NS April 14th, 2009
Things that stop me from becoming a citizen:
I am still on the American side of the fence in the Great Bacon Debate (wherein all Brits claim that American bacon is too fatty and many Yanks such as myself regard British bacon as flaccid and soggy)
I don’t get my panties in a bunch when someone discusses their spending habits, purchases, ambitions, career successes or income. Watching Brits snipe at each other for every supposed ‘transgression’ is like watching a really anoying game show called Who Can Best Deride The Middle Class For Being Snobs (While Simultaneously Looking Down On And Being Part Of The Middle Class). I imagine this is part of dealing with post-Empire guilt but it’s gotten quite out of hand, I must say
I still find it maddening that not much (apart from pubs) is open past 6pm on any given day; 4pm on Sundays
I still don’t know the words to the national anthem. I know most Britons don’t either but it just feels wrong
I don’t like custard, HP sauce, Branston pickle, Marmite, fondant icing or Pimms. I believe they call this Treason
It costs a huge sum of money! About £700 all in. Yes, £700. Do I really want to spend that on a piece of paper and a red passport and so I can vote in the election, should Gordon Brown ever call one?
Things that make me think it would be quite nice to be a UK citizen:
I’d be able to say “Ha! Bugger off you wanker, you can’t tell me to “go back where I came from” anymore as I am a mighty citizen.” Not that I’ve needed to say this on many ocassions but seeing as I was spat on once for being American and was questioned at the Bosnian-Croatian border for having the wrong colour passport, it’s not inconceivable that that little red book would come in handy.
I could vote, even if I do feel that my vote is being wasted a bit more here because of the party/party leader system. A vote is a voice and I’m tired of being silent
I use British slang and swear words naturally now. Nary an ‘awesome’ or ‘neat’ slips out unless I’m talking to another American
I could count myself among the Loyal Subjects to the Queen, as I’m always calling my husband and chlidren
When I become famous, the British public will be able to call me a “national treasure”
I won’t have to try as hard at cooking; everyone will understand if my cuisine suddenly becomes bland (kidding!)
I can get sozzled on a daily basis until I die and not a single AA leaflet will be slipped under my door, nor will there be a Family Intervention. If anything, this will only add to my legacy as aforementioned National Treasure
So what do you think: get that citizenship or just keep coasting along as a permanent resident? Is the £700 and paperwork worth it?
You certainly can’t be a British citizen when you say things like “panties in a bunch”! It’s “knickers in a twist” on this side of the pond.
Anyone who uses the term “sozzled” appropriately, should instantly be made a citizen of the UK (or Australia, but we shouldn’t really mention the two together, right?)
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I vote on staying a permanent citizen! I’ve had this debate often with myself too, but I don’t want to end up being taxed to death by the British government when all is said and done. So for that reason alone I shall remain a permanent resident. Speaking of £700, I was astonished at how much it cost just for me to be allowed the privilege of coming over here and marrying a citizen of the UK. Sheesh! Flying back to the U.S. so you can be “approved” before you marry your dearly beloved and have special entry permission into the UK, then another visa after you’ve gotten married which costs further money, and then the permanent resident visa which is another cost. I think I’ll stay an American citizen.
Oops, meant to say permanent resident above, not permanent citizen. This is what happens when one has been up since 5:30 in the morning.
^^^lol tis true!
Its bloomin expensive isnt it! We’re looking at it for Matt as he has had 3 years here. Just pricey atm for us. I think we will do it though because of the 2 year rule, if we need to go state-side for any reason for more than 2 years he’d have to start the whole annoying visa process again and our wallet and heads cant take that lot again.
I just ordered a box of Oscar Mayer bacon from Sainsburys for OH as he can get behind our bacon either!
x
Get it, because if you needed to move back to the US for some reason (say, a dire family situation) and then wanted to move back to the UK (or needed to move back in a hurry) you wouldn’t have to mess about with visas — you just pick up your bags and go. Also, I’d never want to not have the right to come and go freely to a country my children have citizenship of, if that makes sense.
Besides, who knows what other crazy rules they’ll introduce later that will make it more difficult/expensive to get later.
Strawberry makes some great points. I wasn’t aware of the 2 year rule before now, so may reconsider my thinking about everything. It’s too bad you can’t attain citizenship by just taking a test with questions on it about old royalty, English rock musicians, English literature and English comedians (go Rik Mayall!!!). That would be a test right up my alley.
i was coming on here to say what strawberry said!
@Anji – I can just see it on the Life In The UK test: Complete this sentence — don’t get your ____ in a ____. Genius!
@Jumblebery Jam – I’m honoured. And a bit sozzled. *hic*
@Kristine – It does seem rather a lot of tedious bureaucracy, doesn’t it? I must psych myself up for it. Groan.
@Nikki – Tell your OH that Danish, smoked, streaky bacon is pretty darn close to American bacon and will do in an Oscar Meyer-less pinch. Nom nom nom.
@Strawbery – All very practical, good points. I know you’re right it’s just the headache of it all. Not looking forward to it.
@jen – Yes, I suppose you would say that, as a citizen and all.
I’m on the Commonwealth side of the bacon debate. I like the idea of getting some meat with my fried fat. My problem with citizenship would be giving up my U.S. citizenship. That disturbs me for reasons that I can’t explain.
@A Free Man – Bacon Traitor!
Why couldn’t you have dual citizenship?
We got the hubs citizenship right before the massive fee hike. What with the introduction of the life in the uk test and those raise in fees, well it made sense to get it before they add goodness knows what other hoops to jump through. I wouldn’t be surprised if they added in ILR year restriction like the US green card only being valid for 10 years at a time.
Kristine – I am confused by “I don’t want to end up being taxed to death by the British government when all is said and done”?? Plus the US charges high fees and has complicated immigration rules too! I had to wait 8 months to be approved for my fiance visa to the US (plus pay for a chest x-ray, HIV and syphilis test, and an MMR and something else… and a couple of years ago they brought in that the doctor also has to look at your genitals to make sure you are the gender you claim to be). Also, back then you had to have A Good Reason (no just visiting home) for the special permission to leave the US while waiting for residency, which due to their backlog took 3 1/2 years for me, which meant I also had to pay for a yearly re-application for employment authorisation. UK immigration is a breeze!!
I can just see it on the Life In The UK test: Complete this sentence — don’t get your ____ in a ____. Genius!
Hehe, my boyfriend (Norwegian, moved here in November) told me to take some tablets for a headache I had coming on the other day, “to bite it in the knob.” I could barely stop laughing long enough to wheeze “I really hope you meant to nip it in the bud!”
Oh, and I was born here and I hate Marmite, HP Sauce and Branston Pickle. I also hate pickled onions and pickled eggs, though admitting that in public may well land me with having my passport take away!
The real litmus test: do you like tea? If so, how much do you drink and DO YOU HAVE IT WITH MILK DAMMIT?
@Lindsay – I’ve done both UK and US immigration (for my husband) and agree that the UK is a less painful and detailed process, by far. I can’t recall what the cost was, though I don’t remember it being huge. Do you recall what it was for you guys?
@Anji – Oh my, that’s hysterical! Bite it in the knob…classic! Glad to see that yucky brown sauce-lovin’ isn’t inherent to all Brits. And yes, I drink tea with milk and have at least one cup a day, if not two. Anytime after 11am it’s tea, pretty much. Do I pass?
There is one reason to become a British subject that is above all others (and the reason I became one)…….
Europe.
Yup, worth it for no visas in the EU. (although Bosnians and Croatians still reserve the right to spit at you).
Didn’t cost me £700 though. ??!!
Have you read ‘Watching the English’? Think you’d enjoy it.
I went through similar debates before becoming a US citizen. It took 9/11 to make me do it because I was worried that they might start kicking people out if their country (UK) didn’t agree with their, erm, policies. I then found out that if anything ever happened to hubby, I pay far less taxes on whatever he leaves, AND I can take it out of the country. And, I didn’t have to renounce my UK citizenship. But, yes, it’s expensive. I am just about to renew two of my kids’ UK passports and it’s almost that much!
Hiya Lindsay,
Yeah, I have a BIL who is Canadian who had to deal with a lot of that stuff in the states and wasn’t allowed to leave the U.S. for ages it seemed because of getting his residency. It’s all rather silly, isn’t it? I think after 9/11 getting entry into both the U.S. and the UK is much more difficult now. In the past you could just marry somebody in the UK without getting permission first, but it was a major difficulty for me as I was pregnant, wanted to marry my fiance here, yet had to book tickets for us both to fly to LA, pay to stay at a hotel, and then wait for my fiance visa to be approved and fly back again. Now apparently you must have biometric data taken and jump through a bunch of other hoops as well, so I had it easy! If I want to get my husband a resident visa for the states I think it’s much faster as he’s already married to me, as least from what I can gather after reading the U.S. Embassy website. I wish I’d just been born a dual citizen like my son. Things would be so much easier.
Re: taxes, income above £40,000 is taxed at the 40% rate here which is just way too scary for me. We have a plumber who helps us out from time to time, and he was commenting a few days ago that out of his £100,000 salary that he gets from the business he runs he ends up only taking home around £40,000 from it after taxes and all the rest are taken out. I realize that taxes are needed up to a point, but the taxes are just insane here and not something I want to ever deal with.
Uh oh, I’ve just typed out a couple of super long paragraphs and they’ve disappeared. Must definitely employ the copy feature to save in the future, just in case, ha!
I totally agree that just for the sake of easy access to Europe alone, UK citizenship is a good thing.
Re: the cost, it seemed exorbitant to me as I was pregnant here, wanted to marry my fiance, but had to book us both airfare to LA, plus a hotel for a week, while we waited for the special fiance visa to come through. Then we were able to fly back to the UK again and get married. When I add up the visa cost plus the cost of the airplane tickets and hotel, the cost runs into the thousands easily. Now apparently there is also biometric data taken as well, so I got off easy as at least I didn’t have to have that done. I think that after 9/11 getting into the UK or the US has just gotten much harder. It’s a shame really.
Re: taxes, if you make over £40,000 here you’re taxed at the 40% rate which is way too scary for me. We have a plumber who helps us out from time to time and he was commenting a few days ago that out of the £100,000 salary he makes from the business he runs he only takes home £40,000 a year after taxes and everything else are taken out, and his accountant can’t do anything about it if he wants to stay legal. I understand taxes are need up to a point, but a 40% rate seems crazy to me.
Get it! They are changing the rules yet again and I’ve heard it’s going to be harder. Things like having to do community service and the govn’t not allowing you to remain a permanent resident indefinitely.
I didn’t get it as I left it too late and we were moving to the US in a matter of wks. If only I would have realised we would hate it and end up back here 9 months later I would have gotten it. Now I have to wait another a yr or something before I’m eligible again. UH!
Don’t make my mistake!
And re: taxes, yes they are high, but we ended up paying more in the US (during our 9 months there) then we ever do in the UK. Kristine, if your plumber is only taking home 40k he needs a new accountant and stat! The benefit to being self employed and having a business here is the ability to pay less taxes than the avg employed joe. I’m so thankful my dh is cause I dread to think what he would be taking home if he was employed!
hmmm, i’m confuzzled by all the taxes talk. living permanently in the UK, you have to pay UK taxes whether you’re a citizen or not, so how would it be advantageous to *not* have citizenship?
Are you kidding? And be able to work anywhere you want in Europe? I say get the citizenship.
Get it. They’re making it more and more difficult. The Borders bill is full of craziness.
I would love to have my British passport, but due to discrimination, can’t. The Borders bill sets out to correct this, but Lord Brett has said enough awful things about us undesirable illegitimate spawn of majestic British fathers, that I know it won’t happen.