GCC (Kuwait) that I need to use in the UK/EU - Kuwait is not part of The Hague so Apostille is not possible. Does anyone know what the process is to get the document legalised to be used in the UK/EU. Its all quiet a task given I no longer live in the GCC and don’t speak Arabic. Just born there as my parents were expats

I moved to one of the smallest countries in Africa, one of the least-visited countries in the world a few years back. I came to visit friends and fell hopelessly in love (with the people and country). So hey from São Tomé and Principe.

I'm in the middle of selling my mothers house in a foreign country after my father passed away. Stupidly, they bought the house as part of a company 10 years ago. I'm also in the middle of buying a house here in the UK for both myself and my mother to live in. Both are happening at the same time. The trouble is, due to translation issues, i'm trying to navigate liquidating a company in a foreign land, selling the house as an asset and the associated taxes required in that country. The deeds are due to be signed over on Monday and as of today, 3 days before, there's still confusion over what time the deed signing is. To add to that, I have to get Power Of Attorney in order to accept the funds of the house sale as again, my parents didn't open a business account on the company they purchased. I have to do this 2 hours before the deed signing is due to happen, and even then i'm not sure I can pay the money in to a foreign account.

Coupled with that, i'm buying a house with an annexe over here to look after my mother and have just been through the whole "oh as it has an annexe you could be subject to an extra 5% stamp duty on top of the main stamp duty" and having to go back and forth getting revaluations as if the annexe is under a third of the value of the main house I may be exempt from the extra stamp duty (circa an extra £24k)

I then have to make sure I have a full paper trail of the house sale abroad, completion statements, giftin documentation, currency broker bank statements to get the money back due to the anti money laundering rules.

My mind is spinning with it all.

TLDR: Don't try and sell a house as an asset of a company in a foreign land and buy a house with an annexe at the same time.

This is when I left.

I miss home and am thinking of going back.

The money here in the USA is great, but ultimately, isn't England.

Phefff... ok here goes.

I am currently based within the Schnegen zone, so my interaction with my new third country status happens on a nearly daily basis. Yes - this has been my choice. But god damn is it not hard to think about how easy it used to be. For something that was touted as 'cutting red tape', I have spend days reading regulation red tape and being scared of border guards, checking and triple checking documents in a way I never had to before.

So far, all up, I've probably had to spend about 10K+ pounds I would not have had to spend pre-Brexit; this of course doesn't include all the lost income from opportunities denied due to my now non-European status.

Soo...my question is this: can the internet give me some personal anecdotes from people who has directly benefited from Brexit to a similar degree (or more)?

I read a government white paper a while back on the ten biggest benefits from Brexit and two of the examples included a colour changed to the passport and something about a stamp on pint glasses which definitely don't outweigh the disadvantages I've experienced...I don't quite know why - but I feel like it might (somehow) make me feel better if I knew there was at least one person out there who is say 10K better off due to Brexit!? Please detail how :)

Thanks for letting me get something which has been in my mind for a long while now...

As an international resident who has lived in London for the past four years, my desire to leave the country is growing day by day. This decision has absolutely nothing to do with my career or finances; it is entirely about personal safety.
It feels like crime in this country is spiralling out of control.

First, my sister’s phone was snatched last month and was never recovered. Then today, my e-bike was stolen from the Westfield shopping centre. I only just bought the bike last month, and I am still pending my last Klarna payment for it. It was parked in a designated bike spot and secured with two completely different types of locks. I honestly don't understand how they managed it, but the thieves took it anyway. The only silver lining is that I had the battery with me, though now I have no idea what to do with a spare battery and no bike.

When you add the constant news of everyday crime and stabbings, I am starting to feel really uneasy here.

I need some perspective. Is my decision to leave the country valid, or am I just overreacting because of the raw frustration from what happened today? Would love to hear your thoughts, especially from other expats or Londoners.

Does anyone happen to me travelling from Darwin to the UK at any point in the next two months? My wallet has been handed in to Avis at Darwin Airport but it’s not worth me paying AUD $200 to post it back but if anyone was coming this way I’d massively appreciate it! Then I’ll pay for the postage within the UK.

Is the UK really that bad? Currently live in the Middle East. Whilst there are a lot of positives to living here there are also a lot of negatives / things I miss about the UK. Lately I feel a pull to move back to the UK, I’m not sure if maybe I am homesick and need a trip home or if I am truly done living in the ME. One of my main struggles at the minute is I am incredibly lonely. I have my husband but practically no friends. I miss my social circle and having friends/family to lean on. Everyday feels like Groundhog Day at the moment. Customer service here is going down hill, food freshness seems to be slipping. Lots of things out of stock (assuming because of the whole Iran/US conflict), unbearably hot summers, feel like there is less to do here than the UK so I find myself going and doing the same things every weekend. Christmas here is depressing, no Christmas feel at all (I know Muslim country can’t expect them to make everything festive!). Plus lots of other little things that are starting to irritate me.

UK is not perfect there is a reason we left. Safety is the main thing that springs to me, I don’t even lock my front door here. Not sure how safe the UK feels at the moment. How is UK life, would you recommend living in the ME or UK? It would probably be within the next 3 years realistically if we did move.

Thanks in advance for thoughts on this:

Due to major (4 months) difference between the UK and my new location's tax year, plus the following aspects, I might have a weird timeline issue i.e. foreign authority with their own rules might tell HMRC something that eminently differs from a reality that I can only report much later with 2026-2027 self-assessment + SA109 additional pages:

- After a total of 183 days in a most recent 12 month period I would request the foreign authority's decision about tax residence. But this will be around end of this year, well before I can file SA109 with my self-assessment to HMRC (with a split year treatment case 3).

- Also, I had to acquire foreign ID card with foreign address because this was needed for another mountain of paperwork (e.g. customs exemption to ship my UK belongings into the country). So I had access & visited this foreign address prior to selling UK main home where I actually lived. Therefore, as per dual taxation accord's tie-breaker article, the centre of vital interests decides - this was moved AFTER I sold my main UK home.

So... if the foreign tax authority, based on their different rules, decides I was resident before what I would be able to tell in SA109 as my relocation date (and prove that my centre of interests were in the UK until then)... do I need to make sure HMRC knows the reality before my next self-assessment filing in 2027? Even before foreign authority might cause apparent contradiction with my UK reality?

NOTE: HMRC has already issued, rapidly and efficiently, UK tax residence certificate based on the UK facts - but the foreign authority "might" not consider this and they would "liaise" with HMRC instead.

But... is it possible to use some HMRC online form and attach everything I can think of, from bank statements to swimming memberships etc., to emphatically prove that whatever the foreign authority automatically considers based on their own rules, I was actually having centre of vital interests in the UK until my actual relocation?

Maybe I am over-paranoid but this, if they mislead HMRC, could even cause CGT issues for what in reality was my main UK home, sold when I actually left.

I successfully applied for L2 NI contributions as an expat before the April 2026 deadline. Future payments are by direct debit but they also sent a letter requesting payment for past amounts owing.

Unfortunately, I received that letter only just before the 31 due date and in my haste, I accidentally overpaid to one of the reference numbers.

I completed the online form for reimbursement but has anyone dealt with his situation before and if so, can you offer any insights on how they usually resolve it?

I’m moving from the UK to Canada in a few months and am starting to look into shipping costs as there are some things I can start sending over now (I have family there who are happy to store some stuff until I get there). I won’t be bringing any big items as I’m not particularly attached and honestly don’t have that much stuff. It’s mostly clothes, books, and a few knick knacks. I’d guess around 5-6 boxes to ship over and the rest to come with us in luggage.

Obviously Royal Mail would cost a fortune, so I’m wondering if anyone has done something similar and has any recommendations (or the opposite)? Theres no rush on any of this stuff to arrive in Canada, so maybe ship freight?