Get a British passport?

[dixonge]

My family was originally from the UK - by any chance does this possibility extend back over multiple generations, to -- like, maybe -- say 1689?

Just checking...

 

[Peter]

Being British doesn't entitle you to the NHS, you need to be a paying national insurance contributor to be entitled to it.
Good luck

Not quite correct. The requirement is that you are permanently resident in the UK.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Just an update, I am the OP.

Waiting on my US passport now. Had to get my long form birth certificate showing parents full names, that took 2 months. Will send the UK application soon.

My thinking is, you never know how things will turn out and I would like the option to escape the US if needed. And besides I think it is cool to have. Might move there for a year, it would be an adventure.

Nice thing about the UK is you can get two passports issued with different numbers.

 

[Fedup]

If you have NHS, how do they know you are paying or not?
Just out of curiosity, my health insurance carries overseas.

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[jim584672]

Based on what I have read legal residency is the sole requirement for free coverage.

 

[Fedup]

My niece is a doctor there but she told me I would get coverage there, my husband has NHS but he is no longer contributed to NHS. Both of my kids have UK passports but no NHS. When I see her this year I need to ask again, just for information only.


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[brett]

Wait until after the Grexit vote!

 

[Meadbh]

Wait until after the Grexit vote!

Do you mean the Brexit vote?

 

[languagefan]

Residency and national insurance contribution are both necessary.

 

[jim584672]

Residency and national insurance contribution are both necessary.

I am trying to understand the UK system. So I register my citizenship, move to the UK indefinitely. I have paid no UK taxes in my life. I would not get free coverage?

 

[languagefan]

No you won't get free coverage on that basis.

 

[Peter]

I am trying to understand the UK system. So I register my citizenship, move to the UK indefinitely. I have paid no UK taxes in my life. I would not get free coverage?

You would.

Your employer would start paying national insurance contributions on your behalf, but the fact that you had not contributed in the past would not affect access to the NHS.

 

[brett]

Yes, I mean Brexit, not Grexit. Typo.

Come to think of it, the former is voluntary.

The latter could be involuntary at some point in the near future!

 

[jim584672]

I would have no employer as I would live off investments.

As long as I can prove lawful residency (example - passport and a one year lease agreement) I should be able to get full coverage for free.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...1/Overseas_visitor_hospital_charging_accs.pdf
"The NHS is a residency-based healthcare system and eligibility for free NHS hospital
care is based on the concept of “ordinary residence”. An overseas visitor is any person who is not “ordinarily resident” in the UK. A person will be “ordinarily resident” in the UK when that residence is lawful, adopted voluntary, and for settled purposes as part of the regular order of their life for the time being, whether of short or long duration."

 

[jim584672]

Just an update.
I finally got the UK Passport. From start to finish was about 5 months. Cost was 80 pounds for the Certificate of registration and 102.86 pounds for the passport.

If I was born after 1983 the Certificate of registration would not be needed and I could have gone straight for the passport.

 

[ivinsfan]

I am not seeing a downside for someone entitled to U.K. citizenship by descent. They would already have legal citizenship - and would just be getting the paperwork to prove it. It is not like they would have to take a class and pass a test with questions like:

1. A full English breakfast consists of bacon, eggs, fried bread, fried potatoes, sausage and ____

a. Tofu
b. Kale
c. Apple
d. None of the above

the answer is tomato, I am actually born in the UK from an English mother and US army serving father..I could get the passport and often think about doing so.

 

[Alan]

Just an update.
I finally got the UK Passport. From start to finish was about 5 months. Cost was 80 pounds for the Certificate of registration and 102.86 pounds for the passport.

If I was born after 1983 the Certificate of registration would not be needed and I could have gone straight for the passport.

Congratulations

 

[Sunset]

Of course now with Brexit, I suppose this means no entitlement to the rest of Europe ?

 

[BarbWire]

Nobody really knows. That's going to be one of the most difficult facts of Brexit to untangle, as it affects not only Britons living in the rest of the EU, but Europeans living in Britain. Does everyone have to go back to their home countries? Or will the current people be grandfathered into their residences?

What a mess.

 

[Alan]

Of course now with Brexit, I suppose this means no entitlement to the rest of Europe ?

Brexit hasn't happened yet, just the referendum, it will be another couple of years before article 50 is triggered (end of March?) and then all the negotiations have to be completed within 2 years and will it be hard Brexit, soft Brexit, crunchy Brexit?

Almost certainly there will be no right to live and work anywhere in Europe like there is now but I expect some entitlements to remain such as reciprocal healthcare arrangements. (UK already has reciprocal healthcare arrangements with some non-EU countries).

The government has already said that passports will only be changed as they expire so that is an aggravation we won't be facing. I renewed mine in July as it was due to expire.

As BarbWire says, it will be a mess sorting it all out.