r/AmericanExpatsUK

Coming up on seven years in the U.K. and recently noticing that Poppi soda and hot honey are now at my local Tesco, I was thinking about American products that were tough to find when I first moved here but that have become more common now. Or they’ve released a less good version of the American products (cheez-its snap’d, I’m looking at you). So what do we think is going to be the next American import to hit supermarket shelves here?

I’m moving from the U.S. to London, and I’m making a heartbreaking decision on whether to bring my anxious dog with me. I never would’ve considered rehoming him until I saw how intense the laws are. If your dog “makes somebody worried that it might injure them,” you can get up to 6 months in prison, get an unlimited fine, and your dog will be put down.

To reactive dog owners in the UK: I want to understand how tolerant London neighbors and police are toward reactive dogs. Please note that I am not looking for advice on how to train my dog (I’ve been working on his reactivity with multiple trainers for years, and it’s likely going to be a lifelong thing).

My dog is a medium-sized 45-pound (20.4 kg) mutt. He looks like a skinny hound. He was a stray and is quite anxious around men. I don’t take him to dog parks, but I’m worried about walking him in London.

I am diligent about crossing the street and giving as much space as possible when I see men approaching, but sometimes it’s unavoidable (blind corners, runners appearing quickly). He’s never bitten anyone, but if a man is within 10 feet (and he’s not distracted by my treats that I always have on hand) or startles him, he can sometimes bark and/or lunge (I always have a tight grip on the leash so there hasn’t been contact). His instinct is to bark instead of bite; but I understand this can be scary for people.

1. For those who’ve had a lunge and bark incident in public, what was rhetorical actual fallout? Do people mostly tut and walk on, or have you had someone threaten to call the police? In the States, reactive dogs are a dime a dozen, but I’ve noticed how well-behaved (and honestly apathetic toward pedestrians/cyclists) London dogs are. Does this lead to people being appalled when encountering a reactive dog?

2. How many warnings (for non-bite incidents) does a dog get before the UK puts it down? In other words, how seriously does London police take these types of complaints?

3. I’m looking for a rental with a private garden that allows dogs in Zone 2 or 3. Are there specific quieter neighborhoods with wider sidewalks? I’m having trouble finding pet-friendly landlords.

4. How common are off-leash dogs in smaller local parks? I’m worried about “friendly” dogs running up to my leashed, reactive dog and how owners usually react if I ask them to keep their distance.

5. Are there specific muzzle brands/styles (like “I need space” vests) that Londoners recognize and respect, or do those draw unwanted attention.

6. Is there a recommended airport or pet transportation service that you found to be less stressful?

Thank you for your help! Really hoping I can bring my dog, but I don’t want to risk him getting “destroyed” if he scares someone.

The cravings... They are SO real. It comes down to this: Triscuits are the ONE thing that I most desperately miss, now that I live in the UK.

Title basically says it all. My husband is a citizen by descent, and is going to get his UK passport. With Trump and RFK, I'm fearing for our safety for common reasons, but also reasons specific to our family.

How does anyone afford housing when wages are so much lower than US? I'm OK with a lifestyle adjustment. But I'm talking cash flow /making ends meet.

I did try to find threads on this but I wasn't sure which search terms to use. Open to suggestions!

Hi! I’m moving to London in August for grad school. I’m bringing my cat with me, which is a huge feat of its own, and costly (especially considering i’m likely not going to be working for a year in school). I’m trying to figure out how much to bring with me vs what to leave behind. I plan on shipping some stuff over a couple months early and leaving them with some family before my arrival. But for the weird things, like kitchen items, room decor, bedding, etc. is it worth shipping over? Or should i sell as much as I can here and just rebuy everything once i’m in the UK? I won’t be bringing any furniture- just personal belongings. I’m planning on living in a shared apartment- not sure how furnished apartments/unfurnished goes over there.

So much to think about!!! Ahhhhh!!! Any and all advice is appreciated:)

This is a bit of a rant, and I am just miserable right now, so please bear with me. I want to start off by saying firstly that I love that the NHS is free (well... excluding the IHS charge...) and that my cystic fibrosis special care team has been absolutely incredible. Credit where credit is due. I am so thankful to have affordable healthcare and to not be buried in debt just for existing with a chronic illness. That in itself is a miracle. However...

I've had a history of problems with my GP and others while here and I am so beyond frustrated. I am one week away from my wedding. Two days ago, I began to notice an issue with one of my eyes, and it has been extremely painful and worsening. However, it's just pain, with no visible symptoms (really odd, I know). I went to a Specsavers who just told me "hot compresses". I did this religiously, didn't help. Called the NHS 24 number, who said "just go back to specsavers again, we won't help". Called specsavers. They won't see me despite worsening pain. Again, I am one week from my wedding and this is getting WORSE. No one will help me.

Another issue: reproductive care. In the past couple years, my periods have become more and more painful. I end up taking insane, very unrecommended amounts of over the counter painkillers I brought from back home to cope. In my last periods, I've been full-on screaming at 2-3 am, while my fiancé tries to convince me to go to A&E. After my most recent episode, I finally gathered the courage to go to a doctor and tell him I suspect I may have endometriosis, and I list all my symptoms which align pretty perfectly. He says "let's just put you on birth control". This is... a bandaid on the issue. They will not do any investigation whatsoever into whether I could have endo or not. The other recommendation? "Just get pregnant". I could expand on this, but I don't want to bore everyone here.

I could give a third, fourth, and fifth example, but this post is getting long. My point is only that I felt like I could advocate for myself back in the USA and you'd pay through the nose, but people would listen. I would receive prompt care, and doctors would actually listen to my concerns or my thoughts, and would also do investigative work where necessary. Here, no one really has the bandwidth to help and honestly, I think they either don't care or don't believe you. It's just apathy. Additionally, doctors in the UK are SO SO SO SO stingy with antibiotics. I get it, you don't want people developing antibiotic resistance. But sometimes, you NEED it, especially if you are immunocompromised!

I go to doctors these days and feel like I'm rushed through the appointment, not taken seriously, not listened to, and they draw their own... bizarre conclusions or don't listen. I've had staff google shit right in front of me regarding medication interactions and skincare prescriptions.

I just... I don't know what to do anymore.

Update: I tried calling NHS 24 a final time. I was on the phone for more than an hour, and never spoke to a nurse. I finally just gave up and said fuck this shit.

I’m trying to make a decision. So I’m an American citizen currently finishing up my third masters in forensics in the uk. As of this point, I have two options. I can work towards citizenship by doing a 2 year graduate visa which will work towards the 5-10 years I need for indefinite leave to remain (depends on if the current white papers stick). The other option is to do a doctorate to further forensic research. I’ve already found a potential supervisor who is excited about the research topic I have in mind. I’m fine with either one, honestly I just don’t want to be in the states at the moment because of all the political turmoil. What would you do?

Which Mother's Day do you celebrate? Would it bother you if your British partner totally ignored / forgot US Mother's?

I was travelling for work for UK mother's day so I left for the airport and husband took our daughter to his mom's with a big bouquet for her. US mother's day is on our calendar, I talked about plans last weekend (moaned about the weather bc last mother's day was beautiful here). He completely and utterly did f•ck all and I'm kind of sad. He didn't realize til my own mom called and then he said "what I got you flowers in March?" Which I then reminded him I left that day at lunchtime and he went to his parents.

I feel like my expectations are right-sized (an acknowledgement with flowers or a card), and it came up just last week. It's also on our calendar and we celebrated US one the last two years, though I did have to plan it, so I dont feel it's surprising that we would have this year.

I feel like it's not a lot to remember and acknowledge, and I'm disappointed with that total lack of doing so.

Yo! Dual-national here - born in England, but have an American Passport. I moved out to the west coast pre-pandemic, stayed for longer than anticipated, and am now returning to London.

Fellow Americans who made the move to the UK- what did you do with your stocks and index funds? I've got a Fidelity 401k, Vanguard brokerage account, and a couple of individual stocks bought through a separate investment account. From what I understand, I should sell everything before I become a permanent resident of the UK (again) so that I don't incur the 40% tax on income.

Asking here as I'm making a permanent move and don't plan on returning to the US - feels like it's a particularly American problem? Let me know if you've got experience with this similar - maybe I've posted in the wrong sub. Thanks for your time, appreciate you!

Just found out a child at my son's primary school has chickenpox and that it's only become a routine vaccine January 1, 2026. I chose to privately vaccinate my teen for MenB because it's not routine and that cost over £300. Are there other vaccinations that parents typically choose to privately vaccinate for because it's not covered by NHS?

I realize there has been a lot of discussion on HSBC on this thread and really appreciate it. My situation is that we will be selling our house on the US prior to moving to the UK. I’m unsure whether to have this deposited in an HSBC US account, and then open a Uk account once we move to transfer it over. Or deposit it directly in an HSBC UK account. My concern with the latter is that it would result in US/UK tax implications (I.e, equivalent to us trying to deposit our US funds from a US house sale into a Uk bank such as Barclays or Lloyds). Is HSBC UK considered a UK bank that could result in tax implications/foreign fees etc?

Thank you for any guidance!
———-
Edit: thank you everyone for your suggestions! As a follow up, does it make sense to just do a one time wire from (my current) Bank of America account to HSBC UK, or is it worth opening an HSBC US Premier account for this transfer? I imagine we will close the US Premier account within a year as we won’t be eligible to maintain it without fees

Spouse asked us to move back to her family after a decade in the DC area. I am military background, now twenty years in tech, and finding it very difficult to get work.

The job market here is not great as most know, but I've specifically started to see anti US behavior in the people I interact with. My first role had a mix of Scottish and English folks, the juniors on the team specifically sabotaged my work and my manager thanked them for deleting it.

When I spoke up to see why my military and gov background strict work (fully documented work too) was deleted without reason they floundered and proceeded to cut me loose.

These folks (juniors) also took photos of my wife and I during a company holiday park at Silverstone the current "lead" funded out of pocket for the org.

I was flabbergasted because I thought my experience would be good enough, but I didn't realize my nationality which the only thing I really have to show is my accent became an issue.

The last few job interviews one manager hinted with back channel conversations to that org, and the most recent gave me feedback that was the opposite of what I said I was capable of.

Majority of my wife's family men are uncomfortable around me, I suspect it's because they don't like foreigners, but up until recently it wasn't an issue.

I don't make myself known on purpose, I don't wear any distinct clothing or anything, and I specifically avoid political conversations.

That first gig? Did I mention the lead of a parallel ship that sits with us stood up and walked over to me specifically and said "maga" when I had the election map on my screen. The boss of his and my boss sat behind me turned to us and said nothing.

I told him please don't say that it's highly offensive.

After that the team's behavior got worse and worse until I was forced out.

Other places I'd be repeatedly called "that yank"

Maybe it's just how things are now and my misconception that my being a former NATO troop with friendly relations to Brits while here years ago was still a thing, but apparently not.

Now because I can't find work both highly specialized nor general I may have to abandon my visa process (year 2/3 now) and head home.

This is after passing the written and driving test within 25hrs somehow.

Sigh.

What are your thoughts? Is things here risky now compared to the past?

Don't get me started on the flag thing occuring..

It's a little thing, but I really miss having a bit of water and a squeegie required for cuatomer use at every gas station. I even bought a squeegie for my own vehicle, but admit I always forget to bring water to use with it!

I am American and will be marrying my British partner in 2 months. I’m planning on applying for my spouse visa shortly after.

We meet all financial requirements, but I’m a bit stressed about my own personal finances and finding a job after I arrive. I’ve heard the job market is pretty bleak.

I do not have a degree, but I have over 15 years working experience, most of which has been in customer support roles, but the last 7 years I’ve been in operations and customer experience management (as in, I’m a people leader that oversees a team).

For those who have moved to the UK in the last year or two, how hard has it been to land a job? And how long did it take?

hey, so I’m not sure if this is a common topic. I’m just kind of stressed out right now and have a lot going on.
I moved to the UK in October, married my husband last June, I didn’t make any money last year in the UK however left my job in the US in September.
Anyway, I’m just getting to filing my taxes due to problems getting my W-2
I’ve just filed on TurboTax because I didn’t know an easier way to file as a lot of of the online things don’t do it for people not in America.
Anyway, under the guidance of TurboTax, they told me to put in a filler Social Security number, I filed with them, paid 120 pounds to file, just for it to be rejected because of the Social Security number, however, there is no way to add onto my taxes that he’s not a US citizen,
I’m not really sure what to do, besides, I guess file by mail,
Don’t know if I’m just out of that money.
Sorry for the long post just looking for any advice here

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

Hey friends! My American fiancé should be moving to the UK at the end of May 🎉 I have googled whether he is allowed to drive here and found the answer really confusing - it says that he can drive for 12 months with an American licence, but that he'll also need a provisional UK licence. So does he need both before he starts to drive, or can he start with the US one and get the provisional one a bit later? Will he need L plates and someone else in the car until he has done his test? He will be on a fiancé visa if that matters.

Thank you and sorry if I'm being dim lol, I found the ​​info hard to follow. ​

I’m renewing my US passport by mail (filled out the application and paid), though I’m just realizing everything says it must be printed on US paper size (8.5 x 11”). I’m not sure how to get that done here in the UK.

Has anyone had any issues submitting the forms on A4 paper, if everything is legible and nothing is cut off? I don’t have a printer, so I was going to do it at the local library.

I called the embassy, but they were no help. The lady said they get that question a lot, but haven’t had any clarification from the government. She redirected me to an email address, and I’ve sent them an email, but I’m keen to handle this quickly.

Edit:// my local library prints in A3. Considering getting the forms printed in A3 and cutting it to size.

2nd edit:// I’ve gone to the library and gotten them printed on A4. I’ll wait to hear back about that email before I send everything, but I’m guessing I’ve just blown this out of proportion (as usual).

We're heading to London from the Midlands soon to renew our kid's passport and I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a nearby hotel. It seems like there a ton of options but everywhere under £500 seems to have very mixed reviews. I'm sure there are some good options, so if you have stayed anywhere near the embassy (or within an easy tube or bus ride) I'd love to hear about it.

We moved from the US to London in July of last year. My husband’s work (US and UK offices) asked us to move here, and then fought tooth and nail to pay for the least amount they possibly could. They paid for my husband’s sponsorship, visa and NHS fees, 3 months of the rent of our flat, our three flights, and then a $10,000 “bonus” to help offset costs of my daughter’s and my visas. We came over with two suitcases each, and nothing else. Originally, we were told we would stay two years, but they ended up only get us year visas instead. Now the time has come to renew our visas, and they want us to pay the £5,000 out of pocket, and they refuse to pay for anything else.

We got rid of almost everything we had in the US and moved our entire lives here for them, and they’re fighting us over £5,000. They make millions in profit and yet they’d screw us when it’s such a small amount for them. We’re already living paycheck to paycheck, and an extra £5,000 is going to cause us to need to make life changes, like moving to a new flat and new area to pay less rent.

We don’t know what we’re doing. I just needed to vent. I keep hearing about all these people who move over here, and their companies pay for their rent the whole time, and move their whole house, and yet here we are, begging. I’m just angry. I don’t want to leave London, but I’m also sick of this.

Thanks for coming to my vent.