I am a US/UK Dual National, as is our (22 yo) daughter, but my wife is US only.
She and I are currently still living and working in the US but I am planning to retire this year. My wife is 4 years younger than me (she's 55 at the moment) and is planning on continuing to work for a few years before she retires.
Our long term plan is to split our time roughly 50/50 between the US and UK once we retire but I would like to ensure that my wife has the same dual nationality that our daughter and I have to keep her options open in the long term. While I am not expecting to croak anytime soon, it is always a possibility, and I gather it would be much harder for her to even move long term to the UK if I am no longer alive since our daughter is an adult. Therefore, I would like to start the process for her sooner rather than later.
However, the information I've seen sounds like a very rigid process which she couldn't even start until she retires; She has to be physically present in the UK for at least 6 months of every year, for example.
Am I missing something or does anyone have any suggestions as to how to finagle this legitimately; We aren't trying to swindle anyone - We own half of a house in London (inherited with my brother from my mum), both have ample pension funds, and can afford the application fees and the NHS fee (and we work for an American Medical Group so have excellent and affordable healthcare already). I just want to ensure that my wife has the same flexibility available to her as our daughter in case daughter moves to the UK permanently.
Thank you