upon retirement i want to retire to the sun.somewhere british friendly
where i could buy a little place where they talk the lingo! a former
british colony perhaps.any ideas?

Hi, Judybean !

As a British ex-pat living in Australia, I hope you've thought of
coming here - plenty of sun, and affordable places in Queensland in
particular. The High Commission in London will be able to give you
details on current policies, and you will certainly need to prove you
can support yourself and have no major health problems - unless you
have relatives out here, in which case you might qualify under the
family reunification scheme. But it's a great place to live.

There's a strong republican movement, but it hasn't happened yet.

The South Island of New Zealand isn't too bad, weather wise, either.

But here are a few places with British links that you may not have
thought of:


Vanuata - once the New Hebrides

I've holidayed there and there is no language problem.

Asia source, policy and Government Keesing Profiles at

http://www.asiasource.org/policy/keesings/vanuatu.cfm

gives contact details.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration

PMB 074
Port Vila
Telephone: (+678) 27673
Telex: 1040 vangov nh
Facsimile: (+678) 27832

Minister ........ Alain Mahe
First Secretary ........ Job Dalesa
Second Secretary ........ (vacant)
Third Secretary ........ Robinson Rono

Department of Immigration

PMB 092
Port Vila
Telephone: (+678) 22354
Facsimile: (+678) 25492

Director ........ Leslie Garae

High Commission of the United Kingdom
KPMG House, rue Pasteur
P.O. Box 567
Port Vila
Telephone: (+678) 23100
Facsimile: (+678) 23651



Fiji

Even more English speaking, if possible. Some political problems from
time to time.

Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration 
P.O. Box 2349
Government Buildings
Suva
Telephone: (+679) 211401
Facsimile: (+679) 300346 
Minister ........ Joketani Cokanasiga
Assistant Minister, Police ........ Ratu Kolinio Rokotuinaceva
Permanent Secretary ........ Jeremaia Waqanisau

High Commission of the United Kingdom
Victoria House, 47 Gladstone Road
P.O. Box 1355
Suva
Telephone: (+679) 311033
Telex: 2129
Facsimile: (+679) 314218; 301406


Tonga

Ministry of Police and Immigration

P.O. Box 8
Nuku'alofa
Telephone: (+676) 21-222; 23-233
Telex: 66224 topolhq ts

Minister ........ Clive William Edwards
Chief Superintendent ........ T. Faletou

High Commission of the United Kingdom
Vuna Road, P.O. Box 56
Nuku'alofa
Telephone: (+676) 21-020
Telex: 24109
Facsimile: (+676) 24-109


 Samoa

American Samoa

Department of Immigration

P.O. Box L1861
Apia
Telephone: (+685) 20291; 20292; 63222
Facsimile: (+685) 21339

Minister ........ Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
Chief Immigration Officer ........ Mataafa Tomasi Esera

Australian and NZ High Commissions, but no British listed.
	

There's also Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)- see

http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/samoa/about_destin/history_as.html

This site also has tourist details of other pacific island
destinations.


Cook Islands (Raratonga)

When I visited s few years ago there was a very strong British
community.


British West Indies - an American consular information sheet is at:

http://travel.state.gov/british_windies.html

" Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands,
Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos are British overseas territories
comprising the British West Indies. "

Department of Immigration of the Cayman Islands at 011 (345) 949-8344
or the Turks and Caicos Immigration Department at (011) 649 946-2939.


For the Carribean you might look at

http://www.caribbeanonlineyellowpages.com/listings_1/1_category_I_640.html

Trinidad and Tobago
Immigration Services Consultant Eastern Main Road, Tunapuna, Trinidad
- (868) 645-6911

The World Travel guide

http://www.travel-guide.com/data/tto/tto000.asp

gives the address for their High Commission in London:

High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago
42 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8NT, UK 
Tel: (020) 7245 9351. Fax: (020) 7823 1065. 
E-mail: tthc.info@virgin.net 
Website: www.discovertrinidad.com or www.tidco.co.tt 
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700; Mon-Fri 1000-1400 (visa
applications).



Bahamas
http://www.batelnet.bs/immigration.htm



Bermuda

The Depasrtment of immigration
http://www.immigration.bdagov.bm

will details of long-term residency but hasn't finished building its
site yet.



Jamaica
The Ministry of National Security and Justice Jamaice outlines some
aspects of their immigration policy at:

http://www.mnsj.gov.jm/ImmigrationPolicy/immigration_policy.htm

The details below about permanent residency, imply that temporary
long-term residency is also available.


"PERMANENT RESIDENCE
Permanent Resident Status is usually conferred, on application to
those
Foreign nationals who have lived in Jamaica for a minimum of two (2)
years provided they meet certain criteria.
Applicants generally fall into one of the following categories, and
each application is therefore treated on its own merit.
Wives of Jamaican nationals not necessarily meeting any prolonged
residence requirements;
Adults and minors who have claim to Jamaican nationality without 
meeting any residence requirements;
Retired persons who have resided in Jamaica for over three (3) years;
Persons employed in Jamaica after completing a period of residence of
not less than five (5) years; ...."

Remember also that English is a first language for many Indians and
many Sri Lankans, if the politics are not a problem for you, and that
Singapore has a strong British community and everyone speaks some
English.

Good luck on your hunt for the sun. Be sure to check out tropical wet
seasons and cyclone zones, too !



Search terms:
Vanuatu immigration
Fiji immigration
etc.

What a fantastic idea! Some of the former British colonies are the
world's most popular retirement destinations such as the West Indies
and Australia.

I found this UK-based website called The Mart that which deals with
just what you are looking for.The URL is:
http://www.themartuk.com/lord.htm
The site recommends buying a guide 
BizBusters Retirement Guide,"HOW TO LIVE IN A TROPICAL PARADISE ON
£250 ( that's less than $380 USD!!!)A MONTH ",by STAN WHEELER
available from Beaufort Projects, 1 Providence Street, Kings Lynn,
Norfolk. PE30 5ET UK.for £29.95 including shipping and handling. This
guide is supposed to provide you all the information you would want to
know about retiring to these former colonies. I'll leave it to you to
read about this and decide on buying this guide that promises to help
you "LIVE LIKE A LORD-ABROAD".

There are a number of factors to be considered besides just a sunny
climate. I would rank th most important of them to be:
1.Value of the dollar ( or your currency at present)/cost of living
2.Political stability
3.Racial integrity-tolerance
4.Medical care
5.Your thirst for adventure (?)


An interesting Carribean destination Montserrat
http://www.caribbean.co.uk/montserrat/

Australia )
http://www.australiaadventure.com/retirement-in-australia.htm
for info on a guide ( another one!) by a retired American in the Land
Down Under.

St.Vincent and the Grenadines
NewZealand
for plenty of Sun :) :Mauritius,Seychelles, India and Srilanka 

FOR A LIST OF FORMER BRTISH COLONIES, Go to
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-colon.html#list

Wish you a Happy,Safe and fun retirement!

http://www.ualberta.ca/~janes/TODAY.HTM

............yes, try Australia. Certainly in Victoria, Southern
Australia but probably in sunny warm Queensland as well you could buy
in the country a decent two or three bedrom house and big block of
land for around $40,000, sometimes less. I think in British pounds
that would be about 13,300 pounds but am not sure if that is a huge
amount in England or not??
  
 Good luck with whatever you do,
    John From Melbourne

Gibraltar? Very pro-British

Or you could consider some of the French Carribean countries such as
Guadaloupe. AIUI Guadeloupe is regarded as simply another
'departement' of France and is within the Eurozone. Remaining within a
*current* British or European colony could simplify matters such as
citizenship, residency and financial transactions.