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A Life Away

I almost got sent back to America (again)

Published about 2 months ago • 2 min read

Hi there!

Things have been a wee bit hectic around here lately. My husband got news in August that his role at work was being made redundant. Crap news at any time, but we found this out the week before we were planning to apply for permanent residence, called indefinite leave to remain (ILR) here in the UK.

One of the requirements of ILR for those who've been on a skilled worker visa is a letter from your employer stating that they intend to continue employing you for the foreseeable future. We were suddenly unable to get that letter, meaning our applications would not be successful.

What this meant in real terms is that my husband had to find a new job ASAP or we would have to leave the country. I don't have a sponsor and am only allowed to work as a dependent on his visa. We had just moved house and our daughter had just started in a college (junior/senior years of HS equivalent) that she loved.

We're just now on the other side of things and he does have a new job lined up, but I can't tell you how incredibly stressful it's been.

The crazy thing is, we've been through this before. About two years after we arrived, his role was placed at risk. We went through three months of frantic job hunting and learning about how long we'd have before we had to leave the country. After that situation, I really didn't think we'd land in the same place again.

The job market in the UK is difficult and insecure, similar to what's happening in the US. Thankfully, there are more employee protections here that give some runway between a redundancy notice and being completely out of time.

I share a lot about the wonderful parts of living abroad, so didn't want to gloss over this experience. Do stories like this make the idea of working abroad less appealing to you? I'm not sure I would have signed up for this if I'd known before we moved what it would feel like to lack assurance we could stay as long as we wanted.

Now that we are in the clear again, things will be getting back on track over on the blog. Talk to you again soon!

Victoria

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A Life Away

Thinking of traveling to the UK, or even moving here someday? I'm here to help. I’m Victoria, an American who’s made the leap across the pond not once, but twice. I created A Life Away to help fellow Americans experience the UK more confidently, whether you're planning a dream trip, a scouting visit, or a full-on relocation. This newsletter is for you if you want real-life advice, honest insights, and inspiration for your UK adventure.

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