Gay and moving to Northern Ireland

onebear

I am a married American gay man who's parents are originally from Northern Ireland. I had lived in Derry before in the 90s for 9 years and then returned to the United States. My husband and I are both on disability. We would like to relocate back to Northern Ireland.

There are different issues that came across with us: immigration, drugs access for HIV (since my husband has that), disability allowances etc. To our understanding according to Social Security Disability in the United States we could be able to bring our Disability money over to Northern Ireland but not sure how the DLA works there and still be able to receive our Social Security Disability?

Not really sure how I could bring him over to Northern Ireland and if he would be fine with to reside there without any complications.

How do we get to arrive to Northern Ireland without any gaps in between our transition? We also have 3 cats we would like to bring over as well.

jaymcg91

Does your husband have an EU passport too?

New requirements, introduced in 2012, mean that only those who earn a minimum of £18,600 per year can sponsor a spouse visa of a non-European Union spouse or partner. The requirements were introduced in the hope that fewer immigrants would claim benefits.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2015-02-12/immigration-minister-admits-spouse-immigration-rules-unfair

onebear

no he doesn't. He has an American passport only. I have both American Passport and British Passport which both expired.

bucketybuck

Why do you want to relocate to Northern Ireland?

onebear

bucketybuck wrote: »

Why do you want to relocate to Northern Ireland?

All my family are there. I enjoyed my time while i lived in Ireland, its a place where I felt safe. I don't feel safe here in the US as long as I am here.

Richard

Although gay marriage is illegal in Northern Ireland, they do have Civil Partnerships which offer the same protection as marriage. In addition, they will recognise your marriage and give you the same benefits as straight couples who are married or gay couples in civil partnerships.

Now I'm not sure what those benefits are, but I would start by reapplying for your British Passport and take it from there.

Note that you are also entitled to an Irish passport, so it must get be worth investigating the republic of Ireland in case things don't work out with NI.

NIMAN

I wish you all the very best in whatever you decide to do (I'm from Derry myself), but to me the cats just sound like an unnecessary complication.

You'll have enough to occupy your time without worrying about gettting them over too.

Richard

NIMAN wrote: »

I wish you all the very best in whatever you decide to do (I'm from Derry myself), but to me the cats just sound like an unnecessary complication.

You'll have enough to occupy your time without worrying about gettting them over too.

I agree - though if you are determined the following page may help (the title is a bit misleading, however, as it's about bringing a pet to the UK).


https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad

onebear

NIMAN wrote: »

I wish you all the very best in whatever you decide to do (I'm from Derry myself), but to me the cats just sound like an unnecessary complication.

You'll have enough to occupy your time without worrying about gettting them over too.

getting the kitties over isn't a problem as I do have the money to bring them with me. Thank you for that website.