Your Guide to Permanent Residency in Scotland (2024)

FAQs

Your Guide to Permanent Residency in Scotland? ›

If you have a British partner or a settled migrant partner, you might apply for a UK Spouse visa. To qualify, your partner should earn a certain amount, you should speak English, and your relationship should be genuine. This visa typically lasts for 2.5 years and could lead to permanent residency after 5 years.

You would be able to move to Scotland in accordance with EU free movement rules, would be automatically considered settled in Scotland (a “permanent resident” in EU law) after five years exercising free movement rights, and would be able to apply to become a citizen after twelve months being settled here.

Permanent Residence Permit

To legally stay in Scotland for as long as you like, you'll need to obtain permanent resident status in the UK. Mostly, only those who've held a temporary residence visa for at least five years can apply for permanent status.

Applying to become a Scottish citizen: A person of another nationality could apply to be a Scottish citizen if they have been 'settled' in Scotland for at least 12 months and lived in Scotland for at least five years. For example: Geeta, an Indian national, moves to Dundee after independence.

To be ordinarily resident in Scotland, a person must have made their home in Scotland intending to stay and live here. If you are just in Scotland to study, but otherwise you would be living elsewhere, you are not ordinarily resident in Scotland. If you're not sure how this applies to you, contact us.

There is no citizenship requirement to buying (and unlike in England, there is no extra property tax for overseas buyers) but owning a property in Scotland does not allow you to live here. Our Immigration team can assist you to explore all the available immigration options for international clients to move to the UK.

There are no restrictions on dual citizenship in UK law and no requirement to register with or notify government of dual citizenship arrangements. This is not the case in many other countries, but that practice would be maintained in Scotland, placing no barriers to holding multiple nationalities.

The average cost of living in Scotland per month is around £1,500, which is 1.26 times less expensive than the average in the UK. Scotland was rated as the finest place to live in and the eighth most expensive state in the UK.

Food costs in Scotland are lower, and the quality of produce is generally higher. The NHS in Scotland provides free healthcare services, reducing medical expenses for residents. Overall, Scotland offers a more affordable cost of living compared to the United States.

Find A Job

You will need a job before moving to Scotland because you can't obtain a work permit without having a job offer already in Scotland.

Are Scots friendly to Americans? ›

Scotland offers a welcome and continued goodwill that has Americans, Canadians and most nationalities waxing lyrical. Without the population pressures of England's South, people, especially outside Scotland's eight cities, have more time for you – and visitors appreciate that.

Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: Ameireaganaich Albannach; Scots: Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland.

Naturalisation as a citizen would become available after five years of lawful residence in Scotland in most cases, and at least one year as a settled person free of immigration control. These may run concurrently, depending on how and when an individual becomes eligible for settlement.

You can move to Scotland from the USA if your family members have been living in this country and can sponsor your family visa. On the other hand, if you are relocating to Scotland from the USA and want to bring your family members with you, then also you will need to apply for a family visa.

To receive funding, you must meet all the following three conditions: UK national or have 'settled status', with no restrictions on how long you can stay. Normally live in Scotland on course start date, short periods away for work, education or holidays are OK. Living in the UK for 3 years before the course start date.

Migration is not a salient and contentious issue in the Scottish media or political debate in the way it is at the UK level. Moreover, surveys have suggested that the Scottish public is generally more welcoming of migrants than their counterparts in the rest of the UK.

In most cases, you will get PR once you have held your work visa for 5 years. The Skilled Worker visa is currently one of the easiest ways to get PR in the UK for non-EU nationals. There are several UK work visas that qualify for UK residency, including the following: Skilled Worker visa.

If you're visiting for tourism or short business trips it's sometimes possible to travel without a visa. However, anyone who is not British or Irish will usually need a visa for longer visits to Scotland including coming for work or to study.