For those of you who are unaware, My Attractive Husband is British. I am too, now, but my quest to become so has cost me quite a bit of money. I was born in America, but I am now a dual citizen. However, it's cost me quite a large chunk of a house deposit to become so.
[Sidebar: According to one of my best friends, I now "write like a Brit". I would like to counter that his shoes make him look Italian-er. Sidebar over.]
Anyway, I have come up with the figure of £2022.75 as my total fee for legally moving to, and working in, the UK. Here's how it breaks down:
$500 (approx. £329) - Spousal visa application fee
£35 - Life in the UK test fee (required to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain)
£820 - Indefinite Leave to Remain application fee
£720 - Citizenship application fee
£35 - Citizenship application "check and send" fee
£83.75 - UK passport application fee
This does not include stuff like tube fare back and forth (repeatedly) from the embassy, several sets of hideous passport photos (required for each step along the way), overnight-tracked-recorded-stamped delivery costs, and a myriad of other little things, all of which doubtless add up.
There is nothing more nerve-wracking than filling out a 45-page application form, knowing full well that if you forget to cross one "t" or dot one "i" or misspell a single word, they will KEEP YOUR £800, REJECT YOU, AND MAKE YOU START ALL OVER AGAIN. Seriously. Not only was I lucky enough (or painstakingly careful enough?) that this did not happen, but I actually got my citizenship in record time - literally. Average time to receive citizenship is about 6 weeks, and most people wait between 3 and 5 months. Mine took exactly three weeks. Clearly, they understood they were dealing with a crazy woman and wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible.
Despite the insane cost, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can now live and work legally anyplace in the EU, UK or USA. And I can wait in the quick line when I land at either Heathrow OR JFK. Besides the aforementioned Italian-er Euro-shoed friend, I don't know anyone else with that privilege. And it's worth its weight in gold when you've gotten off of an eight-hour flight and really, truly, sincerely have to pee.
Now, My Attractive Husband did pay half of the cost for all of this tomfoolery, but as we're married and what's mine is his and what's his is mine blah blah blah kumbaya, I'm counting the whole figure towards my running tally of "Where My House Went".
Where My House Went: £2022.75
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Do not forget to add up the amount of money you spent on plane tickets in order to fly back and forth from the US to the UK to woo Your Attractive Husband. Without those flights you would never have spent the time together that you did which allowed for the Husband to fall in love with the crazy American that you are!
ReplyDeleteI agree, you now write like a Brit! p.s. I also have the 'stand in the quick line' status! xoxo
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