applying for citizenship with foreign job

Hello to all the kind souls here. I have another question I hope you'll be able to help with.

I will be eligible to apply for citizenship in Feb/March of next year.

I am a writer originally from the US and have been offered a permanent position in the US. The job is entirely based at home, so I am able to do it from anywhere. Here's my question:

Will having a foreign-based job -- and being taxed solely in the US -- preclude me from obtaining citizenship in the UK? I am worried about the section on Good Character in the application that asks you to list your employer. I do also have a limited company in the UK which I have used for my freelance writing jobs, but I am not likely to generate any profits for it as the new job would take up all of my time.

Your advice and insights would be greatly appreciated.

pixi wrote:Hello to all the kind souls here. I have another question I hope you'll be able to help with.

I will be eligible to apply for citizenship in Feb/March of next year.

I am a writer originally from the US and have been offered a permanent position in the US. The job is entirely based at home, so I am able to do it from anywhere. Here's my question:

Will having a foreign-based job -- and being taxed solely in the US -- preclude me from obtaining citizenship in the UK? I am worried about the section on Good Character in the application that asks you to list your employer. I do also have a limited company in the UK which I have used for my freelance writing jobs, but I am not likely to generate any profits for it as the new job would take up all of my time.

Your advice and insights would be greatly appreciated.

Dangerous. AIUI, you would be taxed where domiciled, ie the UK, there's no avoiding that, but the US IRS is even more vindictive than our friendly HRMC, they want the tax on income where ever u r, so I suspect u'd need to ensure you engage a competent Accountant for Tax and Revenue, well versed in the relevant UK/US tax laws.

Thanks, Wanderer.

I would of course be paying tax in the US on those earnings as I am a US citizen. I have filed both US and UK taxes every year since living in the UK.

My question is really whether having a US-based job would prevent me from obtaining UK citizenship.

pixi wrote:Thanks, Wanderer.

I would of course be paying tax in the US on those earnings as I am a US citizen. I have filed both US and UK taxes every year since living in the UK.

My question is really whether having a US-based job would prevent me from obtaining UK citizenship.

But as Wanderer has mentioned because you are resident in the UK you are going to have to pay tax on those earnings to the UK government even though you are being paid by a US company. I believe this will then reduce the amount of taxes you pay in the US.

So long as you are paying the correct UK taxes there should be no issues with applying for British citizenship even though you work for a US company.

pixi wrote:Thanks, Wanderer.

I would of course be paying tax in the US on those earnings as I am a US citizen. I have filed both US and UK taxes every year since living in the UK.

My question is really whether having a US-based job would prevent me from obtaining UK citizenship.

Have you declared your US income on the UK tax forms? If you hadn't something like that would affect Naturalisation, as it would be construed as fraud.

Thanks, Wanderer.

I have just started the US job and of course am going to declare the earnings. Up until this job I have only had self-employed earnings in the UK through my UK company. So this is a completely new situation for me.

My worry is that listing a US employer in the Good Character section might jeopardize my application since it may make them think I don't intend to settle in the UK.

pixi wrote:Thanks, Wanderer.

I have just started the US job and of course am going to declare the earnings. Up until this job I have only had self-employed earnings in the UK through my UK company. So this is a completely new situation for me.

My worry is that listing a US employer in the Good Character section might jeopardize my application since it may make them think I don't intend to settle in the UK.

Linked into your other thread about when you can apply for British citizenship it probably gives even more reason to wait a while as it shows you can work from the UK.

Have you got any other things to show that you are settled here like property?

pixi wrote:Thanks, Wanderer.

I have just started the US job and of course am going to declare the earnings. Up until this job I have only had self-employed earnings in the UK through my UK company. So this is a completely new situation for me.

My worry is that listing a US employer in the Good Character section might jeopardize my application since it may make them think I don't intend to settle in the UK.

Can't see a problem with it to be honest, for all they know it could be a UK operation with a US head office, just don't piss off the UK tax people, I've got them on my back and they're are like leeches!

Thank you both.

No, I do not own property. I have both personal and business bank accounts in the UK as well as two ISA accounts and my limited company, of course. Is this not enough to prove "strong ties"?

Well, now I am even more worried. I found this thread in another forum that says the only way to work for a US company while living in the UK is to do so as a contractor, and this can get very tricky:

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/britai ... ng-uk.html

I guess the bottom line is: is it possible to maintain residences in two countries? I can imagine there are plenty of people who spend half the year in the UK and half the year in the US, and they must be employed in one or the other.

I dont think that working as a self employed contractor would be difficult. You just need to register as self employed with inland revenue. At the end of week/month, you simply create an invoice to US company and settle it with the payment received f. At the end of year you file a tax return and pay tax due to you. Tens of thousands of people in UK are self employed, your case wont be any different from them. As you have run a limited company in past, you will know that yearly cost of making accounts for a straightforwad self employed person would cost around £400.

I am not an accountant (or an immigration expert), so take this with a grain of salt. I think if you can work for the US via your limited company (or self-employed as suggested), that would be the best solution.

Besides Good Character requirement, question 2.3 asks which country you would reside, if not married to a British citizenship. Being a US citizen with a US job, could possibly bring this into question. If you are married to a British citizen, ignore this question.

Ray

raymasa2 wrote:I am not an accountant (or an immigration expert), so take this with a grain of salt. I think if you can work for the US via your limited company (or self-employed as suggested), that would be the best solution.

Besides Good Character requirement, question 2.3 asks which country you would reside, if not married to a British citizenship. Being a US citizen with a US job, could possibly bring this into question. If you are married to a British citizen, ignore this question.

Ray

Agree with your first point. Disagree with your second point. The question is just about your future intention as to where you want to have your home, not about what kind of work you are going to do.
Everyone who works for ASDA works for a US company.

mrlookforward wrote:

raymasa2 wrote:I am not an accountant (or an immigration expert), so take this with a grain of salt. I think if you can work for the US via your limited company (or self-employed as suggested), that would be the best solution.

Besides Good Character requirement, question 2.3 asks which country you would reside, if not married to a British citizenship. Being a US citizen with a US job, could possibly bring this into question. If you are married to a British citizen, ignore this question.

Ray

Agree with your first point. Disagree with your second point. The question is just about your future intention as to where you want to have your home, not about what kind of work you are going to do.
Everyone who works for ASDA works for a US company.

Working for Asda with a UK address for the company. But in this case, the US company has no UK address. So the OP will write the company's US address in the application. OP does not own a substantial part of estate in the UK and works for a company in his home country. Could that cast a doubt in UKBA's mind as to where he might reside? I dont know. Maybe, maybe not.

Ray

mrlookforward wrote:I dont think that working as a self employed contractor would be difficult. You just need to register as self employed with inland revenue. At the end of week/month, you simply create an invoice to US company and settle it with the payment received f. At the end of year you file a tax return and pay tax due to you. Tens of thousands of people in UK are self employed, your case wont be any different from them. As you have run a limited company in past, you will know that yearly cost of making accounts for a straightforwad self employed person would cost around £400.

As I already mentioned above, OP has to register as self employed in UK, invoice the US company for work, settle the invoice with the payment received. File an yearly tax return. OP also has the option to form a Ltd company in UK and bill the US company that way. Both of the methods are 100 percent legal, and OP is working in UK 100 percent. I dont know how else I can make it clearer.

Thank you all for the very helpful (and entertaining!) replies. I do already have a UK company, the problem is that I am currently paid through a US payroll and the job is a new one so I don't want to risk losing the job by suggesting to them a switch to contractor status.

pixi wrote:Thank you all for the very helpful (and entertaining!) replies. I do already have a UK company, the problem is that I am currently paid through a US payroll and the job is a new one so I don't want to risk losing the job by suggesting to them a switch to contractor status.

Think you'd be best to take professional advice as your situation can't be that unusual especially between countries that share land borders (eg US/Canada, NI/Eire, and especially within mainland Europe).

pixi wrote:Thank you all for the very helpful (and entertaining!) replies. I do already have a UK company, the problem is that I am currently paid through a US payroll and the job is a new one so I don't want to risk losing the job by suggesting to them a switch to contractor status.

Even if you dont want to risk your new job, still there are other perfectly legal avenues open to you. I know because I had a limited company too in past. pm me if you want to

Pixi,

I agree with djb123. You should take professional advice (and not from an immigration consultant, rather from an lawyer).

If you are on W2, which you would be if you are on payroll, your US taxes are being deducted directly from your paycheck. You of course, would have to declare those to the HMRC. In my mind (and this is just an opinion), the problem is would UKBA assume that you intend to not reside in the UK after granted citizenship. I don't know. But if you are a US citizen with a job in the US, would that cast a doubt in their mind? As I said I don't know the answers.

As you are on a payroll with the US firm, you cannot create an invoice to them and have that paid against your paycheck. This would only work if you were an independent contractor with them. But since you are their employee, I don't see how that would work. Again, something to talk to with an accountant who is familiar with both US and UK tax regulations.

Ray

Thank you, all! mrlookforward, I will PM you.

I have contacted a UK/US tax specialist in London and am awaiting a reply.

Meanwhile, I've uncovered the following page with very good information about the issue of double taxation:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threa ... 45605.html

Apparently, I would need to fill a form to give my employer telling them to not withhold US income tax as I am based in a foreign country. I then need to file a tax return with the UK and pay the relevant taxes.