General Chat

Quote from a magazine I get:

In a Policy Statement published on 7 October, the government said overseas voting rights would be extended to any British citizen who had been previously resident or registered to vote in the UK, thus removing the 15-year cut-off point.

To do so, they should register on the electoral roll where they last resided in the UK, and would cast their ballot in that constituency.

They could choose to vote by post, in person (if in the UK on polling day) or by nominating a proxy.

It is only a promise, does not include 16-18 and crucially omits referenda. expats who can vote mostly don't and end up with poor deals such as the heating mess.
Referenda are excluded which may be crucial if May is forced into a 2nd referendum.

A deal is being worked out for Gib which will de facto end up with them having dual Nat with the red n yellow flag flying above the rock.

Despite being reluctant to grant long term expats n nondoms voting rights ukgov has had no trouble extending taxation on them. Maybe they will have a tea party.

We have difficulty posting a vote because to receive our postal vote it needs to be posted about a month before the vote as it takes up to 3 weeks to get a letter from UK.

Many who qualified for the referendum here were unable to vote as the forms didn't arrive until after the referendum. In a normal election the postal vote is sent out about 11 days before the vote and that's the earliest the postal vote can be sent.

My children do not live near where we used to live either so no proxy. We have no family in the area. We lived there because it was near good road, rail and air links to where my husband worked, Scotland - Kent including East Anglia, the Shetlands and Hebrides

I heard about this from an Expat Brit site that I occasionally read .................


to be blunt, I fail to see why someone who has lived outside a country for 15 years let alone longer, should even think they have the right to vote in their "home" country.

That legislation would mean that I could vote, and I will have been a non-resident for 50 years in August.

What right have I got to vote on something that could affect thousands or millions, and yet not have an effect on me??


I feel the same way about those who carry 2 passports .............. taken the citizenship of the country they live in but also keep their British passport up to date. Going to England on holiday ............ they enter the UK on their British passport, and use the other when they return. They want to vote in both Britain and in the other country

To me, they are not true citizens of either country.


FWI ............ I consider myself British-born, but a Canadian naturalized citizen.

Canada is now the country that I owe allegiance to, and where I vote with the hope that the party will be the one that does the best for Canada and its peoples. I would never even consider trying to a) get my British passport back, or b) voting in the UK.

If you had financial business still in the UK you'd want a say in that though surely ?

For the record you should only travel on one passport but yes many do travel out on one and back on the other.

Many people living in different countries; not just the UK and Canada; will have two passports. I believe people from Europe living in the UK often vote still for their "homeland".

It's obviously a vote grab at the end of the day, one which all of the parties would consider.

So should someone like Donald Trump, who has financial interests in many countries have a say in those countries by voting "in absentia"??

There are lots of billionaires like him


From what people post on that site I mentioned, the only reason that they travel on the British passport is because it's easier access when they get to the port of entry in the UK.

They can't get back into Canada, for example, on the British passport because you now need a visa, and you can't get the visa if you are a Canadian citizen.

They often get the two because they want to cover all bases. The hope is still to return to the UK when they retire ...... so they're not really committed to the second country ......... except they do want to vote, and life is a little easier when you are a citizen as against a Permanent Resident , or whatever it is called in the varying countries. Resident Aliens are finding that out in the US at the moment!

Big business already have a say in the running of many countries, they don't need a vote.

Are resident aliens really finding that out right now in the US or are they just assuming there'll be a problem....so far most jumping the border are not there legally or have just turned up on holiday visas then jump the border to claim refugee status.

My view is precisely the same as SylviainCanada, as are my circumstances.

I have absolutely no wish to involve my self in UK matters, having become a naturalised Australian, and when I do travel overseas it is with an Australian passport. My UK passport expired in 1992.

Some countries tax their citizens worldwide regardless of their residence notably the USA. the USA has no limit on expat voting in federal elections. Just because a Us citizen finds themself in Paris with French spouse n kids it does not imply a desire to severe contact with the orginal country. At the same time a second passport can, as Caroline has said, greatly oil the wheels of everyday business and domestic life. If the practice was pernicious then govts would stop it.

Was Hemingway less American for residing in Europe?
was John Lennon less British for residing in New York, David Hockney for California?

Seeing nationality as a binary concept is jejeune.

Two of my children who are not UK residents wouldn't dream of voting on issues that effect the UK.

Why would they?

They do not benefit financially from any organisation, use public services, make use of the NHS or any other 'UK privileges'.

They also do not pay taxes in the UK.

I tend to think the same as Sue and others. If you have chosen to live outside of the UK, why should you have the right to vote in UK elections? After 10 years, let alone 15, the UK is only 'home' in so far as it represents your 'origins'.

There may be exceptions where an employee is posted abroad but, in most cases, those postings are only for a few years.

My sister and her hubby went to Canada in 1979

They did take Canadian citizenship later but still hold Canadian and British passports

When they travel they leave Canada with their Canadian passport and enter the uk with their uk passports
The outward journey is visa verca

Both are entitied to state pension based on their work records in the uk

They dont though vote in uk elections

Rollo ................

You are quite right that the US can claim taxes from citizens who have not lived in the US for many years, and who may even have taken out foreign nationality. Plus they have the right to claim back taxes going back decades.

However, such a person can revoke their US citizenship by taking certain legal steps. It's just that many of them had not bothered, and the tax department had not chased up people who had been absent for many years until about 6 pr 7 years ago

I do know about that as we live north of the border and have many friends and acquaintances who were affected ...... including cases where one spouse had renounced their US citizenship years ago while the other had not bothered. The one who had not would get demands to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes.

It was terrible for people who had not worked or lived in the US for maybe 50 or 60 years, and who had not realised that they couled be liable.

Of course, all sensible Americans who have decided to take up foreign citizenship and not to return in the future to the US to reside permamently shoudl now be revoking their US citizenship.


BTW ............... Britain does not let go of their citizens with regard to how easy it is to enter the UK .................. We've often been asked by Immigration officers why we had queued under "others" rather than go through the British line

Shirley ...................

you'd better tell your sister they have been doing it wrong!!

You have to leave a country on the passport you are going to use to enter the other one.

New regulations.

So, they would leave Canada using the British passport, and leave the UK using the Canadian one


If they try to leave the UK using the British passport they would not be allowed to get on the plane as all visa-exempt foreign nationals (including British!!) need an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) when flying to or transiting through Canada. it is not possible to get if you are a Canadian citizen carrying a Canadian passport.

The eTA requirement came into effect last year and fully applicable last month

I believe Australia has a similar eTA requirement.

I read that BoJo was one who was going to have to pay US taxes as well as British. I can't remember how he got around that, but he did.

It was probably as you explained, Sylvia.

Well they did come over last sept but we didn't discuss what passports they used

That was the first visit for over 5 years

I know they used to use both but hopefully they are now aware of the new regulations

It's several years since we visited Oz but I had retained both UK and Oz passports because of property interests.

I left the UK on my UK passport and entered Oz using my Oz passport.

Upon leaving Oz I picked out my UK passport from my bag by mistake to which the official said, 'The other one.'

So I left Oz on my Oz passport (the one I had used to enter the country) and arrived back in the UK producing my UK passport, again, the one I had used to leave the UK.

That worked fine then but times change.

Now, I have no current passport so need to take action.

Shirley ........

Hopefully the travel agent with whom your sister books her travel will be up-to-date with the regulations if they do come over again.



Joy ............. they do keep track of you, despite what people might think!!

I see some of the people on that Expat site posting "well, they won't know which passport I've used when or how many times I've left or entered"

oh yes, they do!!!


It's actually been quite an eye opener for me reading the questions asked and the replies given on a section of the Expat site where members give help on immigration, travel and visa needs and problems (similar to the way we give informed but not official advice on here on family history).

It's all so different from when we emigrated, even into the US, back then ..............


Brits are actually the worst .......

.......... "you mean I can't just waltz into Canada, Australia or New Zealand?? But we're the same. We're all in the Commonwealth!".

"You mean it's going to take THAT long (up to 4 years) to get all the permissions?"

Then after they have successfully navigated the system .......

"Canada/Australia is so different from England. I hate it, I can't settle. Why don't the banks work like back home? Why can't I get all the TV stations? Why can't I get x, y or z food? The distances are so great, I can't get a train or bus into town like I did back home. I didn't know there would be so much sun and heat / cold and snow""

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Of course they do, Sylvia. They're not daft and it surprises me what people try to get away with. :-D

I always find that strange, Sylvia, when people expect the new country to be just like home. If they don't like it ..... they know what to do.

What intrigues me more is when people whose first language is English move to a non-English country and don't ever bother to learn the language of their adopted country. It's beyond my comprehension.