I’m from the UK but have worked extensively in the US. One of my colleagues in the US was excitedly talking about how he has acquired British citizenship through his wife (who has a british grandmother) and that they are looking to move to the UK before the end of this year.
His colleagues were congratulating him and expressing how jealous they were and I was kind of confused because I thought they were pretty die hard patriots!
Of course the welfare benefits and general life security is a bit better in the UK but I didn’t think it would be enough to persuade someone to leave their homeland for.
My colleague loves American sports, media and (as far as I know) has no family in the UK but is still super pumped to leaving the USA for the UK!
Would you guys jump at the opportunity of British citizenship?
48 comments
Nah, I’m not interested. Why would I jump at that?
There is nothing the UK offers that would compel me to take citizenship there.
Nah, being a subject is lame.
I wouldn’t, but I also wouldn’t consider moving to the UK to be much of an upgrade if the primary reason for the move was politics.
No, I can’t think of leaving my family behind in case of an emergency….also I’m scared of the world
Lol, no. And I imagine at least 99.9% of people would likewise have no interest.
Every so often you’ll find someone hooked on some foreign culture or notion of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence.
Not if I didn’t have a reason to. If I was offered a great job, or I was in a relationship with someone from the UK, sure, but would I just up and move? No. Especially not post-BREXIT.
Nope.
From a 1:1 perspective.
I golfed with a guy from the UK a few weeks ago. We rode together and started talking and realized we had the same job. He had a lot of questions about what it was like for me working in the US and eventually salary came up.
He asked me how much money I made and I told him and he didn’t believe me because it was 5 times what he made and he also paid more in taxes.
So no. I wouldn’t. But I think he might come here.
No, fuck no.
No
I’m too loud, they would shun me. I also like to be able to get in a car and drive thousands of miles to eat at In and Out and support the desert community of Vegas with my hard earned cash. I would go stir crazy on such a small rock
The UK allows duel citizenship so he probably isn’t required to give up his American citizenship. It sounds like he’s just excited for a change. I would not jump at the opportunity, no.
Maybe for a couple years, not for life.
If you’re offering me a high paying job, then I’d consider it.
It’d be more enticing if the UK was still in the EU or at least part of the Schengen Area…but they aren’t.
Lol hell no. Tiny rain island with low pay or giant multi biome mainland with high pay? Easy pick.
Naw
I’ve had a few friends who had rather negative experiences with being Americans involved in the British higher education world
Of course, not everyone’s experience will be like there’s. But everything they told me really made me dislike the idea. And I know for a fact I wound’t be able to keep my mouth shut when it became clear people were looking down on me because of my nationality.
Also, my entire family is in America, and zero chance I would be able to afford to move to another country
No. My ancestors fought a war to not be British citizens.
No problems with the UK itself, fine place. However, I can’t really see a reason to leave the land I love and the land which has made me. Bar a divine calamity, I would stay here.
So I’m marrying a British citizen so in a few years I would also qualify for citizenship. I would definitely invest in the UK and my medical degree does transfer over. I do see perks of living in the UK (I love history, lots of walkability, and they have a sizable Sikh community). I think I would buy some property and use it as a vacation place but wouldn’t move long term.
I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity.
The only way I would even consider doing this is if I were offered a job that paid 2-3 times more than what I’m getting paid right now, and they paid for all of my moving expenses. Given what I know about US salaries vs UK salaries, that’s pretty much never going to happen.
Nope
In the situation you described I would. My mother is from Germany and I haven’t lived with my dad since I was 5, so I don’t feel particularly rooted here.
Nope. Before I had built up a life here I might have gone a lived for a year or two just for the experience, I guess. If I could line up a solid job. Given the pay differential in my industry that seems really unlikely, though.
As far as everyone else’s action I would write that off as just being excited and encouraging on behalf of your colleague more than any conclusive statement on their own stances.
Nah, to visit sure but not to live there.
No, nothing against the UK but I’m happy here
Yes, but only so my kids would have dual citizenship. Otherwise, I’m not particularly interested in The UK. Maybe Spain or Germany, but the UK seems like America with weirder architecture.
Not even at gun point
Never. Being American in the uk seems like hell.
I already have US and EU citizenship, there is nothing British citizenship has to offer that isn’t already covered by those two.
No. USA is home.
I like the UK and most of the other commonwealth countries but they aren’t home.
My mom married an American (my father) and emigrated from England to the US many years ago.
She was extremely ambivalent about the States. She thought America was vulgar, crass, violent, run by clownish politicians, and a source of bad TV shows. She found American class mobility and egalitarianism ominous and alarming. But she liked the well-run stores and services, and the wide selection of things to buy.
Still, after Dad died she toyed with moving us all back home — until we spent a summer in Britain one year in the 1970s. It was a sad state of play, economically and culturally — even when it came to basic infrastructure like steady electric power. Mom decided she could live with vulgar, violent America and its reliable utilities and 24-hour supermarkets.
I’ve been the length and breadth of the UK myself, touring and seeing family, and concluded that while it’s an unbeatable place to visit, making a life there would be very daunting compared to doing so in the US. The States will have to degenerate a fair bit more before I am a candidate for migration. If it did I think we’d try for Canada first.
No, but thank you. It’s on the shortlist of countries I would go to, but still, no.
No.
I would not.
Hard pass.
No, why would I do that?
> His colleagues were congratulating him and expressing how jealous they were
They’re probably just being polite and idulging in a bit of “the grass is greener” thinking.
Hard pass.
Nope
No, I like the wilderness areas in North America (US and Canada) too much to want to leave.
Hell no. The States have so much more to offer and we are taxed less than Brits.
No. I love living in America. We have problems, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
No, I will not be a subject of any monarch.
Don’t take this the wrong way. I don’t really have a problem with you Brits. That said, God no. Even if we forget the politics and laws, I couldn’t deal with the culture.
And as a side note, while I do know how to make tea with a kettle and all, I don’t actually drink tea.
Absolutely not.
No
I would move to UK in a heartbeat, just not England.