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My spouse and I are considering leaving the US. Looking at the UK visa website, we would seem to qualify as "retired persons of independent means," at least in terms of income. However, we do not seem to meet the criteria to demonstrate a close connection with the UK. I have taught British literature for thirty years and have visited, but we have no close friends or relatives there and do not own property in the country. In retirement, we would almost certainly prefer to rent, at least for a few years as we decide on exactly where to settle.
Does anyone have any idea if we would be likely to qualify for a visa? I have used the form on the government website to send a question but got an automated response with instructions on how to apply for a visa. We would like to know our chances of success before spending the money to apply for one.
The 'retired person of independent means' visa was scrapped years ago. The only web site you can trust for upto date information is this one: https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...nd-immigration
I'm afraid it is simply impossible for non-EU citizens to retire to the UK as there is no visa for it. That's not an oversight - it's deliberate policy. The only exception would be if you qualify for an investor visa but you need millions for that.
If you speak Spanish, you might consider Spain - their visa options are wider than the UK's.
That category is still on the site, which is why we are considering the UK. Will need to dig deeper.
I think that category is still on the site not for visas per se, bu, but to permit persons who are currently conditionally resident in the UK that are not permanent residents to extend their residency at the time of their retirement. I don't think that the "retired persons of independent means" is intended to apply for non-residents choosing to retire in the UK without some prior form (past or current) of residence.
The thing that is weird is the connection for demonstrating close connections, if someone has close enough connections to become resident, then they can be "sponsored" (or whatever the UK's immigration calls it, I personally don't know being a UK citizen) by a close relative, who would agree to support terms of the immigrant relative, which would eliminate the "independent means" requirement.
Personally Id love to have American neighbours.. I love your accents and any Ive met Ive liked right off... , Met a beautiful couple last year who were holidaying in Scotland.. just a pity we didnt get to see as much of them as we would have liked... we got on so well.
If you were legally resident in the UK, Rebek, on a work visa with a 5-year duration and you earned more than some threshold income, you could apply at the 5-year mark for ILR: indefinite leave to remain. Once you had that, you would no longer be tied to a specific employer and you could retire whenever you were able to and stay in the UK indefinitely.
However, the visa for going to and settling in the UK when you are already retired was closed in 2008 for new applicants.
It is not just the UK that deliberately makes this difficult. You would have a similar problem with Australia or New Zealand for example. I haven't checked out Canada - too cold for me!
I finally located the PDF file explaining how to file; it indicated (several pages in!) that the status was closed to new applicants.
Canada, alas, has no retiree visas, and we do not have half a million dollars lying around to invest in a Canadian business. Ireland does have such a visa, but the income limit (minimum of $100,000 Euros in guaranteed income per couple per year) is too steep for us.
It looks as if we'll have to stay in Ohio (which is not a bad place--I was just thinking of trading Indian mounds for ancient megaliths).
I don't know why you'd give up everything you have in the US for these miserable islands.
Retire to Hawaii man!
have to agree.
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