Legal News

British expats campaigning to retain the right to vote in general elections at home have been given the support of the European Commission. As they stand the rules mean that anyone who has lived outside Britain for more than 15 years loses their right to cast a ballot. Commission VP Viviane Reding said the EC was looking at ways to ensure...

Tanning addict Patricia Krentcil, who hit the headlines recently as the world’s first ever ‘tanorexic’, has said she intends to battle a ban by US salons by moving abroad. She wants to make Britain her new home. She has also been branded the worst parent in the US after she was accused of encouraging her six-year-old daughter to use a...

British expats who are thinking of spending time in the UK are being advised to become familiar with new rules to be introduced in April that could affect their tax status. The Treasury announced the Statutory Residence Test in 2011 which will calculate how many days an expat is allowed to return home for before becoming liable for UK...

Expats living and working in the US may face having to surrender their green cards if they want to avoid having to pay tax under new rules being introduced under the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act. The controversial system requires taxpayers in the US to reveal every detail about overseas earnings and investments to the Internal Revenue...

The European Court of Justice has ruffled feathers by ruling that all British pensioners living in Switzerland and the European Economic Area should be able to claim the government’s annual winter fuel subsidy. Since 1998, the handout of £300 has been available to all pensions in the UK but only expats who moved abroad after turning...

The authors of a new study have warned Brits against buying property in Turkey if they do not have a good enough grasp of the language. The Legal Adaptation of British Settlers in Turkey study found that poor language skills prevented expats from gaining Turkish citizenship, and in turn stopped them from enjoying many civil and legal...

A British expat whose efforts to be awarded the right to vote were recently turned down by judges has not been granted permission to appeal, reports the Daily Telegraph. James Preston went to the High Court in 2011 to challenge the law banning Britons from voting after they have resided overseas for 15 years. Madrid-based Preston argued...

Prime Minister David Cameron has claimed that it should be easier for workers to get jobs in other European countries, as migration will boost the economy, reports the Daily Telegraph. The prime minister and 11 other conservative leaders issued a joint letter which urged improved “labour mobility” within the EU in order to help people...