How to Move to the United Kingdom (UK)

Whether a result of a job offer, wanderlust, or academic desires, moving abroad to the United Kingdom (UK) is simultaneously exciting and incredibly stressful. Fortunately, once you grasp the basics of what’s involved, review your relocation options, and get a better understanding of what to expect, it starts to feel like a more obtainable dream. The HAGS – Britt and Tiff – have already done it, and now, we’re sharing our experiences (and mistakes!) so that you can move to the UK from the US with a few less stressful surprises than we did. 

A Guide to Moving to the UK From the US

My wife and I have now technically made three international moves, so I think we have a pretty firm grasp on the various moving parts. We originally moved to the UK from the US in the spring of 2023, thanks to an amazing work opportunity – a relocation that involved also bringing over five pets. The following spring (2024), we hopped over to Ireland and enjoyed a year in Dublin (another work opportunity) before returning to England for good in the spring of 2025. We love it in London and hope to stay for as long as they’ll have us. 

How to Get a Visa in the UK

The UK offers multiple different types of visas, from tourism to joining families. If you’re looking to move to the UK long-term (anything over six months), the two most obtainable types for US citizens are student and work visas. 

The former can offer residency for up to five years and costs £524 (at the time of publishing), along with a healthcare surcharge. It is also possible for UK Student Visa holders to bring a partner and children as dependents, but additional people result in higher costs, as you’ll have to pay each person’s initial visa cost (including healthcare charges) as well as the costs of any renewals. Additionally, it’s possible for most student visa holders to work, but there are limitations. 

Work visas, on the other hand, can offer much more freedom but are typically harder to obtain. One of the most popular options is the UK Skilled Worker Visa – this is the route we took to move to the UK. This visa style allows holders to bring dependents, including partners, as long as they meet the necessary requirements. A Worker Visa can offer up to five years in the UK before needing renewal, depending on the application. To qualify, your employer must sponsor you, the position must be on the list of eligible jobs, and you need to meet the minimum salary requirements, which keep going up. There are also other work visas available, including some that don’t require a job offer up front for approval. 

With minimal requirements and costs, a UK Student Visa is a fairly accessible option for many US citizens looking to move to the UK, especially on a budget. However, it does come with plenty of restrictions and requires the ability to either pay out of pocket or obtain some form of sponsorship (or scholarship) for the courses. Alternatively, most work visas have stricter qualifications, but they do offer more freedom and are often the primary path US citizens use to begin the process of becoming a long-term resident or even a UK citizen. 

To figure out which options are available to you, you can use the government’s UK visa check tool.

How to Move to the UK With Pets

One of the first questions we get when meeting new people is if we brought our pets with us. We would’ve never moved if they couldn’t come along. Our floofs are our family, and we would never leave them behind. 

Moving to the UK with pets is totally doable, but the process you take is likely going to be very unique to your circumstances, budget, and pets. For us, we brought over three cats and two dogs, and all five were seniors, which added an additional layer of complication to an already stressful situation. That’s why we did an incredible amount of research to find out how everyone else did it, and then we decided which options were going to work best for us. 

Here are a few key points you need to know upfront:

• You can’t move with more than 5 pets.
• There is a very strict, time-sensitive vaccination/paperwork process.
• You can’t fly commercially into the UK with pets in the cabin.

Pet Requirements for Moving to the UK

For cats, dogs, and ferrets, the list of requirements for entering the UK is fairly straightforward. They need to be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies, and treated for tapeworm. However, the challenge comes with the timing of all these elements and getting the correct travel document filed and returned in time. 

US pets need a Great Britain Pet Health Certificate. Your vet (must be USDA-accredited!) fills this out after they get nearly all the required treatments – the dewormer comes later, but then they must send it off to the USDA to be finalized – signed and embossed in person, which then has to be returned to you before you leave to sign the final Declaration page. 

While that may not seem too stressful, the last 10 days of the process have the opportunity to put a dent in your plans. How? Well, the Pet Health Certificate must be signed within 10 days of your planned arrival in the UK. Fine, 10 days is enough to get it there and back. HOWEVER, the tapeworm treatment has to be administered at least 24 hours before you arrive, but no more than five days, which means it can’t be given before the documents are sent off, so ideally, you need at least two days to make sure there’s time. 

So, you have to cross your fingers and hope the mail isn’t lost or delayed in transit, and that all government offices involved are working accordingly so that you get your Pet Certificate there and back in an 8-day window. Miss the timings somehow? Then they can require pets to stay in quarantine for up to four months upon arrival to the UK. 

That’s why it’s vital to work with a vet who’s successfully completed the process before and double-check that your timing is right. We also purchased, filled out, and pre-postaged all the envelopes so that our vet only had to finish filling them out and seal the envelopes. This step ensured we were able to track their movements to ease our stress a bit. 

If you’re flying to another country before entering the UK, you’ll also need to follow their rules. For France, we followed the same process and simply had to complete the EU Animal Health Certificate alongside the GB Pet Health Certificate – 10 certificates in total for five pets. 

How to Get to the UK With Pets

Commercial Airlines

Since you can’t fly into the UK with pets in the cabin on commercial planes, we opted to fly into France and then shuttle to England via the Eurotunnel using a pet and human transport service. Many people also do this process but fly into Dublin instead and ferry over to Holyhead. 

Ferry

There is also a ferry that travels from the US to the UK: the Queen Mary 2.  The journey takes around a week, and pets have to stay in specific kennel areas – they’re not allowed in the cabins, but pet parents can visit them daily and enjoy walks as well as feedings. They only accept cats and dogs, and there are size and breed restrictions for the latter. Additionally, there’s not a veterinarian on board. 

The Queen Mary 2 is the only ferry with a pet travel option to the UK, and there are only 24 kennels onboard. As a result, they recommend booking at least a year in advance because options are limited. 

Private Jet

Alternatively, private jets don’t have to follow the cabin rules, so there are now groups (check Facebook) and companies that charter private planes from the US and fly to the UK just for pets and their parents. This option splits the cost between multiple parties, which helps cut down the totals, but it’s still higher than a commercial flight. 

Multiple Pets

If you opt to fly commercially, like we did, you also have to deal with limitations on pets in the cabin, which differ per airline. We found that Delta was the only option to bring up to four pets on board, which still resulted in a multi-trip move. Britt went first with one cat, Asa, and I stayed back to finalize up all the moving and house-selling business. She flew back a month later, and then we – along with Britt’s mom and sister – flew to France from Kansas City, each assigned to one of our remaining four pets, who enjoyed the flight from their carriers under the seat in front of us. 

There are services that can assist with the travel process, including hiring individuals to travel with pets, whether they’re in-cabin or down in cargo. If we hadn’t been able to get family to help us with the process (we felt incredibly lucky that they were willing to help!), we would’ve hired two experienced pet travelers to carry the other two pets onboard with us. 

UK-Allowed Dog Breeds

Unfortunately, the UK does have a banned dogs list. If you’re considering moving abroad with a dog, whether to the UK or any other country, check the restricted list to make sure that your furry family member doesn’t fall into one of the prohibited breeds. 

How to Find Housing Abroad in the UK

Prepare to do a lot of legwork when finding a place to live in the UK. Since moving here, I’ve learned that estate agents in the UK aren’t known for being incredibly helpful, but I didn’t know that when we initially arrived back in 2023. In fact, the one thing I’d do differently is working with – and relying so heavily on – an agent. Instead, we’d go it alone like we did when returning from Dublin to London in 2025. 

Estate Agents

We were fortunate enough that Britt’s employer provided certain relocation services, and one of them was hiring a local estate agent to help us find a rental. The person we ended up working with told us we couldn’t live in London because we had too many pets for a landlord to ever approve our application, so she steered us out towards the suburbs out in Berkshire. Do you want to know where we live now with our hoard of pets? London. We pay around the same rent as we did out in Maidenhead, but we end up saving a substantial amount because of the train costs. We even have access to a small, enclosed garden for the pets. 

Costs

London isn’t cheap, but it’s also a huge city (roughly 9 million people spanning 607 sq miles) with a large number of boroughs and suburbs to choose from. If you dig enough, I think most people with the means to emigrate from the US can find something that works for them. Additionally, there are numerous other cities to consider in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, along with plenty of rural areas if you prefer the quaint countryside over city life. When it comes to budget, typically, the more northern and rural an area is, the more affordable the housing. However, there are cultural differences with some pockets being more welcoming than others, especially for members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

What Are the LGBTQ+ Rights in the UK? 

As a lesbian couple, one of the first questions we asked before moving was, “is the UK safe for queer people?” Unfortunately, the answer to that question isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. Back in 2014, the island nation earned the top spot with the highest rating for LGBTQ+ safety (82 percent) from ILGA-Europe, which is the European segment of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. However, as of 2025, the UK’s status has fallen to 22nd place (45.65 percent.) There are a variety of reasons for this change, including a rise in LGBTQ+ hate crimes and recent anti-trans court rulings. 

With that said, there are still many legal protections in place for LGBT+ individuals and couples that are either threatened or nonexistent in other countries. For example, the UK’s Gender Recognition Act 2004 offers legal gender recognition at the national level that allows transgender individuals to update their legal documents to match their gender identity, including passports and birth certificates. In the US, laws regarding legal gender are primarily left to the states without protections ensured at the federal level. 

Overall, the UK is generally still safe for many individuals of the LGBTQ+ community. Where you choose to live can have a major impact on your overall experience and safety as a queer person. For example, London is a popular location for LGBTQ+  immigrants. Not only is it a fairly diverse and welcoming city, but there are also numerous queer organizations and groups that offer you opportunities to connect with other individuals and create a sense of community. 

Queer rights in place in the UK include:

• Adoption Act 2002: Permits adoption by same-sex couples.
• Gender Recognition Act 2004: Allows transgender individuals to change their legal gender. 
• Equality Act 2010: Legally protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment. 
  • -Note: The ruling in For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers case in 2025 has legal implications for potential discrimination in single-sex spaces, like hospitals and bathrooms. 
• Marriage Act of 2013: Gives same-sex couples the legal right to marry. 

Challenges to LGBTQ+ rights in the UK: 

• Non-Binary Gender Recognition: Not recognized 
• Conversation Therapy: Not banned
• Gender-Affirming Care: Banned for minors 
• For Women Scotland: Recent UK Supreme Court ruling may prevent trans individuals from accessing single-sex spaces based on their gender, such as bathrooms, hospital wards, and changing rooms. This decision can open up the legal floor for discrimination as well as put our transgender friends and family in dangerous and demeaning situations. It also has the potential to put non-binary and non-trans community members  – as well as virtually any individual of the public – at risk for discrimination and harassment if they don’t aesthetically meet the societal standards of their perceived sex. 

For the full look at the current state of LGBTQ+ protections in the UK, Equaldex has a pretty comprehensive breakdown. 

Successfully Moving From the US to the UK 

If you’re looking up guides on how to move to the UK, then the hardest part is already done — deciding to make the leap to living abroad is half the battle! Now, you simply need to do as much research as possible so that you can start to nail down the specifics and turn your international relocation dream into a reality. 

Have specific questions about moving out of the US and becoming a UK immigrant? While we’re not legal or immigration experts, we’re happy to share our own experience. Send us a message via our contact form or email us [email protected].