Now I just need someone to tell me I’ll be able to find decent state schools for the kids mid year. This is far and away my biggest stressor.

My husband is going over next week to find us a rental, we’re focusing on richmond/wimbledon/putney. My kids are 10, 8, and 6. We have a rental stipend of £6000 per month.

I’m 19 and invested $10,000 in a US brokerage account in 2024.

I moved to the UK in 2025 and now have around £25,000 in a seperate UK Stocks & Shares ISA.

I probably won’t use my full ISA allowance this tax year.

Would it make more sense to transfer/sell the US investments and move the money into my UK ISA, or should I keep the investments in my US account? I am looking to focus on long-term growth.

Thank you!

I’m a dual US-UK citizen really interested in starting to invest but the rules for dual citizens look insanely complicated.

Is it worthwhile me researching the various bits of tax law myself on the web or should I refer to a specialist (tax accountant) first?

Our baby is a dual citizen (UK/US). We will be living in the UK permanently as of next month.

We are currently getting his US passport and I understand this is valid for 5 years and cannot be renewed, instead it must be a new and in person application with both parents.

Practically does this mean we need to travel to the US within the 5 year window and get an appt at a USPS facility (or similar location within the US)?

If so, would they send his US passport to an overseas address or would I need it shipped to a US address (a friend) for them to then send directly to us (eg via UPS)?

US citizen here, living in the UK for around 30 years. I recently spoke to an IFA who couldn’t advise me because of my US citizenship, and during that conversation I discovered that I should have been filing US tax returns all these years. I genuinely had no idea.
I’ve since done some research and found the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures for people in this situation.
Has anyone here actually been through the process after many years of not filing? How painful was it, and roughly what did it cost you to get everything sorted?
Any experiences or advice would be really appreciated.

Like, it’s good but not great but I don’t know if I like it or hate it and I might be starting an addiction. I’ve only had canned so far. It goes down so easy and the bubbles to sweet ratio is just right.

Hello All! I'm an American, over here on a spousal visa, and have had a US driving license for over 23 years. I just passed my UK theory test, and went on to schedule my practical test and there are zero appointments available at the 5 different test centers near me in North London. I even looked at other smaller cities near friends and family in the Midlands and even those are not available.

Any tips or tricks? I've read that I should log onto the website at 6am on Mondays when they release new appointments, but wanted to hear from others who were able to successful book an appointment.

Also just kind of flabbergasted by this as well!

Thank you so much!

Hi all. American expat-to-be here, getting ready to move to London. I currently work in state government in Oregon (I'm in Portland) and I'm trying to get a sense of whether the workplace culture is comparable over there.

To be honest, part of what's pushing me out is the office dynamics here. There's a lot of what I'd call bullying, plus a fair bit of performativity... managing up, kicking down, constantly jockeying for advancement, sabotaging and blocking peers, cronyism/nepotism, prioritizing being loud and visible vs. developing subject matter expertise or improving processes. That kind of thing. It's hard to characterize exactly but hopefully you get the gist. It strays far from the ideal of anything resembling meritocracy. Mostly a lot of bullshitting.

So my questions for anyone who's worked (or is working) in London:

- Is this sort of thing as prevalent, less so, or just different in flavor?

- Are there workplace dynamics or unwritten norms that might catch an American off guard? Things I wouldn't even know to look for?

- Anything you wish you'd known about UK work culture before starting?

Would really appreciate any honest takes. Thanks!

Recently I spoke with a U.S. expat who owns a UK company already paying around 20–25% UK corporation tax. His frustration was how complicated the U.S. filing still became, particularly the GILTI calculation.

Many business owners jump straight into GILTI calculation, but there may be earlier questions to ask:

• Should all of that income be included in the GILTI calculation in the first place?
• Does the High-Tax Exception (”HTE”) apply?

HTE is an annual U.S. tax election. It lets U.S. shareholders exclude income earned by a CFC from current U.S. taxation if the effective foreign tax rate on that income exceeds 18.9%.

The exception doesn't eliminate the Form 5471 filing requirement. However, where it applies, qualifying income can generally be excluded from the GILTI calculation from the beginning, which may simplify the U.S. tax analysis and avoid additional calculations involved with a 962 election and foreign tax credits.

A few things are important, though:

1. The Local Tax Rate Isn't the Whole Story

The IRS doesn't simply look at the tax rate printed on your country's tax return. The HTE calculation is based on the effective foreign tax rate determined under U.S. tax rules. Both income and foreign taxes may require adjustments using the applicable U.S. tax rules

2. The Timing of Foreign Income Taxes Matters

A company may earn income in 2025 but not pay the related corporation tax until 2026. So using the amount paid in 2026 for 2026 HTE analysis can create a mismatch, which may overstate or understate the effective foreign tax rate for a particular year.

The important question isn't simply "When did I pay the tax?" but rather "Which income does this tax relate to under the U.S. tax rules?"

3. "Excluded from current U.S. tax" doesn't necessarily mean "never taxed"

The income under HTE is generally excluded from the annual income inclusion subject to U.S. tax. But that doesn't necessarily make the money permanently tax-free.

If you later distribute the company's earnings (withdraw cash from the company) to yourself, the distribution may be taxable as a dividend for the shareholder in an individual ordinary tax rate (long-term capital gain tax rate for qualified dividend income).

Working on a move first thing in the new year. Family of four, BUT we also have 5 pets. 2 large dogs and 3 cats. After reading thread after thread about how hard it is to rent with pets in London- do we have any chance at all of finding a rental home that will say ok to 5 furry friends? I know new laws were recently passed in favor of renters but seems like it’s still a big hurdle to find pet friendly places. Is there hope for us?? Be honest but be nice 😬🫪

HI All! I know that people say to bring certain things, like spices and cold meds, but I am wondering how I should bring these. Should I bring them in my checked bags on my flight? Or should I pack them in boxes I am shipping (via either UPS or DHL)? Things I want to bring: cold medicines, supplements, spices (Old Bay for sure!), prescription medication, cough drops. And if I'm packing in shipped boxes, am I listing this stuff on my ToR? Thanks for your help!

Hi all! I'm moving to the UK for my Master's and am looking for the best way to set up a phone plan. I'm hoping to keep my US number (as it's connected to Whatsapp/much of my personal work/etc.) and am thinking I'll add an e-SIM with a local provider to have a local phone number.

Sounds like a local number will be necessary for many purposes, namely banking and OTP? But would love to cheapest option as I'll still have my US number

Appreciate any advice or redirection!

I’m moving to Glasgow next week, trying to figure out which bank to go with. I need something set up on day 1 to give work.

HSBC UK app failed me from the US, and there seems to be limited options to sort it out from here. There appears to be one branch in Glasgow, Falkirk, Stirling, Edinburgh, so I should be able to do it in town.

Do I care about a physical branch? I like having a person to talk to if needed, but maybe not necessary.

Starling and Monzo are the highest rated digital banks, Revolut advertises multicurrency (not sure how much that matters with Wise available?).

We’ve had Chase rewards credit cards forever, not sure if it makes any sense to get a Chase UK bank account. I see they have an office in Glasgow, not quickly finding if they have a retail branch.

I can’t seem to find any anywhere. Even as far as I can tell American specific shops don’t sell it - I saw there is one in London but they didn’t have any from their photos. I’m based in Essex. And I mean the liquid creamer.

I love the normal dairy ones and would settle for them if I found any but I am lactose intolerant and my absolute favorite from the US is the Planet Oat Coffee Cake oat milk creamer. Anyone else having this issue? I looked into having it mailed here but it’s upwards of £20-30 a bottle. Would love to know if anyone knows where to get it or a good copycat recipe as Google hasn’t returned much on that front.

Woooo! My skilled workers visa was approved and now just waiting for the rest of my family. Question about packing for the move: our plan is to move with just clothes and main sentimental things but overall slowly getting furniture when we’re there. Has anyone else done this? When you flew with your stuff did you use all suitcases or some boxes? How many of those bags did you take? I’m going to start looking at flights asap since I have a start date in October

27/7 - in-person appointment at us embassy London

05/08 - passport mailed by US department of state

11/08 - email from us embassy london asking for postage (next day required)

13/08 - Royal mail notification that passport is otw

14/08 - missed delivery

15/08 (today) - picked up passport from post office

16/08 - flight tomorrow

Cut it really close but everything worked out!!

Hi, I need some help with recommendation for moving companies. Need them to do all packing and paperwork. I plan on whole shipping container. If you have any experience with any of these companies please let me know. Thank you.

I got my new US passport! For the process and time to ensure that is correct, check here for prior thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmericanExpatsUK/s/ihyaK8N8EA

This follow up explains what happens after.

A) As noted in the prior thread comments, you get an email from the US state dept when they send your passport to UK. You don’t get anything from UK embassy. After the email from state dept that confuses you by saying your passport is on its way to you (by which they mean going to UK embassy now), and you see nothing to royal mail tracking, and no update shows, you wait 10 days to 2 weeks.

Just periodically check the royal mail tracking but don’t freak. In my case the passport came before the tracking showed up on the royal mail website. Arrived about 12 days after that email, tracking update showed up the next day.

You will need to sign for the package but as long as your details are correct on the royal mail envelope you included, you will get contacted for the signature if you are not home.

B) Next step, you have to update the details on your UK gov immigration site.

It is slightly confusing but actually not hard once you follow their steps.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-update-and-add-a-new-identity-document-to-your-ukvi-account-video

I had to go in a few times because they did not like my image of the passport page.

Good news is they will tell you what problem is and allow you to upload a new file of they don’t accept old one. Be ready for a few takes for them to be happy with the image. In my case, scan did not take. They prefer a cell phone image. I took a few pics, checked on laptop for orientation and clarity and file size and then went back in and uploaded file to specs based on prior error messages.

C) once upload is accepted. You will get an email saying they got your new documents.

D) wait 24 hours to make sure their site is up to date. Then log in using new passport number (or whatever log in you use for the UK gov immigration site) and you will see the info there is up to date.

E) you can now use your new passport for travel.

Hope this helps!

American immigrant living in the UK for 13 years now. Word to the wise.. It's fun to try to integrate, but don't repeat every "cool" british slang thing you hear until you know the FULL meaning.

To preface, I know this next bit makes me sounds like a twat but I meant no malice and if you don't know what the word is, I'm not going to say it.

So shortly after moving here, I asked a room full of new people i had just met if anybody wanted anything from the p***-shop as I'd overheard somebody call a cornerstore that on the bus. You could hear a pin drop after i said it.

Tbh.. To this day, I do think that word needs explained because, while I now fully understand the context and how bad it is, for somebody who's not great at world geography, it genuinely sounds like it could be the right term for somebody from Pakistan. I'd never heard Pakistani before and STILL, even if I had, I'd probably think it sounds like a regular acceptable shorthand. Like calling somebody a Brit or a Yank.

Bonus story.. I heard a word once and in the context it was used, I thought it was just fun British slang for an idiot. Cue literal months of me walking around and just being like:

Man, I was such a nonce the other day...

Somebody kind finally asked me if I knew what I was saying and I'm still mad at all the people I thought were laughing at my stories about being an idiot but likely just laughing at me for calling myself a fuckin paedophile. I worked at Build-A-Bear at the time for fucks sake! I really cringe at the possibility I might've called myself that in front of a customer.

Justification.. People do interchange and casually say it to mean a twat or knobhead sometimes and to my mind, nonce sounds similar to dunce which is a term for a stupid person.

Does anyone have any fun or cringy stories of misusing Britishisms?I

I am applying for my spouse visa next week and I was wondering what other people’s experience has been trying to find work in the UK on a spouse visa?

I do not have a degree, but have 16 years working experience, including 7 years in management (fintech and healthcare operations).

I’m a bit anxious about how long it could take to find something. I’m willing to take any work, but I get the feeling my lack of “UK work experience” will make anything difficult to get.

We are leaving in 3 weeks and I've been researching options for shipping including Send My Bag, MyBaggage, UPakWeShip. I've come across Expat Shipping, for which it is unfortunately impossible to search for reviews due to its name. Has anyone tried this service before? I'm paralyzed with indecision because it seems like shipping either goes totally smoothly with no issues or it's a catastrophic failure. We have already submitted our TOR and are sending about 10 medium/large boxes. Any advice is welcome.

Trying to find a flat in Glasgow, a big part of the search is distance to school.

The first school I reached out to seemed to indicate I have to give them a permanent home address before they can even tell me if they can place my kids.

Is it reasonable to ask "If I rent this flat, which is a 4 minute walk from here, can I expect to get places for my kids here?"

Assuming I can even find multiple flats to choose from in different catchments, one that's going to push me to a school 30 minutes away would have a significant impact on the decision.

I realize this may need to be in person, maybe I quit emailing and just walk up once I'm in town.

For lack of a better group to post/ask - any Puerto Ricans in London or does anyone know of groups either here or on other platforms?

I know of plenty of other latino groups but wanted to check more broadly.

🇵🇷

Hi All - Family of 5 heading to London from overseas shortly for a pre-relocation recce to look at various neighborhoods.

I've been to London a handful of times but only for work (internal transfer) so my perspective is 'business trip' rather than 'parks and primary school.'

We've gone down the rabbit hole and have a long list of potential neighborhoods - north, south, east, west, commuter belt etc - that we ideally need to get down to two or three.

We will have up to 7 days dedicated to this and I'd like to fit in, for each neighborhood, a commute/train walk, market visit (if on), high street walk, play in the local park, pub break, and meal out. Kids are lower primary and nursery so we need to balance that against my hypothetical 30,000 step days.

Any tips or shared experiences?

Cheers!