Where we are
Fourteen branches, run by volunteers
Branches begin where someone volunteers to start one. That is the honest description of how a volunteer-run organisation grows, and it has taken us to fourteen countries in under three years.
Asia-Pacific
Thailand
Eric Jordan & Ceri Weaver
Thailand has no reciprocal agreement with the UK, so every British pensioner here receives a state pension frozen at the rate first paid. It is the first thing raised at every event we run in the country, followed closely by the family visa rules affecting British citizens with Thai spouses.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
Japan
Edward Vickers & Colin Mason
Japan has a substantial population of long-settled British citizens with Japanese spouses and children, for whom the minimum income requirement is the dominant concern. Fee status for children applying to UK universities follows closely behind.
Leads with Spouse and Family Visas
Malaysia
John Shardlow
Malaysia combines a retired British population affected by the pension freeze with working families weighing UK university costs — the two dominant concerns raised with our coordinator here.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
Singapore
Nick Lord
Singapore’s British community is largely working professionals with UK financial affairs to maintain and children approaching university age. Fee status and bank account closures are raised more often here than anywhere else in our network.
Leads with Higher Education and University Fees
Indonesia
Colin Singer
Family visa rules dominate here, including the adult dependent relative rules that assume a narrower definition of family than the one most Indonesian-British households actually live by.
Leads with Spouse and Family Visas
South Korea
Ben Vickers
A younger British population, largely in work and education, for whom family visas and university fee status are the live concerns rather than pensions.
Leads with Spouse and Family Visas
Taiwan
Kevin Liu
Our Taiwan branch grew out of a joint event with BritCham Taipei, and reflects that origin: professionals and business owners, concerned with fee status for their children and with keeping UK banking relationships open.
Leads with Higher Education and University Fees
Australia
Graeme Lamb
Australia has one of the largest concentrations of frozen-pension recipients anywhere in the world. The branch was effectively created by demand, from people searching for an explanation of why their pension had not moved in a decade.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
New Zealand
Coordinator needed
As in Australia, the pension freeze applies and dominates. Distance from the UK also makes the postal ballot timetable particularly unforgiving.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
Europe
France
Coordinator needed
France elects eleven deputies to represent French citizens living abroad. Members here ask the obvious question: why is there no equivalent for British citizens overseas?
Leads with Overseas Constituencies
Spain
Coordinator needed
Spain has one of the largest British communities in Europe. Post-Brexit residency, healthcare and travel rules shape daily life here, and getting people registered to vote is where a branch starts.
Leads with Fully Functional Voting
Italy
Clarissa Killwick
Post-Brexit status and representation lead here. Italian citizens abroad elect 12 deputies and 6 senators of their own, a comparison our members make early and often.
Leads with Overseas Constituencies
Netherlands
Jo Darrington
A community shaped by the loss of free movement, where questions of status and of who actually represents a British citizen in Europe come up before anything else.
Leads with Overseas Constituencies
Africa
East Africa
Iain Brewster
A regional branch covering several countries, where the pension freeze applies and where bank account closures have been particularly disruptive for people dependent on UK income.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
Southern Africa
David Crowley
A long-established British population, much of it retired, affected by the pension freeze and by the practical difficulty of returning a postal ballot within the election timetable.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
Americas
Canada
Coordinator needed
The UK state pension is frozen in Canada: it stays at the rate first paid and never rises, so it loses value every year. Canada is home to one of the largest British populations outside the UK, and frozen pensions lead here.
Leads with Frozen Pensions
USA
Coordinator needed
The USA is an agreement country, so pensions are uprated here — one of the few places where that is true. Fee status, banking and the mechanics of voting are the live concerns instead.
Leads with Higher Education and University Fees
No branch where you live?
If you would consider starting one, get in touch. The commitment is smaller than people expect — most branches began with one person willing to answer emails and organise an occasional meeting.